Obama: Israel cannot ‘permanently occupy, settle Palestinian land’

US president Barack Obama addresses the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters, September 20, 2016 in New York City (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

 

In final, wide-ranging UN address, US president also says Palestinians must reject incitement, recognize ‘legitimacy of Israel’

US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that while the Palestinians should reject terror and incitement, Israel must recognize that it cannot “permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land.”

“Surely Israelis and Palestinians will be better off if Palestinians reject incitement and recognize the legitimacy of Israel. But Israel must recognize that it cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land. We all have to do better,” the US president said at the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Iraq Crisis: German Aid Minister Claims Qatar Financing Islamic State Jihadists

Germany’s development aid minister, Gerd Mueller, has accused Qatar of financing the Islamic State terror group.

“A story like this always has a history,” Mueller said in an interview with public broadcaster ZDF. “Who is financing these troops? Hint: Qatar.”

German Vice-Chancellor and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel has called for a “debate” about who has been financing the terror group, which has created an Islamic “Caliphate” which straddles the Iraq-Syrian border.

Netanyahu’s dilemma: Back Obama’s save Hamas policy, or fight for its downfall with Egypt and Saudis

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu entangled himself Saturday and Sunday, July 26-27,  in the net he had cast to blur the effect of the unanimous decision by the security-political cabinet of Friday to turn down the ceasefire proposals proposed by US Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The two diplomats and their partners, a brace of European ministers and Qatar and Turkey, who met in Paris to concoct a peace framework for Gaza, were privately dubbed by wags in Jerusalem the “Save Hamas Squad.”

Netanyahu tried to present the flat cabinet “no” to the ceasefire as a “no, maybe.”

His purpose was to leave an opening for the US and UN to ginger up their pro-Hamas framework for ending hostilities in the Gaza Strip by incorporating elements that Israel’s security needs half way. If that was done, Israel, he indicated, would be amenable to joining lengthy ceasefire accords with Hamas, or even making unilateral halts in violence.

Kerry and Ban in truce bid to save Hamas from defeat. Israel holds reply. Cairo won’t amend truce proposal

Three rival groups are in a tug-o’-war over a ceasefire initiative for the Gaza conflict: The US and UN are pulling one way; Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the other; and Qatar, Turkey, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, are trying to manipulate the others.

Monday night, July 21, US Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Cairo to press their case with Egyptian President Abdel-Fatteh El-Sisi: Kerry’s directive was outlined by President Barack Obama a few hours earlier, “to focus on bringing about a ceasefire than ends the fighting and can stop the death of innocent civilians.”

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Reported to be pushing for a long-term ceasefire, the UN Secretary went on to comment that it was impossible to go back to the situation that caused the conflict. He ruled out the “status quo ante” for the Gaza Strip as untenable.

Angela Merkel ‘does not want to complete full term as German chancellor’

“You have not anchored Germany to a unified Europe…You have anchored Europe to a newly unified and dominant Germany! In the end my friends, you will find it will not work.”

– Margaret Thatcher

With America on the way out and committing national suicide… say hello to The Fourth Reich and the world’s next superpower.

 

Chancellor Angela Merkel is considering quitting ahead of the 2017 elections and is interested in UN Secretary-General or President of the European Council roles, Spiegel reports

Angela Merkel does not want to complete her full term as German chancellor and is planning to resign before elections due in 2017, according to reports.

The German leader is aiming to become the first chancellor to leave of her own accord since 1949, and is interested in a new role as United Nations Secretary-General, or President of the European Council, Spiegel magazine reported.

Caliphate Goes Nuclear: ISIS Seizes 88 Pounds of Uranium From Mosul University

The uranium could be used for “manufacturing weapons of mass destruction.”

The Iraqi ambassador told the United Nations this week that ISIS terrorists seized 88 pounds of uranium from Mosul University.
Reuters reported, via The News Commenter:

Insurgents in Iraq have seized nuclear materials used for scientific research at a university in the country’s north, Iraq told the United Nations in a letter appealing for help to “stave off the threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad.”

Africa to deploy joint intervention force

When African heads of state and government gathered last week in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, they expected to discuss agriculture and food security. Instead, talks at the 23rd African Union (AU) summit focused on counter-terrorism.

The increasing number of attacks by extremists on the continent is causing great concern to African leaders.

“Silencing the guns by 2020 is the priority so that populations can cultivate the land,” AU Commission head Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said at the 2-day event, which wrapped up on Friday (June 27th).

​UN-marked strike helicopter ‘used by Kiev against militia’ sparks scandal

The UN has voiced concerns over the apparent use of UN-marked helicopters by Kiev troops in their military operation against Donetsk regional militia. A video of a white-painted Mil Mi-24 strike helicopter with UN logo has emerged.

When inquired about the United Nations’ stance on the use of peacekeeper-marked military hardware in non-peacekeeper operations, the office for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson said such use would violate UN rules.

Kiev Descends Into Bloodshed as Crisis Takes Deadly Turn

Washington and Berlin raise the intensity another notch in wrestling Ukraine away from Russia. From the state-sponsored (FSB/KGB) RIA Novosti:

KIEV, February 19 (RIA Novosti) – At least 25 people, including nine police officers, were killed Tuesday in bloody clashes in the Ukrainian capital that are threatening to tip the former Soviet nation into civil conflict.

With police engaged in an overnight battle to clear central Kiev of anti-government protesters, fears abounded that the death toll could rise as eyewitnesses reported seeing bodies not apparently accounted for by the authorities.

The scale of the violence prompted UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to appeal for restraint and “genuine dialogue” between authorities and the opposition. Russia, which has staunchly backed President Viktor Yanukovych, accused Western governments of fanning tension by interfering in Ukraine’s internal affairs.

David Cameron must return Falklands to Argentina, Cristina Kirchner demands in open letter

As it becomes politically, economically and socially upheaved, it’s only a matter of time before the “Keys” are taken from the Western world. As it grows stronger, the Mercosur bloc could likely play a key role in ousting British influence throughout the region.

David Cameron must return the Falkland Islands to Argentina, 180 years after the territories were “forcibly stripped” from the South American country, the country’s president has claimed in newspaper adverts.

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The 212-word letter, copied to Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general of the United Nations, repeatedly refers to the Falklands as the Malvinas, the Argentine Government’s Spanish name for the islands.