ReportWire

Tag: The Guardian

  • Google and Amazon’s Israeli cloud contracts reportedly require them to sidestep legal orders

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    Chalk this one up under “The most clever (alleged) legal sidesteps this side of Tony Soprano.” On Wednesday, The Guardian published a report about a so-called “winking mechanism” regarding Israeli cloud computing contracts with Amazon and Google. The stipulation from 2021’s Project Nimbus is said to require the US companies to send coded messages to Israel. According to the report, whenever Google or Amazon secretly complies with an overseas legal request for Israeli data, they’re required to send money to Israel. The dollar amount indicates which country issued the request.

    The coding system reportedly involves country dialing prefixes. For example, if Google or Amazon hand over Israeli data to the US (dialing code +1), they would send Israel 1,000 shekels. For Italy (code +39), they would send 3,900 shekels. (Out of morbid curiosity, I discovered that the highest dialing code is Uzbekistan’s +998.) There’s reportedly even a failsafe: If a gag order prevents the companies from using the standard signal, they can notify Israel by sending 100,000 shekels.

    The Guardian says Microsoft, which bid for the Nimbus contract, lost out in part because it refused to accept some of Israel’s terms.

    In a statement to Engadget, an Amazon spokesperson highlighted customer privacy. “We respect the privacy of our customers, and we do not discuss our relationship without their consent, or have visibility into their workloads,” they wrote.

    The Amazon spokesperson denied that the company has any underhanded workarounds in place. “We have a rigorous global process for responding to lawful and binding orders for requests related to customer data,” they said. “[Amazon Web Services] carefully reviews each request to assess any non-disclosure obligations, and we maintain confidentiality in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. While AWS does not disclose customer information in response to government demands unless we’re absolutely required to do so, we recognize the legitimate needs of law enforcement agencies to investigate serious crimes. We do not have any processes in place to circumvent our confidentiality obligations on lawfully binding orders.”

    Google also denied any wrongdoing. “The accusations in this reporting are false, and imply that we somehow were involved in illegal activity, which is absurd,” a company spokesperson said. “As is common in public sector agreements, an RFP does not reflect a final contract. The idea that we would evade our legal obligations to the US government as a US company, or in any other country, is categorically wrong.”

    “We’ve been very clear about the Nimbus contract, what it’s directed to, and the Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy that govern it,” the Google spokesperson continued. “Nothing has changed. This appears to be yet another attempt to falsely imply otherwise.”

    We also reached out to the Israeli government for a statement, and we’ll update this story if we hear back. The Guardian’s full report has much more detail on the alleged leak.

    Update, October 29, 2025, 6:29 PM ET: This story has been updated to add a statement from a Google spokesperson.

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    Will Shanklin

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  • Akon Tries Not to Make Too Many “Shake-Your-Ass” Songs “on the Lord’s Day”

    Akon Tries Not to Make Too Many “Shake-Your-Ass” Songs “on the Lord’s Day”

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    Akon may not be a religious guy, but he still tries to keep his music respectful on the Lord’s day.

    The musician was interviewed for The Guardian‘s weekly series “Sunday with…” and was asked about his Sunday routine. He explained, “These last few years I never know where I’ll wake up,” but it’s usually a day off from work so he’ll spend it “under the comforter in a hotel room, watching Netflix and drinking peppermint tea.” But when he’s at home in Atlanta, he’s hanging out with his kids and “there’s always a schedule if they’re around: movies, sports, bowling… I’ve got an alley in my basement, that helps. Even then I’m not in the kitchen. Sundays are for ordering junk food: wings, burgers, that sort of thing.”

    He’ll also “sometimes” carves out a little time to work, although he says, “The music I make on Sundays is more family friendly… You don’t want too many ‘shake-your-asses’ on the Lord’s day. Else I might be playing a birthday or bar mitzvah.” And while he may be respectful of the Lord’s day, don’t expect to find Akon in a house of worship on Sunday anytime soon. He said, “I’m not a religious person. Religious knowledge is passed down depending on who knows what; it’s not always accurate.” But the “Smack That” singer added, “Every day is spiritual” and “Sunday is quiet—the peace does me good. Silence is the soundtrack to a day off in the music industry.”

    While he may not identify as religious now, in 2015, Akon told The National that his relationship with Islam was the key to his success. “I was born a Muslim and, depending on what part of Senegal you came from, music was considered haram [unlawful] and there has always been a debate about Islam and music,” he explained. “I never looked at the performing aspect of the music itself but on the intention. Even if you look at the daily prayers in Islam we pray in melody, when we hear the call to prayer in any part of the world it is also done with melody, so no one can tell me that music is haram. Now this is my personal point of view and I am not speaking for anyone else. Now I am not in a position to judge any man and I don’t expect them to judge me as well, but no matter what decision you decide to make just do right by it. Because, at the end of the day, Allah is watching and he knows what is in your heart.”

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    Emily Kirkpatrick

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  • Billionaire Trump-Backer Peter Thiel Seeks Malta Citizenship, Report Says

    Billionaire Trump-Backer Peter Thiel Seeks Malta Citizenship, Report Says

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    Topline

    Billionaire venture capitalist, PayPal cofounder and major MAGA Republican donor Peter Thiel is seeking citizenship in the Mediterranean island nation of Malta, according to a New York Times report, although his intentions behind the citizenship are not yet clear.

    Key Facts

    Citizenship documents list Thiel’s address as an apartment in Malta, which the New York Times reported is listed as a vacation rental on Airbnb for $180 a night—despite Malta’s citizenship requirements prohibiting applicants from renting out their official residence before their citizenship process is complete.

    Although a Malta citizenship would not provide Thiel with a significant tax benefit, the New York Times reported, it could provide him a multi-million-dollar compound and an escape from the U.S.—he has expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the direction the country is headed, increasingly funneling his multibillion-dollar net worth into pro-MAGA candidates.

    Thiel, a self-described conservative libertarian who co-founded Palantir Technologies and PayPal and served on Facebook’s board of directors until February, has poured roughly $30 million into GOP campaigns ahead of the November midterm elections, Politico reported. Candidates he’s funded include fellow venture capitalists Blake Masters, who is running for a seat in Arizona, and J.D. Vance, in Ohio—both were endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

    Citizenship in Malta would give Thiel his third passport—he obtained New Zealand citizenship in 2011 after the country determined his “entrepreneurial skills” made his citizenship in the public’s interest.

    Thiel’s spokesperson Jeremiah Hall did not respond to an inquiry from Forbes.

    Forbes Valuation Number

    We estimate Thiel’s worth at $4.2 billion, making him the 626th wealthiest person in the world.

    Key Background

    Thiel, a partner with venture capital firm Founders Fund, and a primary investor in Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Stripe, was also the first major investor in Facebook, although he stepped away from the social media giant in February with the intention of influencing the midterm elections in favor of pro-MAGA candidates. He was one of Trump’s biggest donors in his 2016 presidential campaign, when he donated $1.25 million in super PAC and direct donations. He also spoke at the Republican National Convention that year. Thiel has been described as a controversial figure in recent years for embracing seemingly contradictory ideologies. He is a GOP-supporting mega-fundraiser in a Democratic-leaning tech industry. He is gay and he supports former President Donald Trump, who has been criticized for supporting anti-LGBTQ policies. In 2011, he obtained citizenship in New Zealand, although his citizenship status was not made public until 2017. Reports revealed the country’s Internal Affairs officials waived two primary requirements for a New Zealand passport—being a permanent resident or having plans to be one—claiming his “entrepreneurial skills” make him “exceptional.”

    Tangent

    Thiel plans to spend another $5 million on Masters’ campaign in Arizona, in addition to the $15 million he spent on his campaign in the Republican primary race earlier this year, the Washington Post reported on Thursday. As for Vance’s campaign, Thiel could have already donated his last dollar. CNBC reported earlier this month Thiel had indicated he is focusing his fundraising on the Arizona Senate race, following recent polls that show Masters trailing incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), while polls in Ohio have Vance narrowly ahead of Democratic candidate Tim Ryan.

    Surprising Fact

    Thiel, a Los Angeles resident who has an island estate near Miami Beach, Florida, also had plans to build a megamansion on more than 18 acres of land on New Zealand’s South Island. Those plans, however, was thwarted last month, after local officials denied the proposal, arguing it would have an overwhelming aesthetic impact in the serene lakefront and leave an adverse environmental footprint. He has proposed creating a city on floating platforms outside the bounds of national waters.

    Furhter Reading

    Peter Thiel’s midterm bet: the billionaire seeking to disrupt America’s democracy (The Guardian)

    Peter Thiel, Major U.S. Political Donor, Is Said to Pursue Maltese Citizenship (New York Times)

    The Many Contradictions Of Peter Thiel’s New Zealand Citizenship (Forbes)

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    Brian Bushard, Forbes Staff

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