Russia proposes Syria truce in March

Secretary of State John Kerry is pushing for a ceasefire and more aid access to Aleppo, where rebel-held areas are being cut off and the United Nations has warned a new humanitarian disaster could be on the way.

Russia says it has the right to deploy nuclear weapons in Crimea: reports

Moscow: Russia has the right to deploy nuclear arms in the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine last year, a Foreign Ministry official said on Wednesday.

Mikhail Ulyanovsk, the head of the ministry’s department on arms control, added that he knew of no plans to do so.

Bundeswehr to send 200 armed troops to observe the Ukraine ceasefire

For translation purposes, as the original is in German, the entire article translated toEnglish will be posted here.

Für Leute die die in deutsch lesen möchte, gibt es den originales Kopie zum lesen vom den Link ganz unten.

 

The Bundeswehr is preparing for a mission to monitor the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen advised the Stewards of the Bundestag about the planned German involvement in a mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). “Our common goal is that the situation stabilized in eastern Ukraine and in a peace process ends,” she said.

However, a final decision on the application shall be made after completion of talks with the OSCE and France.

Israel threatens Hamas with massive retaliation as cease-fire enters final day

Netanyahu told his cabinet ministers that Hamas was mistaken if it thought that it could cover its military defeat over the last month with a diplomatic achievement.

A day before the midnight expiration of a five-day ceasefire, Israel sent out clear messages on Sunday that it will respond massively to any type of fire from Gaza and not tolerate a long-term “war of attrition.”

“It is not clear whether there will be an agreement,” a senior diplomatic official said as the Israeli and Palestinian delegations held indirect talks in Cairo.

If no agreement is agreed upon, the official said, there are two possibilities. The first is that no cease-fire extension or agreement is reached by Monday at midnight, and Hamas renews its firing. “If that happens,” he said, “Israel’s response will be strong.”

Hamas continue rocket salvos into Israel following ceasefire

TEL AVIV — In the first two hours of the ceasefire between the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip and Israel, Hamas was said to have launched more than 20 missiles and rockets into Israel.

Israel launches scores of airstrikes into Gaza

(CBS News) GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israel bombarded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with nearly 200 airstrikes early Saturday, the military said, widening a blistering assault on Gaza rocket operations to include the prime minister’s headquarters, a police compound and a vast network of smuggling tunnels.

Correspondent Allen Pizzey reports that, despite vague talk of a cease-fire, Hamas managed to hit a southern Israeli city with four rockets, and retaliation continued unabated.

Israel Launches Airstrikes After Attacks From Gaza

JERUSALEM – Palestinian militants from Gaza fired a barrage of rockets and mortar shells into Israeli territory on Monday, causing no casualties but some property damage, after an Israeli airstrike wounded at least 10 Palestinians in southern Gaza on Sunday.