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JERUSALEM Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday pledged to annex parts of the occupied West Bank in the coming months, vowing to move ahead with the explosive plan despite a growing chorus of condemnations by key allies.

The Palestinians, with wide international backing, seek the entire West Bank as the heartland of a future independent state. Annexing large chunks of this territory would all but destroy the faint remaining hopes of a two-state solution.

In an apparent reference to the friendly administration of President Donald Trump, Netanyahu said Israel had a historic opportunity to redraw the Mideast map that could not be missed. Israeli media quoted him as saying he would act in July.

This is an opportunity that we will not let pass, he told members of his conservative Likud party. He added that the historic opportunity to annex the West Bank had never before occurred since Israels founding in 1948.

The comments threatened to push Israel closer to a confrontation with Arab and European partners, and could deepen what is becoming a growing partisan divide over Israel in Washington.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war. It has settled nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers in the territory, but never formally claimed it as an Israeli territory due to stiff international opposition.

But the Trump administration has taken a much softer line toward Israeli settlements than its predecessors. Trumps Mideast team is dominated by advisers with close ties to the settlements, and his Mideast plan, unveiled in January, envisions leaving some 30% of the territory under permanent Israeli control while giving the Palestinians expanded autonomy in the rest of the area. The Palestinians have rejected the plan, saying it is unfairly biased toward Israel.

With Trumps re-election prospects uncertain this November, Israeli hard-liners have urged Netanyahu to move ahead with annexation quickly. The Israeli leaders new coalition deal includes an official clause allowing him to present his annexation plan to the government in July.

Netanyahu told party members in a closed-door meeting that we have a target date for July and we dont intend to change it, Likud officials said.

The plan has already exposed a partisan divide in Washington. Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee in the U.S. presidential elections, recently said that annexation would choke off hopes for a two-state solution. 18 Democratic senators warned in a letter this week that annexation could harm U.S.-Israeli ties.

The EUs foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has said annexation would violate international law and vowed to use all our diplomatic capacities to stop it.

Closer to home, the Palestinians last week cut off security ties a valuable tool in a shared struggled against Islamic militants with Israel to protest the annexation plan.

Saudi Arabia, an influential Arab country that maintains behind-the-scenes relations with Israel, announced its rejection of the Israeli measures and plans to annex Palestinian lands.

The Arab League has condemned it as a war crime, and both Jordan and Egypt the only two Arab countries at peace with Israel have harshly criticized it.

Netanyahu spoke a day after beginning his trial on corruption charges.

The prime minister launched a blistering tirade against the countrys legal system when he arrived at court, accusing police, prosecutors and media of conspiring to oust him. As he spoke, hundreds of supporters cheered outside.

Speaking to Likud on Monday, Netanyahu said he was very moved by the support.

Critics have said his attacks on the justice system risk undermining the countrys democratic foundations.

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Israeli leader vows to push ahead with annexing West Bank - The Republic

Maharashtra as a state is the top contributor to National Coronavirus cases. As of Saturday, the Maharashtra count for Coronavirus positive cases had already crossed the 47,000 mark. As a state, Maharashtra is contributing almost 50% of the nations total Coronavirus cases. As expected, the Chief Minister of the State, Uddhav Thackeray, is being criticised widely for his handling of the situation. While Shiv Senas PR strategy is extensive, roping in Bollywood celebrities and even journalists to sing songs praising the CM, the reality does weigh down on the political dispensation from time to time.

Uddhav Thackeray today released a video message for the people of his state. In that video, one of the things he said was We cant say that the lockdown will be over by May 31. We will have to see how we will go forward. The coming time is crucial as the multiplication of virus is picking up.

As per this statement, it would seem like Uddhav Thackeray is agreeing that the lockdown has merits and is perhaps one of the only ways to arrest the Coronavirus pandemic, especially in a state like Maharashtra, that has been out of control for a long time as far as this pandemic is concerned.

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But then, Uddhav Thackeray says something completely different and bizarre. He says, It was wrong to impose the lockdown suddenly. It will be equally wrong to lift it in one go. It will be a double whammy for our own people.

After saying that he might not be lifting the lockdown because there is a severe multiplication of virus, Uddhav Thackeray suddenly said that the sudden imposition of lockdown was a bad decision in itself. Further, after saying the imposition was incorrect, he backs it up by saying that it will be equally detrimental if the lockdown is lifted completely.

This is a classic Heads I win, Tails you lose situation where Uddhav Thackeray is saying that the lockdown is needed in Maharashtra because it has spiralled out of control but at the same time, mouthing mandatory criticism to play petty politics in complete contradiction to his previous statements.

The Chief Minister, his party and his allies confusion doesnt seem to end there. Uddhav Thackeray in his address to his people said that he needs more time to start domestic travel. It is pertinent to note that the central government is all set to start domestic travel soon. Further, the Home Minister of the State, who belongs to NCP also said that it was a bad idea to start domestic air travel to Maharashtra.

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However, soon after these tall statements, NCPs Nawab Malik, who is also a Minister in Maharashtra went on record to state that Maharashtra will actually allow 25 flights to land in Maharashtra on Monday.

Maharashtra, which has survived so far on PR stunts and media control seems to be spiralling out of control. The state was mismanaged up until now as far as tackling the Coronavirus pandemic was concerned with the highest number of Coronavirus positive cases from the state, but now, even their public perception seems to be going for a toss with rambling statements first, contradictory statements next.

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Heads I win, Tails you lose: Uddhav Thackeray and his Govt sound clueless with contradictory statements on Coronavirus lockdown and travel - OpIndia

20% of college students are more depressed.

11% are more anxious.

16% are more lonely.

A college student studying, surrounded by books.

COVID-19 has caused serious emotional challenges for young people. In fact, according to Wisdo, a peer-to-peer counseling community, pandemic anxiety is almost three times more worrying to this age group than any other stress-creating experiences pre COVID-19.

Three-time bestselling New York Times author Dan Ariely, who wrote Predictably Irrational and is a professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University, uses the app and is an advisor to the company. He says the virus is a huge issue, and the economic impact of shutdowns is massive.

But most important is the psychological impact.

Theres lots of things happening in this Corona crisis, but one of them is the unpredictability of the world, and the reality that when things are unpredictable theyre very hard to deal with, Ariely told me on the TechFirst podcast. And who has the most amount of unpredictability? Young people ... they basically have no control over their environment.

When the world is unpredictable and bad things happen, learned helplessness sets in, Ariely says.

Stress builds as well: health and medical stress, financial stress, even stress from being in close proximity for a long time with the same people during shutdown. These are all results of schools shutting down, jobs being lost, and college students uncertainty of when and how they will be able to resume classes and move towards careers.

Wisdo is conducting what it calls the worlds first comprehensive study of mental health during the pandemic. The study will encompass all users of the app in the U.S. and the UK and will last through the entire 2020 year.

The initial findings are not good.

Dan Ariely

Depression, anxiety, and stress are leading to sleeping problems, trouble expressing thoughts and feelings in conversation, and challenges with enjoying life. And theres been a huge increase in the number of students reporting excessive worrying.

Ariely isnt just speaking theoretically or academically about how a lack of control of your circumstances impacts your wellness and mental health. Hes experienced what hes talking about and its why he wears half a beard.

I was burned 70%, I was in hospital for about three years, he told me. The lack of knowledge of whats going to happen and not being able to control my own destiny in any way was incredibly tough ... it was incredibly psychologically challenging.

So what can students or adults who have lost a job do to regain a sense of control and some level of mental health?

Ariely says there are some simple steps anyone can take.

Were not going to get a lot of control back, Ariely says. The question is, can we get some of it back? And so in hospital, one way to give people control is whats called patient controlled analgesia when you basically have a button and you decide when to press and that gives you medication on your time.

The key, Ariely says, is to find something like that in our lives. Something that provides some level of control, and shows quick results. Examples that most of us are seeing on social media probably include baking bread especially sourdough or hobbies like knitting or art. Retail therapy is another, Ariely says, but he doesnt recommend it. (Gets expensive, he says.)

Essentially, anything that shows you quick improvement is best.

Corona time is giving us an opportunity to work on those things, and this is a sense of control, Ariely says. Why? Because its a process that allows you to see progress. If you start to meditate, it gives you progress. Another, a good thing to do is to do push ups. Why? You could see the increase, right? First day its maybe three and then you can move at some to four, but what you want is things that you can actually see the improvement.

And that sourdough were seeing on social media?

Its the modern-day Tamagotchi, says Ariely. Keeping something alive even some yeast is an exercise in creativity and control that can help us feel better in general.

See the full transcript of our conversation here.

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25 Million Students On COVID-19: Depression, Anxiety And Loneliness Hitting Peak Levels - Forbes

Julia Roberts and Hugh Jackman are giving up control of their social media accounts!

Starting on Thursday (May 21), stars will be handing over their social accounts to COVID-19 experts as part of the #PassTheMic campaign.

Experts including Dr. Anthony Fauci will use the stars platforms to share facts and science-driven perspectives on the pandemic. The campaign will continue for several weeks and feature frontline workers as well as health, economic, and other experts.

Other stars that will be taking part in the campaign include Shailene Woodley, Danai Gurira, Millie Bobby Brown, Penelope Cruz, Rainn Wilson, Rita Wilson, David Oyelowo, Connie Britton, and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Beating the virus means listening to the experts and following the science, data and facts to get ahead of it. This impressive group of talent and experts from around the world will put a spotlight on the need for a global response to this pandemic, ONE Campaign President and CEO, Gayle Smith said in a statement. We need global cooperation and action to fight this pandemic especially for the people, communities, and countries that are least able to withstand the shock. Because none of us are safe until all of us are safe.

You can head to Pass the Mic for a full list of celebrities and experts that will be participating in the campaign.

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Julia Roberts, Hugh Jackman, & More to Hand Over Social Media Accounts to COVID-19 Experts - Just Jared

ESET researchers detect a new way of misusing Accessibility Service, the Achilles heel of Android security

ESET researchers have analyzed an extremely dangerous Android app that can perform a host of nefarious actions, notably wiping out the victims bank account or cryptocurrency wallet and taking over their email or social media accounts. Called DEFENSOR ID, the banking trojan was available on Google Play at the time of the analysis. The app is fitted with standard information-stealing capabilities; however, this banker is exceptionally insidious in that after installation it requires a single action from the victim enable Androids Accessibility Service to fully unleash the apps malicious functionality.

The DEFENSOR ID app made it onto the heavily guarded Google Play store thanks to its extreme stealth. Its creators reduced the apps malicious surface to the bare minimum by removing all potentially malicious functionalities but one: abusing Accessibility Service.

Accessibility Service is long known to be the Achilles heel of the Android operating system. Security solutions can detect it in countless combinations with other suspicious permissions and functions, or malicious functionalities but when faced with no additional functionality nor permission, all failed to trigger any alarm on DEFENSOR ID.

By all we mean all security mechanisms guarding the official Android app store (including the detection engines of the members of the App Defense Alliance) and all security vendors participating in the VirusTotal program (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. According to the VirusTotal service, no security vendor detected the DEFENSOR ID app until it was pulled off the Play store

DEFENSOR ID was released on Feb 3, 2020 and last updated to v1.4 on May 6, 2020. The latest version is analyzed here; we werent able to determine if the earlier versions were also malicious. According to its profile at Google Play (see Figure 2) the app reached a mere 10+ downloads. We reported it to Google on May 16, 2020 and since May 19, 2020 the app has no longer been available on Google Play.

The developer name used, GAS Brazil, suggests the criminals behind the app targeted Brazilian users. Apart from including the countrys name, the apps name is probably intended to imply a relationship with the antifraud solution named GAS Tecnologia. That security software is commonly installed on computers in Brazil as several banks require it to log into their online banking. However, there is also an English version of the DEFENSOR ID app (see Figure 3) besides the Portuguese one, and that app has neither geographical nor language restrictions.

Playing further off the suggested GAS Tecnologia link, the app promises better security for its users. The description in Portuguese promises more protection for the users applications, including end-to-end encryption. Deceptively, the app was listed in the Education section.

Figure 2. The DEFENSOR ID app on Google Play Portuguese version (translates roughly as: Your new Defensor app available for: / Individuals / Legal entities / From now on you will have more protection when using your applications, encryption for end-to-end users)

Figure 3. The DEFENSOR ID app on Google Play English version

After starting, DEFENSOR ID requests the following permissions:

If an unsuspecting user grants these permissions (see Figure 4), the trojan can read any text displayed in any app the user may launch and send it to the attackers. This means the attackers can steal the victims credentials for logging into apps, SMS and email messages, displayed cryptocurrency private keys, and even software-generated 2FA codes.

The fact the trojan can steal both the victims credentials and also can control their SMS messages and generated 2FA codes means DEFENSOR IDs operators can bypass two-factor authentication. This opens the door to, for example, fully controlling the victims bank account.

To make sure the trojan survives a device restart, it abuses already activated accessibility services that will launch the trojan right after start.

Figure 4. The permission requests by DEFENSOR ID

Our analysis shows the DEFENSOR ID trojan can execute 17 commands received from the attacker-controlled server such as uninstalling an app, launching an app and then performing any click/tap action controlled remotely by the attacker (see Figure 5).

Figure 5. The list of commands DEFENSOR ID may get from its C&C server

In 2018, we saw similar behavior, but all the click actions were hardcoded and suited only for the app of the attackers choice. In this case, the attacker can get the list of all installed apps and then remotely launch the victims app of their choice to either steal credentials or perform malicious actions (e.g. send funds via a wire transfer).

We believe that this is the reason the DEFENSOR ID trojan requests the user to allow Modify system settings. Subsequently, the malware will change the screen off time-out to 10 minutes. This means that, unless victims lock their devices via the hardware button, the timer provides plenty of time for the malware to remotely perform malicious, in-app operations.

If the device gets locked, the malware cant unlock it.

When we analyzed the sample, we realized that the malware operators left the remote database with some of the victims data freely accessible, without any authentication. The database contained the last activity performed on around 60 compromised devices. We found no other information stolen from the victims to be accessible.

Thanks to this data leak, we were able to confirm that the malware really worked as designed: the attacker had access to the victims entered credentials, displayed or written emails and messages, etc.

Once we reached the non-secured database, we were able to directly observe the apps malicious behavior. To illustrate the level of threat the DEFENSOR ID app posed, we performed three tests.

First, we launched a banking app and entered the credentials there. The credentials were immediately available in the leaky database see Figure 6.

Figure 6. The banking app test: the credentials as entered (left) and as available in the database (right)

Second, we wrote a test message in an email client. We saw the message uploaded to the attackers server within a second see Figure 7.

Figure 7. The email message test: the message as written (left) and as available in the database (right)

Third, we documented the trojan retrieving the Google Authenticator 2FA code.

Figure 8. The software generated 2FA code as it appeared on the devices display (left) and as available in the database (right)

Along with the malicious DEFENSOR ID app, another malicious app named Defensor Digital was discovered. Both apps shared the same C&C server, but we couldnt investigate the latter as it had already been removed from the Google Play store.

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Insidious Android malware gives up all malicious features but one to gain stealth - We Live Security