Hungary Official Admits Government Used Spyware to Target Journalists, Businesspeople

https://www.newsweek.com/hungary-official-admits-government-used-spyware-target-journalists-businesspeople-1646042

Lajos Kosa confirmed to journalists that the Interior Ministry of Hungary had purchased the military-grade spyware Pegasus. Kosa is the chairman of parliament's Committee on Defense and Law Enforcement.

The system is produced by NSO Group, which is based in Israel. It marks the first time a government official from Hungary admitted that they had used malware, something that has been in the news since an investigation from July of 2021 revealed that Pegasus was used in Hungary.

Kosa insisted there was no illegal activity involved in the use of the Pegasus software. He said officials had received permission from courts or the Ministry of Justice before use.

The usage of Pegasus against journalists comes after accusations from the European Union that right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been increasingly taking control of Hungary's media. His critics say that he is bringing the country into "increasingly autocratic rule," according to AP.

The Biden administration said it will place export limits on NSO Group.

1,000-year-old Peruvian mask’s red paint contains human blood, study finds

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/11/1000-year-old-peruvian-masks-red-paint-contains-human-blood-study-finds/

The Sican culture was prominent along the northern coast of modern Peru between the 9th and 14th centuries. There are numerous tombs of elite members of that society from the Middle Sican period (900-1100 CE) scattered throughout the region, but most of the tombs fell prey to looters. "Practically all Middle Sican gold artifacts in museums and private collections were looted from archaeological sites in modern times," the authors wrote. "Once within illicit trade networks, these objects are commonly subject to various undocumented interventions to enhance their aesthetic qualities."

"From an archaeological perspective, the use of human blood in the paint would not be surprising," the authors wrote, pointing to a recent study of the remains of human sacrificial victims from Sican, indicating that many appeared to have been deliberately cut on the neck and chest to maximize bleeding. Their finding "lends weight to a hypothesis that application of this red paint on the entire deceased skeleton symbolized intensely red oxygenated blood, 'life force' essential for the desired effect [rebirth] to take place."

additional link: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jproteome.1c00472

Blue Origin suffers grave setback as judge dismisses lawsuit against NASA

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/11/blue-origin-suffers-grave-setback-as-judge-dismisses-lawsuit-against-nasa/