“The computer network of the  Surinamese government is currently being targeted  by malware attacks,” said the Cyber Security Incident Response Team of the National Security Directorate (DNV-CSIRT). On Thursday morning the status of the network was at Yellow Alert because of the ongoing attack and / or possibility of another attack that could result in an increase of disruptions in local connections. The justice officials are currently on high alert. DNV-CSIRT pointed out that the government’s network is being targeted specifically. It described the threat as a  Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack that is aimed at sending many requests to websites so that users can’t reach these websites. As a result of the attacks the e-GOV website is currently offline. Government officials have been instructed to stop sending official emails. …[+]

BEIJING – Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed the all-round development of children in a reply letter to students from a primary school in the southwestern province of Sichuan.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, encouraged them to be self-reliant and aspiring children in the new era who love the country and the Party.
In the letter dated Thursday, Xi also extended International Children’s Day greetings to children nationwide.
Students from Zhijiang Primary School in Sichuan recently wrote a letter to Xi, telling the president about their studies and lives.
In his reply letter, Xi said he was delighted to hear that the school is doing very well and the students are thriving.
“Children are the future of our country,” Xi emphasized, encouraging them to “become the talent capable of shouldering the mission of building a strong country and realizing national rejuvenation.”
The school, previously situated in the mountainous regions of Nanchong City, Sichuan Province, was relocated and reconstructed in 2004 with the support of Zhejiang Province in east China, where Xi served as Party chief then.
Xi also laid the foundation for the school, which became operational in September 2005 and currently accommodates 287 students. (Xinhua)…[+]

GAZA CITY – The Israeli army will be fighting in Gaza for the next seven months at least, Israel’s National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said earlier this week.
The prediction drew concern over the fate of the Palestinian territory, which is already facing famine, mass displacement and daily Israeli violence that has killed more than 36,000 people since October 7.
A prolonged war also would harm Joe Biden’s re-election campaign in November, experts say, as the United States president already faces plummeting public support for his unequivocal backing of Israel.
Khalil Jahshan, executive director of the Arab Center Washington DC think tank, said an Israeli offensive in Gaza that stretches beyond the US election on November 5 could mean Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outlasts Biden.
“I would love to say that scenario is unrealistic, but I can’t. That scenario is real. And it could happen on November 5,” Jahshan told Al Jazeera.
For months, advocates have warned that Netanyahu has a personal political interest in prolonging the war to boost his political standing at home.
The reverse is true for Biden. Several public opinion polls in the US currently favour former Republican President Donald Trump to beat Biden in November — albeit by relatively a small margin.
Recent surveys in Israel also show Netanyahu recovering popularity and edging out his main rival, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz.
Josh Ruebner, a lecturer at Georgetown University’s Justice and Peace programme, said there is no doubt that the war on Gaza will diminish Biden’s re-election chances.
“The signs are clear. The writing is on the wall,” Ruebner told Al Jazeera.
“And should Biden decide to continue this lockstep support for Israel for another seven months, it’s not only going to kill tens of thousands more Palestinians, but it’s also going to lose him the election.”
Last Wednesday, a poll by the Arab American Institute (AAI) showed that Arab American support for Biden in key swing states is at 18 percent, down from 60 percent in 2020, largely because of his Gaza policies.
James Zogby, AAI’s president, said it would be politically “dangerous” for Biden and the Democratic Party if the war continued through the US election in November.
“It means that, if there is not something very dramatic the president does, then this is not going to be an easy election for him,” he told reporters during a virtual news briefing.
Zogby added that Biden does not only risk losing the support of Arab voters.
“Young people, Black people, Asian people are following this on a daily basis, seeing a genocide unfolding. They’re not insensitive to what they’re seeing,” he said.
“They’re horrified. And then the president says, ‘No red line was crossed. Let’s just continue doing what we’re doing.’ It is infuriating and hurtful.”
Still, Biden is not showing any signs of changing course in his pro-Israel policies, even as Netanyahu openly defies the White House’s calls to avoid civilian casualties and not invade Rafah, a city in southern Gaza.
The US president, for instance, signed off on an additional $14bn in aid to Israel last month. And this May, after threatening to withhold weapons shipments if Israel launched a major offensive in Rafah, media reports emerged that the Biden administration planned to nevertheless go through with a $1bn arms sale.
Ruebner said the Biden campaign is in denial about the impact of the president’s foreign policy on the elections.
“There’s a lot of fantasy and make-believe going on in Biden’s world that this is not impacting his chances to be re-elected,” he said. “But it clearly is. And if he allows Israel to continue this course of action through the end of the year, I think it’s going to play a huge role in him being defeated.” (Al Jazeera)