Turkey’s Erdogan: Israeli settlement push an ‘absolute provocation’
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday condemned Israel’s decision
to ramp up settlements in the West Bank as an “absolute provocation”.
Israel announced plans last month for 3,000 more settlement homes in the
West Bank. It has also retroactively legalized about 4,000 settlement
homes built on privately owned Palestinian land, a move that brought
condemnation from the United Nations and the European Union.
IDF arrests suspected terrorists responsible for West Bank shootings
The IDF, in cooperation with the Shin Bet security service, arrested two
Palestinians from the West Bank village of Rantis that carried out a
shooting attack against an Israeli vehicle between the Israeli
settlements of Beit Aryeh and Nili in December. According to the army,
the two Palestinians shot at the car driven by an Israeli citizen at
close range, injuring the driver when the gunfire shattered the window
on the driver’s side sending glass shards into his face.
North Korea says ballistic missile test was a ‘success’
North Korea says it “successfully” test-fired a ballistic missile on
Sunday in a launch supervised by leader Kim Jong-un. State news agency
KCNA described the device, fired into the Sea of Japan, as a
“surface-to-surface medium-to-long-range ballistic missile”. South
Korea’s defence ministry called it an armed provocation to test the
response of US President Donald Trump.
Brexit: Theresa May accused of ‘switching her language’ over Irish border
Former taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Bertie Ahern has accused Prime
Minister Theresa May of “switching her language” over a physical border
between Northern Ireland and the Republic after Brexit. He told The
Observer that “any kind of physical border” would be “bad for the peace
process”. Mrs May has said she wants a “seamless, frictionless border”
after Brexit.
Inside the black bloc militant protest movement as it rises up against Trump
The movement first made its presence felt in California more than two
decades ago, then built its forces amid the protests against the Iraq
war. Out of the sea of largely peaceful antiwar demonstrators marching
in San Francisco’s Financial District in 2003, a more militant subgroup
emerged…Since then, the so-called black bloc protesters have become a
force in the Bay Area and beyond.
America’s Biggest Creditors Dump Treasuries in Warning to Trump
In the age of Trump, America’s biggest foreign creditors are suddenly
having second thoughts about financing the U.S. government. In Japan,
the largest holder of Treasuries, investors culled their stakes in
December by the most in almost four years, the Ministry of Finance’s
most recent figures show. What’s striking is the selling has persisted
at a time when going abroad has rarely been so attractive. And it’s not
just the Japanese. Across the world, foreigners are pulling back from
U.S. debt like never before.
Hamas elects new radical leader in Gaza
Yahya Sanwar has been elected to lead Hamas in the Gaza Strip after
internal elections were held for the organization’s institutional and
leadership positions, according to reports from Al Jazeera. Sanwar was
on the most senior officials released by Israel in the Shalit deal in
which hundreds of terrorists and political prisoners were released in
exchange for the return of captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
Netanyahu opposes Palestinian state, Israeli minister says ahead of U.S. visit
Benjamin Netanyahu opposes a Palestinian state, a senior Israeli
cabinet member said on Monday, but left it unclear whether the prime
minister would say that publicly in talks with U.S. President Donald
Trump in Washington this week.
Oh, the Irony: Liberals Threaten to Homeschool Kids After DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary
In protest of school choice advocate Betsy DeVos becoming the next
education secretary, some liberals threatened to homeschool their
children. Lost on them, apparently, is the irony of that threat
Spillway at tallest US dam in California about to collapse, tens of thousands evacuate
Tens of thousands of people have been fleeing California towns
downstream from the Oroville Dam after fears of an imminent collapse of
its spillway prompted an evacuation order. Authorities are seeking to
stem the breach with the help of helicopters.
Juncker says Britain may divide EU over Brexit talks
Jean-Claude Juncker said he fears Britain will divide the European
Union’s 27 remaining members by making different promises to each
country during its Brexit negotiations. “The other EU 27 don’t know it
yet, but the Brits know very well how they can tackle this,” Juncker
told Deutschlandfunk radio. “They could promise country A this, country B
that and country C something else and the end game is that there is not
a united European front.”
At least 749 earthquakes hit Dardanelles since Feb 6
Professor Haluk Özener, the head of the Kandilli Observatory and the
Earthquake Research Institute, said the quakes were “unsurprising” and
noted that earthquakes between the 5 and 5.5 magnitude range were
“natural” for the region. Prof. Dr. Övgün Ercan, an academic at the
Faculty of Mines at Istanbul Technical University, warned about another
wave of earthquakes, saying a major earthquake was expected “within the
next 15 to 20 days.”
New quake rocks Lesvos island
Another earthquake, measuring 5 on the Richter scale, rocked the
Greek island of Lesvos on Sunday afternoon, coming on top of string of
relatively large tremors over the past week. The 5-Richter quake struck
at 3.48 p.m. and its epicenter was just off Turkey’s western coast,
north of the Greek island
Mysteries of Ark’s Journey Revealed as Excavation Begins at Site of Ark of Covenant
This summer, archaeologists will begin the first-ever excavation of
the major Biblical site where the Ark of the Covenant was kept for two
decades before King David conveyed it to Jerusalem. The site, known in
Hebrew as Kiryat Ye’arim and often transliterated at Kiriath Jearim, is
mentioned over a dozen times in the Bible as a Judean town near
Jerusalem during the period of Biblical history associated with the
judges and King David. Today, it remains one of the last such Biblical
landmarks unstudied.
Rabbi, Archbishop, Sheikh and President Reopen Church of Loaves and Fishes at Interfaith Event
Rivlin emphasized that Jews, Christians and people of all faith
suffer together when equality and tolerance are compromised, but noted
that freedom of religion is a cherished principle in the Jewish state.
Officials order evacuation of residents near California dam
Marysville police say the city and Yuba County are under mandatory
evacuation orders because of the feared collapse of the emergency
spillway at Lake Oroville Dam. Yolo County officials said in a tweet
that they do not expect any impact.
North Korea tests Trump’s resolve with latest missile launch
North Korea’s latest ballistic missile test triggered swift condemnation
Sunday from the international community as the hermit nation’s move
challenges President Trump in his first month in office.
Zimbabwe 2.0: South Africa’s President Vows To Redistribute White-Owned Land And Businesses
“Today we are starting a new chapter of radical socioeconomic
transformation,” South Africa president Jacob Zuma said last week, as
he pledged to break up white ownership of business and land to reduce
inequality.
Apple’s Tim Cook Urges “Massive” Government Crackdown On ‘Fake News’: “It’s Killing People’s Minds”
“We must try to squeeze this without stepping on freedom of speech
and of the press, but we must also help the reader…It has to be
ingrained in the schools, it has to be ingrained in the public… It’s
killing people’s minds in a way… In some ways kids will be the easiest
to educate.”
Russia Will Not ‘Sell’ Snowden To Trump; Here’s Why
The report obviously worried Snowden himself, who tweeted that the
report proved that he was not and never had been a Russian agent. That
suggests that he took the report seriously. Snowden should not be
worried, since the report is groundless and is clearly a provocation.
To see why it is only necessary to look at the NBC report itself, which
makes it clear who is behind it…