Israel Praises Guatemala Over Jerusalem Embassy Move

Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales drew praise from Israeli officials on Monday for deciding to relocate the Central American country's embassy to Jerusalem, a move in step with U.S. policy in a dispute over the city's status.

In a short post on his official Facebook account on Sunday, Morales said he had decided to move the embassy from Tel Aviv after talking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on Dec 6, reversing decades of U.S. policy and upsetting the Arab world and Western allies.

On Thursday, 128 countries defied Trump by backing a non-binding U.N. General Assembly resolution calling on the United States to drop its recognition of Jerusalem.

"I congratulate my friend (Morales) on his bold decision to move his country's embassy in Israel to Jerusalem," Israeli Parliamentary Speaker Yuli Edelstein wrote on Twitter. "Your decision proves that you and your country are true friends of Israel."

Guatemala and neighboring Honduras were two of only a handful of countries to join Israel and the United States, which has pledged to move its embassy to Jerusalem, in voting against the U.N. resolution.

Israel's ambassador to Guatemala, Matty Cohen, said on Army Radio that no date had been set for the embassy move, "but it will happen after" the United States relocates its own embassy to Jerusalem. U.S. officials have said that move could take at least two years.

The United States is an important source of assistance to Guatemala and Honduras, and Trump had threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that supported the U.N. resolution.

Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, writing on Twitter, thanked Morales for what she described as "his courageous decision". She said she was confident that other countries would follow his lead.

The status of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest obstacles to an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they want to establish in the occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.

The international community does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, home to sites holy to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions.

Prior to 1980, Guatemala - along with Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, The Netherlands, Panama, Venezuela and Uruguay - maintained an embassy in Jerusalem.

Israel's passage in June 1980 of a law proclaiming Jerusalem its "indivisible and eternal capital" led to a U.N. Security Council resolution calling upon those countries to move their embassies to Tel Aviv, prompting their transfer.

Why Microsoft removed Google’s Chrome installer from the Windows Store!

Google published a Chrome app in the Windows Store earlier today, which just directed users to a download link to install the browser. Microsoft isn’t impressed with Google’s obvious snub of the Windows Store, and it’s taking action. “We have removed the Google Chrome Installer App from Microsoft Store, as it violates our Microsoft Store policies,” says a Microsoft spokesperson in a statement to The Verge.

Citing the need to ensure apps “provide unique and distinct value,” Microsoft says “we welcome Google to build a Microsoft Store browser app compliant with our Microsoft Store policies.” That’s an invitation that Google is unlikely to accept. There are many reasons Google won’t likely bring Chrome to the Windows Store, but the primary reason is probably related to Microsoft’s Windows 10 S restrictions. Windows Store apps that browse the web must use HTML and JavaScript engines provided by Windows 10, and Google’s Chrome browser uses its own Blink rendering engine. Google would have to create a special Chrome app that would adhere to Microsoft’s Store policies.

Most Windows 10 machines don’t run Windows 10 S, so Google probably won’t create a special version just to get its browser listed in the Windows Store. Google can’t just package its existing desktop app into a Centennial Windows Store app, either. Microsoft is explicit about any store apps having to use the Edge rendering engine.

The Verge understands Google created this installer app to combat the fake Chrome apps that can be found in the Windows Store, a problem Microsoft has been trying to address for years. Google’s workaround has now been removed from the Windows Store, so Windows 10 users will have to continue using Microsoft Edge to access the download site for Chrome if they want to access Google’s browser.

This isn’t the first time Microsoft and Google have battled over browsers or platforms. Both companies fought over a YouTube app for Windows Phone, Microsoft targeted Google with “Scroogled” commercials, and Microsoft has also criticized Chrome’s battery usage. We’ve reached out to Google to see if this is a battle that will continue, but the company is not commenting on the removal.

FBI deputy grilled by House Intel amid concerns over bias

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe arrived at the Capitol Tuesday afternoon to face a grilling from the House Intelligence Committee amid concerns among some Republicans who believe the bureau is hopelessly biased against President Trump.

He testified for close to eight hours, in a rescheduled interview that came amid the committee’s sprawling investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. election.

McCabe — who was appointed by former FBI Director James Comey in early 2016 — has long been a Republican target, thanks in part to political donations his wife received from Democratic governor and Clinton ally Terry McAuliffe (Va.).

But he skyrocketed back into the public view after a series of texts from a former member of special counsel Robert Mueller’s team became public. The agent, Peter Strzok, disparaged political figures of both parties in the texts, including Trump, whom he called an “idiot.”

Both Democrats and Republicans described the interview as professional and cordial when the committee broke mid-way through the interview for House votes, but were tight-lipped on the details of McCabe’s testimony afterwards. Committee Republicans — as well as McCabe — evaded reporters when the interview broke up at 10 p.m. 

Panel Democrats largely declined to answer questions. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) called the meeting “productive,” but declined to speak further.

Republicans went into the interview planning to press him on a host of issues, from the Strzok texts to how the FBI used a controversial, unconfirmed dossier of opposition research into then-candidate Donald Trump. Some Republicans have speculated that the bureau may have used the so-called Steele Dossier — some of which has been shown to be false — as the basis for a surveillance warrant on members of Trump’s campaign.

The embryo is just a year younger than the mother who birthed her

The longest known frozen human embryo to result in a successful birth was born last month in Tennessee.

Emma Wren Gibson, delivered November 25 by Dr. Jeffrey Keenan, medical director of the National Embryo Donation Center, is the result of an embryo originally frozen on October 14, 1992.

Emma's parents, Tina and Benjamin Gibson of eastern Tennessee, admit feeling surprised when they were told the exact age of the embryo thawed March 13 by Carol Sommerfelt, embryology lab director at the National Embryo Donation Center.

"Do you realize I'm only 25? This embryo and I could have been best friends," Tina Gibson said.

Today, Tina, now 26, explained to CNN, "I just wanted a baby. I don't care if it's a world record or not."

France puts Facebook on notice over WhatsApp data transfers

Facebook and WhatsApp have been issued with formal notices by France’s data protection watchdog warning that data transfers being carried out for ‘business intelligence’ purposes currently lack a legal basis — and consequently that Facebook Inc, WhatsApp’s owner, has violated the French Data Protection Act.

WhatsApp has been given a month to remedy the situation or could face additional investigation by the CNIL — and the potential for a sanction to be issued against it in future.

In August 2016 the social networking giant caused massive controversy when its messaging platform WhatsApp announced a privacy U-turn — saying it would shortly begin sharing user data with its parent, Facebook, and Facebook’s network of companies, despite the founder’s prior publicly stated stance that user privacy would never be compromised as a result of the Facebook acquisition.

WhatsApp’s founder, Jan Koum, had also assured users that ads would not be added to the platform. However the data-sharing arrangement with Facebook included “ad-targeting purposes” among its listed reasons.

Users were offered an opt-out, but only a time-limited one — which also required they actively read through terms & conditions to find and uncheck a default-checked box to prevent information such as their mobile phone number being shared with Facebook for ad targeting (shared phone numbers enabling the company to link a user’s Facebook profile and activity with their WhatsApp account).

Facebook’s facial recognition now looks for you in photos you’re not tagged in

Facebook is expanding how it uses facial recognition to find people in photos. From today, the company will notify users when someone uploads a photo with them in it — even if they’re not tagged. The user will then have the option to add their tag to the photo, leave themselves untagged, or report the photo if they think it’s inappropriate. The feature will also work with profile photos, but won’t be available in Canada or the EU, where data laws restrict the use of facial recognition.

According to Facebook, the new tool is designed to empower users by helping them control their image online. “We really thought this as a privacy feature for a long time. If someone posts a photo of you you might not know about it,” Rob Sherman, Facebook’s head of privacy, told The Verge. “Now, the users can access the photo, and they can communicate to the person who posted it.”

Sherman also says the tool could also be a prompt for nostalgia, alerting people about photos they’ve forgotten. (Although the tool doesn’t work retroactively.) And, of course, it will encourage people to engage with the site, and increase the amount of time they spend on it. It’s like that old thought experiment: if someone uploads a photo of you to Facebook but doesn’t tag you in it, does it show up in engagement metrics? The answer, apparently, is no.

After U.S. veto, U.N. General Assembly to meet on Jerusalem status

The 193-member United Nations General Assembly will hold a rare emergency special session on Thursday at the request of Arab and Muslim states on U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour said the General Assembly would vote on a draft resolution calling for Trump’s declaration to be withdrawn, which was vetoed by the United States in the 15-member U.N. Security Council on Monday.

The remaining 14 Security Council members voted in favour of the Egyptian-drafted resolution, which did not specifically mention the United States or Trump but which expressed “deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem.”

Mansour said on Monday he hoped there would be “overwhelming support” in the General Assembly for the resolution. Such a vote is non-binding, but carries political weight.

Under a 1950 resolution, an emergency special session can be called for the General Assembly to consider a matter “with a view to making appropriate recommendations to members for collective measures” if the Security Council fails to act.