Israel Protests, Twitter's New Logo, and Spotting Deepfakes

Protests Swell in Jerusalem

Tens of thousands of Israelis protesting a plan to limit judicial power ended a 45-mile march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem Saturday by blocking highways and chanting outside parliament. The protests, entering their 29th week, come as the country's ruling conservative coalition looks to vote today on a trimmed-down overhaul of the nation's Supreme Court. 

Original plans to give the Knesset—Israel's legislature—the power to overrule the Supreme Court and select a majority of its judges were dropped in light of nationwide strikes and demonstrations (see background). The coalition's simplified plan proposes to abolish the court's use of the "reasonableness" tool to overturn government decisions (see explainer), a concept considered vague by critics but which supporters claim is key to checking government overreach. Thousands of military reservists suspended their service Friday in protest of today's vote.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was taken to the hospital early Sunday to have a pacemaker inserted for a reported heart defect. 

Tour de France

Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard was crowned champion of biking's most prestigious race yesterday, capturing his second straight Tour de France title. Vingegaard finished almost seven-and-a-half minutes ahead of rival Tadej Pogačar, the largest margin in the 2,100-mile race since 2014.

Despite the final results, the pair were neck-and-neck for most of the stages until Vingegaard turned in a blistering effort in stage 16, building a 1:38 lead over Pogačar. The performance was followed by a dominant ride through stage 17 in the Alps, during which Pogačar radioed to his team he had run out of energy, effectively conceding the overall race to Vingegaard. 

For his efforts, Vingegaard will take home around $540K in prize money. Pogačar, who won the title in 2020 and 2021, will receive around $220K. See photos from the full race here.

Bye Bye Birdie

Twitter is looking to replace its long-standing bird logo with a brand mark representing its recently established parent company X Corp., according to suggestions tweeted by owner Elon Musk over the weekend. 

X Corp. was established this spring and legally absorbed Twitter as early as April, according to court filings. A subsidiary of parent company X Holdings, Musk has previously described Twitter as part of a larger vision to create an "everything app"—a platform combining social networks, financial transactions, e-commerce, and more. Such apps have gained a dominant foothold in China with WeChat and Southeast Asia with Grab. The name is a reference to Musk's original payments company, X, which merged with a competitor to become PayPal in 2000. 

When the logo would be changed, and to what new design, was unclear. Musk appeared to challenge Twitter users to submit proposals via the platform, with a change coming as early as today. 

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