Category Archives: Top 10 News Stories

04/17/12

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* Ahmadinejad: Strike on Iran will cause enemy’s destruction Iran’s armed forces will make its enemies regret any act of aggression against the Islamic Republic, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned on Tuesday.

* Palestinian delegation delivers peace talks demands to Netanyahu Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a letter from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday, detailing the PA’s demands regarding the resumption of Middle East peace talks.

* Ban: Syria truce holding; need more peacekeepers Unrelenting bloodshed in Syria complicated preparations by a team of UN observers on Tuesday to monitor a truce.

* Barak: Talks Don’t Give Iran Immunity from Strike Israel has not given the U.S. a commitment to hold off from striking Iran.

* Palestinian Authority Hunger Strike Latest PR Ploy Palestinian Authority residents joined terrorists and security prisoners Tuesday in an open-ended hunger strike.

* Shuttle Discovery retires with Washington flypast Discovery flew over the monuments along the National Mall in Washington DC at about 10:00 EST.

* War Game: Israeli Air Strike Deals Severe Blow to Iran Nukes In a simulation war game featuring Israelis in senior positions, Israel loses 10 fighter jets in a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

* Fiscal treaty – taking the EU in the wrong direction As an Irish legislator and citizen I keep asking myself, would it not be absurd if Irish voters were to vote in the 31 May Fiscal Compact Referendum in favour of imposing austerity rules.

* Top Islamists, Suleiman out of Egypt vote Ten Egyptian presidential candidates, including Hosni Mubarak’s spy chief, a Muslim Brotherhood leader and an Islamist preacher, lost appeals.

* EU Ambassador: Israel ‘Occupying’ Hevron The European Union continues to regard Israel’s presence in the Jewish people’s ancestral homeland as “occupation.”

04/16/12

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* “Jordan will regain Jerusalem from slayers of prophets” “The arrogance of the Jews will be defeated, Allah willing,” imam tells worshipers on state TV at Friday prayers in Jordan.

* Israeli TV report shows air force gearing up for Iran attack, says moment of truth is near IAF expects losses, and knows it can’t destroy entire Iranian program

* International truce monitors begin work in Syria Six unarmed observers arrive in Damascus, remaining 25 expected to arrive within days to monitor ceasefire.

* Taliban lead attacks on US bases and government sites across Afghanistan Taliban-led insurgents opened a spring offensive Sunday with a wave of coordinated suicide missions, firing at embassies and government offices from seized buildings in Kabul and attacking US bases and police stations in three eastern provinces.

* US will veto any Palestinian statehood bid at UN Daniel Shapiro, US ambassador to Israel, calls on Palestinians to return to direct negotiations without preconditions.

* Web freedom faces greatest threat ever, warns Google’s Sergey Brin Threats range from governments trying to control citizens to the rise of Facebook and Apple-style ‘walled gardens’

* 12,000 Holocaust survivors died over the past year Needs of the aging greater than ever, Elazar Stern, chairman of Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in Israel says.

* British Peer Lord Ahmed suspended after ‘offering £10m bounty on Barack Obama and George Bush’ A controversial British peer has been suspended from the Labour Party amid reports that he offered a £10 million bounty for the capture of President Barack Obama and his predecessor President George W Bush.

* Iranian nuclear scientists were present at failed North Korean missile launch Anonymous diplomatic source tells South Korea’s state news agency 12 Iranian officials observed the failed missile launch last week in North Korea.

* US and Philippines begin South China Sea drills Joint military exercises between the US and the Philippines are getting under way in the South China Sea, even as Manila remained locked in a stand-off with Beijing over a disputed shoal.

04/14/12

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* PA Minister: ‘Palestinians’ Must Unite to Destroy Israel A Palestinian Authority minister stated last month that Fatah and Hamas must unite in order to achieve the destruction of the state of Israel.

* Egypt Islamists rally against ex-regime candidates Islamists were out on the streets of Cairo in a show of force Friday to demand members of ousted president Hosni Mubarak’s regime be barred from politics.

* Iran nuclear talks ‘positive’ after 15-month break Six world powers – the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany – and Iran are meeting in Istanbul in Turkey.

* UN Security Council passes plan to deploy Syria monitors A small group of observers has been poised to leave for Syria as soon as a resolution is passed.

* Syrians take to the streets amid a fragile cease-fire Syrians poured into the streets after Friday prayers, chanting and raising opposition flags in a major test of a fragile cease-fire.

* This WEEK in the European Union The EU will on Thursday (19 April) present proposals on how to get Europe back to work and increase economic growth.

* American Nazi Party registers first lobbyist in DC The American Nazi Party has registered its first Washington DC lobbyist.

* 1600 Palestinian prisoners to go on hunger strike Some 1600 Palestinians in Israeli prisons will go on an open-ended hunger strike as of April 17.

* Iraq political blocs accuse PM of dictatorship Key political factions accused the premier of moving towards a dictatorship with the arrest of Iraq’s electoral commission chief.

* German ship carrying Iranian weapons to Syria stopped at sea A German ship carrying Iranian weapons was stopped in the Mediterranean on Saturday. 

04/13/12

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* North Korea’s failed rocket launch draws shame, anger North Korea’s widely condemned rocket splintered into pieces over the Yellow Sea soon after takeoff Friday.

* West pushes UN Syria vote, despite Russian criticism Western powers brushed aside Russian criticism of a US-drafted Security Council resolution authorizing an advance team of UN observers to monitor Syria’s fragile ceasefire.

* UN team ready for Syria deployment A United Nations team of 30 unarmed military observers is ready to deploy to Syria.

* Sudan, South Sudan on track for all-out war Sudan and its new southern neighbor have been advancing toward full-scale war.

* Waiting for a meltdown ahead of Iran talks Despite the dramatic media reports, don’t get too excited about the next round of talks between Iran and six nations regarding Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

* Islamists rally in Cairo against Mubarak old guard Thousands of Egyptians packed into Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Friday to protest against a run for the presidency by former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.

* Former Astronauts and Employees to NASA: Stay Away from Global Warming A group of former NASA employees, including astronauts, has called on the agency to stop making “unproven and unsubstantiated remarks” regarding global climate change.

* US Officials: Drone Strikes Will Go on in Pakistan U.S officials say the White House has no intentions to end CIA drone strikes against militant targets on Pakistani soil.

* US aid to rebels aims to oust Assad President Barack Obama has ramped up US aid.

* Officials, diplomats want even more EU secrecy Most member states and EU institutions are keen to draw a new veil of secrecy over how they appoint top officials and enforce EU law. 

04/12/12

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* Iran official: Only faint chance of war breaking in the Middle East There’s only a faint chance of war breaking in the Middle East, a top Iranian official was quoted.

* Abdullah seeking divorce from Palestinians King Abdullah is seeking to complete the divorce proceedings between Jordan and the Palestinians which his late father, King Hussein, began in 1988.

* Iranian forces to conduct joint military maneuvers The Islamic Republic Army of Iran and the Revolutionary Guards are to conduct joint military exercises in the southwest or southeast of the country.

* Egypt MPs bar Mubarak-era officials from standing for office Egypt’s parliament on Thursday approved a law that would ban members of ousted president Hosni Mubarak’s regime from standing for public office.

* EU keen to send in UN monitors as fighting halts in Syria EU countries are keen for a UN monitoring mission to go to Syria as fast as possible amid reports that fighting stopped at dawn on Thursday.

* Despite chaos at home, Assad finds time to ‘defend’ Jerusalem Amid mounting international pressure on Bashar Assad to halt his military’s onslaught on the country’s civilian population, the Syrian president nonetheless found time to convene a clerical conference “for the defense of Jerusalem.”.

* Egypt’s army fills Sinai, but business runs as usual A bearded Bedouin approached a cab on the main street of Rafah, in Egypt.

* North Korea Fueling Rocket as Launch Window Opens North Korea on Thursday defied world pressure to back down from a controversial ballistic missile launch .

* Palestinians rebuff Netanyahu’s call for direct peace talks The Palestinians have spurned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest invitation to resume peace talks.

* Jordan Denies Iraqi Oil Reaching Israel Jordan is fending off accusations that Iraqi oil is reaching Israel. 

04/11/12

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* ‘Silent Terrorists’ Hijacking ‘Arab Spring’ The Muslim Brotherhood and similar “silent terrorists” have sabotaged the Arab Spring movement.

* Syria to end military operations on Thursday – state TV Syria will end military operations on Thursday, state TV has said.

* Mideast Quartet criticizes Israeli settler violence, incitement in West Bank The Quartet for the Middle East is concerned over ongoing settler violence and incitement in the West Bank.

* Jordan to revoke citizenship of PA, PLO officials In a surprise move, Jordan has decided to revoke the Jordanian citizenship of Palestinian Authority and PLO officials.

* Tsunami watch lifted after two big earthquakes A massive earthquake struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Wednesday afternoon.

* Egypt Islamists to show strength against old guard Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood rallied its followers for mass protests against plans by ousted leader Hosni Mubarak’s former intelligence chief to run for president.

* Israel braces for another ‘flytilla’ Is a second fly-in underway? Hundreds, possibly thousands, of foreign pro-Palestinian activists are set to arrive in Israel via the Ben Gurion International Airport on Sunday.

* Iran Touts ‘New Initiatives’ for Nuclear Talks Iran said Wednesday it will present “new initiatives” at upcoming nuclear talks with the so-called P5+1 in Istanbul on April 15.

* Israel, Lebanon navy increase cooperation in Mediterranean The Israel Navy has recently strengthened its cooperation with the Lebanese Navy in the Mediterranean.

* IDF Shops for More Precision Rockets Israel’s military is going shopping to upgrade the missiles fired from its helicopters. 

04/10/12

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* As Annan deal falters, Russia pushes for end of Syria violence Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov blamed both Damascus and the Syrian opposition on Tuesday for the apparent failure of special UN envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan.

* CBS’s Ben Stein Warns of Second Holocaust In light of the Passover holiday, CBS’s Ben Stein warned that the Jewish people must heed the lessons of history in order to prevent another Holocaust from befalling it.

* PA Minister: ‘Palestinians’ Must Unite to Destroy Israel A Palestinian Authority minister stated last month that Fatah and Hamas must unite in order to achieve the destruction of the state of Israel.

* Israel Told US ‘No Attack until Early Fall’ Israeli newspaper Maariv reported Tuesday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu refused to commit before U.S. President Barack Obama that Israel would not attack Iran before the U.S. presidential elections.

* ‘Every aspect of life is to be Islamized’ The Muslim Brotherhood’s main presidential candidate Khairat al-Shater seeks to fundamentally Islamize Egyptian society if elected.

* No ‘signal of peace’ from Syria – Annan The Syrian army continued operations in population centres despite an agreement to pull out troops by Tuesday.

* Palestinians gather for popular resistance conference “The non-violent popular resistance is showing results and the whole world supports us on this issue,” declared Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

* Mexican town celebrates Easter with ‘burning of the Jews’ The world is full of charming Easter traditions, but this isn’t one of them.

* Ahmadinejad: Iran can stand 2-3 yr oil blockade Iran has enough funds to withstand a total embargo on its oil sales for two to three years.

* Egyptian Constitutional Assembly Suspended An Egyptian court on Tuesday suspended an Islamist-dominated panel tasked with rewriting the country’s constitution. 

04/09/12

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* Israel: Iran Claims Validate Nuclear Threat Israeli officials say an Iranian lawmakers claims Tehran could build a nuclear bomb proved something is rotten in Tehran
* This Week in History: Toppling Saddam Hussein The dramatic scene of knocking down one of hundreds of statues of the dictator, turned out to be not much more than an opportune media event.
* Mofaz: Give the Palestinians 100% of Yesha Kadima head Shaul Mofaz says he will give the PA 100% of its territorial demands if he is elected Prime Minister.
* Top Iran army official: No country would dare strike us Comment by head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ ground forces comes despite comments by Iran’s nuclear chief, who hinted at possible compromise ahead of talks with West.
* Abbas to Netanyahu: Respond favorably to Palestinian peace plan or we return to UN Abbas gave the PM a month to respond to the Palestinian positions, which will be laid out in a letter to be delivered to Netanyahu next Wednesday during a Jerusalem meeting with Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad.
* Thousands attend priestly blessing at Kotel Chief rabbis address worshipers at ceremony held at Western Wall in the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot.
* PM is most popular Israeli politician on Facebook Netanyahu’s personal page on the social network passes 200,000 fans, ahead of Yair Lapid, Tzipi Livni, Shelly Yacimovich.
* North Korea moves rocket into place for launch North Korea has moved into place a long-range rocket for a controversial launch later this month – amid reports it is also planning a nuclear test.
* US Navy deploys 2nd aircraft carrier to Gulf The U.S. Navy said Monday it has deployed a second aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf region amid rising tensions with Iran over its disputed nuclear program.
* Syria peace plan in jeopardy as clashes rage A peace plan for Syria was in jeopardy on Monday as fresh clashes raged after President Bashar al-Assad’s government laid down conditions for it to pull troops and armour out of protest hubs.

04/07/12

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* Easter, Easter is a Christian feast and holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion at Calvary as described in the New Testament.

* Egypt launches operation to gain control of Sinai Days after Katyusha rocket fired from Sinai into Eilat, Cairo seeks to increase sovereignty in lawless region.

* Erdogan: Turkey will take ‘steps’ if Syria disregards ceasefire deadline Turkey’s prime minister says the country will wait “patiently” to see if Syria abides by a cease-fire deadline.

* Israel Blames U.S. for Media Reports About Iran Strategy Top officials in Israel are charging that national-security leaks coming from the U.S. government are undermining Israel’s military options against Iran.

* Ex-spy chief enters Egypt presidential race Former Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman said on Friday he would run for president if supporters complete his paperwork within a day.

* Palestinian rights groups condemn Gaza executions One of the three men that were hanged was found guilty by a Hamas court of “collaboration” with Israel.

* Syria fighting ‘kills 100’ ahead of ceasefire At least 100 people have died on one of the bloodiest days in the Syrian uprising, according to unverified reports, days ahead of a ceasefire.

* Vatican, Israel Spar Over Disputed Last Supper Site If there’s one building in Jerusalem that represents the city’s tangle of religions, this is it.

* Triumphant Tuareg rebels fall out over al-Qaeda’s jihad in Mali As one group of rebels proudly proclaimed the independent state of Azawad in the “liberated” north of Mali last week, their allies were preparing for jihad.

* Muslim Brotherhood: We will not put Egypt-Israel peace treaty to referendum A member of parliament for Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party said on Friday that the movement would not put Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel to a national referendum vote.

04/06/12

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* Pilgrims fill Jerusalem for Good Friday, Passover Christians and Jews in the Holy Land were set to begin marking their most important festivals of the year on Friday.

* Friday Night is Seder Night The Holy One, Blessed be He, passed over the homes of the Israelites as he smote the firstborn of the Egyptians.

* Islamic Jihad Threatens More Attacks The Islamic Jihad terror group downplayed on Thursday warnings by IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz and threatened to continue to carry out attacks against Israel.

* US Confident Iran Nuclear Talks Will Occur The United States said Thursday it still expects talks between the P5+1 and Iran on the Islamic Republic’s disputed nuclear program to go ahead next week.

* ‘Obama signaled Khamenei that U.S. could accept civilian nuclear program in Iran’ U.S. President Barack Obama has recently passed a message to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

* When the Exodus was now A unique Haggada created by Jewish soldiers in Europe after WWII infuses the traditional Passover story with the drama of a momentous era.

* Security on high alert ahead of Passover holiday The Israel Police was on high alert throughout the country on Friday morning ahead of the Passover holiday.

* Syria crisis: Turkey refugee surge amid escalation fear More than 2,300 fled on Wednesday, by far the highest number in one day.

* U.S. officials debate virulence of Iran-backed Hezbollah’s threat The warning last month from Representative Peter King, the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, was blunt: An investigation by his staff had determined that “hundreds” of people he described as “Iranian and Hezbollah terrorists” were in the United States.

* China, Israel close to establishing strategic ties China and Israel have moved toward renewing strategic relations.