DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

A view from the surroundings of damaged Al-Awda Hospital after Israeli attacks, in Beit Lahia, Gaza on May 18. Mousa Salem/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesA United Nations inquiry has accused Israel of carrying out a “concerted policy” of destroying the health care system in Gaza during its year-long conflict with Hamas in attacks it said amount to war crimes. The Israeli attacks resulted in “fuel, food, water, medicines and medical supplies not reaching hospitals, while also drastically reducing permits for patients to leave the territory for medical treatment,” it said. Israel has released footage they say is evidence of those Hamas operations. The commission previously alleged that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes in the early stages of the Gaza war, and that Israel’s actions also amounted to crimes against humanity.

Persons: Mousa, Israel, “, Pillay, Israel “, Hind Rajab Organizations: Awda, Anadolu Agency, UN’s Independent International Commission of, CNN, Israel Defense Forces, Office, Hamas, IDF, UN, Human Rights, Israeli Army’s 162nd, Assembly Locations: Beit Lahia, Gaza, Mousa Salem, Nations, Palestinian, East Jerusalem, Israel

☆ UN inquiry accuses Israel of ‘crime of extermination’ through deliberate destruction of Gaza’s health care system
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-11 | by ( Niamh Kennedy | Muhammad Darwish | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —A United Nations inquiry has accused Israel of carrying out a “concerted policy” of destroying the health care system in Gaza during its year-long conflict with Hamas in attacks it said amount to war crimes. Israel’s actions in the besieged Palestinian enclave “constitute the war crimes of willful killing and mistreatment and the crime against humanity of extermination,” the commission said in a statement Thursday. The Israeli foreign ministry rejected “accusations of widespread ill-treatment and torture of detainees,” saying Israel is “fully committed to international legal standards” on treatment of detainees. “Children in particular have borne the brunt of these attacks, suffering both directly and indirectly from the collapse of the health system,” she said. The commission previously alleged that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes in the early stages of the Gaza war, and that Israel’s actions also amounted to crimes against humanity.

Persons: Israel, “, Pillay, Israel “, Hind Rajab Organizations: CNN, United, UN’s Independent International Commission of, Hamas, UN, Human Rights, Israeli Army’s 162nd, Assembly Locations: United Nations, Gaza, Palestinian, East Jerusalem, Israel, Jihad

☆ Middle East Crisis U.N. Commission Accuses Both Israel and Palestinian Groups of War Crimes
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-12 | by ( Nick Cumming-Bruce | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

A United Nations commission investigating the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and the subsequent conflict in Gaza has accused both Palestinian armed groups and Israel of committing war crimes, and the panel said that Israel’s conduct of the war included crimes against humanity. The U.N. report said that Palestinian armed groups killed and tortured people during the assaults that day. But Israel, during its monthslong campaign in Gaza to oust Hamas, has also committed war crimes, the commission said, like the use of starvation as a weapon of war through a total siege of Gaza. The commission said it had identified the people most responsible for war crimes or crimes against humanity, including senior members of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups and senior members of Israel’s political and military leadership, including members of its war cabinet. The commission said it would continue its investigations focusing on those with individual criminal responsibility and command or superior responsibility.

Persons: —, Israel, Sergey Ponomarev, Abed Khaled, repugnantly ”, Chris Sidoti, Miloon Organizations: United Nations, Navi Pillay, United, International Court of Justice, The New York Times, Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, Reuters, West Bank Locations: Israel, Gaza, United Nations, Al, Aqsa, Deir Al, Geneva, Turkey, Egypt

CNN —A United Nations inquiry into the first few months of the war in Gaza has found both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes and grave violations of international law, in the body’s first in-depth investigation into the October 7 attacks and the ensuing conflict. Rockets are launched by Hamas from the Gaza Strip towards Israel on October 7, 2023. Hatem Moussa/APIn the first 2.5 months of the conflict, the commission found, Israel committed war crimes as well as crimes against humanity – the latter defined as a widespread, systemic attack directed at a civilian population. The International Criminal Court announced last month it was seeking arrest warrants for several top Hamas and Israeli leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. “It is imperative that all those who have committed crimes be held accountable,” said commission chair Navi Pillay.

Persons: Hatem Moussa, Israel, –, Israel’s, maiming, Benjamin Netanyahu, ”, Netanyahu, West Bank –, …, Said Khatib, Mahmud Hams, Nir, Itamar Ben Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, Benny Gantz, Yoav Gallant, Gilad Erdan, Erdan, Anwar Organizations: CNN, United, The United Nations Commission, Rockets, AP, Criminal, Palestinian, West Bank, Getty, Al, Israel Defense Forces, UN, Gaza, National, Finance, UN Human Rights, Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Human Rights, Israel, UN Security Council, Assembly, United Nations Relief, Works Agency, Anwar Amro, UNRWA, Navi Pillay Locations: United Nations, Gaza, Israel, Gaza City, Rafah, AFP, Aqsa, Israel’s, Palestinian, United States, Lebanese, Beirut, East Jerusalem

☆ A U.N. panel says Israel is obstructing its investigation of the Oct. 7 attack.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Nick Cumming-Bruce | More About Nick Cumming-Bruce | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Members of a United Nations commission said on Tuesday that Israel was obstructing their efforts to investigate possible human rights violations on Oct. 7 and in the ensuing war between Israel and Hamas. But they said the commission had still shared large amounts of evidence with the International Criminal Court. “We have faced not merely a lack of cooperation but active obstruction of our efforts to receive evidence from Israeli witnesses and victims” related to the Oct. 7 attack, Chris Sidoti, one of three members of the commission, told a briefing for diplomats in Geneva. The commission was formed in 2021 to investigate human rights violations in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Israel has accused the commission of bias, and has said it would not cooperate with what it described as “an anti-Israeli, antisemitic body.”It has not allowed the commission to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories, and in January it instructed Israeli medical personnel who treated released hostages and victims of the Oct. 7 attack not to cooperate with the panel, which is led by Navi Pillay, the former United Nations human rights chief.

Persons: Israel, Chris Sidoti Organizations: United Nations, International Criminal, Navi Pillay, United Locations: Israel, Geneva, Palestinian, United Nations

☆ UN commission to investigate Hamas sexual violence, appeal for evidence
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The commission could struggle to gather sufficient evidence to support future charges if access is not granted. Israeli authorities have already opened their own investigation into sexual violence during the most deadly attack on Israel in its history, including rape, after evidence emerged pointing to sexual crimes, such as victims found disrobed and mutilated. Evidence about sexual violence includes testimonies given to Reuters since Oct. 7 by first responders at the sites of the attacks as well as military reservists who tended to the bodies in the identification process. It is about to release a public "call for submissions" for evidence on Hamas' sexual violence, said Pillay, who is a former U.N. human rights chief and International Criminal Court judge. "I was very impressed with the deputy prosecutor's (Nazhat Shameem Khan) emphasis on how seriously she wishes to investigate the incidents of sexual violence, the complaints coming from Israel," she said.

Persons: Abu Mustafa, I'm, Pillay, Issam Abdallah, Israel, Emma Farge, Stephanie Van Den Berg, Emily Rose, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Criminal, Human Rights, International, ICC, Thomson Locations: Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, Israeli, Geneva, Washington, Hague, Jerusalem

☆ World Bank names CEOs to help bring private funds to climate, development finance
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, July 10 (Reuters) - The World Bank on Monday named 15 chief executive officers including financiers and asset managers to a group launched by the lender's president, Ajay Banga, aiming to marshal more private capital to combat climate change and boost investment in developing countries. Banga announced the initiative at a global finance summit in Paris last month alongside Mark Carney, the U.N. special envoy on climate action, and Shriti Vadera, chair of Prudential Plc (PRU.L). The World Bank and the CEOs will work "to develop, test, implement and ultimately scale financing structures that can most effectively mobilize private capital," Carney said in a statement. He said in a statement that the Private Investment Lab CEOs were a "crucial piece of the puzzle" to devise ways to pull more private sector investment into the intertwined challenges of poverty, climate and fragility. Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Will Dunham and David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Ajay Banga, Joe Biden, King Charles . Banga, Mark Carney, Shriti Vadera, Carney, Thomas Buberl, Larry Fink, BlackRock, Noel Quinn, Hendrik du Toit, Jessica Tan, Sim Tshabalala, Bill Winters, Dilhan, Mark Gallogly, Banga, David Lawder, Will Dunham, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Bank, Investment, U.S, Prudential Plc, World Bank, AXA, HSBC, Shemara, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Ping An, Royal Philips, Standard Bank, Standard Chartered, Sustainable Energy, Tata Sons, Temasek, Cairns, Mastercard, Private Investment, Thomson Locations: Britain, Paris, Macquarie, Banga

☆ Here's the No. 1 type of music for focus and concentration, says Harvard brain expert—and it's not classical
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Srini Pillay | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Having it on in the background can help you focus better, even if you struggle with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. But with music and people being so diverse, how do you decide which is best for you? Researchers have found that when it comes to boosting brainpower, there is no one-fits-all genre. I have many favorites — hip-hop, rap, pop, country, folk, classical, opera. As a musician and Harvard neuroscientist, I've found that "familiar music," or songs that you enjoy and know best, are the most effective for maximizing concentration.

Persons: isn't, it's, I've Organizations: Harvard

☆ Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius used Quickbooks for its accounting just like FTX, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius used QuickBooks to log its finances just like FTX. According to an examiner's report, Celsius' tracked its finances in 15 QuickBooks files and failed to produce consolidated statements. Later, Pillay found "significant discrepancies" between account balances in Celsius' QuickBooks files and those used to create consolidated statements, per Decrypt. The court examiner found the "files produced by Celsius were not the original files used to prepare the consolidated financial statements." A detailed probe into the troubled crypto lender found that Celsius misled customers when it advertised its business model.

New Jersey-based Celsius filed for U.S. bankruptcy in July last year, after freezing customer withdrawals from its platform. She was tasked with investigating accusations by Celsius customers that the company operated as a Ponzi scheme and also with reporting on its handling of cryptocurrency deposits. Celsius gathered crypto deposits from retail customers and invested them in the equivalent of the wholesale crypto market. It raised some of the initial capital to fund its business by creating and selling its own crypto token, called "CEL". "The business model Celsius advertised and sold to its customers was not the business that Celsius actually operated," the report said.

☆ Ponzi probe finds bankrupt crypto lender Celsius wasn't doing business the way it told customers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Celsius misled customers when it advertised its business model, a court-appointed examiner said. The crypto lender filed for bankruptcy in June as the market collapsed. Examiner Shoba Pillay said the lender was making the market for its CEL coin by buying it. Pillay said Celsius spent $558 million buying its own Celsius token on the market in a bid to prop up its flagging assets. "In effect, Celsius bought every CEL token in the market at least one time and in some instances, twice," Pillay wrote.

☆ Celsius' business model different from that advertised -U.S. bankruptcy examiner
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE, Jan 31 (Reuters) - The business model that crypto firm Celsius Network had advertised and sold to its customers was not the business it actually operated, a court-ordered examiner report released on Tuesday showed. The report added that Celsius's stablecoin deficit between May 28, 2021 and its bankruptcy filing amounted to a billion-dollar hole in its assets. Hoboken, New Jersey-based Celsius filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors last July in Manhattan after freezing customer withdrawals from its platform. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn, who is overseeing the Chapter 11 case, appointed former prosecutor Shoba Pillay as an independent examiner in September. She was tasked with investigating accusations by Celsius customers that the company operated as a Ponzi scheme and also with reporting on its handling of cryptocurrency deposits.

☆ Celsius bankruptcy examiner expected to report on Ponzi allegations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Dietrich Knauth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Jan 30 (Reuters) - A court-ordered examiner is expected to release a report on Monday addressing whether bankrupt crypto firm Celsius Network operated as a Ponzi scheme, which could add to the pressure on founder Alex Mashinsky, who is already facing fraud allegations. Hoboken, New Jersey-based Celsius filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors last July in Manhattan after freezing customer withdrawals from its platform. After appointing Pillay to the job, Glenn expanded her role by asking her to address persistent customer complaints about Mashinsky's conduct. Crypto exchange FTX, which went bankrupt in November, has resisted calls for an examiner in its own Chapter 11 case, citing the cost of overlapping investigations. Pillay and her team have sought to be paid $1.86 million for work performed in October and $1.69 million for November, according to court filings.

☆ Celsius Failed to Set Up Controls to Track Customer Funds in Some Accounts, Examiner Says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Soma Biswas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Customers of Celsius now face uncertainty over which assets belong to them as of the date of the cryptocurrency firm’s bankruptcy filing. Bankrupt cryptocurrency firm Celsius Network LLC failed to set up proper accounting and operational controls to ensure that customer funds in certain deposit accounts were set aside from the rest of its crypto holdings, according to an independent examiner appointed in the company’s chapter 11 case. In a report released Saturday, examiner Shoba Pillay found that since Celsius hadn’t developed separate infrastructure for the so-called custody program it started offering in April, the firm had to take steps to transfer funds into the custody accounts from the rest of its holdings to address frequent shortfalls. Moreover, Celsius continued to mix deposits in so-called withhold accounts, the second type of account it created in response to regulatory pressure, with the rest of its funds, according to Ms. Pillay’s report.

☆ Palestinian rights group accuses Israel of 'mafia methods' as U.N. hearings open
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The independent Commission of Inquiry, established by the Human Rights Council, the U.N. top human rights body, last year, plans five days of hearings which it says will be impartial and examine the allegations of both Israelis and Palestinians. A U.N. human rights office has previously dismissed allegations of bias and said Israel had not cooperated with the commission's work. Neither the hearings nor the U.N. Human Rights Council have any legal powers. Israel's ally the United States has criticised the U.N. Human Rights Council for what it has described as a "chronic bias" against Israel. The inquiry mandate includes alleged human rights abuses before and after that and seeks to investigate the root causes of the tensions.

☆ Mii de oameni au mers într-un sat sărac în speranța că se vor îmbogăți; Guvernul i-a dezamăgit: „Nu sunt diamante”
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-23 | by ( ) www.jurnal.md time to read: +1 min

Sursa foto: ProfimediaMii de oameni au mers într-un sat sărac în speranța că se vor îmbogăți; Guvernul i-a dezamăgit: „Nu sunt diamante”Acum o lună, un păstor de vite a descoperit în provincia KwaZulu-Natal „pietre prețioase”. Această descoperire a determinat mii de persoane să se grăbească spre satul KwaHlathi, căutând să se îmbogățească rapid. „Testele efectuate în mod concludent au arătat că pietrele descoperite în zonă nu sunt diamante”, se arată într-o declarație a guvernului local, informează Aleph News. „Drumurile și accesul la apă vor fi un punct central pentru planul guvernului de abordare a problemelor. Va fi de asemenea elaborat un plan de reabilitare a terenului care a fost săpat de locuitori”, a spus el.

Persons: News Organizations: Dezvoltare, Turism Locations: KwaZulu - Natal

☆ Forumul „Reformarea justiţiei şi combaterea corupţiei”. Nicio reformă a justiţiei nu va funcţiona fără voinţă politică
▼ + stars: | 2020-09-26 | by ( ) tvrmoldova.md time to read: +6 min

26.09.2020 16:20 Vizualizari:Forumul „Reformarea justiţiei şi combaterea corupţiei”. Nicio reformă a justiţiei nu va funcţiona fără voinţă politicăCadrul legal din Republica Moldova şi reformele iniţiate în domeniul justiţiei sunt bune, însă acestea nu vor avea efect fără asumarea lor de către politic şi fără o voinţă veritabilă de implementare a acestora. Aceasta este una din ideile principale subliniate de vorbitorii celei de-a doua zi din cadrul Forumului „Reformarea justiţiei şi combaterea corupţiei”, desfăşurat la Chişinău la 24-25 septembrie 2020. „Pentru reformarea justiţiei este nevoie de voinţă politică adevărată, fără care nimic nu se întâmplă. Acesta va fi transmis autorităţilor relevante şi poate servi drept punct de reper în elaborarea documentelor de politici în domeniul justiţiei şi combaterii corupţiei.

Persons: Juncher, Martjin QUINN, Quinn ., Alexandru TĂNASE, Tănase ., Radu, Vladislav GRIBINCEA, Victor GUZUN, instanţelor Organizations: Magistraturii, de Locations: Republica Moldova, Chişinău, Veneţia, de Justiţie, Republicii Moldova, justiţie, Moldova, Europa, Asia Centrală, Estonia

Search resuls for: "Pillay"

17 mentions found