Tuesday, 31 July 2012
22 PKK militants killed in Turkey clashes: TV
Twenty-two Kurdish
militants were killed during clashes in eastern Turkey over the last
three days, CNN Turk television said on its website on Tuesday, adding
to Ankara's concerns over gains by Kurdish groups in neighboring Syria.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/31/us-turkey-pkk-clashes-idUSBRE86U13A20120731Venezuela withdrawing from regional human rights court
Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday the South American nation is withdrawing
from a regional human rights court that Latin America's leftist leaders
have increasingly criticized as a pawn of Washington.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/25/us-venezuela-oas-idUSBRE86O03M20120725
Mercosur embraces Chavez despite protests from business
On his first foreign trip since undergoing cancer treatment in Cuba
earlier this year, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hailed his
country's welcome by fellow South American leaders into a troubled
regional trade bloc.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/31/us-latinamerica-mercosur-idUSBRE86U14I20120731Israel receives first contact from Egypt's Mursi
Egypt's President
Mohamed Mursi told Israel on Tuesday he wanted to work for peace in the
Middle East, in the first official message sent by the Arab state's new
Islamist leadership to the Jewish state.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/31/us-israel-egypt-idUSBRE86U0WD20120731
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/31/us-israel-egypt-idUSBRE86U0WD20120731
on Kurdish and Palestinian self-determination claims, world's hypocrisy
The Kurdish claim for self-determination unveils how hypocrites are politicians when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There may be no explanation other than anti-Semitism for such an obsession with a small territory and so few refugees (comparing to other groups without a homeland). But when Europe deals with refugees, and claims of self-determination (other than Palestinian’s), the values are very different from the "humanitarian" behavior they demand from Israel - a State that has to deal with existential threats and very concrete enemies with a fanatic agenda.
Monday, 30 July 2012
Sunday, 29 July 2012
Aleppo Codex
The Aleppo Codex is one of the most precious artifacts of the Jewish people. Was it stolen from its rightful owners?
Syrian Says Foreign Plot Is to Blame For Violence
As Syrian War Drags On, Jihadists Take Bigger Role
Syrians involved in the uprising say it
is becoming more radicalized: homegrown Muslim jihadists, as well
fighters from Al Qaeda, are demanding a say in running the resistance.
Friday, 27 July 2012
Turkey won't allow "terrorist" groups at Syria border: FM
Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu said on Friday Turkey would not allow what he called
"terrorist" groups like the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) or
al Qaeda to establish a presence in Syria near the Turkish border.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/27/us-syria-crisis-turkey-idUSBRE86Q0C320120727
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/27/us-syria-crisis-turkey-idUSBRE86Q0C320120727
Kurdish worries drag Turkey deeper into Syria war
Turkey may be some way from acting on Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's threat to strike Kurdish separatists in Syria, but week by week it finds itself sucked ever further into its neighbor's worsening war.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/27/us-turkey-syria-idUSBRE86Q11Y20120727
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/27/us-turkey-syria-idUSBRE86Q11Y20120727
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
Stuck in the Mud
Stuck in the Mud: To get all its extra supplies out of Afghanistan, NATO needs to send one container over the Afghan border every seven minutes from now until 2015. With the Pakistan-Afghanistan border open again, much of that will travel southward. About a third, however, will make the even more perilous journey North, toward Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Given the conditions on these routes, NATO might not be leaving on time.
Obama's New Global Posture
Obama's New Global Posture: Tough economic times are often met in Washington with calls for retrenchment. But for decades, write two former top Pentagon officials, long-term forward deployments of U.S. forces and robust alliances have guaranteed stability and uninterrupted trade, the very conditions the United States needs for economic prosperity. The Obama administration gets it.
Meanwhile in the Maghreb
Meanwhile in the Maghreb: pNorth Africa is where the Arab world's recent political upheaval began and where it has reached its most violent climax. Beyond Tunisia and Libya, how nervous should the ruling regimes in Algeria and Morocco be about their political futures?/pbrbrThis article appears in the Foreign Affairs/CFR eBook, ema href="http://www.foreignaffairs.com/books/fabooks/the-new-arab-revolt?cid=oth-internal-foreign_affairs-the_new_arab_revolt" target="_blank"The New Arab Revolt/a/em./p
Terrorism After the Revolutions
Terrorism After the Revolutions: pAlthough last winter's peaceful popular uprisings damaged the jihadist brand, they also gave terrorist groups greater operational freedom. To prevent those groups from seizing the opportunities now open to them, Washington should keep the pressure on al Qaeda and work closely with any newly installed regimes./pbrbrThis article appears in the Foreign Affairs/CFR eBook, ema href="http://www.foreignaffairs.com/books/fabooks/the-new-arab-revolt?cid=oth-internal-foreign_affairs-the_new_arab_revolt" target="_blank"The New Arab Revolt/a/em./p
Qaddafi's Spawn
Qaddafi's Spawn: The Libyan leader's ouster dispersed masses of guns and refugees across the region. Already, Algeria has seen attacks by AQIM militants armed with Libyan weapons, Mali has been rocked by a coup led by armed nomads returning from Libya, Niger is struggling to cope with waves of refugees from Libya and Mali, and Tunisia's economy has been shattered by the loss of its most important trading partner.
Tuesday, 24 July 2012
Territorial Claims in South China Sea
Territorial Claims in South China Sea
Six countries claim conflicting
territorial rights in the South China Sea, a region rich in oil, gas,
fishing and mineral resources.
Monday, 23 July 2012
Mortar shell from Syria lands near Israeli border
In second incident this week, a mortar shell lands close to border
in northern Golan Heights; IDF: It is the result of fighting between
Syrian army and rebels.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/mortar-shell-from-syria-lands-near-israeli-border.premium-1.453131
Sunday, 22 July 2012
Brazil, Where Oil and Women Mix Powerfully
Brazil, Where Oil and Women Mix Powerfully
By SIMON ROMERO
Published: April 10, 2012
Brazil’s president, Dilma Rousseff, has made it her priority to secure leadership positions for women.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/11/business/energy-environment/women-take-the-reins-of-power-as-brazils-energy-industry-expands.htmlFor first time, Poland marks deportation of Jews from Warsaw Ghetto
Poland will mark, for the first time in history, the deportation of 250,000 Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to the Treblinka extermination camp. Events throughout the city will take place on Sunday to coincide with the date that, some seventy years ago, the Warsaw Ghetto was cleared out and gas chambers at Treblinka were activated.
Israel-Syria border
After 500 Syrian soldiers enter demilitarized zone near border, Israel complains to UN
Israel files official complaint to the UN after Syrian security forces came near the Golan Heights border, violating agreement signed in 1974.
Diplomania-Israel News - Haaretz Israeli News source.A natural right to bear arms
People in most law-governed democracies other than the United States,
countries like Britain, Canada, France, Israel, the Netherlands and
Japan, do not have an individual right to bear arms.
Gun control is on a long list of things that could have saved many
people's lives and made the world a better place, but for which it is
now probably too late: a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict, EU action to avert economic catastrophe, stopping global
warming. So this is just what one of America's many faces is going to
be: a bitterly divided, hatefully cynical country where insane people
have easy access to semi-automatic weapons, and occasionally use them to
commit senseless atrocities. We will continue to see more and more of
this sort of thing, and there's nothing we can realistically do about
it.
Gun control
Too late
Jul 21st 2012,http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2012/07/gun-control?spc=scode&spv=xm&ah=9d7f7ab945510a56fa6d37c30b6f1709
Saturday, 21 July 2012
military action if needed
Israel: May act to stop Syria arms reaching Hezbollah
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/20/us-syria-crisis-israel-idUSBRE86J1EL20120720
Attack on Turkey-Iraq pipeline knocks out oil flows
Firefighters in
southeast Turkey on Saturday put out a fire on a pipeline carrying about
a quarter of Iraq's oil exports, but it was unclear when oil would
resume flowing, security sources said.
They blamed sabotage by Kurdish separatists for the explosion on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline.http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/21/us-turkey-iraq-pipeline-idUSBRE86K04020120721
A State funeral for former spy chief Suleiman
Thousands of
well-wishers and Egypt's military brass gathered on Saturday for the
funeral of the country's former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, a key
figure in the fallen Mubarak regime who died this week in hospital in
the United States.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/21/us-egypt-suleiman-idUSBRE86K0E320120721
Thursday, 19 July 2012
The Bulgaria terrorist attack: News and analysis by Haaretz writers and commentators
Following Wednesday’s suicide bombing targeting Israeli tourists in
Burgas, Bulgaria, Haaretz provides a comprehensive look at the Israeli
government and international response to the tragic event.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/the-bulgaria-terrorist-attack-news-and-analysis-by-haaretz-writers-and-commentators.premium-1.452255
http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/the-bulgaria-terrorist-attack-news-and-analysis-by-haaretz-writers-and-commentators.premium-1.452255
syria end game?
IN EVERY revolution, there is a moment when the tide turns against the regime.
Towards the endgame
The world should start preparing for what comes after Syria’s President Bashar Assad
Jul 21st 2012 | from the print edition
http://www.economist.com/node/21559330
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
French youth short memory on French role on Holocaust
Survey by CSA pollsters showed between 57 percent and 67 per cent of French people under the age of 35 saying they had never heard of the Vel d'Hiv Round-up.
French police, acting on orders from Nazi Germany, arrested 13,152 Jews, mostly women and children, in occupied Paris and its environs on July 16-17, 1942.
Most of the prisoners were deported to Auschwitz. Only a few dozen survived.
The Vel d'Hiv Round-up, as it is known after the indoor cycling arena where the prisoners were held for the first five days, was one of the worst acts of collaboration with Nazi Germany by the regime of Marshal Philippe Petain.
Bosnian Constitution vs. ECHR
The Bosnian Constitution, drafted during peace talks in 1995, restricts the highest offices of state to members of three ethnic and religious groups – Bosnian Muslims, Serbs and Croats. The constitution was devised to avoid ethnic strife, following a bloody civil war that ravaged the country from 1992 to 1995.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2009 that the exclusion of Jews and Roma from Bosnia's highest state offices is unlawful discrimination.
Jakob Finci, a Bosnian Jewish lawyer who filed the lawsuit, told JTA that “nothing has been done” since the ruling. He filed it along with a Roma colleague.
“Being a small group of 1,000 Jews, we do not have any power to change this,” Finci said. "[It’s up to] the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which we do not have even one representative.”
Bosnian politicians mull ending constitutional discrimination of Jews, Roma - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper
Monday, 16 July 2012
UNESCO criticized for Equatorial Guinea-sponsored prize
Rights groups said
on Monday UNESCO's decision to award a science prize sponsored by the
president of Equatorial Guinea was "shameful and utterly irresponsible".
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/16/us-france-unesco-obiang-idUSBRE86F16720120716
EU to send experts to Niger to counter al Qaeda threat
The European Union
is to send experts to Niger to train its security forces to fight al
Qaeda, signaling the depth of EU concern over the growing threat
Islamist militancy poses to Africa's Sahel region.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/16/us-eu-africa-idUSBRE86F0ZH20120716US navy fires on fishing boat off UAE coast
Lieutenant Greg Raelson, a spokesman for the US navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said sailors aboard the USNS Rappahannock opened fire on the boat after it ignored warnings.
"US ships have an inherent right to self defence against potential threats... The safety of our vessels and our personnel is of the utmost priority," he told Al Jazeera in an email response to a query.
US navy fires on fishing boat off UAE coast - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Turkey cuts imports of Iran oil in bid to circumvent U.S. sanctions
Industry experts say the ship insurance ban has proved to be the hardest hitting in the West's arsenal of sanctions aiming to persuade Iran, which relies on oil for more than half its budget revenues, to abandon its nuclear program. Iran denies its nuclear program is aimed at making weapons.
The lack of shipping cover has already disrupted flows of Iranian oil to Tehran's major customers in Asia -- China, India, South Korea and Japan -- at a time when the EU has stopped buying its oil altogether.
The measures are costing Tehran over e3 billion a month as its crude exports are estimated to have halved to 1.1 million bpd in the past months.
Turkey cuts imports of Iran oil in bid to circumvent U.S. sanctions - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper
The measures are costing Tehran over e3 billion a month as its crude exports are estimated to have halved to 1.1 million bpd in the past months.
Sunday, 15 July 2012
Operation Last Chance
Nazi war criminal found ‘alive and well’ in Hungary
László Csatary, responsible for the murders of over 15,000 Jews, located after a 15 year search.
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/nazi-war-criminal-found-alive-and-well-in-hungary.premium-1.451182#
The Moral Case for Drones
Some moral philosophers, political
scientists and weapons specialists believe armed, unmanned aircraft
offer marked moral advantages over almost any other tool of warfare.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/sunday-review/the-moral-case-for-drones.html?smid=pl-shareAlgerian diplomats freed in north Mali
Seven Algerian
diplomats abducted by Islamist rebels in northern Mali in April have
been freed, an Algerian security source and a Malian Islamist source
said on Friday, a move that could ease tension along the volatile
border.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/13/us-mali-crisis-algerians-idUSBRE86C15C20120713stone-throwing Kurdish protesters in south-east Turkey
Kurdish members of parliament were caught up in
the rioting as police and demonstrators battled on the streets of the
main south-eastern city of Diyarbakir, where the pro-Kurdish Peace and
Democracy Party (BDP) had sought to hold a rally.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/14/us-turkey-kurds-idUSBRE86D06020120714Red Cross deems Syria situation as an internal armed conflict
To classify the Syrian conflict as an internal one is not only anachronistic from a law perspective but also ignores the ongoing international dissent on the issue, reciprocal accusations of terrorism support and UN engagement (without teeth)
The Red Cross now views fighting in Syria as an internal armed conflict - a civil war in layman's terms - crossing a threshold experts say can help lay the ground for future prosecutions for war crimes.
Red Cross ruling raises questions of Syrian war crimes
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/14/us-syria-crisis-icrc-idUSBRE86D09H20120714
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