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Seit November befinden sich fünf geschützte Fahrzeuge vom Typ DINGO im Nordirak. Die Kraftfahrer der Peschmerga wurden bereits in Deutschland ausgebildet. Allerdings fehlte bisher noch die Einweisung der zukünftigen Bordschützen an der Waffenanlage. Diese soll nun im Irak durchgeführt werden.

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Prime Minister al-Abadi informed the Secretary General that the Iraqi government is sending a request to NATO for defence capacity building support. As agreed by NATO Allies at the Wales Summit in September, this request will be reviewed by the North Atlantic Council once received.

Die fünf Gegenstimmen waren (neben Israel natürlich) die USA, Kanada, Palau und Mikronesien.

A fact-finding panel dispatched by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has entered the blockaded Gaza Strip through the Erez border terminal, a Palestinian official said Wednesday.
The panel‘s entry into Gaza – for the purpose of investigating human rights violations committed by Israel during this summer‘s military offensive on the Gaza Strip – was initially barred by Israeli authorities.

Israeli Occupation Forces killed nine Palestinians and arrested 650 others in November, Ahrar Center for Detainees’ Studies and Human Rights, a Palestinian rights organization said in a report on Monday.

Zurückließen sie Waffen und Ausrüstung für 50.000 Mann, Geschütze und gepanzerte Fahrzeuge, die den Gotteskriegern in die Hände fielen. (…) Demnach existierten mindestens 50.000 der 200.000 Rekruten lediglich auf dem Papier, wahrscheinlich sogar deutlich mehr.

Edelstein, a Likud MK who holds the position of Knesset speark, said: „We cannot abuse the public, that is my position as an MK not as Knesset speaker.“ Hours later, the Meretz-backed bill to dissolve the Knesset passed a preliminary reading, with eighty four MKs voting in favor of the bill. Another version of the bill, led by Opposition Chairman Isaac Herzog, then passed its first reading.

MK Tzipi Livni slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a party faction meeting Wednesday, calling his speech to announce new elections the night before the words of a coward.

„The truth that lies behind the hysterical words is that we have a prime minister who is afraid – afraid of his ministers, and of the outside world,“ she said.

You’re surely been reading about the controversy over the Israeli government’s new initiative to declare the country the nation state of the Jewish people. The Israeli government might fall over the issue. American Zionists are up in arms over the proposal, because it would end their beloved Jewish democracy. But here are two important voices saying that there is already no democracy for non-Jews in Israel.

The ruling is preliminary and subject to a lengthy appeals process. It also goes to the country‘s top religious authority for approval although his opinion is not binding.

The sentence comes days after another court dropped charges against Hosni Mubarak over the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that ended his 30-year rule.

(1. Dezember) PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: ..Now, a few words about the major South Stream project on the bottom of the Black Sea. We are grateful to our Turkish friends that although Turkey did not benefit directly from this project, it nevertheless gave all the permits necessary to build this pipeline system through Turkey’s exclusive economic zone in a timely manner.

At the same time, taking into account the European Commission’s position, which is not conducive to implementing this project, taking into account the fact that we have only recently received permission from relevant authorities in the Netherlands – granted, it was a positive decision, and taking into account that we still have not received permission from Bulgaria, we feel Russia cannot continue implementing this project under the existing circumstances.

I mean that we now need to start the construction of this pipeline in the Black Sea, but we cannot do that until we have Bulgaria’s permission. I think it’s clear to everyone that it would be ridiculous to start the construction in the sea, reach the Bulgarian shore and stop. So we are forced to reconsider our participation in this project. But given Turkey’s growing demand, we are ready to not only expand the Blue Stream pipeline, as I just said, but also build another pipeline system in order to cover the growing needs of the Turkish economy. And if it is deemed expedient, we can build an additional gas hub for the South European consumers on Turkish territory, near the border with Greece.

Die USA stünden für Erörterung verschiedener Varianten mit der türkischen Seite offen und respektiere deren Meinung, sagte der Sprecher des Weißen Hauses, Josh Earnest. „Aber wir denken, dass eine Flugsperrzone zu diesem Zeitpunkt nicht den Interessen der Lösung in Syrien dienen wird.“

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has reiterated Turkey’s concerns about the Syrian province of Aleppo, which is under pressure after having been split roughly in half between opposition groups and government troops that have slowly encircled rebel positions, trying to cut supply routes.

Meeting with his British and Canadian counterparts late Dec. 2 on the sidelines of the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting, Çavuşoğlu discussed the situation in Aleppo and urged for an „integrated strategy“ to solve the Syrian crisis, according to Turkish diplomatic sources.

„However, it is observed that Egypt‘s pro-coup executives have been asserting unacceptable claims against our country as an indication to their guilty conscience and incapability,“ the Turkish ministry’s statement said.

The statement also said the Egyptian regime should not get the idea that their inhumane actions in Tahrir Square in 2012, which left thousands of protesters dead and the recent release of former President Hosni Mubarak, who was said to be responsible for the killings, had gone unnoticed.

“This agreement will further strengthen both Iraq’s federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government as they work together to defeat ISIL,“ Harf said while congratulating the sides on the agreement.

“It was also agreed that the central government will also allocate a portion of the federal land forces‘ budget to the peshmerga forces in proportion to the population ratio of the region,” she added, “for the sake of Iraq‘s security.”

You will recall that Hagel was nominated just early last year for the job. But he had a lot of trouble with the Israel lobby, because he’d called it the “Jewish lobby” and said it had unrivalled power on the Hill. His tortuous hearing in Feb. 2013 — a “disaster”– is said to have damaged him throughout his short stint at the Pentagon. Though the hearing was famously parodied in an SNL skit that never aired, in which senators called on Hagel to fellate a donkey for Israel. Even the Anti-Defamation League got het up over that one.

Ashton Carter doesn’t have donkey issues.

The official said that the U.S. has its eyes on Iranian activity in the region but is not necessarily concerned with it, reported The Huffington Post. He added that the attacks are taking place near the Iranian border, in a different part of Iraq than most U.S.-led coalition activity.

The official said that he believed that the Iranian bombing is unlikely to stop as long as the Shiite-dominated nation felt threatened by the IS. He also remarked that the activity will not call for a response from the U.S. unless the nation presents an immediate threat to the forces in the air.