Category Archives: Global Politics

Settlers burn 100 olive trees near Nablus in the occupied West Bank

Extremist settlers set fire on Wednesday to agricultural lands in the town of Huwara, south of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank, Al-Resalah newspaper reported.

According to Al-Resalah, the mayor of the town said that a group of masked settlers had sneaked onto the land in western Huwara and then poured incendiary fluids on the trees, setting them on fire, which led to the burning of at least one hundred olive trees.

The mayor also pointed out that Israeli occupation forces prevented Palestinian citizens from reaching the lands in order to extinguish the fire. Later on, the Israeli forces allowed the civil defence, existing in the adjacent Palestinian village of Burin, to access the fire and extinguish it, but only after it had expanded to an even larger area of land.

via Settlers burn 100 olive trees near Nablus in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli “teabag” and racist rightists hold anti-Palestinian demo at light rail station | Maan News Agency

Dozens of Israeli rightists late Thursday protested at the site of a suspected attack which left a three-month-old baby dead, witnesses said.

Protesters held aloft signs reading “Death to Arabs!” and “Revenge” by the Ammunition Hill light rail station in Sheikh Jarrah.

There were reports of attempted assaults on Palestinians as they crossed the road in the area, with Israeli forces deploying to prevent such incidents.

Israel immediately labeled the incident on Wednesday as a “terrorist” attack, while the Palestinian suspect’s family denied that it was intentional.

via Israeli rightists hold anti-Palestinian demo at light rail station | Maan News Agency.

Settlers construct settlement units in Nablus, seize hundreds of acres in less than a month

Israeli settlers constructed two setltement units in less than a month on Yanun village, South East Nablus, and seized hundreds of acres t o connect the two.

Ghassan Daghlas, in charge of Israeli Settlements File at the Palestinian Authority in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, told Wafa news agency that the settlers have constructed two units as a start for the settlements in the areas of Al-Dawa south Yanun, connecting it to another north east Yanun.

Daghlas added that the settlers set barracks and constructed a road between the two, taking over hundreds of acres of the village.

Yanun representative in the Aqraba municipality, Rashid Marar, said that Yanun is now surrounded by five settlement units, which contributed to the Israeli occupation land grab of vast areas.

via Settlers construct settlement units in Nablus, seize hundreds of acres in less than a month.

PressTV – Press TV reporter in Turkey killed in suspicious car accident

Shim was killed on Sunday as she was on a working mission in Turkey to cover the ongoing war in the strategic Syrian town of Kobani.

She was going back to her hotel from a report scene in the city of Suruç in Turkey’s Urfa Province when their car collided with a heavy vehicle. The identity and whereabouts of the truck driver remain unknown.

Shim, an American citizen of Lebanese origin, covered reports for Press TV in Lebanon, Iraq, and Ukraine.

On Friday, she told Press TV that the Turkish intelligence agency had accused her of spying probably due to some of the stories she has covered about Turkey’s stance on the ISIL terrorists in Kobani and its surroundings, adding that she feared being arrested.

Shim said she was among the few journalists obtaining stories of militants infiltrating into Syria through the Turkish border, adding that she had received images from militants crossing the Turkish border into Syria in World Food Organization and other NGOs’ trucks.

Shim flatly rejected accusations against her, saying she was “surprised” at this accusation “because I have nothing to hide and I have never done anything aside my job.”

via PressTV – Press TV reporter in Turkey killed in suspicious car accident.

Japan PM sends offerings to war shrine | News , World | THE DAILY STAR

The Yasukuni Shrine honors war criminals, including wartime leader Hideki Tojo, among the 2.5 million war dead. Many Asian victims of Japan’s wartime atrocities, especially China and the Koreas, see the shrine as a symbol of militarism.

Abe last visited Yasukuni in December, triggering anger from China and South Korea.

On Friday, Abe sent a set of Shinto-style “masakaki” ornaments on the occasion marking the shrine’s Oct. 17-20 autumn festival, one of three major events when Japan’s conservatives typically pray there.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Abe made the gesture as a private citizen based on his personal belief.

A group of 110 lawmakers and 80 aides prayed at the shrine for the war dead. None of the Cabinet members has showed up so far Friday, though Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Sanae Takaichi told reporters Thursday that she would go. Yauhisa Shiozaki, minister of health, labor and welfare, offered religious ornaments similar to Abe’s.

via Japan PM sends offerings to war shrine | News , World | THE DAILY STAR.

Settlers raid Ibrahimi mosque under armed guard | Maan News Agency

Jewish settlers raided the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron late Thursday under armed guard, a local Palestinian official said.

Head of Hebron’s endowment directorate, Taysir Abu Snineh, said mosque guards were held in the al-Jawliya area during the raid, which he labeled a “dangerous act” that could have “serious consequences” for the mosque.

Israeli authorities requested access to the mosque, referred to by Jews as Isaac’s Hall, late Thursday but endowment officials refused as it violates a previous agreement on access days, which is limited to 10 visits per year.

The agreement came into place after a Brooklyn-born Jewish settler massacred 29 Palestinians in the mosque after opening fire at worshipers in 1994.

Abu Snineh said the raid was a “dangerous escalation” in tensions at the holy site.

via Settlers raid Ibrahimi mosque under armed guard | Maan News Agency.

LBCI | Islamic State training pilots to fly in three jets – Syria monitor

Iraqi pilots who have joined Islamic State in Syria are training members of the group to fly in three captured fighter jets, a group monitoring the war said on Friday, saying it was the first time that the militant group had taken to the air.

The group, which has seized land in Syria and Iraq, has been flying the planes over the captured al-Jarrah military airport east of Aleppo, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Reuters was not immediately able to verify the report and US Central Command said it was not aware of Islamic State flying jets in Syria.

US-led forces are bombing Islamic State bases in Syria and Iraq. The group has regularly used weaponry captured from the Syrian and Iraqi armies and has overrun several military bases but this was the first time it had been able to pilot warplanes.

“They have trainers, Iraqi officers who were pilots before for (former Iraqi president) Saddam Hussein,” Abdulrahman said.

“People saw the flights, they went up many times from the airport and they are flying in the skies outside the airport and coming back,” he said, citing witnesses in northern Aleppo province near the base, which is 70 km (45 miles) south of Turkey.

It was not clear whether the jets were equipped with weaponry or whether the pilots could fly longer distances in the planes, which witnesses said appeared to be MiG 21 or MiG 23 models captured from the Syrian military.

“We’re not aware of (Islamic State) conducting any flight operations in Syria or elsewhere,” US Central Command spokesman Colonel Patrick Ryder said.

“We continue to keep a close eye on (Islamic State) activity in Syria and Iraq and will continue to conduct strikes against their equipment, facilities, fighters and centers of gravity, wherever they may be.”

Pro-Islamic State Twitter accounts had previously posted pictures of captured jets in other parts of Syria, but the aircraft had appeared unusable, according to analysts and diplomats.

The countryside east of Aleppo city is one of the main bases of Islamic State in Syria, where the al Qaeda offshoot controls up to a third of the country’s territory.

via LBCI | Islamic State training pilots to fly in three jets – Syria monitor.

Climate Change & Ebola: “We’re Running Out of Time,” says World Bank President – myEARTH360 (the blog)

“Ebola and climate change have a few things in common,” he said. “Most importantly, we are running out of time to find solutions to both. Also, until very recently, the plans to fight them were either nonexistent or inadequate. And inaction is literally killing people–one because of the rapid spread of a deadly virus, the other from the poisoning of the atmosphere and the oceans. And finally, perhaps most critically from our point of view, resolving these problems is essential to development, whether from the perspective of human suffering, economic growth or public health.”

via Climate Change & Ebola: “We’re Running Out of Time,” says World Bank President – myEARTH360 (the blog).

Anita Sarkeesian, Video Game Critic, Cancels Speech After Threats of Massacre – NYTimes.com

Anita Sarkeesian, a feminist cultural critic who has become a target of harassment by gamers, canceled a public speech scheduled for Wednesday after the college holding the event received threats of violence.

Ms. Sarkeesian was set to speak at Utah State University in Logan. Even after school administrators received the threats against Ms. Sarkeesian and those who attended her speech, she planned to give her talk. Ms. Sarkeesian, who hosts an online video series that has challenged how women are portrayed in videogames, has been a frequent target of threats because of her work.

But Ms. Sarkeesian reconsidered and canceled the talk over security measures at the event, according to a tweet by Ms. Sarkeesian and a spokesman for the school.

via Anita Sarkeesian, Video Game Critic, Cancels Speech After Threats of Massacre – NYTimes.com.