Ukraine’s SBU state security service launched a series of raids on the country’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) as part of an investigation into allegations that officials within the agency have been cooperating with Russia.
The SBU said on Monday that it had arrested two officials working for NABU, one a suspected Russian spy and the other over alleged business ties to Russia.
ABSTRACT: Online misinformation can provoke social disputes, promote the normalization of prejudice, and bias social perceptions of social groups. In Israel, where society is already polarized, exposure to misinformation could exacerbate existing tensions between the ultra-orthodox (Haredi) and the general population.
Furthermore, the low digital literacy of the Haredi population presumably makes them more vulnerable to the influence of misinformation.
This study compared the ability of Haredi and non-Haredi Jews to detect misinformation, while examining the relationship between misinformation detection and digital literacy and knowledge. 83 Jewish participants (Haredi and non-Haredi) evaluated the credibility of online news articles. Eye tracking technology was used to examine participants’ scan patterns and attention to information metadata. The results showed that Haredi participants were less successful in identifying false messages and less attentive to metadata.
However, when combined with other predictors in multivariate regression, Haredi became a non-significant predictor, and digital knowledge and activity on social networks were found to be significant and strong predictors of misinformation identification. In terms of digital literacy, while there was no difference in subjective assessment, the study found a significant gap between the two populations in terms of psychophysiological behavioral indices (i.e., scan patterns) and digital knowledge.
The implications of such dramatic differences in skills and the vulnerability to false messages of a secluded, disadvantaged population, as well as the need to invest resources to increase digital literacy among the Haredi population to reduce these gaps, are discussed.
As Israel continues its assault on Gaza, enables settler violence in the West Bank, and launches strikes on Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen, American conservatives are taking special note of one form of Israeli belligerence: attacks on Christians in the Holy Land.
An Israeli tank last week shelled the only Catholic church in Gaza, killing three and gravely wounding several. Over in the West Bank, settlers in recent weeks have intensified their attacks on Christian communities, including in the town of Taybeh, where they set cars aflame and erected a sign that read “there is no future for you here,” among other indignities.
Many American Christians, including high-profile MAGA influencers, have had enough—jeopardizing one of Israel’s most vital bases of Western support.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee revised without fanfare its eligibility rules to comply with President Trump’s executive order on women’s sports, effectively barring male-born athletes from competing on women’s teams across the Olympic landscape.
A Christian man has been arrested in Lahore under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws, following what local rights groups allege is a fabricated accusation stemming from a neighbourhood dispute—not a religious offence.
Aamir Masih, a retired government education worker and father of two, was taken into custody by South Cantonment police after Sanwar Ali, a Muslim shopkeeper in Nishat Colony, lodged a complaint accusing Masih of making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The FIR was registered under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, a section that carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment or death.
The complainant alleges that Masih made the remarks during a discussion in his shop about the country’s current political and economic challenges. According to the FIR, Masih fled the scene when confronted.
However, local residents and human rights defenders have strongly contested the allegations, saying the charge is being misused to settle a personal grudge related to a drainage dispute.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced a cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday in a bid to regain momentum amid falling approval ratings and potential clashes with the new, opposition-backed nationalist president.
Since Karol Nawrocki’s victory over Tusk’s liberal ally Rafal Trzaskowski in June’s presidential election, dissension within the ruling pro-European coalition has grown, raising doubt about its future under a veto-wielding head of state.
German court acquits satirist over social media post following Trump assassination attempt – MSN Source Link Excerpt:
A German court on Wednesday acquitted a satirist who was charged with having approved of an assassination attempt against Donald Trump during last year’s U.S. election campaign in a social media post and disturbed the public peace.
In a quickly deleted post under his alias “El Hotzo” on X in July last year, Sebastian Hotz drew a parallel between Trump and “the last bus” and wrote “unfortunately just missed.” In a follow-up post, he wrote: “I find it absolutely fantastic when fascists die.”
HONG KONG — A Hong Kong judge on Wednesday ruled to strike down regulations criminalizing the use of bathrooms designated for the opposite sex, ruling in favor of transgender individuals’ rights to access public toilets matching their identity.
Judge Russell Coleman approved the judicial review of K, who was born a woman and identifies as a man, saying the regulations contravene an article of the city’s mini-constitution that stipulates all residents should be equal before the law.
But he suspended the declaration to strike down the regulations for a year to allow the government “to consider whether it wishes to implement a way to deal with the contravention.”
He said in the judgement that the regulations and “drawing the line of a person’s biological sex at birth create a disproportionate and unnecessary intrusion into the privacy and equality rights.”
The ruling marks another step forward in recognizing the rights of LGBTQ+ people in the Chinese financial hub. In recent years, the government has revised policies following activists’ wins in legal challenges.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The UN’s highest court is handing down a historic opinion on climate change Wednesday, a decision that could set a legal benchmark for action around the globe to the climate crisis.
After years of lobbying by vulnerable island nations who fear they could disappear under rising sea waters, the U.N. General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice in 2023 for an advisory opinion, a non-binding but important basis for international obligations.
A panel of 15 judges was tasked with answering two questions. First, what are countries obliged to do under international law to protect the climate and environment from human-caused greenhouse gas emissions? Second, what are the legal consequences for governments when their acts, or lack of action, have significantly harmed the climate and environment?
“The stakes could not be higher. The survival of my people and so many others is on the line,” Arnold Kiel Loughman, attorney general of the island nation of Vanuatu, told the court during a week of hearings in December.
In the decade up to 2023, sea levels have risen by a global average of around 4.3 centimeters (1.7 inches), with parts of the Pacific rising higher still. The world has also warmed 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 Fahrenheit) since preindustrial times because of the burning of fossil fuels.
Having done a trade deal with US President Donald Trump, Japan’s prime minister will soon announce his resignation, reports said Wednesday, after his latest election debacle left his coalition without a majority now in both houses of parliament.
The reports said Shigeru Ishiba had conveyed his intention to step down to those close to him, following the announcement Wednesday of a US-Japan trade deal.
Sunday’s upper house election was calamitous for Ishiba’s centre-right Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has governed almost continuously since 1955.
Voters angry at inflation turned to other parties, notably the “Japanese first” Sanseito, whose “anti-globalist” drive echoes the agenda of populist movements elsewhere.
President Trump went nuclear on Barack Obama, claiming the recent trove of documents released by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is proof that he was the ringleader. The president accused Mr. Obama of treason.
“Barack Hussein Obama is the ringleader. Hillary Clinton was right there with him and so was Sleepy Joe Biden, and so were the rest of them — Comey, Clapper, the whole group. And they tried to rig an election and they got caught.”
Barack Obama can’t lie himself out of this one. Tulsi Gabbard has the receipts!pic.twitter.com/6cQPhna3Iv
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) accused the media of being “either duped or complicit” on the interference of the 2016 election by Russians.
“I want the press to be honest. I want Pulitzer Prizes to be returned. They were either duped or complicit in pushing that false narrative that put America in political turmoil for years,” Johnson told NewsNation’s Blake Burman on “The Hill.”
“It’s continuing to go on, all based on a Hillary Clinton dirty trick, the Steele Dossier that those guys knew was a dirty trick, and yet they used that to gin up the Mueller investigation, impeachments, everything else,” he added. “Listen, this is, again election interference orders of magnitude worse than anything Russia or China ever, ever could hope to achieve,” he added.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard put out a report last week alleging that Obama administration officials manipulated intelligence linked to Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Gabbard argued in a statement that former officials took part in a “treasonous conspiracy” and said her office was turning over evidence to the Justice Department for possible criminal referrals.
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the United States agreed to a “massive” trade deal with Japan, including a 15% tariff on its exports. Months of negotiations followed Trump’s global trade offensive, with steel and auto tariffs key sticking points.
Senate passes Labor motion expressing ‘extreme disapproval’ against Mehreen Faruqi for Gaza sign protest
While the Coalition amendment failed, Labor’s original motion to sanction Mehreen Faruqi passes the Senate.
The Greens opposed the motion along with independent senator Fatima Payman while One Nation and independent senator Tammy Tyrrell teamed up with the two major parties to sanction Faruqi.
While we have been calling it a censure motion, it’s technically a motion to express “profound disapproval” against the senator but also includes that the Senate voted it not “appropriate for Senator Faruqi to represent the Senate as a member of any delegation during the life of this parliament”.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) believes it is unlikely former President Barack Obama will be indicted by a grand jury for his administration’s alleged role in ignoring intelligence pointing to Russia not being involved in the 2016 election.
Graham compared the chance of Obama, ex-CIA Director John Brennan, or former FBI Director James Comey being indicted to him “being in the NBA.”
“When you show these documents to a DC grand jury, and we know all about DC grand juries, what do you think the chances are of an indictment coming for Brennan, Comey, Barack Obama, or any of these guys?” Fox News host Jesse Watters asked Graham.
“Probably like me being in the NBA,” Graham responded.
Watters: If you showed these documents to a DC grand jury.. what do you think the chances are of an indictment coming for Brennan, Comey, Obama or any of these guys?
The anchoring effect is one of the sneakiest tools companies use to make us spend money.
Here’s how it works. Let’s say we’re shopping for a smartphone manufactured by Dapple, which has just released two new models: a $1,200 model with a big screen and a $900 one that is more compact. The more expensive smartphone will serve as the “anchor” by which we make comparisons, so the $900 model will appear to be value for money — even if it is costly in absolute terms. But we’re likely to feel good about choosing it because we’ve “saved” $300 on our purchase.
This scenario seems to be what’s happening with the U.S-Japan trade agreement freshly announced late Tuesday stateside. U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington would gain access to Japan’s markets for rice and cars — which had been sticking points during negotiations — while the latter would see 15% tariffs on its exports to America.
At first glance, that doesn’t sound too positive for Japan. But investors celebrated the news — the Nikkei 225 jumped 3.8% at 1:45 a.m. ET. After all, a 15% tariff rate is a big improvement from the 25% tariff Trump slapped on Tokyo earlier this month. Furthermore, Japanese auto exports to the U.S. — which made up 28.3% of all shipments in 2024 — will face a tariff of 15%, lower than the universal 25% other countries are subject to.
As Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management, said, “It’s a sign of the times that markets would cheer 15% tariffs. A year ago, that level of tariffs would be shocking. Today, we breathe a sigh of relief.” That, in essence, is the anchoring effect at play.
More than 100 aid organisations warned on Wednesday that “mass starvation“ was spreading in Gaza, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
Israel is facing mounting international pressure over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, where more than 2 million people face severe shortages of food and other essentials after 21 months of conflict, triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel.
The UN said on Tuesday that Israeli forces had killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid since the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operations in late May – in effect sidelining the existing UN-led system.
A statement with 111 signatories, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Save the Children and Oxfam, warned that “our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away”.
More than 100 aid organisations warned on Wednesday that “mass starvation“ was spreading in Gaza, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
Israel is facing mounting international pressure over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, where more than 2 million people face severe shortages of food and other essentials after 21 months of conflict, triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel.
The UN said on Tuesday that Israeli forces had killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid since the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operations in late May – in effect sidelining the existing UN-led system.
A statement with 111 signatories, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Save the Children and Oxfam, warned that “our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away”.
Russian soldiers needing medical care returned by Ukraine
Two Russian soldiers in need of medical care were handed over by Ukrainian authorities yesterday to be returned home, the Russian defence ministry said.
A ministry statement on Telegram said the two servicemen were handed over and taken to Belarus, one of Moscow’s closest allies, on Russia’s western border. They were receiving treatment in Belarus and would soon return to Russia, it said.
The statement said the action was undertaken on the basis of agreements reached at the second of two direct meetings aimed at ending the conflict last month between Russian and Ukrainian representatives.
The two meetings in Istanbul resulted in agreements to return prisoners of war and remains of fallen soldiers, but made little progress towards an end to the more than three-year-old conflict.
Sudan’s oil-rich Kordofan region has turned into a major front line in the war between the army and rival paramilitary forces, as both sides try to gain the upper-hand in a conflict that has devastated the vast African state for more than two years.
Attacks that killed hundreds of civilians earlier this month have shifted attention to the battle for this part of the country.
“Whoever controls Kordofan effectively controls the country’s oil supply, as well as a huge chunk of Sudan,” Amir Amin, an analyst with risk consultancy Oasis Policy Advisory, told the BBC.
The region is also vital for landlocked South Sudan, as its oil flows through pipelines in Kordofan, before being exported. So, it has a vested interest in Kordofan’s stability.
Poilievre, Conservative MPs publicly support ‘Freedom Convoy’ organizers ahead of sentencing – Canada’s National Observer Source Link Excerpt:
Several Conservative MPs are criticizing the Crown’s approach to prosecuting two key organizers of the “Freedom Convoy” protests, with the party’s deputy leader calling it an act of “political vengeance.”
Tamara Lich and Chris Barber were convicted of mischief in April for their roles in organizing the demonstration, which blockaded streets around Parliament Hill for more than three weeks in early 2022. Barber was also convicted of counselling others to disobey a court order.
Iran vows to press on with nuke enrichment despite Trump’s threats and ‘serious damage’ done by stealth bombings– www.thesun.co.uk Source Link Excerpt:
IRAN has vowed to push on with nuclear enrichment – in a stark warning to the west following Donald Trump’s stealth blitz on Tehran’s nuke plants.
The pariah state pledged to enrich uranium, despite the 12-day war which started over fears the mullahs were dangerously close to getting a nuclear warhead.
The first new U.S. rare-earth mine in 70 years broke ground this month in Wyoming.
Ramaco Brook Mine, which contains 1.7 million tons of rare earth minerals, is a “groundbreaking discovery” that “marks a turning point for America,” the Department of Energy announced.
The groundbreaking discovery at the Ramaco Brook Mine marks a turning point for America as the first new rare earth facility in 7 DECADES, containing 1.7 MILLION tons of rare earth oxides.
Developing American supply chains for rare earth minerals STRENGTHENS our energy security.
— U.S. Department of Energy (@ENERGY) July 9, 2025
