Tag: Israel

  • Israel makes ‘significant breakthrough’ as it develops protein that can overcome coronavirus

    Israel makes ‘significant breakthrough’ as it develops protein that can overcome coronavirus

    Israel has isolated a key coronavirus antibody at its main biological research laboratory, the Israeli defence minister said on Monday, calling the step a “significant breakthrough” toward a possible treatment for the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The “monoclonal neutralising antibody” developed at the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) “can neutralise the disease-causing coronavirus inside carriers’ bodies,” Defence Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement.

    The statement added that Bennett visited the IIBR on Monday where he was briefed “on a significant breakthrough in finding an antidote for the coronavirus”.

    It quoted IIBR Director Shmuel Shapira as saying that the antibody formula was being patented, after which an international manufacturer would be sought to mass-produce it.

    The IIBR has been leading Israeli efforts to develop a treatment and vaccine for the coronavirus, including the testing of blood from those who recovered from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus.

    Antibodies in such samples — immune-system proteins that are residues of successfully overcoming the coronavirus — are widely seen as a key to developing a possible cure.

    The antibody reported as having been isolated at the IIBR is monoclonal, meaning it was derived from a single recovered cell and is thus potentially of more potent value in yielding a treatment.

    Elsewhere, there have been coronavirus treatments developed from antibodies that are polyclonal, or derived from two or more cells of different ancestry, the magazine Science Direct reported in its May issue.

    Israel was one of the first countries to close its borders and impose increasingly stringent restrictions on movement to hamper the domestic coronavirus outbreak. It has reported 16,246 cases and 235 deaths from the illness.

  • Pakistani govt. officials advised to ‘avoid’ correspondence through WhatsApp

    Pakistani govt. officials advised to ‘avoid’ correspondence through WhatsApp

    The Federal Ministry of Information Technology and Communication has issued a confidential letter to concerned authorities and advised them not to use WhatsApp for official correspondence.

    According to reports, hostile Israeli intelligence has installed a stealth spyware ‘Pegasus’ to monitor users sensitive data, activities, and movements. The spyware was recently deployed in 1,400 senior government and military official’s phones in 20 countries, including Pakistan.

    The ministry said that in order to minimise the possibility of any infection by Pegasus malware, government officials holding sensitive portfolios and dealing with national security matters should not share any classified information on WhatsApp or any similar application.

    Furthermore, Pakistani users could be in a more precarious situation as the Indian government is also reportedly using the spyware to monitor the Pakistani user’s cellphone data.

    Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi has also alleged Prime Minister Modi’s government of collaborating with Israeli spy agencies to spy into the phones of journalists, lawyers, activists and politicians in India. 

    The spyware (Pegasus) has sent waves of concerns in every corner of the world because it has infected millions of smartphones. WhatsApp has officially acknowledged the cyber-attack and filed a lawsuit against the maker of the software. WhatsApp/Facebook has also sued the Israeli company in the US court of San Francisco for violating the US, California state laws as well as the WhatsApp terms of services.

    Considering the Ministry doesn’t have any solution in place to curb cyber-attacks of this level, they have advised government officials to discard all mobile phones purchased before May 10 this year.

  • VIDEO: JUI-F leader claims Azadi March ruined Israel’s 40 years of investment in Pakistan

    The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) leader Rashid Mehmood Soomro has claimed that Israel has said that JUI-F’s Azadi March has ruined their 40 years investment in Pakistan.

    Rashid Somroo made these claims in a talk show with journalist Hamid Mir when the Azadi March protest was still active, the video of which has now gone viral over the internet.

    JUI-F leader said, “The Israeli newspapers have reported this that Azadi March has managed to ruin their 40 years investment in Pakistan”, adding that the protest also suppressed the talks about Pakistan accepting Israel as a state.

    Hamir Mir on this claim made by Rashid remarked that no government official had made any statement regarding the acceptance of Israel.

    To which JUI-F leader claimed that “top government officials were engaged in backdoor talks with Israel and were ready to accept it, but JUI-F successfully managed to stop these talks”.

    Watch Video:

    The protests, led by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, began with the ‘Azadi March’ on October 27 from Karachi. Thousands of supporters reached Islamabad on October 31, holding a two-week sit-in on the city’s main highway.

    On November 13, Fazl ordered his supporters to disperse across the country to block roads, in what he termed as ‘Plan B’ to topple Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.

    On Thursday protesters blocked the Grand Trunk Road between Islamabad and Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, causing lengthy delays. Similar disruptions were reported in Jacobabad — a city in Sindh linking the province with Balochistan and Punjab.

  • India to receive Israel-made Spice 2000 bombs used in failed Balakot strikes

    By the end of next month, the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be receiving bunker buster version of Israel-made Spice 2000 bombs, which the country is reported to have used in the failed Balakot airstrikes in February, India Today reported.

    According to reports, India and France had signed a Rs3 billion deal with Israel to acquire the bomb that has a standoff range of 60km and approaches the target using its scene-matching algorithm.

    It consists of an add-on kit for warheads such as the MK-84, BLU-109, APW and RAP-2000; and was also used by the IAF in a failed attempt to bomb the religious seminaries in Balakot in February this year.

    The attack had been foiled by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) that had forced Indian pilots to abort their mission and return in haste.

    India had also later failed to support its claims with facts as observers and international media reported that the seminaries New Delhi had claimed to have destroyed, were standing even days after the intrusion.

  • ‘Pakistan’s Shaheen-III can destroy Israel’s Tel Aviv in 12 minutes,’ ex-general says

    ‘Pakistan’s Shaheen-III can destroy Israel’s Tel Aviv in 12 minutes,’ ex-general says

    Defence analyst and former three-star general, Lieutenant General (r) Ghulam Mustafa, has said that “Pakistan, with its Shaheen-III missile, is capable to destroy Israel’s Tel Aviv in only 12 minutes”.

    “It [Shaheen-III] is 18 times faster than the speed of sound,” he said, adding that even on the night of February 27 — when two intruding jets of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were shot down by Pakistan — Indian media claimed that Islamabad was ready to launch an attack against its enemies.

    Mustafa claimed that the United States (US), while fearing that Pakistan would attack Tel Aviv as well, handed over its Air-3 missile to Israel on the night of February 28.

    He said that February 14’s Pulwama attack affected Pakistan in many ways but the attack was “actually planned by India’s premier intelligence agency and Israel”.

    “The US was also involved,” he added.

    According to a notification issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in April, Mustafa is among the 26 retired officers of the armed forces who are allowed to appear on media as defence analysts.

    “Their views/comments/opinions on media shall remain personal/independent expression and not attributable to the institution,” read the notification issued four months ago.

  • Pakistan should threaten Saudi Arabia of destroying Ambani’s oil refinery: Zaid Hamid

    Pakistan should threaten Saudi Arabia of destroying Ambani’s oil refinery: Zaid Hamid

    Self-proclaimed defence and security analyst Zaid Hamid has
    suggested the Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan-led government to “threaten
    Saudi Arabia of destroying Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s oil
    refinery” to secure the Kingdom’s support.

    The world is divided as Pakistan and India face-off over
    Kashmir ever since New Delhi abrogated Article 370 of its constitution, robbing
    the disputed territory of its autonomy.

    Hamid’s advice to the government comes after Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the Kingdom might not be standing up in Pakistan’s support since it has hefty investments planned in India.

    Earlier this month, Ambani had announced that his Reliance Industries’ plan to sell 20% stake in its refining and petrochemicals business for $15 billion to Saudi Aramco. The oil refinery has an enterprise value of $75 billion.

    Speaking to a private media outlet, Hamid criticised FM Qureshi
    for “making Pakistan’s position weaker in the diplomatic war against India” and
    suggested the government to threaten the Kingdom of destroying the refinery to
    garner its support.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    He further said that Pakistan should threaten Israel of a nuclear
    attack to put India on a short leash.

    “India took Israel and the United States (US) into
    confidence before moving to annex held Kashmir,” he claimed and added that therefore
    Pakistan should target Israel instead of talking to India.