Intel set to launch 7th-generation Israeli technology
(JNS.org) Intel Corp. introduced its 7th generation Core processors developed by the company’s Israeli branch in Haifa on Tuesday.
The research and development team in Israel redesigned the Core i3, i5 and i7 chips, which now boast a 12 percent increase in speed and performance.
The new chips will improve graphic processing for high-quality video and virtual reality gaming. Users can also expect a longer-lasting battery, better security features and a 19 percent increase in web browsing speed.
Millions of users around the world will be able to purchase the chip beginning in September for use in laptops, tablets, desktop computers and other products.
*
NGO says PA and Hamas abuse critical journalists and activists
(JNS.org) The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas authorities have been abusing journalists and activists who peacefully criticize the Palestinian government, a human rights NGO asserts.
“Both Palestinian governments, operating independently, have apparently arrived at similar methods of harassment, intimidation and physical abuse of anyone who dares criticize them,” Sari Bashi, Israel/Palestine director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said in a statement.
Human Rights Watch documented five cases – two in the West Bank and three in the Gaza Strip – in which Palestinian security forces arrested or questioned journalists, a political activist and two rap musicians for criticizing the Palestinian government. The four of those people arrested said they were physically abused or tortured.
“[Palestinian] security officers beat or kicked them, deprived them of sleep and proper food, hosed them with cold and then hot water, and made them maintain uncomfortable positions for long hours,” the HRW report said.
In Gaza, Hamas authorities denied the allegations. In the West Bank, Palestinian Authority officials could not investigate the allegations without a formal complaint.
Bashi said, “The Palestinian people fought hard to gain the protections that accompany membership in the international community, and their leaders should take their treaty obligations seriously.”
*
UN Middle East envoy “distorting history,” Netanyahu says
(JNS.org) Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuked the United Nations envoy to the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov for his remarks on Tuesday harshly criticizing Israeli building in Judea and Samaria.
Mladenov’s comments to the U.N. Security Council “distort history and international law and push peace farther away,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
“Jews have been in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria for thousands of years and their presence there is not an obstacle to peace,” Netanyahu said. “The obstacle to peace is the unending attempt to deny the Jewish People’s connection to parts of their historic land and the obdurate refusal to recognize that they are not foreigners there.”
Mladenov briefed the U.N. Security Council about working toward a resolution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, emphasizing that all building in eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, is considered illegal and “undermine[s] an already precarious situation.”
Netanyahu said Mladenov’s claim is “as absurd as the claim that American construction in Washington or French construction in Paris is illegal. The Palestinian demand that a future Palestinian state be ethnically cleansed of Jews is outrageous, and the U.N. must condemn it instead of adopting it.”
*
Nigerian Clinton Foundation donor investigated for Hezbollah ties
(JNS.org) Nigerian billionaire philanthropist Gilbert Chagoury, who has been a major donor of the Clinton Foundation, was denied entry to the U.S. last year due to suspected ties to the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.
Chagoury, 70, has been friendly with former President Bill Clinton and his wife, current presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, since the 1990s, and has donated between $1 million and $5 million to the couple’s foundation, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Chagoury has been a close ally of former Nigerian dictator Gen. Sani Abacha and has tried to influence U.S. policy in the dictator’s favor. The State Department has also been investigating the billionaire, who has Lebanese roots, for his ties to Lebanon. He is currently on a no-fly list, in part because of his connection to Lebanese Christian politician and former Lebanese Army commander Michel Aoun, whose party had signed a memorandum of understanding with Hezbollah in 2006.
A 2013 FBI intelligence report has indicated that Chagoury provided funding to Aoun funds, which Aoun transferred to Hezbollah. When Chagoury applied for a tourist visa in the summer of 2015, the state department denied his request on grounds related to funding terrorism. Chagoury denies any link to Hezbollah.
*
Articles from JNS.org appear on San Diego Jewish World through the generosity of Dr. Bob and Mao Shillman. Comments intended for publication in the space below MUST be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the United States.)