The Biden administration's decision to move forward with over $1 billion in weapons deals for Israel is a significant and strategic move that demonstrates the United States' unwavering commitment to supporting its key ally in the Middle East. This transfer of lethal aid comes just a week after the White House temporarily paused a single shipment of precision-guided munitions to Israel, raising concerns about potential shifts in U.S. policy.However, this latest development underscores the Biden administration's recognition of the critical role Israel plays in regional stability and security. By approving these substantial weapons deals, the U.S. is sending a clear message that it stands firmly behind Israel's right to defend itself and maintain its military superiority in the face of ongoing threats and challenges in the region. Moreover, this decision reflects the Biden administration's understanding of the complex and volatile geopolitical landscape in the Middle East. Providing Israel with advanced military capabilities is not only a matter of national security for the U.S., but also a strategic investment in preserving regional balance and deterring potential aggressors. As the U.S. continues to navigate the delicate dynamics of the Middle East, this move demonstrates its unwavering commitment to its allies and its determination to maintain a strong presence in the region.The proposed arms deals underscore the administration's commitment to supporting its allies and upholding global stability. The potential transfer of over $1.2 billion in critical military equipment, including tank ammunition, tactical vehicles, and mortar rounds, demonstrates the administration's willingness to provide the necessary tools for its partners to defend themselves and maintain regional security. This decision reflects the administration's recognition of the evolving geopolitical landscape and the need for a robust defense posture. By facilitating these arms deals, the administration is sending a clear message that it stands behind its allies and is dedicated to preserving peace and security on the international stage.The transfer of these military assets is not merely a symbolic gesture but a tangible investment in the long-term security and stability of the region. The administration's willingness to engage in such sensitive matters, while maintaining the necessary discretion, underscores its strategic approach to foreign policy and its commitment to empowering its allies to address emerging threats.
The impact of the COVID-19 crisis is leading to a rapidly growing video communication service market, as tech giants are fighting to introduce new remote working services or expand their existing offerings.
The impact of COVID-19 has resulted in an urgent need for remote interactions, as people across the globe have been forced to substitute their in-person meetings with virtual networking sessions, from corporate meetings to music concerts, funerals, weddings and family meetings, with video-conferencing players getting a big piece of the pie.
Recently, Google announced it will make Google Meet video-conferencing service freely available to all Google account-holders, as the platform reaches 100 million daily users.
According to Google, from early May, anyone with an e-mail address can sign up for Meet, formerly known as Google Hangouts, and gain access to many of the same features available to its priced G-suite business and education tools.
Meanwhile, Zoom’s stock reportedly dipped when Facebook introduced Messenger Rooms, a service that will let users invite as many as 50 people to a video call with no time limit, while WhatsApp has expanded its video-calling service to now include up to eight people instead of just four.
As more companies and educational institutions introduce remote working policies, video software providers such as Microsoft, Cisco, UberConference, and Zoom Video Communications have reported a dramatic surge in demand for their work-from-home services, as the industry’s revenue projections reach billions of dollars.
“The global video-conferencing industry is worth anywhere between $4 billion and $8 billion, depending on who is doing the counting and how they're counting.Traditionally, the enterprise market is by far the largest. But we've seen a significant shift as remote working and remote teaching begins to dominate that market,” explains Arthur Goldstuck, head of World Wide Worx. He says the previous forecast for video-conferencing revenue growth, which suggested the market would double over eight years, was completely overturned by the massive growth seen in the first quarter of 2020.
Massive revenue growth
While the video-conferencing industry had seen steady growth in the past few years due to geographically-scattered business operations and increasing remote workforce management, the biggest driving factor this year has been the COVID-19 pandemic which has led to a flourishing market, even as the global economy takes a huge blow.
Zoom signed a cloud deal with Oracle to use its cloud infrastructure support after the video-conferencing company’s daily users spiked to 300 million, up from 100 million two months ago.
The company’s growth has reportedly contributed to founder and CEO Eric Yuan adding $1 billion to his net worth in the last month.
Zoom founder and CEO Eric Yuan.
Microsoft Teams, available through the tech giant’sOffice 365-based collaboration platform, has reached 44 million daily users across the globe, while Cisco says its conferencing platform Webex recorded four million daily meetings on its busiest day on 18 March.
Goldstuck believes that while the greatest appetite is for the free versions of these packages, their growth represents massive revenue increases as more users see the benefits of the commercial paid-for versions of the software.
“This has been reflected in the stratospheric rise in Zoom's share price. But this tends to mask what is happening in the enterprise environment, where we've seen Microsoft and Amazon’s share prices also shooting up as a result of massive growth in cloud usage. Microsoft's first-quarter results reflected a 39% increase in revenue, thanks to the massive demand for cloud computing, partly driven by the explosion in the use of Microsoft Teams,” he points out.
This kind of growth, notes Goldstuck, is mirrored throughout the industry, meaning the doubling of the market that was expected between 2019 and 2027 is probably all happening in 2020.
Google was an early leader in video-conferencing for the mass market with Google Hangouts; however, it failed to capture the enterprise market when it introduced Meet as a commercial tool, he adds.
“Opening up Meet for free use is an astute move by Google because it then introduces a far wider user base to the full power and versatility of Google as a platform for video-conferencing and collaboration.”
However, the benefits gained from the commercial tools linked to paid-for versions will start growing from a new base of users, he adds.
“So any astute investor who's in it for the long-term is going to look at what the reset base will be after lockdown – the proportion of new users now will be ongoing users later, and then from that level, determine what growth can be expected.
“This is why it is so important for the likes of Zoom, Google, Microsoft, and Cisco to ensure their products become bulletproof from a security and scalability point of view so that there are no reputational issues hampering growth at a later stage,” concludes Goldstuck.
By the end of May 2020, numerous airlines worldwide could be bankrupt, according to an analysis by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.
It has called for an urgent coordinated government and industry action to avoid catastrophe in the sector.
"As the impact of the coronavirus and multiple government travel reactions sweep through our world, many airlines have probably already been driven into technical bankruptcy, or are at least substantially in breach of debt covenants," CAPA said in a newsletter to members on Monday.
'Unprecedented'
"Cash reserves are running down quickly as fleets are grounded, and what flights there are operate much less than half full. Forward bookings are far outweighed by cancellations, and each time there is a new government recommendation it is to discourage flying. Demand is drying up in ways that are completely unprecedented. Normality is not yet on the horizon."
The analysis, furthermore, argues that each nation seems to be adopting an individual solution, rather than consulting with neighbors and trading partners. CAPA, for its part, sees the prioritization of country interests over industry cooperation as an increasing threat for aviation.
"The aviation industry is about much more than airline health. It is crucial to global communications and trade," the aviation body said.
"As things stand, the likely tepid response to the airline crisis will equally be fragmented and nationally based. It will consist mostly of bailing out selected national airlines."
CAPA has called for intergovernmental coordination, saying it is essential for the aviation industry in a post-coronavirus world. It foresees that failure to coordinate the future of aviation will result in protectionism and much less competition.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has also warned of extreme pressure on the aviation industry. It has urged governments to prepare for the broad economic consequences of travel restrictions they impose and to respond quickly to the financial frailty of airlines, while also following the recommendations of the World Health Organisation.
'Extraordinary Times'
"These are extraordinary times and governments are taking unprecedented measures. Safety — including public health — is always a top priority.
"Airlines are complying with these requirements. Governments must also recognize that airlines — employing some 2.7 million people — are under extreme financial and operational pressures. They need support," Alexandre de Juniac, IATA's director general and CEO said in a recent statement.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Britain said on Friday it supported Russian President Vladimir Putin’s idea to hold a summit between the leaders of the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council to discuss international peace and security measures.
Britain is the last country to give its assent after Putin in January proposed that the leaders of Russia, China, the United States, France, and Britain meet.
France and China have publicly voiced their approval for the summit, while a senior U.S. administration official said in February that President Donald Trump was willing to meet and discuss arms control.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Britain had expressed an interest in Putin’s idea and that the best venue for the meeting could be the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, scheduled for Sept. 15-30 in New York.
The British Embassy in Moscow confirmed Britain's support for the encounter.
"Britain, on the whole, supports the idea of a meeting between the heads of states on the UN Security Council's permanent members, with the aim of discussing questions of international Peace and Security," it said in a social media posting. "We are in contact with the Russian government to discuss details on this proposal."
A spokesman for British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said he had received a letter from the Russian side which would be formally answered in due course. Peskov said the proposed meeting was a long way off and that talk of coronavirus forcing changes were premature.
The end of the world just got a little closer. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists pushed the minute hand of their symbolic “Doomsday Clock” forward by 20 seconds on January 23, bringing the time to just 100 seconds until “midnight”—the symbolic hour of global nuclear destruction. This is the nearest the countdown has ever been to “doomsday” since the clock was developed almost 75 years ago.
“[T]he international security situation is now more dangerous than it has ever been, even at the height of the Cold War,” John Mecklin, the Bulletin’s editor in chief, wrote in a statement about the group’s decision to push the time forward.
Created in 1947, the Doomsday Clock is an emblematic indication of the likelihood that humanity will start war, with midnight representing the zero hour—worldwide destruction. The farthest from midnight the clock was ever set came in 1991 when the Cold War era concluded, and it was placed at 17 minutes to midnight. The nearest to zero hour it had ever been—before last week—was in 1953 when the clock sat at two minutes to midnight after the announcement that the United States and the Soviet Union had tested thermonuclear weapons within less than a year of each other. In 2018, it was again pushed forward to two minutes to midnight as North Korea’s nuclear activity reached a crisis point, and as other global powers grew more bellicose. The clock remained at the 11:58 mark throughout 2018 and 2019.
But now the team behind the clock says the threat is even more severe.
“In the nuclear realm, national leaders have ended or undermined several major arms control treaties and negotiations during the last year, creating an environment conducive to a renewed nuclear arms race, to the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and to lowered barriers to nuclear war,” Mecklin wrote. “Political conflicts regarding nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea remain unresolved and are, if anything, worsening. U.S.-Russia cooperation on arms control and disarmament is all but nonexistent.”
He continued:
Faced with this daunting threat landscape and a new willingness of political leaders to reject the negotiations and institutions that can protect civilization over the long term, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Science and Security Board today moves the Doomsday Clock 20 seconds closer to midnight—closer to apocalypse than ever.
The Bulletin calls special attention to flashpoints in Asia, highlighting the fact that it is home to five of the world’s nine nuclear-armed powers: Russia, China, India, Pakistan, and North Korea. Rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea, Kashmir and the Korean Peninsula mean the region is dotted with potentially cataclysmic thermonuclear flashpoints.
Robert Rosner, chair of the Bulletin’s science and security board, said that the situation worldwide is “profoundly unstable.” He said the threats are compounded by an increase in “cyber-enabled disinformation campaigns,” which is crippling “the public’s ability to sort out what’s true and what’s patently false.”
There’s a lot to disagree with in the Bulletin’s reasoning. But the fact is we do live in dangerous times. In 2002, when the Doomsday Clock was pushed forward from nine to seven minutes to midnight, an editor of an international magazine, Gerald Flurry wrote about the importance of the move—and the shameful lack of attention it received. “The world should have jolted out of sleep at the news,” he wrote. “Headlines should have splashed across all the media. But no real alarm was sounded. The majority of the news media dismissed it. And many still slumber on as the world heads toward self-destruction.”
Many have associated this clock to what the Bible has prophesied about the end of times. There have been conflicting views by different denominations regarding the matter, but we do not want to delve into that. We leave it to the reader to search for the meaning behind this buzz.
Kaluga, Russia. On June 26, 2019, in Kaluga, Russia, mass searches by masked law enforcement officers were carried out in the homes of two peaceful believers. Two of Jehovah's Witnesses, Roman Makhnev and Dimitri Kuzin were detained, simply for their religion. The officers stormed into these men's houses, without any warrants and handcuffed them. Their families were treated badly during these raids. Another group from the same raided a home of an 87 years old Olga Verevkina. She describes them as a full SWAT team in camouflage with no warrant, raiding a home of an old sickly woman. They demanded that she stands up and she responded she can't since she's infirm.
According to these believers, books from the list that the Federal government has banned for being extremist material were planted in their homes, in order to justify why they were arrested. The search at Roman's house lasted from about 9 in the evening until 4 a.m the following morning. After the searches, the two men were taken into the FSB building, handcuffed for questioning. One of the men, Roman, was detained without food for three days. Their lawyer has filed complaints with relevant agencies for the inhumane treatment of an innocent man.
On June 28, the local District Court sent both men to a detention centre until this day. No formal charges were laid against them. No evidence of them being a threat to society have been proven, yet they languish in jail. We hope that International Human Rights organizations take note of this abuse and intervene. A call to the government of Russia to cease this treatment against Christian believers and protect their rights as citizens.
Johannesburg - MEC for Education in Gauteng, Panyaza Lesufi, made an emergency visit to Lewisham Primary School in Krugersdorp on Thursday following the emergence of a video showing a learner insulting his teacher, calling him rubbish and saying he stinks.
The same boy is also seen fighting a female trying to restrain him.
In the 51 second video, the boy is seen screaming at a male teacher, pulling him with his shirt.
The female teacher then intervenes. “Leave the teacher,” she says as he gets between the two.
The boy then fights the female teacher, pushing and hitting her.
The male teacher then goes towards the boy and tries to restrain him from hitting the teacher. However, the boy lashes out at him.
"Don't touch me, you stink. Did you have a bath this morning?" he shouts at him.
The female teacher then says to the boy: Don’t do this. Calm down" but the boy screams at her: "Leave me alone. Don’t touch me. Calm down for what?"
The male teacher decides to walk away and the learner can be heard shouting at him saying “This rubbish”.
The female teacher continues to restrain the boy who refuses to calm down. He can also be heard threatening to "smash that car".
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Many people who saw the video said it was clear that teachers were not safe in schools and that the boy needed to be expelled. However, Lesufi disagreed, saying the child has a constitutional right to learn.
"I can't just throw the child on the streets and say he 'can't come back'. He has a constitutional right to be in school," Lesufi said on SAFM.
It is not clear what sparked the argument but Lesufi said the child has a medical condition and he had behaved in the way he did because he had not taken his medication.
"The child is going through difficulties and has a medical condition; I can't ignore that. We have to find a way of assisting him. His parents have accepted that there was no justification for the child utter those words to the teacher," he said.
Lesufi said it was also not fair for people to say he only had the boy's interests at heart but not the teacher's, saying he was trying to support both but that the child had to be protected.
He also slammed the teacher who released the video.
"I feel that the video should have not been released, there are ways of dealing with this," he said.
Today I held an urgent meeting with the learner who was captured on a video insulting educators. I also met his parents and social workers. pic.twitter.com/VQcqhC4V9k
Lesufi met with the school management and the parents of the boy and has since appointed a team to look into the incident and report back to him next week.
.jpeg)
The Biden administration's decision to move forward with over $1 billion in weapons deals for Israel is a significant and strategic move that demonstrates the United States' unwavering commitment to supporting its key ally in the Middle East. This transfer of lethal aid comes just a week after the White House temporarily paused a single shipment of precision-guided munitions to Israel, raising concerns about potential shifts in U.S. policy.However, this latest development underscores the Biden administration's recognition of the critical role Israel plays in regional stability and security. By approving these substantial weapons deals, the U.S. is sending a clear message that it stands firmly behind Israel's right to defend itself and maintain its military superiority in the face of ongoing threats and challenges in the region. Moreover, this decision reflects the Biden administration's understanding of the complex and volatile geopolitical landscape in the Middle East. Providing Israel with advanced military capabilities is not only a matter of national security for the U.S., but also a strategic investment in preserving regional balance and deterring potential aggressors. As the U.S. continues to navigate the delicate dynamics of the Middle East, this move demonstrates its unwavering commitment to its allies and its determination to maintain a strong presence in the region.The proposed arms deals underscore the administration's commitment to supporting its allies and upholding global stability. The potential transfer of over $1.2 billion in critical military equipment, including tank ammunition, tactical vehicles, and mortar rounds, demonstrates the administration's willingness to provide the necessary tools for its partners to defend themselves and maintain regional security. This decision reflects the administration's recognition of the evolving geopolitical landscape and the need for a robust defense posture. By facilitating these arms deals, the administration is sending a clear message that it stands behind its allies and is dedicated to preserving peace and security on the international stage.The transfer of these military assets is not merely a symbolic gesture but a tangible investment in the long-term security and stability of the region. The administration's willingness to engage in such sensitive matters, while maintaining the necessary discretion, underscores its strategic approach to foreign policy and its commitment to empowering its allies to address emerging threats.
In the 51 second video, the boy is seen screaming at a male teacher, pulling him with his shirt.
