Smotrich fires back at Kirby, vows to maintain opposition to Gaza ‘surrender deal’

Far-right leader says he respects US but tells White House ‘to respect Israeli democracy,’ likens prospect of deal with Hamas to US reaching ‘agreement with al-Qaeda and Bin Laden’

By ToI Staff10 August 2024, 

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich at a conference hosted by the Makor Rishon newspaper, in Jerusalem, June 30, 2024. (Sindel/Flash90)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Saturday hit back against White House national security spokesperson John Kirby for singling him out for criticism a day earlier when Kirby said the US would not allow “extremists” to push the proposed Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal off course.

“I respect the US stance and thank it for its support of Israel in the face of regional threats, but I expect it to respect Israeli democracy and the stance of the Israeli citizens and its elected officials in relation to decisions that will affect the country’s security,” Smotrich wrote in a post on X.

“Just as the US would have rejected international pressure to reach a surrender agreement with al-Qaeda and Bin Laden, so Israel will not surrender to any external pressure that will cause harm to Israel’s security.”

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He went on to denounce the agreement as a “surrender deal to” Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar “that leaves most of the hostages to die, releases many murderers, returns terrorists to the northern Strip, abandons the border, and allows Hamas to smuggle weapons and rehabilitate its forces so it can go back to attacking Israel as an extension of Iran, is bad for Israel and endangers its security.”

“No criticism and no attack will divert me from the goal,” he added.

Smotrich, who heads the coalition’s far-right Religious Zionism party, has been consistently vocal about his opposition to a deal throughout negotiations and on Friday denounced the proposal as a “dangerous trap,” saying it creates a “delusional symmetry” between Israeli hostages and “despicable Jew-murdering terrorists” who would be freed.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (left) at a conference in Jerusalem, June 30, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) National Security Council spokesman John Kirby (right) speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, May 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Addressing these comments by Smotrich, Kirby said later Friday that the finance minister was spreading false claims and “ought to be ashamed” for questioning US President Joe Biden’s intentions.

“The idea that [Biden] would support a deal that leaves Israel’s security at risk is just factually wrong, it’s outrageous, it’s absurd,” he said.

The United States and its allies have been trying to arrange a ceasefire-for-hostages deal for months but have consistently run into obstacles from both Israel and Hamas.

US officials believed the latest proposal is the closest the parties have been to an agreement to free women, sick and elderly hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7 in exchange for at least six weeks of ceasefire, the first phase in an envisioned three-stage deal for ending the war.

IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip, in an image released on August 10, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The war in Gaza broke out on October 7 with Hamas’s unprecedented surprise attack on Israel in which terrorists murdered some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages.

It is believed that 111 hostages remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 39 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 24 hostages have also been recovered, including three abductees mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.

Freed Morocco journalists urge release of political prisoners

August 10, 2024 
By Agence France-Presse

Moroccan journalist Omar Radi speaks during a press conference at the Moroccan Association of Human Rights headquarters in Rabat, Morocco, on Aug. 10, 2024.

Three journalists released from jail, thanks to royal pardons, called Saturday for Morocco to free "all prisoners of conscience" and start "a new phase" for rights and liberties in the North African kingdom.

Omar Radi, Soulaimane Raissouni and Taoufik Bouachrine, historian and rights advocate Maati Monjib and hundreds more prisoners were pardoned in late July on the occasion of King Mohammed VI's 25th anniversary on the throne.

The three journalists had been held for four to six years on charges of sexual assault that they deny. Radi was also accused of espionage.

They say they were punished for their opinions.

"We have been arrested using dirty methods," Radi, 38, said Saturday at the headquarters of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH).

Raissouni, 52, called for the continuation of "our struggles, our writing and our actions" with the aim of "building a state that guarantees minimal rights, and where such cruel abuse and injustice are not repeated."

"Our joy remains incomplete without the liberation of all prisoners of conscience (linked to) social movements, and political detainees."

The trio mentioned the cases of activists from Morocco's northern Rif region who have been held since 2016, and of the lawyer and government critic Mohamed Ziane, 82, in jail since 2022.

Bouachrine, 55, thanked rights activists for their support, as well as the king for "having put an end to our nightmare" and "letting us see our children grow."

He said he hoped that the royal pardons — which did not overturn the convictions but allowed for early release — could mark "the start of a new phase and a true opening up in politics, journalism, human rights and social struggles."

 

Ferguson officer critically injured at protest on the 10th anniversary of Michael Brown's death

A Ferguson, Missouri, police officer was critically injured outside the city's police station during protests on the 10th anniversary of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, a pivotal moment in the national Black Lives Matter movement, police said Sa

Heather Hollingsworth, The Associated Press

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A memorial to Michael Brown is displayed on Canfield Drive in Ferguson, Mo., on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Jim Salter)

A Ferguson, Missouri, police officer was critically injured outside the city's police station during protests on the 10th anniversary of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, a pivotal moment in the national Black Lives Matter movement, police said Saturday.

Ferguson police chief Troy Doyle said Officer Travis Brown suffered a severe brain injury Friday after being knocked to the ground.

“He is in an area hospital right now fighting for his life,” Doyle said.

Two other officers also were hurt, one sustaining an ankle injury and another an abrasion. Both were treated at the scene.

The team of officers went out to make arrests Friday for destruction of property at the police station, where protesters gathered to remember Michael Brown, the unarmed Black 18-year-old who was killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer in 2014.

One of the suspects was charged Saturday with assault of a special victim, resisting arrest and property damage. He was ordered held on $500,000 cash only bond. No information was immediately listed in online court records, so it wasn’t known if he had an attorney yet.

Doyle said that for the majority of the night, the protesters were peaceful. He said police allowed them to block the street outside the station, posting a squad car on each end, so they wouldn't be hit by vehicles.

Police also didn't intervene when the protesters began shaking the fence outside the station. But he said that when they broke a section of fencing, he sent out the arrest team. The suspect who charged at Travis Brown knocked him backward with his shoulder, and the officer hit his head as he tumbled to the ground, Doyle said.

Doyle said Travis Brown, who is Black, started with the department in January and previously worked for the St. Louis County Police Department.

He is part of a wave of Black officers hired into the department since 2014. Back then, there were just three Black officers in the department, but Black officers now make up more than half of the police force, Doyle said.

“He wanted to be part of the change,” Doyle said. “He wanted to make an impact in our community. He’s the type of officer that we want in our community. And what happens? He gets assaulted. I had to look his mother in the eye and tell her what happened to her son. I’m never going to do that again, I promise you that.”

St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell, who had stopped by the hospital beforehand to meet with the officer’s family, said others also would be charged.

“I always talk about you know the toughest part of this job is when we have a family that’s lost a loved one that we can’t bring justice to. And I’ve got to tweak that. The toughest thing I’ve had to do is talk and console with a mother who doesn’t know if her child is doing to make it. And for what?”

It wasn’t clear who organized Friday’s protests. One activist who attended an event earlier in the day at a memorial to Michael Brown, and another who organized previous protests, didn't immediately respond to calls and text messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.

The arrests came as the St. Louis Fire Department placed a member of the department on leave after he made a social media post that the department described as insensitive.

“We take this matter seriously and do not condone such behavior,” the department wrote.

The department didn’t disclose the contents of the post, but several news outlets in the area reported that it read: “Happy ALIVE day to Darren Wilson!”

Michael Brown’s death turned Ferguson into the focal point of the national reckoning with the historically tense relationship between U.S. law enforcement and Black people.

In 2015, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice also found no grounds to prosecute Wilson. But the report gave a scathing indictment of the police department — raising significant concerns about how officers treated Black residents, and about a court system that created a cycle of debt for many residents.

Heather Hollingsworth, The Associated Press

Large geological feature known as the ‘Double Arch’ and the ‘Toilet Bowl’ collapses in southern Utah

The arch was formed from 190 million-year-old Navajo sandstone originating in the late Triassic to early Jurassic periods.

Double Arch before, left, and after the collapse.National Park Service via AP

Aug. 10, 2024,

Source: The Associated Press

PAGE, Ariz. — A large geological feature in southern Utah known as the “Double Arch,” the “Hole in the Roof” and sometimes the “Toilet Bowl” has collapsed, National Park Service officials said Friday. No injuries were reported.

The popular arch in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area fell Thursday, and park rangers suspect changing water levels and erosion from waves in Lake Powell contributed to its demise.

Michelle Kerns, superintendent of the recreation area that spans the border of Utah and Arizona, said the collapse serves as a reminder to protect the mineral resources that surround the lake.

“These features have a life span that can be influenced or damaged by manmade interventions,” she said in a statement.

The arch was formed from 190 million-year-old Navajo sandstone originating in the late Triassic to early Jurassic periods. The fine-grained sandstone has endured erosion from weather, wind and rain, the statement said.

The recreation area encompasses nearly 2,000 square miles and is popular among boaters and hikers.

Native sea snails bred for the first time by marine biologists in Singapore

A 7cm long one-year-old tiger cowrie adult. The adult tiger cowrie is one of the largest cowrie species. They are 8cm to 10cm long on average, and can grow up to 15cm. 

PHOTO: NUS TROPICAL MARINE SCIENCE INSTITUTE

Ariel Yu
Aug 11, 2024

SINGAPORE – A species of large sea snail native to Singapore waters has been successfully reared to adulthood for the first time by marine biologists from the Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI) at the National University of Singapore.

The research team’s rearing of eight tiger cowrie (Cypraea tigris) juveniles has been documented in a recently published study, and the scientists have since managed to rear those eight specimens into adulthood.

Ms Teresa Tay, lead author on this study, said that researchers in previous studies reared the larvae for several weeks but were unable to obtain juveniles.


The tiger cowrie species has been deemed endangered locally due to habitat loss and overharvesting of its shell.

Although it has healthy populations in the Indo-Pacific region, and the molluscs have been found on Singapore’s reefs in the past, it is “now exceedingly rare” to see the tiger cowrie.

A large specimen was seen on one reef off the southern islands in 1988, according to the National Parks Board’s website.

Tiger cowries typically reside in thriving coral reefs. Many of these vital ecosystems have been decimated by destructive practices such as dynamite fishing, which obliterates marine life and corals.

Moreover, rising sea temperatures contribute to coral bleaching, further endangering these fragile habitats and the creatures that depend on them, including the tiger cowrie.

Popular among shell collectors and aquarium hobbyists, the tiger cowrie has been overharvested for its attractive shell and sold in the marine curio market.

The sea snail’s shell is usually egg-shaped, smooth and polished. The shell colour is usually white, yellowish or light blue-greyish, and speckled with spots that can vary from dark brown to black.


Some tiger cowries have a golden yellow mantle, patterned with dark stripes and spots that resemble those of a tiger’s coat.

Its flat underside is white with a slit-like opening in the centre, where its “teeth” can be seen.

The life cycle of the tiger cowrie can be divided into three stages.

Prior to the larval stage, fertilised eggs develop in egg capsules. They then hatch as swimming larvae while their shell volume increases.

The female tiger cowrie can lay 200 to 300 capsules in one egg mass. Each capsule can contain up to 1000 larvae.

 PHOTO: NUS TROPICAL MARINE SCIENCE INSTITUTE


The larvae will eventually settle on the seabed as crawling juveniles. Their shell continues to thicken as they become adults and reach sexual maturity.

Ms Tay said the research team had 25 failed attempts over 10 months before successfully breeding the tiger cowrie.

“From the first batch of tiger cowrie larvae, it took a year to successfully obtain juveniles (from the 26th batch), and then another year for the juveniles to reach adulthood and become capable of reproduction,” she added.

Out of approximately 360 tiger cowrie larvae reared from the 26th batch, eight have survived to adulthood.

The study, which was published in the Molluscan Research journal in July, documented that the tiger cowrie larvae were reared to the juvenile stage, and the research team was able to continue rearing the same batch of larvae to adulthood.

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One of the main challenges the research team faced was the high mortality rate of tiger cowrie larvae due to algae growth on the shells.

Ms Tay, who joined TMSI in 2013, said: “Often, the algae would engulf the shell, leading to poor development and eventually mortality.”

To tackle this issue, the team attempted to reduce bacteria growth by using finer filtered seawater and adding antibiotics when culturing the tiger cowrie larvae to the juvenile stage, which “drastically reduced algae growth on shells and allowed the larvae to develop further”.

Suitable water quality and diet are key to the successful breeding of tiger cowries by marine biologists in Tropical Marine Science Institute. 

PHOTO: NUS TROPICAL MARINE SCIENCE INSTITUTE


Another challenge the team is working to overcome is the high mortality rate of newly settled juveniles during the first month.

“The metamorphosis process (from larvae to juvenile stage) is energy-consuming and we have yet to determine the most suitable diet for young juveniles to thrive in captivity,” said Ms Tay.

The young juveniles currently feed on biofilm – a thin layer of different micro-organisms – and turf algae, which are grown on tiles.

The adult tiger cowries are fed a variety of food, including prawns and cucumbers, which can enhance their growth and production of eggs and sperm.

 PHOTO: NUS TROPICAL MARINE SCIENCE INSTITUTE

In a previous study published in the Royal Society Open Science journal in April 2023, the researchers succeeded in rearing the larvae of only the Arabian cowrie to juveniles, even though they attempted to also rear the tiger cowries to the juvenile stage.

The adult tiger cowrie is one of the largest cowrie species, 8cm to 10cm long on average, and can grow up to 15cm.

The adult Arabian cowrie, also native to Singapore’s waters, is about 8cm long on average, and can grow to be up to 10cm.

Unlike the tiger cowrie, the Arabian cowrie typically has a bluish shell adorned with fine, dotted brown lines, but its patterns vary.

The study published in Royal Society Open Science documented how more than 80 per cent of the tiger cowrie larvae survived the first four days after hatching but kept dying from day five to day 14, due to severe algal growth on their shells, as well as parasite attacks.

As the tiger cowrie is endangered in Singapore, this study seeks to develop farming methods so that the production of cowries can be scaled up for research, conservation and the aquarium trade.

Dr Jani Tanzil, senior research fellow at TMSI and facility director at St John’s Island National Marine Laboratory, said: “Cowries sold in the aquarium trade can come from sustainable, cultured sources now.

“Of course, there might be cost implications – the cost for captive-bred cowries will most likely be higher than for wild-caught stocks.”

She added that this is similar to the cost for anemone fishes, which are now mostly captive-bred in the aquarium trade.

However, Dr Tanzil, who is also a co-principal investigator of the study, said that the cost gap may be reduced with further improvements of mariculture techniques.

In response to the results of the TMSI study, Sunbeam Aquarium – a local wholesale exporter of ornamental freshwater fish, crustaceans, molluscs, soft corals, marine fish and aquatic plants – said it had stopped selling tiger cowries about two years ago but can market the tiger cowrie as captive-bred at a higher price.

“Customers these days are more knowledgeable and environmentally aware.

“Thus, they are more willing to pay for products which reduce the environmental impact,” said a spokesperson for Sunbeam.

Hong Kong fencing gold medallist Vivian Kong retires after pro-China thesis uproar

Vivian Kong of Hong Kong during her bout against Auriane Mallo-Breton of France. PHOTO: REUTERS

Updated
Aug 05, 2024, 11:55 PM

PARIS – Hong Kong’s Olympic gold medallist Vivian Kong said she would quit her fencing career days after controversy erupted over her apparent support for Beijing’s crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement, underscoring political tensions in the Asian finance hub.

An academic paper purported to be her master’s thesis showed that Kong, one of two athletes from the Special Administrative Region to pick up a gold from the Paris Games, condemned the 2014 protests calling for freer elections.

The document began circulating last week and prompted some fans to turn their back on the athlete, after initially celebrating her victory in women’s epee in July.

Nathan Law, a self-exiled former lawmaker and a student leader of the demonstrations, said on Aug 2 he made a mistake in congratulating Kong on her triumph, describing her political stance as “extremely problematic”.

Many users on LIHKG, a forum popular with supporters of the 2014 movement, satirised Kong after embracing her as a pride of the former British colony.

Kong has not publicly commented on the episode and did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The 30-year-old Stanford graduate said in an Instagram post she would start a charity to promote sports to children.

“After competing in my third Olympics, I have decided to take a break from professional fencing,” she wrote in a message to her “fencing family” on social media.

“I look forward to starting a new career and work towards having my own charity to help kids find joy and playfulness back into sports.”

The paper, submitted to Renmin University in Beijing in 2021, argued that protesters’ “chaos and illegal acts” threatened national security.

It hailed a new national security law for eliminating “anti-China and anti-Hong Kong powers” linked to the 2014 movement, where demonstrators blocked key thoroughfares to wrest political concessions from the authorities.

The clampdown led to the jailing of dozens of democracy advocates, and a subsequent rewriting of election rules all but ensured only pro-Beijing candidates could run for office. Law left the city for London, where he was granted political asylum.

The debate over Kong has divided the city, with those lamenting a loss of political freedoms disavowing her and those supporting Beijing’s action backing the fencer.

“The rabid attacks on Vivian’s political beliefs are an ugly reflection of the perversity and deformity of these fawning puppets of external powers,” said Regina Ip, an official adviser.

Hong Kong has had its best Olympics in history, with two golds and two bronzes so far. Kong and fellow fencer Edgar Cheung Ka Long are each set to receive a HK$6 million (S$1 million) reward from the Hong Kong Jockey Club for winning a gold medal.

Ranked No. 1 in the world, Kong has been fencing for nearly two decades and triumphed in Paris after suffering two torn cruciate ligaments in recent years.

Patrick Yung, an orthopaedics and traumatology professor who treated Kong, told local broadcaster RTHK that he did not think her retirement was related to the old knee injuries.

“The Vivian I know, other than promoting fencing with her utmost effort, has also done a lot in promoting sports and positive thinking among the general public, particularly young people; I believe she will continue with that work,” Yung said. 

BLOOMBERG, AFP

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Singapore Public agencies to replenish stock of absorbent booms, dispersants after oil spill clean-up

Oil sheen on the surface of the water around Changi Point Ferry Terminal at 9.20am on July 8, 2024. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Esther Loi
Updated
Aug 11, 2024

SINGAPORE – Weeks after June 14, which saw the worst oil spill in Singapore’s waters in a decade, two public agencies are looking to replenish their stock of absorbent booms and oil spill dispersants.

The National Parks Board (NParks) called for a tender on July 25 for the supply and delivery of absorbent booms covering 1.65km, to replace what was used in cleaning up the recent oil spill.

Separately, a tender was called by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) on July 24 for the supply and delivery of 24,000 litres of oil spill dispersants to its patrol boats.

MPA will award a three-year contract as part of a routine renewal of its oil spill dispersant stock.

Caused by a collision between Netherlands-flagged dredging boat Vox Maxima and stationary Singapore-flagged bunker vessel Marine Honour at Pasir Panjang Terminal on June 14, the recent oil spill spread to coastlines at East Coast Park, Labrador Nature Reserve, Keppel Bay, the Southern Islands and Sentosa.

Following joint oil spill clean-up operations involving several government agencies that spanned about two months, it was announced that all beaches in Sentosa and East Coast Park would complete their clean-ups by early September.

Sentosa’s Siloso Beach reopened ahead of schedule on Aug 3, while several parts of East Coast Park have also been reopened for land-based activities since July 29.

In tender documents published by NParks on government procurement portal GeBiz, the agency is seeking the supply and delivery of oil spill response kits – including absorbent booms, chemical-protective suits, and disposable bags for hazardous materials – for five locations: Labrador Nature Reserve, Coney Island, Pasir Ris Park, West Coast Park and Sungei Buloh Nature Reserve.

It added that the booms it is sourcing need to be able to absorb at least 200 litres of oil and repel water, and that the kits have to be delivered within four weeks of the agency’s confirmation of the purchase.

Absorbent booms laid out below Bukit Chermin Boardwalk and the mangroves at Berlayer Creek at 5.02pm on June 18, 2024. 

ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI


Absorbent booms are made from materials that can contain and absorb oil, and were previously used as precautionary measures in biodiversity-sensitive areas including West Coast Park, Chek Jawa Wetlands at Pulau Ubin, Pasir Ris Park and Coney Island Park.


NParks said that it had deployed booms measuring more than 1.5km in length to protect biodiversity-rich coastal and marine habitats, including Berlayer Creek and the Rocky Shore along Labrador Nature Reserve, in the aftermath of the oil spill.

It told The Straits Times in early August that this is part of the agency’s “routine replenishment” of the kits on an ad-hoc basis when needed, since booms had been deployed for oil spill incidents such as the recent one in June.

NParks said: “This is to ensure that key coastal and marine habitats managed by NParks can be protected when the need arises.”

NParks’ tender closed on July 31.

For MPA’s tender involving the supply and delivery of oil spill dispersants, the authority told ST on Aug 8 that this is a “routine renewal” as the current contract for dispersants is expiring, adding that the quantity requested is the same as in previous contracts, and is based on “operational considerations”.

Dispersants are chemicals that break oil up into smaller droplets that can be mixed with water, and are sprayed directly on a spill.

In the June incident, MPA had sprayed these dispersants in the first instance to break down the oil in the immediate vicinity of the affected vessels.

The vessel-mounted oil dispersant spray system applies oil dispersants swiftly to minimise the environmental impact of oil spills. Pictured here is the system in action from the joint oil spill exercise in 2020. 

PHOTO: CHEE HONG TAT/FACEBOOK

The GeBiz tender documents published by MPA show that the appointed contractor must be on standby every day to supply these dispersants within six hours of notification, as long as it is alerted any time between 7am and 7pm.

MPA noted that these dispersants have to comply with industry standards developed by government agencies, academics and industry specialists.

These standards follow guidelines by the International Maritime Organisation – such as recommendations for dispersants not to be used near ecologically sensitive areas, and the need for a test spray run before dispersants are applied entirely to an area – as well as international publications, and took Singapore’s environmental conditions into consideration, it added.

The authority added in the documents that the contract could start tentatively from September. The tender will close on Aug 19.

In response to whether MPA will replenish its booms, MPA said that heavy-duty oil containment booms will be deployed by MPA’s contracted oil spill response vendor Singapore Salvage Engineers, when needed.

Other government agencies involved in the recent oil spill clean-up efforts include the National Environment Agency (NEA) and Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC).

On whether NEA has plans to procure more booms, its spokesperson said that it has an existing contract for the provision of equipment and supplies for landward oil spill clean-ups. Its service provider will replace their stock, including absorbent booms, when required.

SDC said it is “reviewing its existing plans and optimal approaches to safeguard Sentosa against future oil spills”.

Banksy reveals his latest artwork on a London billboard: a black cat stretching

Associated Press

 Aug 10, 2024 #banksy #art #newsThe elusive street artist Banksy has revealed his latest artwork - the silhouette of a black cat stretching on a billboard in London. This is the sixth of his new series of animal-inspired pieces.