An Israeli cabinet meeting to approve a ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas was delayed Thursday morning after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the militant group of “reneging” on parts of the agreement.
Archiv: Drop dead!
Israel gov‘t expected to vote on Gaza deal by Thursday, according to FM statement
Israel‘s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he was cutting his visit to Europe short on Wednesday so that he could take part in security cabinet and government votes on a Gaza hostage release and ceasefire deal.
Officials tout a Gaza ceasefire deal and plan to free hostages. Israel says details still in flux
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said final details were being ironed out, saying in a statement that it hoped “details will be finalized tonight.”
UNSC consultations on Syria, requested by Russia, will take place on December 9, according to the mission
„In light of the current developments in Syria, the impact of which on this country and the entire region is yet to be realized, Russia has requested urgent closed-door consultations of the UN Security Council. In particular, it is important to know what is going on in this environment around the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights. We expect that these consultations will ne held in the second half of the day on Monday, December 9,“ he wrote on his Telegram channel.
Turkey, Russia and Iran Meet in Doha Seeking Exit From Syria Chaos
Turkey‘s foreign minister will meet with his Russian and Iranian counterparts in Doha on Saturday to try to find a solution to the renewed fighting in Syria and avoid chaos on its doorstep.
The three countries have been partners since 2017 in the Astana process seeking to end the civil war in Syria. This is despite the fact they have supported opposite sides on the battlefield.
Turkish-backed extremists ‚headed to Damascus‘ says Erdogan
“We do not want escalation to continue in the region,” the Turkish president claimed.
“Idlib, Hama, and Homs are in the hands of the Syrian opposition, and they are continuing towards Damascus. We extended our hand to Bashar al-Assad but he did not respond,” he added.
Russia condemns Israeli attacks on Lebanon
(September 24, 2024)
„Indiscriminate Israeli strikes on residential areas under the pretext that Hezbollah weapons are being stored there led to massive civilian casualties and significant destruction of civilian infrastructure,“ Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
Citing the Lebanese Health Ministry, Zakharova said that at least 492 people, including around 150 women and children, were killed by Israel’s „armed aggression“ on Monday.
In surprise close call, Lapid holds on to party leadership by a mere 29 votes
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid beat out opponent MK Ram Ben Barak by the skin of his teeth in Thursday afternoon’s Yesh Atid primary, the party’s first leadership contest since it was founded by Lapid in 2012. (…)
Ben Barak had not presented a strong challenge to the longtime leader, stating repeatedly that he does not differ materially in his policy outlook from Lapid and is mainly running in order to promote the “democratization” of the party, which has been under the same leadership for over a decade.
With record of Gaza truce vetoes, US unveils new, ambiguous UN resolution
A copy of the new draft resolution, obtained by Al Jazeera, reads: “The Security Council determines the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire to protect civilians on all sides, allow for the delivery of essential humanitarian assistance, and alleviate humanitarian suffering and towards that end unequivocally supports ongoing international diplomatic efforts to secure such a ceasefire in connection with the release of all remaining hostages.” (…)
No vote has yet been scheduled on this text.
Blinken: U.S. submitted draft resolution to UN calling for Gaza ceasefire
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday the U.S. has submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council that calls „for an immediate ceasefire“ in Gaza that‘s „tied to the release“ of hostages held by Hamas.
Palestinian Authority Could Seek Full UN Membership This Year
(09.01.2024)
Mansour said the Palestinian Authority, with the backing of Arab states, would start mobilizing support to go to the U.N. Security Council, which holds the key to membership because it must back a request before it can go to the General Assembly for a final decision. That means at least nine council members must vote in favor of the move, and none of the permanent five members can veto it.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates // Any political initiative that does not begin with the full membership of the State of Palestine in the United Nations and keeps it hostage to the #Israeli position is doomed to failure.
The Ministry calls for the imposition of international and American #sanctions on Smotrich and Ben Gvir, as a threat to international peace
War on Gaza: Former French president Hollande calls Gaza dead ‘collateral victims’
The comments were made on Wednesday during a ceremony in Paris, after a journalist asked whether there was a double standard in the reaction to killings in Israel and in Gaza and whether the latter also deserved a tribute.
In a widely circulated response, Hollande said: “It cannot be the same tribute. A life is a life and one life is equivalent to another but there are victims of terrorism and victims of war. Being a victim of terrorism means being attacked as a French person or as a defender of a way of life. A collateral victim, you are in war… it‘s not of the same nature.”
Hamas official in Lebanon vows terror group will continue to rule Gaza
“To those who think that Hamas will disappear, Hamas will remain entrenched in the conscience of our people, and no force on Earth can annihilate or marginalize it,” Osama Hamdan tells a news conference.
We tried Threads, Meta’s new Twitter rival. Here’s what happened
Threads can only be accessed by integrating an existing Instagram username to sign up – meaning if you don’t have an account, you have to get one to enter the new Threads platform.
Saudis ‘would let Israeli jets use their air space to attack Iran’
(25 February 2015)
Being able to use Saudi airspace would allow Israeli planes a shortcut to reach Iran without having to fly around the Persian Gulf, taking up precious time and fuel.
According to the dispatch, Israel and Saudi Arabia also share intelligence on Iran’s nuclear program at a very intimate level and the Saudis are no less worried by details coming out of the Geneva talks than Israeli leaders, who have loudly spoken out against the talks.
The race to save the Internet from quantum hackers
(08 February 2022)
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Mike Pompeo says he is not running for president in 2024
Pompeo, who had been fueling speculation about a potential bid, said choosing not to run in 2024 was a “deeply personal decision” for him and his wife, Susan. He had traveled to a series of early voting states in recent months.
Don’t cut the army, says Labour as it positions itself as the party of security
The government needs to rearm the British military to keep Ukraine supplied and to ensure the country is the lead European state in Nato, Labour’s defence spokesman will say in a keynote speech.
Positioning Labour as the party of security for Britain, John Healey will call for a halt to cuts in the Army and a strategic pact with European partners to face challenges in an increasingly dangerous world.
Who Will Lead the Real Opposition to Netanyahu‘s Onslaught?
The largest demonstration held so far against the new government of Benjamin Netanyahu, on Saturday night in Tel Aviv, was notable in that none of the leaders of the parties of the previous government were present. It wasn’t just leader of the opposition Yair Lapid, who was on a brief weekend vacation in Paris. None of his other colleagues turned up either.
U.S. stocks had their worst day in nearly three weeks on Monday as protests in China raised global-growth risks and Fed said more interest-rate increases will be needed to subdue inflation.
(…)
Poland: Russian-made missile fell on our country, killing 2
That assessment and Biden’s comments at the Group of 20 summit in Indonesia contradict information earlier Tuesday from a senior U.S. intelligence official who told the AP that Russian missiles crossed into Poland.
Intercepting the Internet
(29.April 1999)
European commission documents obtained this week reveal plans to require manufacturers and operators to build in „interception interfaces“ to the Internet and all future digital communications systems. The plans, drafted by a US-led international organisation of police and security agencies, will be proposed to EU Justice and Home Affairs ministers at the end of May.
(…)
The plans require the installation of a network of tapping centres throughout Europe, operating almost instantly across all national boundaries, providing access to every kind of communications including the net and satellites. A German tapping centre could intercept Internet messages in Britain, or a British detective could listen to Dutch phone calls. There could even be several tapping centres listening in at once.
We are beginning to see a picture of results although there is still some distance to go. But at this stage, Meretz and Balad are OUT and Labor colleagues have turned against their leader, Merav Michaeli. #IsraelElections2022 #Israelex5
Intercepting the Internet
(29.April 1999)
European commission documents obtained this week reveal plans to require manufacturers and operators to build in „interception interfaces“ to the Internet and all future digital communications systems. The plans, drafted by a US-led international organisation of police and security agencies, will be proposed to EU Justice and Home Affairs ministers at the end of May.
(…)
The plans require the installation of a network of tapping centres throughout Europe, operating almost instantly across all national boundaries, providing access to every kind of communications including the net and satellites. A German tapping centre could intercept Internet messages in Britain, or a British detective could listen to Dutch phone calls. There could even be several tapping centres listening in at once.
This Election Poll Made the Israeli Left Panic, as It Should
In the early stages of the campaign, when parties could still merge with others, Lapid begged Merav Michaeli, the leader of Labor, to join forces with Meretz. Even the James Webb telescope would fail to find ideological differences between the two parties. Michaeli, whatever her reasons may have truly been, shot down the idea. Now she could enter history books as the first Labor leader to remain beneath the threshold, and outside the Knesset.
Obama Charges Netanyahu as a World Leader Who Fueled ‚Putinism‘, Report Reveals
„What I worry about most is, there is a war right now of ideas, more than any hot war, and it is between Putinism — which, by the way, is subscribed to, at some level, by [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan or Netanyahu or [former Philippines President Rodrigo] Duterte and [former U.S. President Donald] Trump — and a vision of a liberal market-based democracy that has all kinds of flaws and is subject to all kinds of legitimate criticism, but on the other hand is sort of responsible for most of the human progress we‘ve seen over the last 50, 75 years,“ he told reporters in off-the-record comments first published by Bloomberg.
Palestine calls for full UN membership and a plan to end the occupation
He called for the UN Secretary-General to elaborate an international plan….
Further OPEC+ Production Cuts Could Be Looming
(06.09.2022)
“The simple tweak shows that we will be attentive, preemptive and pro-active in terms of supporting the stability and the efficient functioning of the market to the benefit of market participants and the industry,” Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said.
US carries out strike against Iran-backed groups in eastern Syria
„At President (Joe) Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces conducted precision airstrikes in Deir el-Zor, Syria today. These precision strikes are intended to defend and protect U.S. forces from attacks like the ones on Aug. 15 against U.S. personnel by Iran-backed groups,“ a statement by the U.S. Central Command said.
Analyst: Anti-JCPOA parties to use Rushdie attack to torpedo deal
A political analyst says pro-Israel lobbies and groups that oppose Iran’s nuclear deal with the West, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), would take advantage of the Friday night attack on anti-Islam blasphemous novelist Salman Rushdie and pin it on Iran to diminish the prospects of an agreement.
Iran Says EU Plan to Revive Nuclear Deal Could Be ‚Acceptable‘
A top official in Tehran responds positively to the European Union‘s proposal, which is 15 months in the making, but says …
The sooner I never have to hear the name Lavrov again, the better.
Hell isn’t deep enough for this man.
Russian envoy: We’ll ‘respond accordingly’ if Israel gives Ukraine defensive gear
Speaking with Russian state television, Ambassador Anatoly Viktorov noted Defense Ministry Benny Gantz’s announcement a day earlier that Israel will provide Ukraine with helmets and flak jackets.
Gantz’s office stressed the equipment will go to Ukrainian civilian rescue and medical forces, not the military.
Iran committing suicide right here, extremely foolish.
(12 March, 2022)
Germany’s finance minister Christian Lindner wants to restart negotiations for a transatlantic free trade agreement. “The current crisis shows how important free trade w/ partners who share our values is,” he told Handelsblatt, adding that TTIP is a lesson.
(20.03.2022)
The JCPOA is dead
Iran committing suicide right here, extremely foolish.
Erbil missile attack: Iran‘s Revolutionary Guard claims responsibility
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Sunday claimed responsibility for a ballistic missile attack on Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, saying it was targeting an Israeli „strategic centre“.
Around a dozen missiles rained down on the city at 1am on Sunday morning.
Ministers Bid Farewell to Mandelblit at End of His Term
Ministers paid tribute to Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit on Sunday, who is set to leave the job this week after six years.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that Mandelblit has filled a “great and significant” role. “We all owe you a debt of gratitude. On behalf of the government of Israel, I would like to thank you, Avichai, for many dedicated years of service to the State of Israel.”
Millionaires urge Democrats to include billionaire tax in spending bill
A group of about 250 millionaires on Monday urged top Democrats to include a proposal to tax billionaires‘ investment gains annually in their social-spending package, after the proposal was left out of a framework the White House released last week.
Transformation: The collective psychology of coronavirus
(17 March 2020)
All this makes me think about the stuff I’ve been working on over the last couple of years in the Collective Psychology Project (CPP), which I set up in 2018 – and in particular the importance of whether we respond to perceived threats by going into fight-or-flight or tend-and-befriend mode.
Fight-or-flight – or more accurately, fight / flight / freeze – is a natural reaction to threat or feelings of overwhelm. But it’s not particularly helpful in the face of a collective threat like coronavirus. It’s a primal response, not a considered one. It focuses on the interests of the individual, not the collective.
Taliban celebratory gunfire turns deadly, Pakistan’s spy chief arrives in Afghanistan
Amid reports of intense fighting in the Panjshir, Pakistan‘s powerful intelligence chief made a surprise visit to Kabul on Saturday.
Hameed arrived in Kabul Saturday morning, leading a delegation of „senior Pakistani officials“, to discuss security, economic and trade issues, according to Pakistani media reports.
Gantz Says Israel Is Prepared to Strike Iran, ‚Hope We Won‘t Get Dragged Into It‘
With tensions running high in the aftermath of the tanker attack off Oman, the defense minister says strikes in Lebanon were ‚warning shots‘
WTO Members Fail To Agree On Patent Waiver For COVID-19 Vaccines
The World Trade Organization member countries have failed to reach a consensus on a temporary waiver of intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines, WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell said on Tuesday following the General Council session. According to Okonjo-Iweala, the WTO member countries will make a decision by the 12th WTO ministerial conference, which will take place in late November-early December.
Sir Patrick Vallance corrects mistake about Covid hospital admissions and says 60% of infected patients needing NHS treatment are unvaccinated after wrongly claiming majority have had both jabs
(yesterday)
– Sir Patrick Vallance corrected a mistake about Covid hospitalisation rates
– He originally said 60 per cent of people going to hospital were doubled jabbed
– But he later tweeted the figure applied to the unvaccinated people
Several tied to Haiti assassination plot were previously US law enforcement informants
Haitian President Jovenel Moise was killed last Wednesday in an operation that Haitian authorities say involved at least 28 people, many of them Colombian mercenaries hired through a Florida-based security company.
At least one of the men arrested in connection to the assassination by Haitian authorities previously worked as an informant for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the DEA said in a statement in response to CNN.
Benny Gantz making last speech in debate before the vote to appoint a new Knesset Speaker, preceding confidence vote. He’ll remain defense minister in the new government but no longer “alternate prime minister.”
No ‘provoking’: Israeli official vows quieter tone with US
Sitting across a table from his U.S. counterpart at the Pentagon, Gantz said, “Our dialogue is so important to ensuring that any deal effectively meets its goal of keeping Iran away from nuclear weapons.”
“Of course, given the scope of the threat, Israel must always make sure that it has the ability to protect itself,” Gantz added.
Egypt’s intelligence chief holds talks with Hamas in Gaza Strip
(31.05.2021)
Khalil al-Haya spoke after meeting Abbas Kamel, who visited Gaza after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a trip aimed at shoring up an informal ceasefire brokered by Cairo.
Biden administration ‘in a difficult position’ in effort to rejoin Iran nuclear deal
„The US now has incredible leverage over Iran,“ former Trump national security advisor John Bolton told FRANCE 24. „If Biden gives it away, he will virtually guarantee that the sanctions will collapse, and ultimately Iran will get nuclear weapons and the ballistic missiles to deliver them both on Europe and on the United States.“
VP Biden on Afghanistan: „We are leaving in 2014. Period.“
(Oct 12, 2012)
ChristenUnie rules out a new coalition with Rutte as prime minister
ChristenUnie leader Gert-Jan Segers said in an interview with the Nederlands Dagblad …
Israel Election: Dan Ariely Explains Why Voters Are Irrational – ‚It‘s Tempting to Vote for a Liar‘
“The fact that people even go out to vote is very disturbing to economists. After all, you won’t change the result of the election with your lone vote, and on the other hand it costs you time and money. If you do a cost-benefit analysis of it – clearly one shouldn’t vote. Classical economists are very disturbed by people who go out to vote and also by people who leave tips in restaurants that they don’t plan to visit again.”
‚We over-promised again‘: Matt Hancock faces Tory backlash as he FINALLY admits that India IS behind jabs delay with four million AstraZeneca doses held back by Delhi in ‚act of vaccine nationalism‘ – dealing serious blow to UK‘s rollout
– Matt Hancock under fire for raising hopes of huge ramp up in vaccines only for supplies setback to emerge
– Serum Institute of India has been told it must hand jabs to its own citizens before exporting vaccine stocks
– One batch of five million doses of the AstraZeneca jab bound for the UK has been delayed by a month
. Confusingly Boris Johnson insisted Indian government has not blocked any exports, as he prepares to visit
US opposed to ICC probe of Israel, Kamala Harris tells Netanyahu
US Vice-President Kamala Harris, in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday (March 4) reaffirmed US opposition to an International Criminal Court (ICC) probe of possible war crimes in the Palestinian Territories, the White House said.
What Angela Merkel‘s Retirement This Year Means for Israel
Laschet is committed to Chancellor Merkel’s famous sentence, which she uttered when addressing the Knesset in Jerusalem in 2008, that Israel’s security is part of Germany’s raison d’être. According to Speich, “it is Laschet’s fundamental foreign policy conviction that Germany must commit itself to the security of Israel. It is a political obligation.”
LOCKED IN: Restrictions can’t ease until NEXT YEAR due to aggressive mutant Covid strains, warns Sage
They came to their conclusions by modelling what could happen in the next few months under the vaccine rollout, presenting their findings to Sage on January 14.
Researchers at Warwick University wrote in the document, published today: “With the new aggressive covid strain, likely transmission efficacies prove insufficient to prevent further infection outbreaks across the population.
Coronavirus latest news: Restrictions on large gatherings likely to be in place ‚for next few years‘
Prof Spector also suggested that basic infection control measures – including physical distancing, face masks and handwashing – should remain in place as they „don‘t cost really anything to do“.
„I think we need to get used to that and that will allow us to do the things we really want to do more easily and more readily,“ he said.
Covid ‚is a gift that keeps on giving‘: Labour shadow attorney general is caught on tape saying pandemic is GOOD for rich City lawyers – leaving Keir Starmer facing furious backlash
In a recording obtained by The Mail on Sunday, Lord Falconer can be heard introducing a Gibson Dunn ‚webinar‘ on ‚how the law has been changed by Covid‘ by saying: ‚This is a gift that keeps on giving, the law keeps on changing, keeps on getting more complicated, and is always interesting.‘
Social distancing may remain in place ALL YEAR: Graphs show how UK could see huge spike in deaths if restrictions are lifted too early as vaccine would have to be 85% effective to stop a surge in fatalities
Grim new graphs lay bare the dilemma facing Boris Johnson‘s government as officials try to work out how to reopen the country without causing a third wave of coronavirus infections, as SAGE recommends keeping social distancing measures in place until 2022.
How to remove the new „Other Bookmarks“ button from Firefox
Mozilla engineers have managed to annoy their users once again (…)
Firefox garbage?: Is it just me? or has firefox became total garbage over the last 6-9 months?
(Feb 6, 2010 / no specific date)
Abbas Declares Palestinian Elections, but They’re Unlikely to Actually Happen
If the infection, severe illness and fatality rates do not decline significantly before May, the pandemic could serve as another excuse to postpone the elections – especially if Fatah were to discover, on the eve of the election, that it stood to take a big hit again because the accusations of corruption and nepotism have not disappeared.
That, plus the failing grades both Fatah and Abbas receive for their performance. In that December opinion poll, which was conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, 66 percent of respondents said Abbas should resign.
President Biden Won’t Unlock a Wave of Iranian Crude
There was strong opposition to the Iran nuclear deal in the U.S., from both Republicans and Democrats, when it was negotiated back in 2015, which prevented it from being ratified by the Senate. That opposition remains.
Gantz, We’ll Take It From Here
It’s hard not to feel uncomfortable when we hear Gantz – who gave Netanyahu the government, betraying his voters and his partners – trying to look like someone worried about the future of the “Anyone But Bibi” camp and trying to serve as a strategic adviser.
Gantz Says He Would Back Former Ally Lapid‘s Bid to Lead anti-Netanyahu Bloc
“We will find what all of us have in common,” said Gantz, who is the defense minister and alternate prime minister in the outgoing government. “I call upon everyone for whom Israel is important, on everyone who won’t go with Bibi [Netanyahu], to forgo their egos and unite. I am prepared to sacrifice a lot, as I have already proven, so that Bibi leaves. If ego goes, Bibi will go.”
‚I Was Wrong to Join Netanyahu‘: Gantz Calls for Broad Center-left Coalition
Kahol Lavan chairman Benny Gantz called on leaders of center-left parties to unite ahead of Israel‘s March 23 election in order to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – his coalition partner over the past year.
Gantz: Nissenkorn stabbed me in the back
(01.01.2021)
In a weekend interview with Yediot Aharonot, Gantz said „I felt him stabbing me in the back and turning the knife.“
Nissenkorn, whose resignation took effect Friday morning, wrote on Facebook afterward that Gantz made „crazy concessions“ that would have emptied the justice minister post of authority in an effort to keep the government together.