British Prime Minister David Cameron called Wednesday for an
"unconditional, immediate humanitarian cease-fire" in Gaza, warning that
future prospects of a two-state solution were quickly dwindling.
"The
facts on the ground are beginning to make a two-state solution
impossible," Cameron told a crowd at a question-and-answer session in
Warrington, Cheshire, according to a British daily called the Harborough Mail.
Cameron called the events in Gaza "completely tragic and ghastly" and said "the loss of life is appalling," but blamed Hamas for violating several cease-fires.
British PM: Two-state solution beginning to look impossible - World Israel News | Haaretz
Thursday 31 July 2014
Syria: Barrage of Barrel Bombs Attacks on Civilians Defy UN Resolution
The Syrian government is raining high explosive barrel bombs on
civilians in defiance of a unanimous United Nations Security Council
resolution, Human Rights Watch said today. Resolution 2139 of February
22, 2014, ordered all parties to the conflict in Syria to end the indiscriminate use of barrel bombs and other weapons in populated areas.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/30/syria-barrage-barrel-bombs
https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/30/syria-barrage-barrel-bombs
Benghazi 'falls to al-Qaeda-linked rebels' - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Factions including Ansar al-Sharia say they have taken over Libyan city after defeating forces of renegade general.
Benghazi 'falls to al-Qaeda-linked rebels' - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Sunday 27 July 2014
Synthetic drugs are now common in Chinese cities. They are being exported, too
Just as China has become the place to manufacture cheaply everything from tennis shoes to iPads to Bibles, so it is with drugs. Clandestine labs produce vast quantities of ketamine and other synthetics which are now fuelling a worldwide boom. Some are now calling China the new front in the global war on drugs.
Saturday 19 July 2014
Factbox: World figures comment on downing of Malaysian airliner
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden:
"(The plane) apparently has been shot down - shot down, not an accident, blown out of the sky."
Russian President Vladimir Putin:
"This tragedy would not have happened, if there had been peace on that land, or in any case if military operations in southeastern Ukraine had not been renewed. And without doubt the government of the territory on which it happened bears responsibility for this frightening tragedy."
"We will do everything that we can so that an objective picture of what happened can be achieved. This is a completely unacceptable thing."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel:
"We need to start an independent investigation as quickly as possibly. A ceasefire is needed for that and it's important that those responsible are bought to justice. There are many indications that the plane was shot down, so we have to take things very seriously."
"(I am making) a very clear call for the Russian president and government to make their contribution to bringing about a political solution."
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak:
"If it transpires that the plane was indeed shot down, we insist that the perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice."
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko:
"(The) tragedy showed again that terrorism is not localized, but a world problem. And the external aggression against Ukraine is not just our problem, but a threat to European and global security."
Ukrainian separatist leader Aleksander Borodai:
"Apparently, it's a passenger airliner ... truly shot down by the Ukrainian Air Force."
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott:
"We all know that there are problems in Ukraine. We also know who is very substantially to blame for those problems, and the idea that Russia can somehow say that none of this had anything to do with them because it happened in Ukrainian air space frankly does not stand up to any serious scrutiny."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/18/us-ukraine-crisis-comments-factbox-idUSKBN0FN1IZ20140718
Spain summons UK ambassador over 'inappropriate' Gibraltar action
Spain summoned the British ambassador on Friday to complain about Britain's handling of an incident on Wednesday involving the Spanish Navy near the disputed territory of Gibraltar.
Britain had summoned Spain's ambassador on Thursday after it said a Spanish Navy vessel had sought to redirect two commercial vessels heading to and from the port of Gibraltar on Wednesday because it said they were in Spanish waters. Britain said the vessels had been in international waters.
"Summoning ambassadors is a very serious step that should only be reserved for the gravest situations," the Spanish Foreign Ministry said in a statement, calling such a move inappropriate between allied nations.
"This incident is unacceptable interference by the United Kingdom in routine activities of the Spanish army in Spanish waters," the Ministry said.
The incident is the latest in a long line of diplomatic spats between Britain and Spain over Gibraltar, which Madrid ceded to Britain around 300 years ago, but now wants to reclaim.
The Spanish ambassador has been publicly summoned five times by Britain's Foreign Office over Gibraltar since the current Spanish government took office in December 2011.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/18/us-spain-gibraltar-idUSKBN0FN1PA20140718
U.N. Security Council calls for independent probe on downed plane
The U.N. Security Council on Friday called for a "full, thorough and independent international investigation" into the downing of a Malaysian airliner with 298 people on board over Ukraine, urging all parties to grant investigators access to the site.
In a statement agreed by consensus, the council also called for "appropriate accountability." Britain drafted the short text and hoped the 15-member council could issue it on Thursday, but Russia requested more time to review it before it was agreed.
Two U.S. officials have said Washington strongly suspects the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 was downed by a missile fired by Ukrainian separatists backed by Moscow.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/18/us-ukraine-crisis-un-idUSKBN0FN1PW20140718
U.N. accuses Islamic State of executions, rape, forced child recruitment in Iraq
The United Nations accused Islamic State fighters in Iraq
of executions, rape and forced recruitment of children during a
campaign to seize much of northern Iraq, part of a conflict it said has
killed almost 5,600 civilians this year.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/19/us-iraq-security-idUSKBN0FN27N20140719
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/19/us-iraq-security-idUSKBN0FN27N20140719
Islamic State killed 270 in Syrian gas field battle: monitor
Militant group Islamic State killed 270 soldiers, guards and staff when they captured a Syrian gas field on Thursday in the bloodiest clash yet between the al Qaeda offshoot and President Bashar al-Assad's forces, a monitoring group said on Saturday.
The anti-Assad Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Thursday that 90 people had been killed and that many were missing after the attack against the Sha'ar gas field east of Homs in central Syria.
But on Saturday, the Observatory, which monitors violence in Syria through a network of sources in the country on both sides, quoted "trusted sources" as saying that the Islamic State had "killed and executed" 270 people during the assault. It said at least 40 Islamic State fighters were killed in the offensive.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/19/us-syria-crisis-attack-idUSKBN0FO05O20140719
Italy says 19 boat migrants die, thousands rescued this week
Nineteen people died trying to reach Italy
on a boat packed with hundreds of migrants, probably poisoned by carbon
monoxide fumes from its engines, said the Italian Navy on Saturday,
which has rescued more than 4,000 migrants in the last three days.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/19/us-italy-migrants-idUSKBN0FO0J520140719
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/19/us-italy-migrants-idUSKBN0FO0J520140719
France sees failure in Gaza truce efforts, fears more civilian casualties
France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said after talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday that attempts to reach a ceasefire in Israel's 12-day conflict with Gaza militants had failed.
Fabius, who flew to Israel after talks in Egypt and Jordan, told reporters after meeting with Netanyahu:
"Sadly I can say that the call for a ceasefire has not been heard, and on the contrary, there's a risk of more civilian casualties that worries us."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/19/us-palestinians-israel-france-idUSKBN0FO0XF20140719
Turkish PM Erdogan says Israel 'surpasses Hitler in barbarism'
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel
on Saturday of having "surpassed Hitler in barbarism" through its
attacks on Gaza, but warned Turks against taking out their anger on the
country's Jewish community.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/19/us-israel-turkey-travel-idUSKBN0FO0X520140719
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/19/us-israel-turkey-travel-idUSKBN0FO0X520140719
Tunisia orders crackdown after militants kill 14 soldiers
Tunisia
on Saturday launched a crackdown on mosques and radio stations
associated with hardline Islamists after militants killed 14 soldiers in
an area near the country's border with Algeria.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/20/us-tunisia-violence-idUSKBN0FO10420140720
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/20/us-tunisia-violence-idUSKBN0FO10420140720
Central America leaders to ask Obama for plan to stem child exodus
Central American leaders will ask U.S. President Barack Obama to support a regional development and security plan to stem the tide of illegal child migrants to the United States at a meeting next week, a Honduran minister said on Saturday.
Presidents of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras will meet with Obama on Friday to look for ways to curb a record-breaking exodus of Central American children, fleeing to the United States to escape violence and poverty.
Since October, more than 57,000 unaccompanied children have been detained at the U.S.-Mexico border, most of them from Central America, and double last year's count.
The surge in migration has sparked an intense debate over how to solve the problem.
"We need support for successful reintegration into work and schools and to keep track of these individuals and families so they don't try again to immigrate to the United States," Honduran Foreign Minister Mireya Aguero told local radio.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/19/us-honduras-immigration-idUSKBN0FO0SI20140719
Christians flee from Islamic State threats
Christian families have abandoned their homes and fled Mosul after
the Sunni rebel group, the Islamic State, threatened them with death if
they did not convert to Islam or pay tax.
"Some families have had all their money and jewellery taken from them
at an insurgent checkpoint as they fled the city," Abu Rayan, a
Christian who left Mosul with his family told AFP news agency on
Saturday.
Christians flee from Islamic State threats - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
the Sunni rebel group, the Islamic State, threatened them with death if
they did not convert to Islam or pay tax.
"Some families have had all their money and jewellery taken from them
at an insurgent checkpoint as they fled the city," Abu Rayan, a
Christian who left Mosul with his family told AFP news agency on
Saturday.
Christians flee from Islamic State threats - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Banking on BRICS - Counting the Cost - Al Jazeera English
Since 2009, BRICS leaders have been gathering - promoting the idea
that a strategic shift is underway in the global economy from the
developed to the largest and fastest growing developing economies. But
really, what were they other than five countries with a catchy title who
met once a year?
This changed recently in Brazil as the BRICS leaders advanced an
agenda of concrete actions, including a deal to create two banks and two
funding institutions to rival the likes of the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF).
On paper they hardly fare well against their competitors, but maybe
that is not what this is all about; maybe it is about emerging nations
finding some real clout - the kind of influence they feel they have not
had in existing institutions.
So, can a BRICS development bank challenge the dominance of the IMF
and the World Bank? Will it shift the global balance of power? And are
the BRICS countries economically - as powerful as they are - ready for
such a massive multilateral undertaking?
Banking on BRICS - Counting the Cost - Al Jazeera English
that a strategic shift is underway in the global economy from the
developed to the largest and fastest growing developing economies. But
really, what were they other than five countries with a catchy title who
met once a year?
This changed recently in Brazil as the BRICS leaders advanced an
agenda of concrete actions, including a deal to create two banks and two
funding institutions to rival the likes of the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF).
On paper they hardly fare well against their competitors, but maybe
that is not what this is all about; maybe it is about emerging nations
finding some real clout - the kind of influence they feel they have not
had in existing institutions.
So, can a BRICS development bank challenge the dominance of the IMF
and the World Bank? Will it shift the global balance of power? And are
the BRICS countries economically - as powerful as they are - ready for
such a massive multilateral undertaking?
Banking on BRICS - Counting the Cost - Al Jazeera English
BRICS bank rattles the 'Washington Consensus'
Coutinho is the longtime president of Brazil's uber-powerful national
development bank, the BNDES, and he was part of the Brazilian
negotiating delegation for the new bank.
He called the new institution a "historic initiative and a breakthrough".
“It's
coming in a moment in which there is scarcity in long-term credit for
infrastructure and development not just for the BRICS but for all
developing economies," Coutinho told Al Jazeera.
He estimates
there is an immediate need for between $600bn and $700bn in new
investment in infrastructure in developing countries.
Coutinho,
and other officials at the meeting, downplayed the idea the creation of
the bank was strictly an anti-World Bank and IMF move.
"The new
development bank is an alternative," he said. "There is room for
existing multilateral banks to increase their balance sheets and lend
more. And the new bank is doing that. But the new bank is going to do so
in a different channel."
There's little doubt the BRICS countries
want deep reforms at the World Bank and IMF. Washington has dragged its
feet and stalled. That might now change.
"The new bank puts
pressure on the World Bank and IMF to reform, or else the new bank could
become more dominant in BRICS countries," Kirill Dmitriev, the chief
executive officer of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, told Al
Jazeera.
BRICS bank rattles the 'Washington Consensus' - Al Jazeera Blogs
Lebanon to probe boy beating video
Viral video shows small child beating another boy, believed to be Syrian, encouraged by adults
Lebanon to probe boy beating video - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Toll mounts as Israel shells northern Gaza
Israel has announced the deaths of two of its soldiers on the second
day of a ground offensive into Gaza that it says is aimed at destroying
Hamas' cross-border tunnels.
At least 34 Palestinians also died on Saturday, the second day of the
Israeli ground invasion, as Israel intensified its shelling by tanks
and artillery of the northern Gaza Strip.
Toll mounts as Israel shells northern Gaza - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
day of a ground offensive into Gaza that it says is aimed at destroying
Hamas' cross-border tunnels.
At least 34 Palestinians also died on Saturday, the second day of the
Israeli ground invasion, as Israel intensified its shelling by tanks
and artillery of the northern Gaza Strip.
Toll mounts as Israel shells northern Gaza - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Gunmen kill at least 15 Egypt troops at checkpoint
Gunmen armed with rocket-propelled grenades attacked a border guard
post Saturday in Egypt's western desert near Libya, killing 21 troops,
the military said.
Officials: Gunmen kill at least 15 Egypt troops at checkpoint - Middle East Israel News | Haaretz
post Saturday in Egypt's western desert near Libya, killing 21 troops,
the military said.
Officials: Gunmen kill at least 15 Egypt troops at checkpoint - Middle East Israel News | Haaretz
Wednesday 16 July 2014
Can BRICS counter the West? - Inside Story - Al Jazeera English
The New Development Bank, announced at
the sixth BRICS summit in Fortaleza, Brazil, will fund infrastructure
projects in the founding members' countries, as well as in developing
nations.
With its headquarters in Shanghai,
China, and someone from India expected to be its first president, the
bank will start out with $50bn in capital, with each BRICS country
contributing an equal amount.
Total capital is expected to eventually double to $100bn.
A so-called Contingent Reserve
Arrangement will also be created, in which each country will put in a
designated amount in case of a currency crisis.
The contingency fund will amount to $100bn, with China contributing
$41bn, followed by Brazil, Russia, and India putting in $18bn each, and
South Africa chipping in $5bn.
But do the BRICS nations have enough
in common to sustain a shared institution? And will it give them a
bigger political say on the world stage?
Can BRICS counter the West? - Inside Story - Al Jazeera English
Rebels repel Iraqi attempt to retake Tikrit
The failure highlights the difficulties of Baghdad's struggle to
recapture territory from the fighters, who seized Mosul, Tikrit and
other cities last month in a rapid offensive, the Reuters news agency
reported.
Rebels repel Iraqi attempt to retake Tikrit - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Monday 14 July 2014
'Islamic State' expels rivals from Syria city - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
The group calling itself the Islamic State, previously known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, has taken control of the rebel-held portion of the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor, buoyed by advances in neighbouring Iraq, a monitoring group has said.
Rival rebel groups fighting against forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad either changed sides or fled from the strategic Euphrates valley city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday.
'Islamic State' expels rivals from Syria city - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Friday 11 July 2014
Houthis kill hundreds in Yemeni city
Two hundred people have been killed since Houthi rebels overran the city of Amran on Tuesday. Sunni tribes and religious leaders have asked their followers to join the fight against the Houthis whom they accuse of colluding with Iran to create a Shia state in Yemen. 35,000 people have fled fighting in Yemen. |
Press release issued by the Ministry of Interior and National Security regarding the latest aggression on the Gaza Strip
Gaza-(MOI)The Ministry of Interior and National Security to look closely at Israeli barbaric aggression suffered by the Gaza Strip under fishy Arab and international silence, where the Ministry has worked since the early hours of aggression according to the emergency plan, Iyad Al-Bozom, the spokesperson of the Ministry said .
He added , We in the Ministry of Interior assure our people that all the security services and police completely based its role and duty in spite of the aggression, to protect the home front and maintain the stability and internal security in the Gaza Strip, as well as the major role made by the two civil defense and medical services in dealing with the places targeted by the Israeli raids to evacuate and rescue the injured.
Israeli occupation carried out during the last 48 hours about 500 raids ; 85% of it targeted the infrastructure and sewage, electricity and telecommunications networks , and the destruction of thousands of agricultural fields and burn the soil, and the destruction of 55 houses on the heads of their inhabitants, in addition to targeting the headquarters of security and protection and internal security service , and the raids resulted 35 martyrs, including 16 children and five women, and injured more than 300 citizen 195 of them are children, women and elderly, and all these targeted civilian do not constitute any threat to the occupation, and all conventions and international laws deny to target it .
.
In light of this brutal aggression; The Ministry of Interior and National Security confirms the follows:
First, the ministry calling all our people not to deal or pay attention to the psychological warfare carried out by the occupation through rumors that broadcast across his media and delivering publications and communications on the phones of citizens, and the lack of response for each of these means, which aims to weaken the domestic front in light of great steadfastness of our people to face the aggression.
Second, the Ministry of Interior appeals that citizens follow the safety instructions issued by the competent services, and communicate with the ministry's toll-free numbers in case of any emergency they are exposed to, or reporting of any important information.
Third, the Interior Ministry denounces the targeting of the occupation to the headquarters of security and protection and internal security services, and calls for the international community and international human rights organizations, Arab and local taking a role in stopping the targeting of the occupation of the security services, which are civilian and services and all the international laws ensured to protect it's work during the war.
Fourth, in light of this barbaric aggression and the difficult humanitarian conditions experienced by the Gaza Strip; the Interior Ministry demanding Egyptian authorities to urgent open of the Rafah crossing to deal with humanitarian cases and to alleviate the difficult conditions in the strip..
Fifth: The Ministry of Interior confirms that it will continue to do its duty to secure our people and our society, and to protect the back of the resistance, and appreciate the role and efforts spent by all ministry departments , soldiers and officers on their heroic sacrifices in order to serve our people and strengthen their steadfastness, and who are working in the most difficult circumstances and under the direct targeting, in addition to not receiving their salaries since several months.
Ministry of Interior and National Security
http://www.moi.gov.ps/En/Details.aspx?NID=67875
Dutch special forces in Mali tackle changing threat: minister
Dutch troops have joined a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali to meet a growing security threat from the region to the Netherlands, and Europe as a whole that "softer" approaches can no longer contain, the Dutch foreign minister said.
The Netherlands has deployed some 450 Special Forces troops, intelligence operatives and attack helicopters to a U.N. force rolling out across northern Mali, where al Qaeda-linked Islamists occupied swathes of the country before being driven back last year by French troops.
Although Dutch forces do not have an offensive mandate, the deployment marks a shift towards security issues in Africa for the Netherlands and their task - gathering intelligence - is new to U.N. peacekeeping missions that have traditionally avoided the art of spying.
Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said there was a growing sense of urgency that radical groups operating from the Atlantic through to the Persian Gulf were not just posing a threat to weak governments in the region but also targeting Europe.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/09/us-mali-security-dutch-idUSKBN0FE1YF20140709
China puts prominent writers under house arrest as Kerry visits
A prominent writer who has angered China by advocating Tibetan rights said she and her husband were placed under house arrest during a visit to Beijing by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/09/us-usa-china-writers-idUSKBN0FE0X920140709
Thursday 10 July 2014
Fifty-three blindfolded bodies found in Iraq as political leaders bicker
Iraqi security forces found 53 corpses, blindfolded and handcuffed, south of Baghdad on Wednesday as Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders traded accusations over an Islamist insurgency raging in the country's Sunni provinces.
Officials said dozens of bodies were discovered near the mainly Shi'ite Muslim village of Khamissiya, with bullets to the chest and head, the latest mass killing since Sunni insurgents swept through northern Iraq.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/10/us-iraq-security-idUSKBN0FE1UE20140710
German language rule for immigrant spouses invalid: European court
In the case of a Turkish national who lived in Germany since 1998 and whose wife was refused a visa in 2012 because she did not speak German, the European Court of Justice said that the rule ran counter to European Union (EU) law.
The court said this was because of an agreement the European Union made with Turkey in the 1970s to prohibit new restrictions on the freedom to settle in the EU.
Some three million people of Turkish origin live in Germany, about a half of them German citizens.
While the case itself dealt with Turkish nationals only, the court added that the language measure in general was disproportionate.
"(Even) on the assumption that the grounds set out by the German Government (prevention of forced marriages)can constitute overriding reasons in the public interest, it remains the case that a national provision such as the language requirement at issue goes beyond what is necessary," the ECJ said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/10/us-germany-eu-language-idUSKBN0FF0XG20140710
Militants in Lebanon seek to emulate Islamic State
The Islamic State's arrival in Lebanon adds to a list of militant Sunni groups already operating in the country.
Sunni militants have staged numerous bomb attacks in Lebanon since last year, typically targeting areas controlled by Hezbollah, a Shi'ite group backed by Iran that is aiding President Bashar al-Assad's forces in Syria's civil war.
"We must admit that what has happened in Iraq has caused great excitement among these groups that believe they can benefit from the Iraqi experience," Machnouk said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/10/uk-lebanon-minister-idUSKBN0FF1F020140710
Turkish parliament gives legal recognition to Kurdish peace talks
The new law will shield from prosecution those involved in disarming and reintegrating Kurdish rebels, as well as giving legal protection to meetings aimed at ending the bloodshed.
Pro-Kurdish politicians have long sought such a bill, partly to remove the risk of those involved in the talks being prosecuted if the political climate in Turkey turns against the peace process in the future.
The PKK took up arms in 1984 with the aim of carving out a separate state in the southeast for Turkey's Kurds. They subsequently moderated their demands, seeking increased political and cultural rights which were long denied.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/10/us-turkey-kurds-idUSKBN0FF1Z620140710
Baghdad halts Kurdish cargo flights after ministers' boycott
Kurdish ministers boycotted Iraq's caretaker cabinet and authorities in Baghdad halted cargo flights to two Kurdish cities on Thursday in an escalating feud between the Kurds and the Shi'ite-led central government.
The dispute, linked to an Islamist insurgency raging in Sunni Muslim provinces of Iraq, is likely to complicate efforts to reach agreement on a new government in Baghdad to help tackle the violence.
The four Kurdish ministers withdrew from cabinet meetings in protest at Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's "provocative" branding of their provincial capital Arbil as a haven for the Sunni militants who have seized much of north and west Iraq.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/10/us-iraq-security-idUSKBN0FF14V20140710
Palestinians flex legal rights; U.N. condemns rockets, civilian deaths
Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the U.N. Security Council that the international community was obliged to ensure protection of Palestinian civilians under the Geneva Conventions on the conduct of war and occupations.
"Israel has clearly violated and abdicated its responsibility as an occupying power to ensure the safety and well-being of the civilian population under its occupation," he told a meeting of the 15-member council that Ban requested.
He said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has asked Switzerland - as the depository for Geneva Conventions - to convene a meeting of the parties to the 4th Geneva Convention on the protection of civilian persons in time of war.
Israeli U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor told the Security Council Israel was taking great measures to avoid harming civilians as it carries out a military operation "to remove the threat posed by Hamas by dismantling its military infrastructure."
"The Israeli Defense Forces warns Palestinians in Gaza of imminent strikes. At the same time, Hamas instructs these civilians to stand on the roof of buildings and act as human shields," Prosor said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/10/us-palestinians-israel-un-idUSKBN0FF21K20140710
U.S. imposes sanctions on Lebanese firm for Hezbollah ties
The United States on
Thursday imposed financial sanctions on a Lebanese consumer electronics
company, saying it purchased supplies used to develop military drones
for the militant Hezbollah movement.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/10/us-usa-lebanon-sanctions-idUSKBN0FF1ZQ20140710
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/10/us-usa-lebanon-sanctions-idUSKBN0FF1ZQ20140710
Hamas drifts into Gaza fight it doesn't know how to finish
Hamas said it hadn't sought a war, but now hundreds of Israeli bombs continue to pound the coastal strip, killing scores of Gazans - almost all of them civilians, according to Palestinian medical officials.
It says the onus for ending the hostilities is on Israel, where the rocket attacks have caused no fatalities and whose missile defense system has intercepted many of the Hamas projectiles.
"Yes, we want calm. We don't like escalation, and we didn't make an escalation. (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu imposed this aggression upon us," Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said in a speech broadcast on Wednesday.
"To end his aggression, first end his policy of occupation, settlement, Judaisation, detentions, killings and demolitions. End that first. Our people deserve to live free," he added.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/10/us-palestinians-israel-hamas-idUSKBN0FF1VJ20140710
Libya prepares to move parliament to Benghazi
Libyan authorities signaled on Thursday they would press ahead with plans to move the country's parliament to the eastern port city of Benghazi despite a collapse in law and order there.
The plan to move the newly elected national assembly from the capital Tripoli to the country's second largest city is part of efforts to rebuild state authority in the underdeveloped east, neglected by Libyan governments for decades.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/10/us-libya-politics-benghazi-idUSKBN0FF2HI20140710
Wednesday 9 July 2014
Israël vers une offensive terrestre à Gaza, réunion d'urgence à l'ONU
L'opération aérienne israélienne en cours
contre le Hamas palestinien a fait au moins 68 morts et plus de 600
blessés en trois jours, selon un bilan du quotidien israélien Haaretz.
Au moins 14 personnes ont été tuées dans la nuit du mercredi 9 au jeudi
10 juillet, en riposte aux tirs de roquettes depuis Gaza, dans un
engrenage incontrôlé depuis le meurtre de trois étudiants israéliens en Cisjordanie, attribué par Israël au Hamas, suivi de l'assassinat d'un jeune Palestinien brûlé vif à Jérusalem par des jeunes extrémistes de droite juifs.
http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2014/07/10/israel-vers-une-offensive-terrestre-a-gaza-reunion-d-urgence-a-l-onu_4454351_3218.html
http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2014/07/10/israel-vers-une-offensive-terrestre-a-gaza-reunion-d-urgence-a-l-onu_4454351_3218.html
Scores killed as Israeli jets bombard Gaza
Hundreds of bombs shake Gaza, leaving 72 dead and hundreds injured, as Palestinian fighters fire rockets into Israel. |
At least 72 people, including many children, have been killed in the Gaza Strip in two days of Israeli air raids, as Israel's army mobilised on the border for a possible ground invasion. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said 550 people had been wounded since Israel launched its campaign in Gaza this week, which it said targeted Palestinians firing rockets into its territory. The Israeli authorities say more than 200 rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza since Monday, with some reaching as far as Tel Aviv. |
Scores killed as Israeli jets bombard Gaza - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Iraq: Islamic State militants seize chemical weapons site
Remnants of 2,500 degraded chemical rockets
are stored in the facility; playing down that threat, U.S. says it's
nearly impossible to use the materials for military purposes.
Iraq: Islamic State militants seize chemical weapons site - Middle East Israel News | Haaretz
are stored in the facility; playing down that threat, U.S. says it's
nearly impossible to use the materials for military purposes.
Iraq: Islamic State militants seize chemical weapons site - Middle East Israel News | Haaretz
Tuesday 8 July 2014
Heavy barrage strikes Israel; Iron Dome downs rockets over cities - Diplomacy and Defense Israel News | Haaretz
The Israeli military launched early on Tuesday a series of airstrikes
on more than 50 targets in Gaza on Tuesday, dubbing the offensive
Operation Protective Edge.
Meanwhile,
for the first time since Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012, rocket
sirens rang in central Israel. Iron Dome interceptor missiles were able
to shoot down the rockets. However most of the rockets from Gaza
targeted southern Israel, with more than 100 projectiles fired.
LIVE UPDATES: Heavy barrage strikes Israel; Iron Dome downs rockets over cities - Diplomacy and Defense Israel News | Haaretz
Monday 7 July 2014
LIVE UPDATES: Israel launches aerial offensive in Gaza - Diplomacy and Defense Israel News | Haaretz
More than 85 rockets fired on Israel on
Monday; Hamas claims responsibility for some of launches; IDF to call up
1,500 reserve soldiers.
LIVE UPDATES: Israel launches aerial offensive in Gaza - Diplomacy and Defense Israel News | Haaretz
Monday; Hamas claims responsibility for some of launches; IDF to call up
1,500 reserve soldiers.
LIVE UPDATES: Israel launches aerial offensive in Gaza - Diplomacy and Defense Israel News | Haaretz
Sunday 6 July 2014
Saturday 5 July 2014
Islamic State's 'caliph' lauds Iraq rebellion
Video emerges of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Mosul mosque delivering sermon justifying fighting Baghdad government.
Islamic State's 'caliph' lauds Iraq rebellion - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Islamic State's 'caliph' lauds Iraq rebellion - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Friday 4 July 2014
Sephardic Jews hope to return to Spain
Those
applying for nationality will have to submit proof of their historic
ties to Spain: the language spoken by their family, for instance, their
surname, or a certificate from Jewish authorities in Spain. The
government expects up to 150,000 people around the world to seek Spanish
nationality through the scheme.
applying for nationality will have to submit proof of their historic
ties to Spain: the language spoken by their family, for instance, their
surname, or a certificate from Jewish authorities in Spain. The
government expects up to 150,000 people around the world to seek Spanish
nationality through the scheme.
With this initiative a circle has been closed. |
expulsion of 1492 was an attempt by Spain's monarchs, King Fernando and
Queen Isabel, to create a homogenous Catholic country. Vicente Alvarez,
a medieval historian at Madrid's Autonoma University, said that
conversion, rather than expulsion, was the initial aim.
The Bretton Woods agreements
The 70-year itch
Both the West and China are neglecting the institutions that help keep the world economy upright
| From the print edition
The tragedy of the Arabs
The blame game
One problem is that the Arab countries’ troubles run so
wide. Indeed, Syria and Iraq can nowadays barely be called countries at
all. This week a brutal band of jihadists declared their boundaries
void, heralding instead a new Islamic caliphate to embrace Iraq and
Greater Syria (including Israel-Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan and bits of
Turkey) and—in due course—the whole world. Its leaders seek to kill
non-Muslims not just in the Middle East but also in the streets of New
York, London and Paris. Egypt is back under military rule. Libya,
following the violent demise of Muammar Qaddafi, is at the mercy of
unruly militias. Yemen is beset by insurrection, infighting and
al-Qaeda. Palestine is still far from true statehood and peace: the
murders of three young Israelis and ensuing reprisals threaten to set
off yet another cycle of violence (see article).
Even countries such as Saudi Arabia and Algeria, whose regimes are
cushioned by wealth from oil and gas and propped up by an iron-fisted
apparatus of state security, are more fragile than they look. Only
Tunisia, which opened the Arabs’ bid for freedom three years ago, has
the makings of a real democracy.Islam, or at least modern reinterpretations of it, is at the core of some of the Arabs’ deep troubles. The faith’s claim, promoted by many of its leading lights, to combine spiritual and earthly authority, with no separation of mosque and state, has stunted the development of independent political institutions. A militant minority of Muslims are caught up in a search for legitimacy through ever more fanatical interpretations of the Koran. Other Muslims, threatened by militia violence and civil war, have sought refuge in their sect. In Iraq and Syria plenty of Shias and Sunnis used to marry each other; too often today they resort to maiming each other. And this violent perversion of Islam has spread to places as distant as northern Nigeria and northern England.
But religious extremism is a conduit for misery, not its fundamental cause (see article). While Islamic democracies elsewhere (such as Indonesia—see article) are doing fine, in the Arab world the very fabric of the state is weak. Few Arab countries have been nations for long. The dead hand of the Turks’ declining Ottoman empire was followed after the first world war by the humiliation of British and French rule. In much of the Arab world the colonial powers continued to control or influence events until the 1960s. Arab countries have not yet succeeded in fostering the institutional prerequisites of democracy—the give-and-take of parliamentary discourse, protection for minorities, the emancipation of women, a free press, independent courts and universities and trade unions.
The absence of a liberal state has been matched by the absence of a liberal economy. After independence, the prevailing orthodoxy was central planning, often Soviet-inspired. Anti-market, anti-trade, pro-subsidy and pro-regulation, Arab governments strangled their economies. The state pulled the levers of economic power—especially where oil was involved. Where the constraints of post-colonial socialism were lifted, capitalism of the crony, rent-seeking kind took hold, as it did in the later years of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak. Privatisation was for pals of the government. Virtually no markets were free, barely any world-class companies developed, and clever Arabs who wanted to excel in business or scholarship had to go to America or Europe to do so.
Economic stagnation bred dissatisfaction. Monarchs and presidents-for-life defended themselves with secret police and goons. The mosque became a source of public services and one of the few places where people could gather and hear speeches. Islam was radicalised and the angry men who loathed their rulers came to hate the Western states that backed them. Meanwhile a vast number of the young grew restless because of unemployment. Thanks to the electronic media, they were increasingly aware that the prospects of their cohort outside the Middle East were far more hopeful. The wonder is not that they took to the streets in the Arab spring, but that they did not do so sooner.
A lot of ruin
These wrongs cannot easily or rapidly be put right.
Outsiders, who have often been drawn to the region as invaders and
occupiers, cannot simply stamp out the jihadist cause or impose
prosperity and democracy. That much, at least, should be clear after the
disastrous invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003. Military
support—the supply of drones and of a small number of special forces—may
help keep the jihadists in Iraq at bay. That help may have to be on
permanent call. Even if the new caliphate is unlikely to become a
recognisable state, it could for many years produce jihadists able to
export terrorism.But only the Arabs can reverse their civilisational decline, and right now there is little hope of that happening. The extremists offer none. The mantra of the monarchs and the military men is “stability”. In a time of chaos, its appeal is understandable, but repression and stagnation are not the solution. They did not work before; indeed they were at the root of the problem. Even if the Arab awakening is over for the moment, the powerful forces that gave rise to it are still present. The social media which stirred up a revolution in attitudes cannot be uninvented. The men in their palaces and their Western backers need to understand that stability requires reform.
Is that a vain hope? Today the outlook is bloody. But ultimately fanatics devour themselves. Meanwhile, wherever possible, the moderate, secular Sunnis who comprise the majority of Arab Muslims need to make their voices heard. And when their moment comes, they need to cast their minds back to the values that once made the Arab world great. Education underpinned its primacy in medicine, mathematics, architecture and astronomy. Trade paid for its fabulous metropolises and their spices and silks. And, at its best, the Arab world was a cosmopolitan haven for Jews, Christians and Muslims of many sects, where tolerance fostered creativity and invention.
Pluralism, education, open markets: these were once Arab values and they could be so again. Today, as Sunnis and Shias tear out each others’ throats in Iraq and Syria and a former general settles onto his new throne in Egypt, they are tragically distant prospects. But for a people for whom so much has gone so wrong, such values still make up a vision of a better future.
http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21606284-civilisation-used-lead-world-ruinsand-only-locals-can-rebuild-it
Thursday 3 July 2014
Tuesday 1 July 2014
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.602472
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi demands that all Muslims around the world pledge allegiance to him in audiotape.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.602472
ISIS militants capture key Syrian border town - Middle East Israel News | Haaretz
Boukamal falls to ISIS following days of battles between the group and its jihadi rivals.
ISIS militants capture key Syrian border town - Middle East Israel News | Haaretz
New Australian law would make Muslims lift veils upon police request - World Israel News | Haaretz
Bill requires motorists, criminal suspects to remove any head coverings or face fine or prison sentence, as police commissioner calls for greater police powers; critics say bill smacks of anti-Muslim bias.
New Australian law would make Muslims lift veils upon police request - World Israel News | Haaretz
European human rights court upholds French ban on face-covering veils - World Israel News | Haaretz
Critics of the ban, including human rights defenders, contend the law targets Muslims and stigmatizes Islam. France has the largest Muslim population in Western Europe, estimated at five million, making the issue particularly sensitive.
Under the law, women who cover their faces can be fined up to 150 euros ($205) or be obliged to attend a citizenship class, or both.
European human rights court upholds French ban on face-covering veils - World Israel News | Haaretz
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