Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
US Senator Bernie Sanders on Wednesday introduced a long-shot bill in the Senate that could force Washington to vote on blocking billions of dollars in arms sales to Israel, in the latest signal of growing congressional opposition to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war in Gaza.
Mr Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, announced that he was filing a Joint Resolution of Disapproval that would block the sale of offensive weaponry to Israel, arguing that continuing to provide arms to the country “would violate US and international law”.
“Sadly, and illegally, much of the carnage in Gaza has been carried out with US-provided military equipment,” the Independent senator from Vermont said.
“Not another nickel for Netanyahu’s illegal war.”
The resolution centres its claims on a stipulation in the US Foreign Assistance Act that bans Washington from conducting arms transfers to countries that engage in human rights breaches, including a block on arms “to any country when it is made known to the President that the government of such country prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance”.
AIPAC, the powerful pro-Israel lobbying group, slammed Mr Sanders over the resolution, claiming he “wants to undermine Israel's ability to defend itself with a dangerous resolution that emboldens Iran and its proxies to continue attacking Israel”.
The bill is unlikely to halt the flow of funds to Israel as it would require a majority vote in the largely pro-Israel Senate.
Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that federal watchdogs were preparing to publish the results of several investigations into the Biden administration's aid deliveries to Israel during the Gaza war, following internal complaints that “the export of billions of dollars in arms to Israel has violated laws prohibiting the transfer of American military assistance to governments that have committed gross human rights violations or blocked the movement of humanitarian assistance”.
The deaths of more than 41,200 Palestinians and blocks on land crossings for humanitarian aid by Israel has prompted a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
In June, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, issued a report that said Israeli authorities and security forces had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, and that they had violated international humanitarian and human rights law amid the military campaign in Gaza. The report also concluded that Hamas and other Palestinian militants committed war crimes and violated international humanitarian and human rights law during the attacks on southern Israel on October 7.
Israel has historically been the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign aid since its founding, receiving about $310 billion – adjusted for inflation – in total economic and military assistance, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
But since October 7, Washington has kicked that assistance into high gear, with Congress approving billions more dollars for Israel and the Biden administration increasing military sales to the US ally.
In January, the Senate rejected a resolution introduced by Mr Sanders that would have required the Biden administration to submit a report on the possibility of Israeli human rights abuses in Gaza.
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Sri Lanka World Cup squad
Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Isuru Udana, Milinda Siriwardana, Avishka Fernando, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal.
Uefa Nations League: How it works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
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What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
Premier League results
Saturday
Tottenham Hotspur 1 Arsenal 1
Bournemouth 0 Manchester City 1
Brighton & Hove Albion 1 Huddersfield Town 0
Burnley 1 Crystal Palace 3
Manchester United 3 Southampton 2
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 Cardiff City 0
West Ham United 2 Newcastle United 0
Sunday
Watford 2 Leicester City 1
Fulham 1 Chelsea 2
Everton 0 Liverpool 0
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Despacito's dominance in numbers
Released: 2017
Peak chart position: No.1 in more than 47 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Lebanon
Views: 5.3 billion on YouTube
Sales: With 10 million downloads in the US, Despacito became the first Latin single to receive Diamond sales certification
Streams: 1.3 billion combined audio and video by the end of 2017, making it the biggest digital hit of the year.
Awards: 17, including Record of the Year at last year’s prestigious Latin Grammy Awards, as well as five Billboard Music Awards
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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SCORES IN BRIEF
Lahore Qalandars 186 for 4 in 19.4 overs
(Sohail 100,Phil Salt 37 not out, Bilal Irshad 30, Josh Poysden 2-26)
bt Yorkshire Vikings 184 for 5 in 20 overs
(Jonathan Tattersall 36, Harry Brook 37, Gary Ballance 33, Adam Lyth 32, Shaheen Afridi 2-36).
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
