President-elect Donald Trump tapped bankruptcy lawyer David Friedman to serve as the US ambassador to Israel on Thursday, raising questions about how Friedman’s far-right views will upend Washington’s longstanding approach to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Friedman, who has no diplomatic experience, is a fierce opponent of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine that would create two independent states on either side of the Jordan river.
Category: Middle East
Amona residents partying as eviction looms
Amona – Rumors of a police led-evacuation swirled Saturday night in the hilltop outpost of Amona, which is slated for evacuation by December 25. Yet, as hundreds of supporters, mostly teenagers, descended upon the outpost they did not appear worried. On Saturday night the outpost actually took on a party-like atmosphere as teenagers danced in the mud to techno-rave melodies interlaced with religious proverbs.
BP Gains Abu Dhabi Oil Field Stake for $2.2 Billion in Stock
BP Plc cemented its 77-year relationship with Abu Dhabi by swapping about $2.2 billion of its own shares for a stake in one of the emirate’s largest onshore oil concessions. The U.K.’s second-biggest oil group will issue new ordinary shares to pay for 10 percent of the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Petroleum Operations Ltd., giving the emirate a 2 percent holding in BP, the London-based company said Saturday in a statement.
Officials say car bombs targeted Turkish military
A suicide car bomb targeting military personnel exploded at the entrance gate to a university in the central province of Kayseri on Saturday, killing 13 Turkish troops and wounding 55 other people, authorities said. The blast comes a week after a car bomb attack claimed by Kurdish militants killed 44 people, mainly riot police posted outside a soccer stadium in Istanbul.
Saving ancient treasures
The Turkish Cypriot tourism office and the local council of Trikomo have signed an agreement to open an archaeology museum in the town, as part of a drive to ensure every town has a museum. Tourism office head, Fikri Ataoglu, and the leader of the local council, Hasan Sadikoglu, believe the museum will draw visitors to the town and allow them to see the historical artefacts of the island.
Envoy choice signals Israel policy shift
Donald Trump's selection for his U.S. ambassador to the Jewish state signals a change to decades of U.S. support for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Deal reached that could restart Aleppo evacuation
A Syrian man pulls their belongings after he was evacuated with his family from Aleppo, near Idlib, Syria, Friday, Dec. 16, 2016. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says 7,500 civilians have been evacuated from the Syrian city of Aleppo and that he has reached out to Tehran in a bid to keep the process on track.
Turkish military says 13 soldiers killed in car bomb attack
The Turkish military says 13 soldiers were killed and 48 other military personnel were wounded in a car bomb attack in the central Anatolian city of Kayseri on Saturday morning. It said the soldiers were about to go on leave, and that there may also have been civilian casualties.
Turkish news agency reports car bomb attack
A deadly car bomb attack hit the central Anatolian province of Kayseri on Saturday morning, according to Turkish media reports. State-run Anadolu Agency said the car bomb went off at an entrance gate of Erciyes University, hitting a public transportation bus that included on-leave soldiers among its passengers.
Four cultural preservation projects in Paphos district, aimed at protecting the island’s common cultural heritage, will start next year, following a series of conservation studies. At a press briefing and tour in Paphos, the UNDP-PFF outlined plans for structural and aesthetic restoration of a hamam and three mosques in and around Paphos.
Israel returns bodies of Palestinians killed by security forces
Israeli security forces at the scene of an attempted stabbing attack outside Bani Na’im, near Hebron. September 20, 2016.
Trump’s pick for Israel envoy signals break on US policy
Donald Trump’s selection of a hard-line pro-Israel advocate as his U.S. ambassador to the Jewish state could signal the end of decades of American support for the establishment of an independent Palestine. The president-elect’s transition team already has asked the State Department to assess how to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, according to one official, underscoring Trump’s commitment to back Israel in ways no American leader has before.
Trump’s pick for Israel envoy signals break on U.S. policy
Donald Trump’s selection of a hard-line pro-Israel advocate as his U.S. ambassador to the Jewish state could signal the end of decades of American support for the establishment of an independent Palestine. The president-elect’s transition team already has asked the State Department to assess how to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, according to one official, underscoring Trump’s commitment to back Israel in ways no American leader has before.
Military aims to stop ISILa s a spillagea outside of Iraq, Syria
Two Canadian military teams are in Lebanon and Jordan as the international community searches for ways to keep the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant from spreading once the city of Mosul falls. Senior military commanders have warned that victory in Iraq’s second-largest city will not mark the end of ISIL as a threat, but that the group will instead go underground and resort to suicide attacks and similar tactics.
Donald Trump picks pro-settlements lawyer as his Israel envoy
US president-elect Donald Trump has picked lawyer David Friedman, a supporter of Israeli settlements and other changes to Washington’s policies in the region, as his ambassador to the Jewish state. Mr Friedman said he looked forward to carrying out his duties from “the US embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem”, even though the embassy is in Tel Aviv.
Donald Trump picks pro-settlements lawyer as his Israel envoy
US president-elect Donald Trump has picked lawyer David Friedman, a supporter of Israeli settlements and other changes to Washington’s policies in the region, as his ambassador to the Jewish state. Mr Friedman said he looked forward to carrying out his duties from “the US embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem”, even though the embassy is in Tel Aviv.
Car bomb kills 13 Turkish commandos, army says
Security officials and people at the scene of a car bomb attack in central Anatolian city of Kayseri, Turkey, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016. A public bus was heavily damaged and dear and injured were reported.
US, Russian militaries sharing more information on Syria
Russian talks on their separate fights against the Islamic State group are becoming more productive and more frequent, American officials said, with both sides trading information in real time and even outlining some of their strategic objectives in the months ahead. The progress dispels the notion that ties between the former Cold War foes are “frozen.”
Israel cuts $6 million in U.N. funding over settlements resolution
Israel said on Friday it would cut $6 million in funding to the United Nations in 2017 in protest against a U.N. Security Council resolution that demanded an end to Israeli settlement building on land Palestinians want for an independent state. The United States abstained from the Dec. 23 vote, allowing the 15-member Security Council to adopt the resolution with 14 votes in favor.