Wednesday, July 21 top stories
It is Wednesday, July 21. Here are today’s top stories.
A Washington Post investigation revealed that a military-grade spyware called Pegasus, which was developed by an Israeli company, is being used to hack into and spy into smartphones belonging to presidents, prime ministers, a king, journalists, human right activists, and business executives all around the world.
The Israeli company, NSO Group, says it only sells its technology to various governments to help them prevent serious crimes and save lives. But there are allegations that this technology is being used to spy on political enemies both foreign and domestic.
The Pegasus technology is said to be so powerful that it can control your phone’s camera, listen in or read text conversations or emails, gather location data, and go through your phone’s files, all without the smartphone user’s knowledge and without requiring them to click on some kind of link.
There is a list of over 50,000 phone numbers around the world that may be compromised. It has sparked backlash against the company and raised serious concerns about abuse of power.
In April 2019, a 19-year-old gunman entered a synagogue in the San Diego area and opened fire during the last day of the Jewish Passover holiday. 100 people were inside at the time. A 60-year-old woman named Lori Gilbert-Kaye was killed. The rabbi, an 8-year-old girl, and her uncle were injured.
The gunman, John T. Earnest, fled and then called 911 to report himself as the shooter. He was arrested and charged with murder and hate crime charges.
On Tuesday Earnest, now 22 years old, pleaded guilty in a deal that will send him to state prison for life without the possibility of parole. Earnest was asked in court if he was motivated by hatred against Jewish people when he carried out the shooting and he replied, “Yes.”
NBC News said Earnest still may face the death penalty on federal charges. His federal court case is proceeding and a deadline on the decision whether prosecutors want to seek the death penalty is August 30.
The New York Times reported that players on Norway’s female beach handball team were fined 150 euros each for wearing shorts rather than the required bikini bottoms.
The International Handball Federation says female athletes are required to wear bikini bottoms while male athletes can wear shorts as long as four inches above the knee.
Norway’s team intentionally wore shorts during their bronze medal game against Spain at the European Beach Handball Championships, and as expected, they were fined. The team said there are double standards and that there needs to be changes.
In similar but “opposite” news, a two-time Paralympic world champion, Olivia Breen of Wales, said she was told by an official at the English Championships that her sprint briefs were too short and inappropriate. Breen tweeted that she felt speechless because she was wearing the same style for many years and that they are specifically designed for competing in, and she will hopefully be wearing them in Tokyo. She said it made her “question whether a male competitor would be similarly criticised.”
[Sponsored Video from Sorenson: www.sorenson.com]
[Sponsored Video from PAHrtners Deaf Services: Now Hiring. Apply here: https://pahrtners.com/job-application ]
The Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA Finals last night, defeating the Phoenix Suns in Game 6. The Bucks’ star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, known as the “Greek Freak,” received the NBA Finals MVP award. There were thousands and thousands of fans who converged outside of the Bucks’ arena to celebrate.
The U.S. women’s soccer team lost 3-0 to Sweden on Wednesday night in its first game in the group stage of the 2020 Olympics. It is the first time the USWNT lost in 44 matches. The team will have to bounce back before their next match on July 24 against New Zealand.
In Hingham, Massachusetts, a 19-year-old driver crashed her SUV into a historic house that was built in 1650 by Abraham Lincoln’s great-grandfather, Samuel Lincoln.
The reason why she crashed into it? She saw a squirrel on the road and swerved to avoid it, but lost control. A picture shows that almost the entire car busted through the inside of the home, smashing historic furniture.
This happened last Thursday at 6:30 in the morning. The owners of the home were asleep upstairs and were not injured.
The police department said the driver had only minor injuries and that she was issued a citation for failing to stay in marked lanes.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) said she is rejecting House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif)’s nominations of Reps. Jim Jordan and Jim Banks to be a part of the House Select Committee to investigate the January 6 Capitol attack.
Pelosi has already selected eight members — one of them Republican Liz Cheney — and allowed McCarthy to select five Republicans to be a part of the committee. She rejected Jordan and Banks because they were among the Republicans who objected to President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.
McCarthy said what Pelosi did has “broken the institution” and said unless she seats all five of his appointments, Republicans will not be a part of the committee at all.
Pelosi said she would continue with the committee even if the five seats are empty.
Axios said the committee will have its first hearing on July 27 and will feature law enforcement officers who were subject to acts of violence during the attack on the Capitol.
That is all the top stories for today. Check out our other videos. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/20/sports/norway-beach-handball-team.html
https://twitter.com/BreenOlivia/status/1416798419088203781
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/20/heads-of-state-pegasus-spyware/