PRESS REVIEW – Thursday, May 21: There's outrage and condemnation in the international papers over a video showing Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir taunting detained flotilla activists. One Israeli editor says he should be fired for his video. Also: the US indicts former Cuban president Raul Castro – is this a prelude for a Maduro-style US military operation in Cuba? Plus, a study shows that cows can recognise familiar faces – they have "déjà moo"!
There's international outrage after far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir taunted detained flotilla activists at the port of Ashdod. In a video published on X, the national security minister threatened the activists with prison as he toured the makeshift space with an Israeli flag in his hand. Hundreds of detained activists can be seen in the video, with some seen kneeling with their hands bound behind their back. The footage has sparked international condemnation and even a rare rebuke from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The conservative daily Jerusalem Post calls Ben-Gvir's actions "disdainful". Haaretz, the centre-left Israeli daily which is critical of Netanyahu, condemns Ben-Gvir's actions as "cruder than others but certainly in line with the norms of today's Israel." The editor calls the violence against and humiliation of activists in front of cameras and ministers "a disgrace that cannot be hidden".
There is also swift backlash in the conservative website Times of Israel. The editor David Horowitz pens an op-ed calling Ben-Gvir a "far-right Jewish supremacist" and "racist thug." As national security minister, he writes, Ben-Gvir has harmed "Israel's security, reputation and internal well-being", calling for him to be fired. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was one of the first international leaders to condemn the video, as some of the activists are Italian. La Repubblica says "shame on Israel" on its front page. La Stampa sees Ben-Gvir as the minister who has "triggered a crisis between Italy and Israel." Il Fatto Quotidiano says the flotilla has "brought Israel to its knees". It says Israel's "new act of piracy" in international waters nonetheless is not at all surprising, given that Israel "violates all rules and conventions anyway".
Over in the US, an indictment has been announced against former Cuban president Raul Castro, dating back to a fatal downing of two planes in 1996. The indictment was issued in a federal district court in Miami on Wednesday. The New York Times describes it as an "extraordinary escalation of the multifaceted pressure campaign against Cuba's communist government." Castro, 94, is accused of murder and conspiracy to kill Americans over the 1996 downing of two planes off the coast of Cuba. The planes were operated by a Cuban exile group that scoured the waters for Cuban nationals fleeing the country. Four people died in the incident. Nonetheless, The Economist notes that Cubans are not dismissing the possibility of a US operation – the current regime is playing it up – with civilians getting military training and leaflets being handed out telling people how to prepare for war.
The editors of the Wall Street Journal call the indictment a "welcome attempt to provide justice for the murdered Americans". The business daily notes that it comes at a time of growing vulnerability for Cuba, as its "Venezuelan sugar daddy has been cut off." The island is running out of diesel and fuel oil for its power plants with blackouts lasting hours, services in shambles and food supplies hard to come by.
Finally, a new study shows that cows can recognise the faces of familiar humans. The study, run by French researchers, set out to test whether our bovine friends can discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar faces. It turns out that cows have déjà moo. They are capable of identifying familiar faces and matching them with the same voices. The findings could moo-tivate farmers to work with certain cows to strengthen their human-animal relationships. But if you're a meat farmer, however, this would probably be a moo-t point!
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