#Obama

„At this time, the President has no plans to travel to Russia in the near future,“ Stroh said.

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told journalists on Monday that Moscow had sent an invitation to Obama to attend the celebrations devoted to the 70th anniversary of the Victory in World War II.

US-Präsident Barack Obama hat keine Pläne, Russland in nächster Zeit zu besuchen. Das teilte der Sprecher des US-Rates für nationale Sicherheit beim Weißen Haus, Mark Strauch, am Montag in einem Interview für die russische Agentur Sputnik mit.

The Palestinian Authority has refused to postpone a vote on a UN Security Council statehood bid until after Israel’s March 17 elections, despite international pressure, PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said Monday. (…)

“Kerry believes the Security Council vote will negatively impact the Israeli elections and the identity of the winner of these elections. We said, however, that the bid now will have a positive effect.”

Speaking in an interview with Army Radio, Erekat said, „Today we have technical and expert consultations and we hope to move forward the resolution…within the next few days.“

He slammed Israel for wanting to cancel the move at the UN and putting pressure on the US to veto the resolution.

Israel fiercely opposes the draft and the United States said it would not support it.

In opening remarks at his meeting with Erekat in Moscow, Lavrov said Russia „fully supports the lawful aspiration of the Palestinian people to finally obtain their statehood.“

There may not be any clear winner in the upcoming election. The decision regarding the future prime minister may well end up in the hands of Lieberman, Lapid and Kahlon – hardly an outcome to be welcomed.

Russian Permanent Representative in the UN Vitaly Churkin said Russia was ready to support the draft resolution on the Palestinian state. The United States said it planned to veto the resolution.

He criticized the PA’s readiness to hold land swaps with Israel, saying this would undermine the Palestinian right to self-determination and to a sovereign state. He also warned that the concept of land swaps would be exploited by Israel to legalize settlements.

Barghouti also voiced opposition to the wording of the draft resolution on Jerusalem, which says that the city should be the capital of two states. He stressed that any resolution should emphasize that east Jerusalem is the capital of a Palestinian state.

According to the charitable organization, a quarter of the children whose parents accept assistance from foundations were reported as going to sleep hungry several times a month, with 36% of children whose families receive aid were forced to work in order to keep the family afloat.

Netanyahu received 538,783 shekels from 15 donors abroad – 14 of which are from the United States. The data was found on the State Comptroller‘s website – all politicians must report donations on the website.

(17.12.) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas received a phone call on Tuesday from Egypt‘s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri to discuss exerted efforts on a UN vote on a draft resolution to end Israeli occupation.
Also, the President received a phone call from Jordan‘s Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh to discuss preparation for the vote.

Regarding whether the delay is related to the Palestinians wanting to ensure nine votes in the Security Council, Hamad said, “The nine votes still have not been ensured because the calls and deliberations with France, followed by Germany and Britain, are still ongoing in the hope of reaching a unanimous version to be submitted to the Security Council this month.”

(17.12.) U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry holds „tough and sensitive“ meeting in London with chief PA negotiator, ahead of potential unilateral Palestinian move at U.N. Security Council

Yair Lapid, head of the centrist Yesh Atid Party, told a large crowd of English-speaking immigrants on Sunday that despite his earlier reservations, he was convinced now that the upcoming election provided an opportunity “to make lemonade out of lemons.”

Netanyahu reportedly invited India to participate in a joint effort on cyberdefense, a project that will aim to be a link between civilian and military authorities in both countries.

In October, India reportedly agreed to a $525 million deal to buy Israel’s guided Spike missiles, which were widely used during Operation Protective Edge.

“Like other foreign policy issues, the Modi government is looking at India’s voting record at the United Nations on the Palestinian issue,” a government source told The Hindu. The change only needs an administrative nod, the second source said.

At Kotel Hanukkah ceremony, former chief negotiator with the Palestinians Tzipi Livni says Israeli rule over Jerusalem is expression of ‚the historic link between a people and its land.‘

#Israel #Palastine

Since the day President Obama took office, he has failed to bring to justice anyone responsible for the torture of terrorism suspects — an official government program conceived and carried out in the years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

He did allow his Justice Department to investigate the C.I.A.’s destruction of videotapes of torture sessions and those who may have gone beyond the torture techniques authorized by President George W. Bush. But the investigation did not lead to any charges being filed, or even any accounting of why they were not filed.

During the World Conference on International Telecommunication (WCIT) in Dubai in 2012, countries including Russia, Iran and China sought to legitimize these practices by placing aspects of Internet governance under the UN’s International Telecommunication Regulations administered by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The ITU dates back to 1865, when it was established as the International Telegraph Union to coordinate the delivery of telegraphs among nations. Governments are the only voting members.

When Congress passes a bill that‘s 1,603 pages long you can be sure that there‘s a great deal in it that is noticed by few people, including the members who voted for it.

In an interview airing Sunday, he told CNN‘s „State of the Union“ that he did not think the hacking was an act of war. „I think it was an act of cybervandalism that was very costly, very expensive,“ he told the program.

(18. Dezember) “Today is the day the whole game changes,” says cyber security expert Bill Kresse of Governors State University.

“We see both the marriage of hacking with terrorism, and we see the weaponization of the Internet,” he adds.

China condemned „cyber terrorism“ on Monday after US President Barack Obama pledged to consider officially labelling North Korea, accused by Washington of hacking Sony Pictures, a state sponsor of terrorism.

The Chinese foreign ministry statement came after talks Sunday between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his counterpart John Kerry and followed calls by Washington for China and other nations for help in deterring future attacks.