Category Archives: News to use

Useful news for all to advance knowledge of the world and how it works

The separation barrier is an illusion — and Israel knows it – (but maintained so it can be used for suppression, if they wish)

The “erosion” of the wall, the senior officials say, started with the Palestinians, who sought to reach plots of their land that were left on the “Israeli” side, or to work inside Israel. But gradually, Israel’s defense system also discovered the advantages of this so-called erosion. The Israeli army realized that the chances of a Palestinian working in Israel engaging in “terrorist” activity is close to zero. According to one of the officials, Israel’s Shin Bet security agency also began easing the criteria for permits.

The Israeli economy conveniently benefits from this movement, too. Palestinian laborers cost less than Israeli ones, and unlike migrant workers, their earnings are not sent abroad.

The illusion of separation

In the first years after the separation barrier was constructed, with many petitions objecting to its route, it was important for Israel’s defense system to prove to the High Court that the barrier was essential. But after the High Court’s pressure subsided, and when security officials realized that Palestinians who travel to work inside Israel are not a real security threat, it contributed to the barrier’s “erosion,” since its maintenance requires a lot of workers, resources, and funding that the defense system preferred to allocate to other things.

 

Source: The separation barrier is an illusion — and Israel knows it

Instagram wants suspected bot accounts to provide government IDs

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Instagram is planning to boot out suspicious accounts, including bots, by verification through government IDs. The company’s idea is to control “potential inauthentic behavior,” presumably to stop fake follower counts and likes from shady accounts. The company says most users won’t be affected by this, so you won’t likely get the prompt to show your ID. Through this new policy, Instagram classes dodgy accounts as those that have a majority of followers in a different country to their own. The company will also hunt out suspect bot accounts. [Read: Get yourself off social media: A guide to deleting your accounts] If…

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S. 4527: A bill to maintain prompt and reliable postal services during the COVID-19 health emergency, and for other purposes.

Introduced: Sponsor: Sen. Gary Peters [D-MI] This bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs which will consider it before sending it to the Senate floor for consideration. Sen. Gary Peters [D-MI] is the ranking member of the committee.

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Introduced: Sponsor: Sen. Gary Peters [D-MI]

This bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs which will consider it before sending it to the Senate floor for consideration.

Sen. Gary Peters [D-MI] is the ranking member of the committee.

New Zealand extends Auckland lockdown for 12 days – BBC News

The PM said the decision to extend the restrictions was “in keeping with our cautionary approach and New Zealand’s philosophy of going hard and going early”.

She said that, in 12 days’ time, she thought “the cluster will be identified, will be isolated, and we can move to Level 2 in Auckland with confidence”.

All 29 cases “remain linked to one cluster centred in Auckland”, Ms Ardern said, adding that 38 people are in government quarantine.

Source: New Zealand extends Auckland lockdown for 12 days – BBC News

Police, protesters clash in Jaffa over Muslim cemetery ‘desecration’

“Instead of catching the criminals who murder or getting their hands on the officers who killed Iyad elHallaq…instead of throwing them in jail,” the speaker addressing the officers said, police “are chasing people who came to protest and protect the dignity of their dead.”

People who came to “protest and protect the best values humanity could possibly have,” the speaker told police. “Those who will not protect the dead in their grave will not be protected by anyone, and neither will be the land” of their grave. 459033
Police “are chasing people who came to protest and protect the dignity of their dead,” the protesters said.

The Great Energy Debate: Is Nuclear Power the Solution to Climate Change?

Trading future for present buy-out is sell out for the people of the future. People are not smart enough to provide security from radiation for 50,000 years.

Paul Dorfman and Staffan Qvist both want to save the climate. But one of them wants to rid the world of nuclear reactors while the other wants to build more of them. We brought them together for a debate.

Coronavirus: Berlin′s lakes and parks overcrowded in the summer heat  | Germany| News and in-depth reporting from Berlin and beyond | DW | 14.08.2020 – (finding new normal isn’t easy but must be done to live)

Many people bathing in pool with fountain (picture-alliance/dpa/J. Büttner)

Berlin’s coronavirus cases are on the rise again — with a record 111 cases registered this week.

At the same time, the German capital is seeing the longest heatwave of the year. And judging by the trail of bathers heading to the city’s lakes, parks, and pools, it seems the heat bothers Berliners far more than the risk of catching the coronavirus.

“We don’t have too many pretty days like these in Berlin, so we have to make good use of them!” says one bather as he approaches the narrow shore of Schlachtensee, in the south-western part of the city. As it is easily accessible by public transportation, it is one of the prime destinations for those looking to cool down and chill out.

Read more: Are Berlin residents packing up and leaving the city to flee the coronavirus?

However, city authorities are concerned it will soon become a pandemic hotspot. On Twitter this week, Berlin police have been reminding lake-goers to keep a distance and to wear masks — but they can’t do much more than plead with the public and hope for voluntary cooperation.

 

Source: Coronavirus: Berlin′s lakes and parks overcrowded in the summer heat  | Germany| News and in-depth reporting from Berlin and beyond | DW | 14.08.2020

‘Ants crawling from wound’: horrifying scenes at coronavirus-hit aged care home in Melbourne | Australia news | The Guardian

“The whole point of asking for help from federal and state authorities was to avoid disaster like the ones we have seen elsewhere. But when we first asked for help in July, we were not considered bad enough.” “Then, when our first few residents tested positive they didn’t have severe symptoms yet, so when we asked for them to be taken to hospital the response was again, ‘no, it’s not bad enough’,” Bryndzia said. “The irony is although we did everything we could on our own to try to stop it getting worse, it was only when things got really bad that the state and federal governments were concerned enough to help us. “It’s gut-wrenching.”

Source: ‘Ants crawling from wound’: horrifying scenes at coronavirus-hit aged care home in Melbourne | Australia news | The Guardian