Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Tense Standoff in Battle for Donetsk Airport
May 27th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Ukrainian armed forces and pro-Russian militants continue to battle over a Donetsk airport Tuesday, despite announcements from both sides of an apparent victory. 

Rebels took Donetsk's Sergei Prokofiev airport Monday, just hours after the successful election announcement of Ukrainian "Chocolate King" Petro Poroshenko as president. 

Even as the fighting was getting under way, Poroshenko held a news conference in Kiev where he said the government's military offensive needed to be "quicker and more effective".

"The anti-terrorist operation should not last two or three months. It should last for a matter of hours," he said.

Poroshenko dismissed the possibility of negotiating with the armed militants. 

"They want to preserve a bandit state which is held in place by force of arms," he said. "These are simply bandits. Nobody in any civilized state will hold negotiations with terrorists."

The Ukrainian government said it sent jets to strafe the area, firing warning shots before eliminating specific terror targets. Paratroopers were then sent in to complete the coordinated takeover.

Later, three Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopter gunships fired rockets and cannon at the concrete and glass terminal, Reuters reports. The gunships fired at targets on the runway, throwing out decoy flares to draw out barricaded fighters.

The fighting did not end there, however, extending long into the night. 

"Fighting continues in the airport, with the use of planes and helicopters," separatist leader Denis Pushilin stated late Monday night. "It's a full-blown military standoff. I have no information on casualties. Our groups have destroyed one helicopter of the enemy."

Ukrinform news agency reported early Tuesday that a serious dent has been made in the fighting; Ukrainian troops have destroyed one of the rebel camps' few anti-aircraft guns.

Both sides have claimed that they have "reclaimed" the airport, CNN reports; the Ukrainian government has declared the fighting will resume at 9 am Tuesday.

Correspondents on the ground note that while Ukrainian military officials claimed to have "liberated" the airport in the early hours of Tuesday morning, trucks of rebel reinforcements appear to be moving toward the airport, and convoys of gunmen were spotted on the Russian side of the border, some 10 kilometers from Donetsk. 

A landmark deal reached last month between Russia, the US and the European Union (EU) called for the separatists, who have been seizing government buildings in eastern Ukraine for several days, to disarm and stand down - in exchange for amnesty. 

The pro-Russian protesters have largely ignored the deal, however, claiming that the agreement does not apply to them.

Splintered Al - Qaida Rebels Extend Fighting in Syria
May 27th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Jerusalem Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Clashes continue between Islamist fighters from Nusra Front - the official al-Qaida branch in Syria - and breakaway faction ISIL.

Fighting continues to rage between Iraq and breakaway al-Qaida faction Levant that reportedly seeks to form a continuous land link between Iraq and Syria, and the official al-Qaida branch in Syria, the Nusra Front.

Clashes continued between the two groups in the eastern Syrian province of Deir al-Zor, reported the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group on Sunday.

Sisi Reign Begins With a Whimper in Egypt
May 27th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Jerusalem Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The disappointing voter turnout and underhanded methods to increase it have former army chief beginning his reign with a whimper, not a bang.

The result of the Egyptian presidential election is a foregone conclusion; it was the style that was supposed to count. The disappointing voter turnout and underhanded methods to increase it have former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi beginning his reign with a whimper, not a bang.

However, in time, this lackluster showing may fade as events dictate Sisi’s popularity going forward. If he is able to achieve some positive results domestically and can leverage support from supporters in the Gulf, the West, and Russia, it may be enough to allow him to remain in power for many years.
This of course, is if the Islamist insurgency does not assassinate him first.

Shadi Hamid, author of the new book, Temptations of Power: Islamists and Illiberal Democracy in a New Middle East and a fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Saban Center for Middle East Policy, told The Jerusalem Post that the low turnout should not be surprising “considering the predetermined result and the lack of any meaningful competition.”

Some in the government have been surprised by the low turnout, “leading to a kind of panic,” said Hamid.

“The dissonance here is striking: claiming that Sisi has overwhelming popular support, when the polling queues tell a rather different story,” he explained.

“This is not the kind of dissonance any autocratic order wants to deal with, and it raises serious questions about the general tendency to overstate Sisi's support from day one.”

“There is no real place for the ‘citizen’ in Sisi's Egypt, except as an instrument of the Egyptian State,” he added.

Asked what he sees happening next, Hamid responded that the Muslim Brotherhood will claim victory and that their boycott succeeded. The group will continue playing the role of “spoiler,” and making the country “ungovernable in the hope that the lack of stability and security will undermine Sisi's base of support.”

It is difficult to have any kind of stability when a large sector of the population is being completely excluded “and has no stake in the process and nothing to lose,” concluded Hamid.

Samuel Tadros, a research fellow at the Hudson Institutes’s Center for Religious Freedom, told the Post that Sisi “raised the bar tremendously when he talked about 40 million voters participating” and that “such talk was unrealistic and has further raised expectations.”

“In these two days, unrealistic expectations have met reality” and “this likely to be a continuous feature of a Sisi presidency,” he said.

Tadros believes that Sisi is ill equipped to run the country and that his tendency to be overly optimistic could cause future disappointment.

Sisi’s vote total will far exceed that of former president Mohamed Morsi from two years ago, predicted Tadros, noting that the election will essentially formalize Sisi’s regime, which has in effect already been ruling the country for the past year.

Tadros sees little chance for a compromise political solution between the Muslim Brotherhood and Sisi after the elections since “too much blood has been spilled and the two parties' positions remain as far apart as ever.”

“The challenges facing the new regime in Egypt will continue to grow; from terrorism in the Sinai and beyond, the beginnings of a low level insurgency in the cities, a catastrophic economic situation and political polarization.”

Another factor Tadros raises is that the Brotherhood and other Islamists continue to incite against Copt Christians as in previous elections. “Brotherhood Facebook pages have claimed that 48 percent of voters in this elections are Copts, an absurd claim,” he said adding, “Attacks on Copts are likely to continue in the future.”

Professor Abdallah Schleifer, a Cairo-based columnist for the Al-Arabiya news website, told the Post said that aside from the organized boycott by Islamist forces, “the turnout has been low because the weather is so bad; temperatures ranging around 40 C and above.”

For Israel, its interest lies Sisi’s ability to bring stability and economic improvement to Egypt, the most important Arab state, Prof. Efraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA), told the Post.

Polls Open for Second Day of Egyptian Elections
May 27th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Jerusalem Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Former army chief Abdel Fatah al-Sisi expected to become Egypt's next president, meaning Egypt will likely revert to rule by men from the military.

CAIRO - Former army chief Abdel Fatah al-Sisi is expected to emerge from a second and final day of voting on Tuesday as Egypt's next president, with supporters seeing him as the man who can pull the Arab world's most populous nation back from the brink.

Since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in 2011 raised hopes of new freedoms, the country of 85 million, where one in four Egyptians lives in poverty, has been convulsed by political, security and economic turmoil.

The vote - with initial results expected hours after polls close at 9 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Tuesday evening - means Egypt will likely revert to rule by men from the military after Sisi toppled the country's first freely elected leader, Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Former army chief Sisi faces only one challenger: the leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi. Other candidates who contested the 2012 election won by Morsi did not run, saying the climate was not conducive to democracy.

Despite calls for a big turnout by Sisi and media loyal to the army, the turnout on Monday appeared lower than in previous elections. With Sisi seemingly assured of victory, he needs a good turnout to shore up his legitimacy.

Lines at 20 Cairo polling stations visited by Reuters consistently over the past three years appeared shorter than in previous elections. The interior minister said turnout was good.

As polls were about to close after the first day of voting on Monday, there was no sign of a late rush. The supervisor of a polling station in a working-class district of Cairo told Reuters fewer than 30 percent of registered voters had shown up.

Earlier on Monday, it was hard to find anyone who planned to vote for Sabahi in lines of voters where young Egyptians - the generation that drove the "Arab Spring" uprising - were conspicuous by their absence.

MANIFOLD CHALLENGES

Many of Sisi's supporters said they voted for stability rather than Western-style democracy, which they felt had brought chaos and hardship into their lives.

"The Egyptian people and democracy, it doesn't work like it does in Europe," said Ahlam Ali Mohamed, a 47-year-old housewife in Alexandria, who voted for Sisi. "I voted today because I want to feel safe."

Although he enjoys the adulation of many Egyptians, Sisi, 59, faces serious challenges including an economy in crisis and a campaign of Islamist violence that has spiraled since he overthrew Morsi.

To the Islamists, he is the author of a coup followed by a bloody crackdown that killed hundreds of Morsi supporters and landed thousands more in jail. Secular dissidents who led the Jan. 25 uprising against Mubarak have also been imprisoned.

Human Rights Watch estimates the number of political dissidents and Islamists in detention at more than 20,000.

At the same time, several hundred members of the security forces have been killed in a campaign of violence by radical Islamists since last July. The last year has been the bloodiest period of internal strife in Egypt's modern history.

The Brotherhood and its allies, which had declared it "the election of the presidency of blood", issued a statement saying their call for a boycott had been widely observed. The group has been declared a terrorist organization by the state, which accuses it of turning to violence - a charge it denies.

VOTER QUEUES SHORT

In the rural province of Fayoum, south of Cairo, and in the city of Alexandria, both places where Islamists have strong support, voter queues were short throughout Monday.

Many of those who opposed Sisi said the election lacked democratic credibility.

"These elections are a theater play. I won't give them legitimacy with my vote," said Ahmed Hassan, a 37-year-old doctor. "We didn't come out in a revolution against Mubarak's regime to get it back after all those people died."

Sisi won 95 percent of votes cast in advance by Egyptians abroad, but an opinion poll by the Washington-based Pew Research Center suggests a more mixed picture, with Sisi viewed favorably by 54 percent and unfavorably by 45 percent.

As Sisi voted in Cairo on Monday, he waved to supporters, who shouted "President, President!"

"Today Egyptians are going to write their history," said Sisi.

It is the second time Egyptians are electing a president in two years. And it is the seventh vote or referendum since 2011.

Once president, Sisi will nonetheless have to meet the high expectations of those who backed him so enthusiastically in the hope that he can tackle poverty, unemployment and other social problems.

He will also be expected to address the corruption, cronyism and inequality between rich and poor that caused the 2011 revolution that overthrew Mubarak.

Sabahi's campaign team complained of violations including the arrest of one of its members.

Since the army overthrew the king in 1952, Egypt has been ruled by a succession of military men - Gamal Abdel Nasser, Anwar Sadat and Mubarak. That pattern was briefly interrupted by Morsi's divisive year in office, during which important institutions of state resisted his authority.

The 2012 election won by Morsi was a tightly contested race fought by around a dozen candidates.

Sisi, quietly spoken former head of military intelligence, has in turn mobilized religion against the Islamists, presenting himself as a God-fearing defender of Islam.

One in Four Canadians have No Religion, But Why are so Many Nones Surprisingly Religious?
May 27th, 2014
Daily NewsNational Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

More than 8,000 academics are gathered in St. Catharines, Ont., this week for the annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, presenting papers on how we live, love, learn and clash. Over the coming days, the National Post will highlight some of the most compelling. Today, Joseph Brean writes about how suburbanites find their own paths to individuality:

To sociologists of religion, they are the “nones.”

Officially non-religious, they are not Catholic, nor Jewish, nor Sikh, Muslim, Buddhist or Anglican. Asked for their religion, they tick the box for “none.”

But this is not quite right. Rather, according to new research presented at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, the “nones” look more like “somes,” with a great many still behaving as “spiritual seekers” in their own way.

In an age of “individually constructed belief systems and personal spiritual practices,” the rise of the nones “may not necessarily be coupled with a complete decline of other types of religiosity,” according to Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme, a Canadian studying at Oxford University.

This is the buffet view of religion and, as her research suggests, Canadians are still hungry, even when they deny it.

Next Round of Iran Nuclear Talks Set for June 16-20 in Vienna: EU
May 27th, 2014
Daily NewsReuters
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The next round of talks between six world powers and Iran on resolving a dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme will be held in Vienna from June 16 to 20, the European Union said on Tuesday

Let the Headlines Speak
May 27th, 2014
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Astrobiologists testify before Congress that alien life will be encountered by 2034
This past week, a few scientists took the bench and gave the U.S. Congress a relative date by which they expect we’ll have discovered signs of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. According to their estimates, by 2034 we should make first contact or 30 years ahead of Star Trek’s first contact. Whether this was just a stunt, a ploy meant to convince Congress to up SETI’s budget, or a genuine estimate is difficult to tell.  

President Blair? Is he the best hope for faltering EU project?
Could Tony Blair be pushing himself forward to become the next President of the European Union? The question has been raised after a Radio 4 Today programme interview which sounded like an application for the job. While David Cameron hits the phone to Angela Merkel ahead of tonight's panic summit of European heads in Brussels, Blair is already in Berlin for face-to-face talks with the German Chancellor about how to rescue the European project from a swing to the anti-EU parties across the continent, including Ukip in Britain and the Front National in France.  

HAARP conspiracy theories: what the mysterious program actually did
As the multi-billion dollar facility begins to wind down, theories about HAARP's true purpose persist. Here are some of the best (and most unusual):  

The politically tone-deaf pope
I know this column will offend some Catholics. But Pope Francis, once again, has proven he is not politically infallible. He’s on the wrong side of history and truth, at least when it comes to the well-being of Israel. Standing in Bethlehem with Mahmoud Abbas, the man who signed the check for the Munich Olympics terrorist murders, he said: “Our recent meeting in the Vatican and my presence today in Palestine attest to the good relations existing between the Holy See and the state of Palestine.” “State of Palestine?” There is no state of Palestine. And, if the Middle East is to know peace before Jesus comes back, there won’t be one.  

Interview with Alex Pentland: Can We Use Big Data to Make Society Better?
In a SPIEGEL interview, American data scientist Alex Pentland discusses how data streams can be used to determine the laws of human interaction. He argues the information can be used to help forge better societies. ...The use of Big Data is proving to be just as important to social scientists as the telescope once was for astronomers.  

Pope Francis says Pius XII’s beatification won’t go ahead
Pope Francis remained firm in his refusal to allow the beatification of Pope Pius XII, the World War II-era pope accused by some Jews of not speaking out enough against the Holocaust, because he doesn’t have enough miracles in his record.  

Pope: Peres, Abbas have ‘courage to move forward’
Pope Francis on Monday said Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had “courage” after the two accepted his invitation to come to the Vatican to pray with him.  

'Jihad will only end when society can get rid of America': Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei in chilling threat towards U.S.
Iran's supreme leader has said that his country's struggle will only end when it defeats U.S.-led oppression.  

Hurricane Amanda Unexpectedly Re-Strengthens
The hurricane's maximum sustained winds early Tuesday had increased to near 125 mph (205 kph), making it a Category 3 storm. But the U.S. National Hurricane Center says weakening is expected to resume and Amanda should become a tropical storm by late Wednesday.  

Guinea announces 2 new cases of Ebola in previously unaffected area
Guinean health officials announced two new confirmed cases of Ebola on Friday in an area previously untouched by the virus, which has killed more than 100 people in West Africa... West Africa's first deadly outbreak of Ebola spread from a remote corner of the country to the capital, Conakry, and into neighbouring Liberia, causing panic across a region struggling with weak healthcare systems and porous borders.  

Snowden journalist set to make ‘biggest’ disclosure yet
Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who helped NSA leaker Edward Snowden expose state secrets to the world, is set to make his “biggest” disclosure yet — the names of Americans the government spied on, he told The Sunday Times.  

European Parliament set to usher in first neo-Nazis
German Jews shocked at EU success of far right, including local self-described ‘national socialist’ faction  

Jerusalem troubled by rise of far right in European election
Jerusalem is worried about the results of this week’s European Parliament elections, in which far right and even neo-Nazi parties drastically gained strength, a senior Israeli official said late Monday.  

QUIET WITH A CHANCE OF FLARES
Solar activity is low. However, departing sunspot AR2065 has a 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class solar flares. If such an explosion does occur, it would be well-connected to Earth.  

China Sinking Fishing Vessel Raises Tensions With Vietnam
Vietnam and China traded barbs over the sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat, their most serious bilateral standoff since 2007 as China asserts its claims in the disputed South China Sea. “It was rammed by a Chinese boat,” Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said by phone of the Vietnamese vessel, with the crew of 10 rescued after the scrap.  

Jordan expels Syrian ambassador over 'repeated insults'
Jordan says it has expelled the Syrian ambassador over "repeated insults" against the kingdom. The Jordanian foreign ministry said it considered Bahjat Suleiman a persona non grata and gave him 24 hours to leave the country. It said he had made numerous false allegations, accusing Jordan of harbouring Syrian rebels.  

Ukraine unrest: Dozens die as Donetsk airport 'retaken'
Ukraine's interior ministry says the military is now in full control of the airport in the eastern city of Donetsk after a day of bloody clashes. At least 30 pro-Russia separatists have been killed, the insurgents say. Kiev said the army suffered no casualties. Armed separatists had tried to take over the airport early on Monday.  

Nigeria army 'knows where Boko Haram are holding girls'
The Nigerian military says it know where the girls kidnapped by Boko Haram are but will not attempt a rescue. Nigeria's Chief of Defence Staff said it was "good news for the parents," although he admitted the military would not risk "going there with force". More than 200 girls were abducted by Boko Haram gunmen from their school in northern Nigeria in April.  

Government Plan Would Transform Israel Into The World’s First Cashless Society
Will Israel be the first cashless society on the entire planet? A committee chaired by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff has come up with a three phase plan to “all but do away with cash transactions in Israel”.  

Is America Starting To Target Thought Crime?
Last week, Michelle Obama made headlines when she exhorted graduating high schoolers in a commencement address to monitor their families for politically incorrect thoughts and behaviors. To one journalist, this was more than an off-hand comment made by the first lady. In the opinion of Cheryl Chumley, a reporter for The Washington Times and the author of “Police State USA,” Michelle Obama’s remark reflects a growing trend in America to target and attack individuals for committing “thought crime.”  

Stark warning from Europe’s voters
After five years of economic crisis, the 2014 elections to the European Parliament were always expected to produce victories for the populist parties that reject the EU and its political values. And so it has proved, with fringe and nationalist movements dealing a blow not just to the European project but to national governments who appear out of touch.  

Swiss group to allow assisted dying for elderly who are not terminally ill
A Swiss organisation that helps people take their own lives has voted to extend its services to elderly people who are not terminally ill. Exit added "suicide due to old age" to their statutes at an annual general meeting held over the weekend, allowing people suffering from psychological or physical problems associated with old age the choice to end their life.  

Greenwald's Finale: Naming Victims of Surveillance
Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who received the trove of documents from Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, told The Sunday Times that Snowden’s legacy would be “shaped in large part” by this “finishing piece” still to come. His plan to publish names will further unnerve an American intelligence establishment already reeling from 11 months of revelations about US government surveillance activities.  

Pope, Netanyahu spar over Jesus' native language
Pope Francis and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traded words on Monday over the language spoken by Jesus two millennia ago. "Jesus was here, in this land. He spoke Hebrew," Netanyahu told Francis, at a public meeting in Jerusalem in which the Israeli leader cited a strong connection between Judaism and Christianity.  

N. Korea says danger of 'catastrophic' clash at truce village
North Korea on Tuesday warned that recent "provocative" activities by US troops at a truce village on the heavily fortified inter-Korean border could lead to a "catastrophic" military clash.  

Kidnapped Girls Located, Nigerias Military Says
May 27th, 2014
Daily NewsCBC
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Nigeria’s military has located nearly 300 school girls abducted by Islamic extremists but fears using force to try to free them could get them killed, the country’s chief of defence said Monday.

Air Marshal Alex Barde told demonstrators supporting the much criticized military that Nigerian troops can save the girls. But, he added, “we can’t go and kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back.”

He spoke to thousands of demonstrators who marched to Defence Ministry headquarters in Abuja, the capital. Many were brought in on buses, indicating it was an organized event.

Asked by reporters where they had found the girls, Barde refused to elaborate.

“We want our girls back. I can tell you we can do it, our military can do it. But where they are held, can we go with force?” he asked the crowd.

People roared back, “No!”

“If we go with force what will happen?” he asked.

“They will die,” the demonstrators said.

Barde said no one should criticize the military.

“Nobody should come and say the Nigerian military does not know what it is doing. We know what we are doing,” he insisted.

Nigeria’s military and government have faced national and international outrage over their failure to rescue the girls seized by Boko Haram militants from a remote northeastern school six weeks ago.

President Goodluck Jonathan was forced this month to accept international help. American planes have been searching for the girls and Britain, France, Israel and other countries have sent experts in surveillance and hostage negotiation.

Jihad will Only End When Society Can Get Rid of America: Iran
May 27th, 2014
Daily NewsDaily Mail
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Iran’s supreme leader has said that his country’s struggle will only end when it defeats U.S.-led oppression.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told members of parliament in Tehran that Iran must be armed and ‘have the capability to defend itself’ in a ‘world full of thieves’.

His comments came as negotiations with the international community over Iran’s nuclear programme ran into a stalemate, with Tehran saying world powers were ‘demanding too much’.

‘Battle and jihad are endless because evil and its front continue to exist,’ Khamenei told MPs, according to a translation by U.S. news site The Daily Caller.

‘This battle will only end when the society can get rid of the oppressors’ front with America at the head of it, which has expanded its claws on human mind, body and thought.

‘This requires a difficult and lengthy struggle and need for great strides.’

The Daily Caller’s translation of a Fars News Agency report is by a reporter pseudonymously bylined Reza Khalili, who claims to be a former CIA agent in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

Khamenei’s address to Parliament on Sunday continued with veiled references to the actions of the West and Arab states as he justified Iran’s continued defiance of international sanctions against its nuclear programme.

‘Logic and reason command that for Iran, in order to pass through a region full of pirates, needs to arm itself and must have the capability to defend itself,’ he said.

Israel Considering Ban on Extremist Islamic Movement
May 27th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The Israeli government has begun discussions on declaring the Islamic Movement in Israel an illegal organization.

Sheikh Kamel al-Khatib, deputy leader of the organization, told the terrorist organization Hamas's journal "Palestine" on Tuesday that he was not surprised by the discussions, adding that during former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's administration the topic was raised.

Israel would be able to base the move on similar decisions last year made banning the Muslim Brotherhood, a close ally of Hamas, in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), remarked al-Khatib cynically.

Al-Khatib stated that Israel was "frightened" by the Islamic Movement's activities in Jerusalem, such as the group's leader Sheikh Raed Salah's call for followers to physically block Jews from entering the Temple Mount, as well as the group's involvement in the violent "Nakba Day" protests opposing Israel's existence.

The deputy leader of the group also said the government's consideration of blocking the group may be connected to the "bugging" of Salah's office, a claim made by al-Khatib last Tuesday.

"Illegal everywhere - except in Israel"

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) commented on the proposed banning of the movement on Sunday.

Writing on Facebook, Katz noted "today in the government I raised the topic of banning the Islamic Movement in Israel, headed by Sheikh Raed Salah. The prime minister supported my position vigorously, and even noted that a team has been established to investigate the topic."

However not all members of the government were on board with the initiative apparently, for "it became clear that the Justice Ministry," headed by Just Minister Tzipi Livni, opposed the move, according to Katz.

"How absurd. In all countries in the region they are illegal, and only in Israel they incite and strive freely against the existence of the state. We need to put an end to this," argued Katz.

Aside from inciting followers to violence on the Temple Mount, Salah was let off with a 9,000 shekel (roughly $2,500) fine last week over disruptive behavior in the Allenby crossing to and from Jordan - in 2011 he was arrested for slapping a security officer as his wife was being searched.

Salah was jailed for five months in 2010 for spitting at an Israeli police officer. Last year he labeled Israeli leaders “terrorists” and “enemies of Allah” in a speech to Muslims in Be’er Sheva.

After Salah was given a suspended eight month sentence in March for incitement regarding the Temple Mount, Attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir faced off against him and his supporters in front of the court, saying: "terrorists, in any normal country they would send you all for life sentences, enough of this legal helplessness and the State Attorney's policy that gives you an easy time."

Is Google CCTV Coming to Your Living Room? Firm Set to Buy Home Security Firm Dropcam
May 27th, 2014
Daily NewsDaily Mail
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Google is considering buying home security camera firm Dropcam, it has been claimed.

The firm sells a $150 internet connected camera that is controlled through an app.

It is believed the search giant hopes to expand its home automation products after recently buying thermostat company Nest.

According to tech blog The Information, ‘Google’s Nest division is plotting a move into the home-security market and has considered acquiring connected camera-maker Dropcam to accelerate the push, according to several people close to Google.’

Dropcam last year raised raised $30 million in funding for its cameras.

The camera has email and smartphone alerts, and the company says it uses bank-level security to encrypt all video.

The $149 Dropcam HD includes full 720p streaming, night vision, two-way talk back, and digital zoom, and with the optional cloud recording customers can access stored footage of the past seven or thirty days.

‘With a Dropcam Wi-Fi video monitoring camera and optional cloud recording service you can remotely drop in on your house, baby, pets, business, or anything else from a smartphone, tablet, or computer,’ the firm says.

San Francisco-based Dropcam was founded in 2009 by Greg Duffy and Aamir Virani, and also offers a $199 Dropcam pro with beeter image quality and a larger field of view.

Iran Supreme Leader Vows to Destroy America, Says Promoting Negotiation is Treason
May 27th, 2014
Daily NewsAlgemeiner
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

IMFs Lagarde Urges Tighter Coordination Among World
May 27th, 2014
Daily NewsFinancial Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, called on Sunday for closer cooperation among the world’s central banks to cope with the challenges of increasingly interlinked and complex financial systems.

Speaking at a dinner in Sintra, Portugal, to kick off the first annual ECB Forum conference, Lagarde said the potential gains from cooperation could be huge in times of distress as seen during the financial crisis.

“If policies are viewed only from a national perspective, we may end up in a world of ad hoc intervention, less rebalancing, and the potential to export financial instability,” she said in the text of her speech.

“This would be a world of possibly large welfare losses in many countries, with not just spillover effects – from advanced to emerging market economies, but also ‘spillbacks’ – feedback effects from emerging market to large advanced economies.” 

Fatah Official: Unity Government to be Announced This Week
May 27th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The Palestinian Authority unity government, comprised of Fatah and Hamas, is expected to be announced later this week, a negotiator told The Associated Press (AP) on Monday.

Azzam al-Ahmed, a Fatah negotiator, traveled to Gaza on Monday for what he said would be a final round of talks with Hamas leaders about the Cabinet lineup. A temporary government of technocrats is to prepare for general elections in 2015.

"The declaration of the new government is Thursday," al-Ahmed was quoted by AP as having told reporters.

He confirmed that Rami Hamdallah, who has served as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority’s government, would stay on to head the unity government.

Abbas had previously agreed to take on the job of prime minister in addition to his position as president, but now seems reluctant to assume additional responsibility.

Ehab Ghussein, a Hamas government spokesman, said he expected the Cabinet lineup to be announced in the coming days, but did not give a date.

The Hamas-Fatah unity agreement, announced in April, aims to bring an end to the longstanding feud between Fatah and Hamas, which began in 2007 when Hamas took control of Gaza in a bloody coup and started cracking down on Fatah officials living in the territory.

It's not clear if the U.S. and Europe, which shun Hamas as a terror group, would deal with a unity government.

The European Union has indicated it would do so if Abbas sets the tone, something he has said he would do.

A senior U.S. administration official said last month that the United States would have to reconsider its assistance to PA if Fatah and Hamas form a government together, but a Hamas official was quoted as having said on Sunday that the U.S. is becoming more open to the idea of a Hamas-led PA government.

Hamas continues to be adamant over its full control of a "unity" government, expressing over and over again that it would remain in control of both Gaza and the PA after elections and insisting that its Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh would rule the government.

More recently, Hamas announced that any unity government would be unequivocally subject to their approval before being established.

Arab Mk Asks PA for Help Defeating Jewish State
May 27th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Arab MK Masud Ganaim (Raam-Taal) appealed to the Palestinian Authority (PA) for help fighting the Jewish State Law, proposed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on May 1, which would affix Israel's status as the nation-state of the Jewish people as a Basic Law.

Speaking to the terrorist organization Hamas's journal "Palestine" on Tuesday, Ganaim said the new law could have far-reaching negative consequences for the "Palestinian problem," and particularly for "Palestinian" citizens of Israel, referring to Israeli-Arabs.

According to the Arab MK the law would leave non-Jews without rights, and would pave the road for expulsions and the removal of rights. In proposing the law, Netanyahu took pains to say it would not harm the rights of non-Jewish citizens, but was simply meant to cement the basic right of the Jewish people to political sovereignty in their homeland.

The new law would determine that the rights to the land of Israel belong to the Jewish people alone, and that Jews have the legitimate rights to the land while the Arab residents are strangers on Jewish land, warned Ganaim.

Ganaim noted that several left-wing Jewish MKs, foremost among them Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, have opposed the law alongside the Arab MKs and the extreme-left Meretz party.

The Arab MK called on the PA to speak out against the law, and to shape international opinion against it. The PA, which this week is to announce a unity government with Hamas, has already adamantly refused to recognize Israel as the Jewish state.

Part of a wider problem?

This is not the first time an Arab MK has openly collaborated or identified with a terrorist group.

Ganaim visited a senior Hamas terrorist, Dr. Aziz Duwaik, in his Hevron home in 2009. Meanwhile MK Ibrahim Sarsour, the Chairman of Ganaim's Raam-Taal party, called jailed terrorists "political prisoners" in February.

The party in February discussed “the Palestinian interior” – that is, Israel – and “the occupied state of Palestine," calling for the liberation of Jerusalem from "occupation."

In a more extreme example, former MK Azmi Bishara, a founder of the Arab nationalist party Balad, fled Israel in 2007 after learning he was going to be arrested for aiding Hezbollah terrorists.

Bishara is still wanted for questioning in Israel for transmitting information to Hezbollah during the 2006 Second Lebanon War, helping them more accurately target Israeli citizens in their missile onslaught against northern Israel. Despite the serious nature of the charges, until the 2011 passing of the "Bishara Law" the former MK was still receiving full pension from Israel, pocketing a total of 500,000 shekels (roughly $143,000).

However in February, Dubai's Deputy Police Commissioner Dahi Halfan demanded that Bishara leave the Persian Gulf where he is living in Qatar and return to Israel, accusing him being part of an "Israeli plot" to control the Gulf states.

After Seismic Elections, EU Leaders Assess Damage
May 27th, 2014
Daily NewsReuters
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

European Union leaders, stunned by a big Eurosceptic protest vote in European Parliament elections, agreed on Tuesday to seek a package deal of appointments to top EU jobs with an economic agenda to win back public confidence