Category: Middle East

US senator revives bill cutting funds to PA over funding for terrorists

Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham will reintroduce legislation next week that would cut US funding to the Palestinian Authority if it continues to provide monetary support to the families of those who commit acts of terror against Israelis. The bill, known as the Taylor Force Act , was first introduced last year by Graham with former Indiana Republican Sen. Dan Coats and Missouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt.

US senator revives bill cutting funds to PA over funding for terrorists

Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham will reintroduce legislation next week that would cut US funding to the Palestinian Authority if it continues to provide monetary support to the families of those who commit acts of terror against Israelis. The bill, known as the Taylor Force Act , was first introduced last year by Graham with former Indiana Republican Sen. Dan Coats and Missouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt.

State Department sidelined in first month of Trump presidency

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrives in Mexico City on Feb 22. The visit is the second foreign trip of Tillerson’s tenure at the State Department. The Trump administration in its first month has largely benched the State Department from its long-standing role as the preA eminent voice of U.S. foreign policy, curtailing public engagement and official travel and relegating Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to a mostly offstage role.

State Department sidelined in first month of Trump presidency

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrives in Mexico City on Feb 22. The visit is the second foreign trip of Tillerson’s tenure at the State Department. The Trump administration in its first month has largely benched the State Department from its long-standing role as the preA eminent voice of U.S. foreign policy, curtailing public engagement and official travel and relegating Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to a mostly offstage role.

UN Syria envoy not expecting breakthrough at Geneva talks

Playing down expectations, the UN envoy for Syria said Wednesday he’s not expecting a breakthrough in the first UN-mediated peace talks between government representatives and the opposition in 10 months, rather hoping to build momentum toward peace after nearly six years of war. Staffan de Mistura spoke a day before convening the two sides amid a recent cease-fire that he said has largely held, and recent battlefield gains by President Bashar Assad’s forces.

New trend in film festival lineup

High-quality documentaries and films focused on the aftereffects of World War II define new trends in the 2017 East Bay Jewish International Film Festival. The 10-day festival March 2-12 brings dozens of international and independent films to Pleasant Hill’s Century 16 theater, and for two days to the Vine Cinema & Alehouse in the Tri-Valley.

The plight of those trying to get to America

In the years since the United State invaded Iraq, Laith Hammoudi risked his life to help deliver the truth to millions of readers of this newspaper and others in the McClatchy chain and beyond. And for five years, Hammoudi has been trying to come to this promised land, Sacramento specifically , with his wife and three children.

The tough fight ahead to retake Western Mosul

This past weekend, Iraqi military forces began the assault to retake the western half of Mosul from ISIS in what is expected to be a tough fight. It took Iraqi military forces 100 days of street-to-street fighting to finally retake the eastern half of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, but U.S. military officials anticipate that the fight to retake the western side of the city could be even more difficult.

Trump strikes new tone on anti-Semitism

President Donald Trump offered a forceful condemnation Tuesday of anti-Semitism, but Jewish clergy and lay representatives continued to question the president’s sincerity in combating a wave of incidents that followed Election Day. “I’m certainly glad he’s made a statement,” said Rabbi Scott Shpeen of Congregation Beth Emeth in Albany.

Long road ahead for justice and accountability in Syria

A fresh round of Syrian peace talks is set to begin in Geneva on Thursday. And while the U.N-sponsored talks may represent the best opportunity in years to make progress toward an end to the conflict, the burning question for many Syria observers is whether justice will be sacrificed in the name of peace.

Netanyahu blasts UN ‘hypocrisy’, Australian PM opposes ‘one-sided resolutions’

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull offered a staunch defence of Israel on Wednesday, criticising the United Nations and vowing never to support “one-sided resolutions” calling for an end to Israeli settlement building on occupied land. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walks with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull upon their arrival at Admiralty House in Sydney, Australia, February 22, 2017.

Amnesty blames Trump, others in global rollback of rights.

Amnesty International says “toxic” fear-mongering by anti-establishment politicians, among them President Donald Trump and the leaders of Turkey, Hungary and the Philippines, is contributing to a global pushback against human rights. Releasing its 408-page annual report on rights abuses around the world Wednesday, the watchdog group described 2016 as “the year when the cynical use of ‘us vs. them’ narratives of blame, hate and fear took on a global prominence to a level not seen since the 1930s,” when Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany.

Netanyahu is first Israeli prime minister to visit Australia

Netanyahu will start his four-day visit with talks with his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull at his official Sydney address. Turnbull wrote an opinion piece in Wednesday’s The Australian newspaper that backed Netanyahu’s criticism in 2015 that the United Nations General Assembly had adopted 20 resolutions critical of Israel in the preceding year and only one in response to the Syrian war.

Whitehall departments write off 600m of taxpayers’ cash as ‘fruitless spending’

The A 600 million total was calculated by the Scottish National Party from Freedom of Information requests and annual departmental accounts Government departments have written off A 600 million of taxpayers’ money as “fruitless spending” over the past decade, according to new figures. The sums include a A 103 million loss on Chinook military helicopters which did not meet operational requirements in 2010/11, A 89.3 million on compensation to contractors after the Flexible New Deal was scrapped the same year and A 27 million in relation to an office move for the Communities Department in 2013/14.

Whitehall departments write off 600m of taxpayers’ cash as ‘fruitless spending’

The A 600 million total was calculated by the Scottish National Party from Freedom of Information requests and annual departmental accounts Government departments have written off A 600 million of taxpayers’ money as “fruitless spending” over the past decade, according to new figures. The sums include a A 103 million loss on Chinook military helicopters which did not meet operational requirements in 2010/11, A 89.3 million on compensation to contractors after the Flexible New Deal was scrapped the same year and A 27 million in relation to an office move for the Communities Department in 2013/14.

Wisycom Appoints Al-Futtaim Technologies as New Dubai DistributorBy…

Al-Futtaim Technologies provides complete business solutions for a variety of customers, including networking solutions, IP telephony, infrastructure, contact center solutions, business applications, ELV systems, professional audio visual and broadcasting solutions, and managed services. “We are proud to announce the distribution of Wisycom products here at Al-Futtaim Technologies,” says Hassan Ali, Al-Futtaim Technologies.

Wisycom Appoints Al-Futtaim Technologies as New Dubai DistributorBy…

Al-Futtaim Technologies provides complete business solutions for a variety of customers, including networking solutions, IP telephony, infrastructure, contact center solutions, business applications, ELV systems, professional audio visual and broadcasting solutions, and managed services. “We are proud to announce the distribution of Wisycom products here at Al-Futtaim Technologies,” says Hassan Ali, Al-Futtaim Technologies.

Greatest War Ever:

Islamic State-linked Syrian militant groups on Monday launched a surprise attack on moderate rebels in southwestern Syria near the Golan Heights near where the Jordanian and Israeli borders converge, seizing several villages and a large town, rebels and witnesses said.

Turkey plans first research base in Antarctica

Ankara: A group of Turkish scientists will travel to Antarctica in the near future to establish a Turkish base for scientific research, the head of the first Turkish polar research center said. The team will carry out pre-feasibility studies for the base, said Burcu Ozsoy, director of Istanbul Technical University Polar Research Center, also known as ITU PolReC, according to state-run Anadolu Agency.

.com | Israeli court gives soldier 18 months

An Israeli military court on Tuesday sentenced a soldier to 18 months in prison for his deadly shooting of a Palestinian attacker who lay wounded on the ground, capping a nearly year-long saga that has deeply divided the country. The sentence, which included a year’s probation and a demotion in rank, was lighter than expected.

Qatar National Research Fund and Qatar Genome Programme launch second …

Qatar National Research Fund , in collaboration with Qatar Genome Programme , has launched the second cycle of the Path Towards Personalized Medicine call, designed to support and advance research focused on providing medical treatment tailored to a patient’s individual characteristics. Building on the success of the PPM’s first cycle, QNRF, part of Qatar Foundation Research and Development , hosted a presentation on the second cycle on February 9, 2017, aimed at benefiting from the valuable pilot-phase samples and data collated by Qatar Biobank , a member of QF, and the Qatar Genome Programme .

ENOC constructs 10 new service stations in 2017

ENOC announced ambitious plans to build 10 new service stations in 2017, as part of its 2020 expansion programme to increase its retail network capacity by 40 per cent. The Group’s plans for this year commenced with the opening of its new Warsan service station, to serve the community in the emirate’s Eastern region.

Syrian airstrikes kill at least seven in Damascus

Activists reported a third straight day of escalations by pro-government forces against opposition-held areas in and around the capital. Jets believed to belong to the Russian or Syrian Air Forces pounded the Barzeh and Qaboun neighbourhoods in the northeast corner of the capital, levelling several buildings, and also wounded at least 12 people, the activist-run Barzeh Media Centre and Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Coup-plotting soldiers go on trial for Erdogan assassination attempt

The trial of more than 40 Turkish soldiers accused of attempting to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the July 2016 failed coup attempt started on Feb. 20. Under tight security, the defendants were bussed in to a courthouse in Mugla, not far from the resort where Erdogan and his family narrowly escaped the soldiers in a helicopter. Forty-four suspects, mainly soldiers, are under arrest, while three others still on the run are being tried in absentia.

US ‘not in Iraq to seize anybody’s oil’: Mattis

The United States is not about to plunder Iraq’s petroleum reserves, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who arrived in Baghdad on Feb. 20, said as he sought to soothe partners rattled by U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump has repeatedly said both while campaigning and since his election that America, whose troops occupied Iraq for eight years, should have grabbed Iraqi oil to help fund its war effort and to deprive the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant of a vital revenue source.

Syria army ramps up shelling near capital ahead of talks

Syrian government forces on Feb. 20 escalated their bombing campaign around Damascus, raining shells down on rebel territory and sending out a “bloody message” just days before renewed peace talks in Geneva. Representatives from the opposition and of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime are to head to Switzerland on Feb. 23 for another attempt to end their country’s brutal six-year war.