Satisfied with SC decision, will not appeal: Akbar

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Satisfied with SC decision, will not appeal: Akbar

Islamabad            -      Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar on Friday said that the government was “satisfied” with the Supreme Court’s decision regarding presidential reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

Addressing a press conference, alongside Information Minister Shibli Faraz, after the short order was issued by the Supreme Court; he said that government will not file an appeal against the SC decision.

Earlier today, the apex court threw out the presidential reference against Justice Isa, terming it “invalid” and also withdrew a show cause notice issued to the judge.

Commenting on the SC’s decision, the Shahzad Akbar said that the government was satisfied with the decision, adding that the purpose behind sending a presidential reference to the SJC was not because the government wished for a particular outcome.

“Since day one, we have believed that matters concerning judges should be examined by the SJC. The executive and the administration should not be involved in this,” he said, adding that the involvement is severed the minute the information is handed over.

The PM’s aide stated that for the past 13 months, government officials, he, and the government’s counsel Farogh Naseem had held back from commenting on the case for a particular reason.

“These were legal proceedings and questions were asked. We remained silent not because we didn’t have any answers, but the purpose was to not engage in any controversy”, he continued.

He added that the purpose of holding today’s press conference was to set the record straight.

“When the short order was announced, there was an atmosphere created as if this was a win for someone and a loss for someone else.

“This is not the case. This is the process that happens in democratic societies in the constitutional scheme of things.” He added that he had perused the SC’s order and found no mention of the word “mala fide”.

“I have read the judgement. You will not find mala fide. So many people said things about the Asset Recovery Unit (ARU), I have not found any mention of it in the order so this also needed to be clarified,” he added. Akbar said that during the proceedings, the government had offered to send the matter to the FBR, adding that the Prime Minister had also raised no objections to this. “However, the petitioner didn’t agree to this. We just had one request that we wanted it to be time-bound,” he said.

According to Shahzad Akbar there were three scenarios in which a judge can be questioned. A person or department in possession of any information can send it directly to the SJC. Second, the government, through the President, can send a reference to the SJC. Third, the SJC takes a suo motu notice.



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8 Hospitals in 15 Hours: A Pregnant Woman’s Crisis in the Pandemic

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8 Hospitals in 15 Hours: A Pregnant Woman’s Crisis in the Pandemic

NEW DELHI — Neelam Kumari Gautam woke up at 5 a.m. with shooting labor pains. Her husband put her gently in the back of a rickshaw and motored with her to a hospital. Then another. Then another. Her pain was so intense she could barely breathe, but none would take her.

“Why are the doctors not taking me in?” she asked her husband, Bijendra Singh, over and over again. “What’s the matter? I will die.”

Mr. Singh began to panic. He knew what he was up against. As India’s coronavirus crisis has accelerated — India is now reporting more infections a day than any other nation except the United States or Brazil — the country’s already strained and underfunded health care system has begun to buckle.

A database of recent deaths reveals that scores of people have died in the streets or in the back of ambulances, denied critical care. Ms. Gautam’s odyssey through eight different hospitals in 15 hours in India’s biggest metropolitan area serves as a devastating window into what is really happening here.

Indian government rules explicitly call for emergency services to be rendered, but still people in desperate need of treatment keep getting turned away, especially in New Delhi, the capital. Infections are rising quickly, Delhi’s hospitals are overloaded and many health care workers are afraid of treating new patients in case they have coronavirus, which has killed more than 13,000 people in India.

“There is currently little or no chance of admission to hospitals for people with Covid-19, but also for people with other intensive care needs,” read a warning just issued by the German Embassy in New Delhi.

At the same time, India’s economy is nose-diving, and the coronavirus pandemic has cost this country more than 100 million jobs. Desperate to turn the economy around, Mr. Modi has rejected health experts’ counsel to put the country back under lockdown, saying that India must “unlock, unlock, unlock.”

When things got better, Mr. Singh and his wife had hoped to buy an apartment in a gated community in Noida, a satellite city of New Delhi crammed with tall glass buildings, many malls and many hospitals. She worked on an assembly line producing electrical wire. He serviced machines at a printing press.

Together, Mr. Singh, 31, and Ms. Gautam, 30, earned a respectable $8,000 a year, putting them solidly in India’s rising middle class. “Two wheels of a well-oiled machine, making our family go around,” Mr. Singh said.

Their son, Rudraksh, turned 6 just before their new baby was due.

As Ms. Gautam entered her ninth month, she ran into some health problems and spent five days, in late May and early June, in the hospital for pregnancy-related high blood pressure, bleeding and possibly typhoid.

On June 5, as she began to go into labor, the first hospital they tried was the ESIC Model Hospital, a sprawling government facility in Noida. Mr. Singh said that the first thing the doctor said to her was, “I’ll slap you if you take off your mask.”

They were shocked, Mr. Singh said. But Ms. Gautam was having trouble breathing. They didn’t argue. She begged for oxygen, which the hospital had, along with ventilators. But instead of helping, the doctor told them to go to another government hospital, on the other side of town. There, too, she was turned away.

An administrator at the first hospital declined to comment, and a doctor at the second hospital said Ms. Gautam needed intensive care, which the hospital couldn’t provide.

Even before Covid-19 arrived, Indian hospitals were beleaguered. The Indian government spends less than 2,000 rupees (about $26) per person per year on health care. The hope during India’s lockdown, which began in late March but was mostly lifted by early June, was that the restrictions would slow the spread of the virus and give cities time to scale up hospital capacity before the worst hit.

That didn’t happen, or not nearly enough, and Delhi now finds itself thousands of beds short — the central government just repurposed hundreds of railway cars to be used as sick bays. And still there is great confusion about admitting patients who don’t have coronavirus.

Some hospitals say they need to test every patient before treating them. Others simply perform a quick temperature check.

Several Indian doctors said that private, profit-driven hospitals were terrified to accept new patients — particularly those with breathing problems — because they didn’t want to risk getting shut down, which has happened to private clinics if one of their patients tested positive for the coronavirus.

“Government policy has created this chaos,” said Rajesh Kumar Prajapati, an orthopedic surgeon and former medical school professor.

As complaints began to pile up that hospitals were turning away sick people, the powerful home ministry issued a directive re-emphasizing that all hospitals should remain open for “all patients, Covid and non-Covid emergencies.”

But clearly not everyone has been listening. A 13-year-old boy in Agra died of a stomach ailment in April after being turned away from six hospitals, his distraught family said. Another boy, in Punjab, with an obstructed airway, was rejected from seven hospitals and died in the arms of a family friend, who happened to be a doctor but was not given any help to save him.

“This is inhuman,” said Dheeraj Singh, the doctor in Punjab.

Cases like these caught the eye of Thejesh G. N., an electronics engineer in India’s tech hub, Bangalore. He helped build a database tracking publicly reported deaths and found that at least 63 people have died in recent weeks from being denied critical care. Most health experts believe that the number is far higher.

The third hospital that Ms. Gautam went to, Shivalik Hospital, was the one that had treated her for her prenatal troubles. This time, doctors gave her a little oxygen, but Mr. Singh said they feared she might have coronavirus and abruptly ordered her to leave.

“We are a small mother and child hospital,” said the hospital’s director, Ravi Mohta. “We did what we could.”

The couple hobbled back to the rickshaw. Ms. Gautam was fading. She stopped talking and began heavily sweating. She clung to her husband’s hand.

It wasn’t simply that the doctors couldn’t help her, Mr. Singh said. It was as if they didn’t want to help her.

  • Updated June 16, 2020

    • I’ve heard about a treatment called dexamethasone. Does it work?

      The steroid, dexamethasone, is the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients, according to scientists in Britain. The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth.

    • What is pandemic paid leave?

      The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who don’t typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the country’s largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave.

    • Does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 happen?

      So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement.

    • What’s the risk of catching coronavirus from a surface?

      Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.

    • How does blood type influence coronavirus?

      A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.

    • How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?

      The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.

    • Will protests set off a second viral wave of coronavirus?

      Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission.

    • My state is reopening. Is it safe to go out?

      States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’t being told to stay at home, it’s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.

    • What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

      Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.

    • How can I protect myself while flying?

      If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

    • Should I wear a mask?

      The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.

    • What should I do if I feel sick?

      If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

“They didn’t care if she was dead or alive,” he said.

At a fourth hospital, a branch of Fortis, an Indian health care giant, Mr. Singh pleaded for a ventilator. Mr. Singh said the doctor’s response was: “She’s going to die. Take her wherever you wish.”

In a statement, the hospital said they had no space for her.

They tried three other hospitals, hurrying from one to the other, losing precious time. When all refused, Mr. Singh called the police.

He said that two officers met him at the entrance of the Government Institute of Medical Sciences, a large public hospital, and tried to persuade the doctors to admit his wife. But the doctors wouldn’t listen to the police officers, either.

Administrators at that hospital declined to comment.

After that failed, they raced in an ambulance to Max Super Specialty Hospital in Ghaziabad, more than 25 miles away. It was now late afternoon, still bright, around 100 degrees outside. More than eight hours had passed since Ms. Gautam and her husband had set off from their home, eager to meet their new baby soon.

But the Max hospital — their eighth that day — gave them the same heartbreaking answer: no beds.

Ms. Gautam closed her eyes and whispered: “Save me.”

Mr. Singh told the ambulance to rush back to the Government Institute of Medical Sciences.

He hunched in the back, leaning over his wife, pleading with her not to give up. He looked down at her face. She reached up and clutched his shirt. Her hands tightly clenched the fabric.

As they finally pulled into the hospital, she stopped breathing. Her neck slumped. Mr. Singh jumped out of the ambulance, grabbed a wheelchair and frantically wheeled her into the emergency room.

At 8:05 p.m., after 8 different hospitals and 15 hours, Neelam Kumari Gautam was pronounced dead. The baby also died.

A preliminary government investigation said: “Hospital administration and staff have been found guilty of carelessness.”

She has not been the only pregnant woman to die in labor after being turned away. The same thing happened to a young mother in Hyderabad and another in Kashmir. In that case, the family said, the hospital staff were so uncaring that they didn’t even help with an ambulance to take the body home. The woman’s family had to wheel her body down the road, in a stretcher, for several miles.

As the authorities consider criminal charges in Ms. Gautam’s case, her husband spends his days at home looking after his son, Rudraksh. The boy asked him to throw away all of his mother’s clothes.

“They remind me of her,” he said.

The spark has gone out of Rudraksh’s eye, Mr. Singh said.

A few days ago, he told his dad that when he grows up, he wants to be a doctor, so “I can make dead people come alive.”

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US in a ‘forest fire’, not a second wave: Experts’ warning as coronavirus cases spike

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US in a ‘forest fire’, not a second wave: Experts’ warning as coronavirus cases spike

Florida reported 4049 new cases on Saturday, and about 3500 more on Sunday, bringing the state’s total to about 97,000 cases. The number of COVID-19 deaths eclipsed 3160 with the addition of 17 more announced by health officials on Sunday.

Despite rising cases in recent days, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has not signalled the possibility of any retreat from reopening the state after three months of closures.

Arizona has now passed the 50,000 mark in confirmed COVID-19 cases after reporting 2952 new ones on Sunday.

A woman is tested for coronavirus in Salt Lake City, Utah.Credit:AP

It comes after the state reported record new cases number 3109 on Saturday, 3246 on Friday and 2519 on Thursday. Health officials have attributed the increases to wider testing and to community spread of the virus.

In The Wall Street Journal last week, Vice President Mike Pence wrote in a piece headlined “There isn’t a coronavirus ‘second wave'” that the nation is winning the fight against the virus.

Many public health experts, however, suggest it’s no time to celebrate. About 120,000 Americans have died from the new virus, and there have been more than 2.2 million confirmed cases. The real numbers are believed to be higher.

But there is at least one point of agreement – scientists generally agree the nation is still in its first wave of coronavirus infections, albeit one that’s dipping in some parts of the country while rising in others.

“It’s more of a plateau, or a mesa,” not the trough after a wave, said Caitlin Rivers, a disease researcher at Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Health Security.

Dr Michael Osterholm, a prominent epidemiologist in US, warned on Sunday that the country was likely to experience one long wave.

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“I’m actually of the mind right now: I think this is more like a forest fire,” Osterholm told NBC’s Meet the Press program.

“I don’t think this is going to slow down. I’m not sure the influenza analogy applies anymore. I think that wherever there’s wood to burn, this fire is going to burn it.”

He added: “I don’t think we’re going to see one, two and three waves – I think we’re just going to see one very very difficult forest fire of cases.”

There was an initial infection peak in April as cases exploded in New York City. After schools and businesses were closed across the country, the rate of new cases dropped somewhat.

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“This virus is spreading around the United States and hitting different places with different intensity at different times,” said Dr Richard Besser, chief executive of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation who was acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention when a pandemic flu hit the US in 2009.

Dr Arnold Monto, a University of Michigan flu expert, echoed that sentiment.

“What I would call this is continued transmission with flare-ups,” he said.

Flu seasons sometimes feature a second wave of infections. But in those cases, the second wave is a distinct new surge in cases from a strain of flu that is different than the strain that caused earlier illnesses.

That’s not the case in the coronavirus epidemic.

Monto doesn’t think “second wave” really describes what’s happening now, calling it “totally semantics”.

“Second waves are basically in the eye of the beholder,” he said.

But Besser said semantics matter, because saying a first wave has passed may give people a false sense that the worst is over.

Some worry a large wave of coronavirus might occur this autumn or winter – after schools reopen, the weather turns colder and less humid, and people huddle inside more. That would follow seasonal patterns seen with flu and other respiratory viruses. And such a fall wave could be very bad, given that there’s no vaccine or experts think most Americans haven’t had the virus.

But the coronavirus so far has been spreading more episodically and sporadically than flu, and it may not follow the same playbook.

“It’s very difficult to make a prediction,” Rivers said. “We don’t know the degree to which this virus is seasonal, if at all.”

AP, with Marissa Calligeros

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Boris Johnson to discuss easing lockdown and two-metre rule with scientists

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Boris Johnson to discuss easing lockdown and two-metre rule with scientists

Boris Johnson will discuss reopening the hospitality sector and loosening the two-metre social-distancing rule in England with his top Cabinet colleagues and scientists.

he Prime Minister and his most senior ministers will on Monday discuss the next steps for the lockdown with chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance and chief medical officer for England Professor Chris Whitty.

Mr Johnson will then on Tuesday outline the plans to Parliament for pubs, restaurants, hotels and hairdressers to reopen in England from July 4, and a likely loosening of the distance rule to aid the restart to the economy.

On Sunday, the PM said the progress made in the fight against coronavirus during three months of lockdown mean “it will be possible to open up more”.

“The disease is increasingly under control and I just want people to reflect on that important fact,” he added in a Downing Street interview.

Guidance will be published for each sector on how businesses can reduce the spread of Covid-19 when they reopen.

And the public are expected to be warned that the newest relaxation of rules will be the first to be reversed if there are widespread breaches that prompt the virus to spread uncontrollably.

A No 10 spokesman said: “The reason we are able to move forward this week is because the vast majority of people have taken steps to contain the virus.

“The more we open up, the more important it is that everyone follows the social-distancing rules.

“We will not hesitate to put the handbrake on to stop the virus running out of control.”

With the two-metre rule placing severe constraints on the hospitality sector, it looks increasingly likely to be reduced as long as other mitigations – such as face coverings – can be used to help prevent a second wave of Covid-19 infections.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said England is “clearly on track” to further ease the lockdown.

Acknowledging that “a lot of the country does need a haircut”, Mr Hancock told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday that he is “not going to rule out” hairdressers and barbers also being able to reopen on July 4.

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He gave perspex screens, masks and altered seating arrangements as examples of measures to mitigate the risk of spreading coronavirus if the two-metre rule is relaxed.

And he floated the idea that punters at pubs and bars could have to sign a guest book with their names and contact details so they could be swiftly traced if they come into contact with an infection.

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said Labour would support a reduction of the two-metre rule “under certain circumstances”, including the strengthening of other protections such as masks.

It’s very much a matter for the ChancellorMatt Hancock on reports VAT could be cut

To aid the economy’s recovery, Mr Hancock did not rule out suggestions that Rishi Sunak could slash VAT to encourage spending, telling Ridge: “It’s very much a matter for the Chancellor.”

The Health Secretary also said a reduction in the distance rule would “undoubtedly help with schools”, pointing to Northern Ireland where it will be reduced to one metre.

In other developments:

– The Government announced on Sunday an increase of 43 deaths of patients who have tested positive for coronavirus in the UK.

– The Scottish Government said there were no deaths of patients who had tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, for the fifth time in June.

– Spain began “freely” welcoming Britons without the need to quarantine there from Sunday, in a call for the UK to reciprocate and form a so-called air bridge.

PA

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Journalist says he was targeted by spyware from firm despite its human rights policy

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Journalist says he was targeted by spyware from firm despite its human rights policy

As NSO Group faced mounting criticism last year that its hacking software was being used illegally against journalists, dissidents and campaigners around the world, the Israeli spyware company unveiled a new policy that it said showed its commitment to human rights.

Now an investigation has alleged that another journalist, Omar Radi in Morocco, was targeted with NSO’s Pegasus software and put under surveillance just days after the company made that promise.

The investigation by Amnesty International alleges that Radi, a Rabat-based investigative journalist, was targeted three times and spied on after his phone was infected with an NSO tool. The mechanism allegedly used to target Radi, a so-called “network injection attack”, can be deployed without the victim clicking an infected link and is believed to have been used against another Moroccan journalist.

NSO does not publish a list of its government clients, but an earlier investigation by researchers at Citizen Lab identified Morocco as one of 45 countries where the company’s spyware was active.

The Guardian is publishing this report in coordination with Forbidden Stories, a collaborative journalism network that highlights the work of journalists who are threatened, jailed or killed.

Amnesty said the timing of the alleged attacks in Morocco indicated that they occurred after NSO published a new human rights policy in September 2019, and after the company became aware of an earlier report by Amnesty that detailed other allegedly unlawful hacking attacks in Morocco that used the company’s technology.

Under the terms of the human rights policy, NSO promised to investigate any well founded report detailing abuse of technology by its clients, and that the client’s access to its technology would be terminated if necessary if the company found that its technology has been abused.

“NSO has serious questions to answer as to what actions it took when presented with evidence its technology was used to commit human rights violations in Morocco,” said Danna Ingleton, the deputy director of Amnesty Tech.

NSO said in a statement that it was “deeply troubled” by a letter it received from Amnesty that contained the allegations.

“We are reviewing the information therein and will initiate an investigation if warranted,” the company said. “Consistent with our human rights policy, NSO Group take seriously our responsibility to respect human rights. We are strongly committed to avoiding causing, contributing to, or being directly linked to human rights impacts.”

In response to questions about its relationship with Moroccan authorities, NSO said it “seeks to be as transparent as feasible” but was obliged to respect “state confidentiality concerns” and could not disclose the identity of its customers.

A spokesperson added that NSO had taken “investigatory steps” following the publication of an earlier report by Amnesty that alleged other Moroccans had been hacked using Pegasus, but that it could not provide further details because of confidentiality constraints.

Authorities in Morocco did not respond to requests for comment.

The new claims come as NSO fights a lawsuit brought against it by WhatsApp, the messaging app owned by Facebook, which alleges that Pegasus was used to target 1,400 users over a two-week period last year. NSO denies the claims and has said that its government clients were ultimately responsible for the way its technology is used.

At the centre of the latest case is Radi, a journalist who was being targeted as part of a broader campaign by Moroccan authorities to quash dissent, Amnesty said.

Radi is a freelance investigative journalist who writes primarily for Le Desk and is a member of the ICIJ journalism consortium. He covers human rights issues, social movements and land rights, an issue Radi says is rife with corruption.

A report by Amnesty earlier this year said Moroccan authorities were intensifying their crackdown on “peaceful voices” with more arbitrary arrests of individuals who have been targeted for criticising the king or other officials.

In one case earlier this year, Radi said he interviewed villagers for a story but was later prevented from publishing their accounts, after they called him and pleaded with him to delete their interviews because they had been harassed by police after his visit.

As a journalist, Radi said he had lived with the suspicion that he was under regular surveillance since 2011, after it became known that Morocco was acquiring spyware technology from various sources.

Technology experts at Amnesty who investigated Radi’s phone in February found it had been subjected to various attacks between September 2019 and January 2020, when Radi was being “repeatedly harassed” by the Moroccan authorities.

He has in the past faced interrogations and detention in solitary confinement. He was given a suspended four-month prison term in March for a tweet he posted in April 2019 in which he criticised a trial of a group of activists.

Radi said Amnesty had contacted him after his December 2019 arrest and told him it believed he was a possible target for surveillance.

Radi said the discovery that he had been hacked raised immediate questions in his mind. “What could I have said on the phone that was sensitive? Or do I have sources that might be in trouble if the people listening to me find out who I’m talking to?”

Amnesty said forensic data extracted from Radi’s phone indicated he had been subjected network injection attacks in September and February 2019, and January 2020. Amnesty said it believed the attacks were used to infect Radi’s mobile phone with Pegasus in a way that did not require him to click on any infected links.

Network injection attacks allow hackers to redirect a target’s browser and apps to malicious sites which are under the attackers’ control, and then instal spyware to infect the target’s device. Amnesty said Radi’s phone was directed to the same malicious websites Amnesty found in an attack against Moroccan activist and academic Maati Monjib, which Amnesty detailed in an earlier report.

In both cases, the injections occurred while the targets – Radi and Monjib – were using an LTE/4G connection. One way spyware companies can execute such infections involve the use of what Amnesty called a “rogue” cell tower: a portable device that imitates legitimate cellular towers and, when placed in close physical proximity to a target, enables attackers to manipulate intercepted mobile traffic.

Last year, the Guardian reported that two other Moroccans were believed to have been targeted using NSO’s technology, including Aboubakr Jamaï, a campaigner and former journalist who lives in France.

Jamaï, who was asked to respond to the latest news, said that the Moroccan targets were clearly perceived as threats to the Moroccan regime.

“In a sense I’m almost happy that they’ve done it and that it’s been rendered public because it kind of lifts the veil on the true nature of the regime, which has been getting away with a lot of things because … it’s not as violently repressive as the Syrian regime or even the Egyptian regime. But it is still an authoritarian regime,” he said.

Got a tip? Please email Stephanie.Kirchgaessner@theguardian.com

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Tennessee Newspaper Apologizes for ‘Utterly Indefensible’ Anti-Muslim Ad

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Tennessee Newspaper Apologizes for ‘Utterly Indefensible’ Anti-Muslim Ad

Like most other news organizations, The Tennessean’s sales team and newsroom operate independently.

Ryan Kedzierski, vice president of sales for Middle Tennessee, said, “We are extremely apologetic to the community that the advertisement was able to get through and we are reviewing internally why and how this occurred and we will be taking actions immediately to correct.”

Gannett, which owns the paper, referred a request for comment to the newspaper’s coverage.

Jeff Pippenger, who identified himself as the speaker of the Ministry of Future for America, said the newspaper owed the group a full refund. He could not say how much the ad cost.

“I stand by all the content in the ad and the content in the website,” he said. “It seems to me the criticism is more aimed at the editorial staff at the newspaper, and the criticism about my religious convictions is simply what happens when you let your religious convictions out into the public arena.”

Ibrahim Hooper, communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the ad was “unfortunate” but “symptomatic of the overall rise of Islamophobia, racism and white supremacy.”

Mr. Hooper said his group would offer training to The Tennessean’s staff on racism and Islamophobia, and that he hoped the paper would institute “real policy changes” to make sure the episode was not repeated.

While the ad was bizarre and likely to be interpreted by readers as such, Mr. Hooper said a minority of people could believe the false claims about Muslims.

Kathleen Bartzen Culver, chair of journalism ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said that newspaper publishers have an obligation in advertising, not just in news, to “pursue truth” and avoid publishing falsehoods or inflammatory statements.

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Australia coronavirus news: Victorians warned to avoid Melbourne hotspots amid fears of second wave – live updates

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Australia coronavirus news: Victorians warned to avoid Melbourne hotspots amid fears of second wave – live updates

If you are in Victoria this morning, chances are you are feeling a little uneasy, after the government and authorities decided it was too risky to move ahead with the planned easing of restrictions.

As AAP reports:

Victoria confirmed another 19 cases on Sunday, taking to 160 the number of new cases in the state over the past week.

The only other cases reported on Sunday were five in NSW and one in Western Australia.

The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee says outbreaks have been identified in the local government areas of Hume, Casey, Brimbank, Moreland, Cardinia and Darebin.

“The AHPPC strongly discourages travel to and from those areas until control of community transmission has been confirmed,” the committee said in a statement on Sunday.

Deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth said the Victorian situation was discussed at Sunday’s meeting of the AHPPC.

He said that after the update from Victoria’s chief health officer, Professor Brett Sutton, the panel had “every confidence” the outbreak would be brought under control.

“This is a good example of how things are going to work into the future,” Coatsworth said.

“[It is] an important example because it will show how a state can get on top of outbreaks of this nature in Victoria and then move forward.”

Family-to-family transmission seems to be the main issue, which has meant households will again be limited to just five visitors at a time and outside gatherings are limited to 10.

The rest of the states and territories, which are moving ahead with the easing of restrictions, are watching to see what happens – Queensland has already declared all of greater Melbourne a Covid-hotspot.

We’ll have all of the nation’s coronavirus news, and more covered off today. You have Amy Remeikis with you until mid-afternoon.

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Drake Shares New Photo of Son Adonis on Father’s Day

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Drake Shares New Photo of Son Adonis on Father’s Day


Drake Shares New Photo of Son Adonis, Tributes to Other Celebs on Father’s Day | Entertainment Tonight


































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JD Sports’ Go Outdoors brand likely to enter administration in days

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JD Sports’ Go Outdoors brand likely to enter administration in days

JD Sports is expected to appoint administrators for its Go Outdoors brand within days, putting further high street jobs at risk during the Covid-19 pandemic.

More than 2,000 people are employed by the brand, which specialises in fishing, cycling and camping gear, and relies on its 67 stores for the bulk of its sales.

Retailers have been hard hit by the coronavirus lockdown, with all but essential shops unable to open for business until last Monday. Even those with successful online operations were forced to scale back to accommodate social distancing rules in their warehouses.

Go Outdoors closed all its stores during April but began to reopen them from early May. However, continued restrictions on outdoor activities and the closure of campsites are likely to have hit sales.

JD Sports filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators for the business on Friday. It is understood that accountancy firm Deloitte is likely to lead a restructuring of the company, which could involve job cuts across its 2,300-strong workforce.

Go Outdoors has been gauging the appetite for a potential sale in recent weeks. However, JD hopes to maintain control of a smaller Go Outdoors brand in any potential deal, according to Sky News, which first reported the story. JD Sports declined to comment.

The pending administration comes just four years after JD Sports paid £112m for the chain in November 2016, adding to its portfolio of companies, which include other outdoor leisure brands, including Blacks and Millets.

Go Outdoors is the latest retailer pushed to the brink during the coronavirus crisis.

A string of retailers including Oasis, Warehouse, Laura Ashley and Debenhams have also called in administrators since the crisis hit and hundreds of high street jobs have been shed.

In April, Cath Kidston made 900 people redundant when it closed all its 60 stores in the UK.

But Britain’s retailers were struggling before Covid-19 struck, with the potential death of the high street a key issue at the 2019 election after a wave of high-profile shop closures.

Go Outdoors, which accounts for around 5% of JD Sports’ annual turnover, was also struggling before the pandemic, and posted a loss of around £40m in the six months to August 2019.

According to the consultancy Retail Economics, pretax profit margins at the UK’s top 150 retailers have halved over the last decade, dented by the rising minimum wage and business rates.

JD Sports is expected to publish its full year results on 7 July.

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Belmont winner Tiz the Law eyes ambitious summer schedule – Sportsnet.ca

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Belmont winner Tiz the Law eyes ambitious summer schedule – Sportsnet.ca

Tiz the Law has been good and lucky, two ingredients essential to success in horse racing.

He’s been dominant, too.

He raced to a 3 3/4-length victory Saturday in the Belmont Stakes to open the rescheduled Triple Crown. His five wins in six career starts have been by an average margin of 19 1/4 lengths. His only loss came at Churchill Downs in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes last year, when he finished third on a sloppy track.

In 11 weeks, he’ll get a chance to avenge that defeat over the same track in the Kentucky Derby.

Tiz the Law has an ambitious summer and fall campaign ahead of him if all goes according to plan.

Next up is the Travers on Aug. 8 at Saratoga, where Tiz the Law would be competing on his home turf in upstate New York. It’s where he won for the first time last August. As the first New York-bred Belmont winner since 1882, his following only figures to get bigger. However, it remains to be seen whether fans would be allowed to attend at any point in the Saratoga meet, which opens July 16.

“I’ve never won the Travers and I want to win it,” trainer Barclay Tagg said.

Then comes the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5 and the Preakness on Oct. 3 — no word yet on spectators at either race — to close out the Triple Crown. The bay colt would finish the year in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Nov. 7.

Jack Knowlton of Sackatoga Stable — comprised of 34 partners who paid $110,000 for Tiz the Law — hasn’t been able to cheer his colt in person since Feb. 1 at Gulfstream in Florida. He watched Tiz the Law win the Florida Derby on March 28 from his condo near the track and the Belmont at a restaurant in Saratoga Springs. The colt has earned over $1.5 million.

“I keep telling everybody Barclay doesn’t get a lot of big horses and big opportunities,” Knowlton said about his trainer of 25 years, “but when he gets them he knows what to do.”

Keeping Tiz the Law healthy and happy is key, and becomes even more of a challenge with this year’s extended Triple Crown schedule. Instead of three races over five weeks, the coronavirus pandemic has forced the series to be run out of order over 15 weeks.

Instead of running in the Derby five weeks after his Florida Derby victory, Tiz the Law had to wait 12 weeks for the Belmont to open the Triple Crown series. Now, the colt is facing 11 weeks between the Belmont and the Derby, with the Travers as his only race in between. That’s a long time to train and avoid injury and illness.

In 2003, Funny Cide got sick after losing the Haskell Invitational and didn’t compete in the Travers. Tagg and Sackatoga Stable teamed up that year to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness with Funny Cide — a gelding that cost $75,000 — before his Triple Crown hopes were dashed with a third-place finish in the Belmont.

“You have to pay attention to your horse. He tells you whether it’s too much or too little,” Tagg said. “He tells you all that stuff if you pay attention to it. You have to show up every day. You have to see if he eats every day and if he eats every night.”

Tagg is always a man with a plan. The 82-year-old trainer gets on a pony to accompany each of his horses to the track in the mornings. He’s at the barn in the evenings, too, making sure each one empties their feed tub. Anyone that doesn’t is often a sign that something isn’t right.

Tiz the Law’s immediate schedule after a major race involves walking around the barn for a few days before jogging on the track, then galloping, followed by a workout at a moderate speed. It’s a tricky balance of not going too fast or too slow but just right.

Injuries have already decimated the 3-year-old ranks. Charlatan and Nadal, trainer Bob Baffert’s undefeated duo that each won a division of the Arkansas Derby, are out. Charlatan could return in time for the Preakness; Nadal was retired. Louisiana Derby winner Wells Bayou won’t make the Derby. Maxfield is out until next year.

Tiz the Law is atop the leaderboard that determines the 20-horse Kentucky Derby field with 272 points. Honor A. P., in second with 120, skipped the Belmont because it came just two weeks after he won the Santa Anita Derby. Authentic, second in the Santa Anita Derby, is third on the leaderboard.



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