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In late November 2012, while Matteo Renzi was making an ill-fated bid for leadership of the Italian centre-left, a young MP from his Democratic Party (PD) piped up on Twitter to remark: "OK, Renzi has quite a lot to learn about foreign policy … He won't make the pass mark, I fear #thirdgrade." When he won the PD primaries the following winter, Renzi – canny as ever – hired his sharp-tongued critic as the party's spokesperson on Europe and international affairs. Once prime minister, he ushered her into the top job at Italy's foreign office. Now, the shoe is firmly...

On Monday September 8th, 2014, at 1:15 p.m., the UN Permanent Mission of Palau, and the Engr Aja Eze Foundation are sponsoring a conference on “Global Anti-Semitism: A Threat to International Peace and Security” at the United Nations Headquarters facility in New York City. The counter-anti-Semitism conference will feature speakers who will explain how the rising tide of anti-Semitism will have a catastrophic effect on the safety and security of the world. The opening statements will be made by H.E. Dr. Caleb Otto, Amb. UN Perm. Mission of Palau, and H.E. Mr. Ron Prosser, Amb. UN Perm. Mission of Israel....

Notorious anti-Israel British MP George Galloway was hospitalized on Saturday after being assaulted in London. Galloway, who leads the far-left Respect Party, was posing for pictures in the UK capital when he was punched repeatedly by an attacker, who apparently "made reference to the Holocaust", a spokesperson told the media. The precise motive is not yet clear but police say they arrested a suspect, named as 39-year-old Neil Masterson of London, for religiously-aggravated assault, as well as common assault against a man who attempted to defend the radical MP. The suspect is due to appear at Hammersmith Magistrates' Court on...

Iranian military leaders have openly boasted that they have begun to send weapons to Palestinian Arab terrorists in Judea and Samaria and elsewhere in the region, the Washington Free Beacon reported Thursday. The report quoted a top Iranian military commander who confirmed that weapon shipments to Judea and Samaria have already begun and that more will be sent to other “Palestinian resistance groups.” “Arming the West Bank has started and weapons will be supplied to the people of this region,” Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the commander of Iran’s volunteer Basij force, told the state-run Fars news agency on Wednesday....

Minister of Construction and Housing, Uri Ariel of the Jewish Home, estimated Thursday that his party will not leave the government anytime soon. Regarding the differences of opinion within the Security Cabinet in the course of the war, Ariel told IDF Radio: “I do not think our criticism was illegitimate. Every minister has his opinions and his points of interest and I think that after we voiced our support for the operation, if there are opinions, they should be stated.” "There are so many things that we still have to do, that I believe we will not leave the government,”...

Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, who is the head of the Muslim Scholars Association and who serves as spiritual mentor for the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, attacked the Islamic Caliphate State established by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in large parts of Syria and Iraq. In an interview with a Turkish news agency, Qaradawi said that the caliphate is meaningless as it does not meet the requirements as dictated by Islam. It should be noted that Sheikh Qaradawi supports Hamas, operates a jihad against Israel, and in the past has made rulings permitting suicide bombings ...

A senior Palestinian Authority (PA) official last Friday opposed his organization's aspirations to sue Israel for "war crimes" at the International Criminal Court (ICC). His reason - such a move might prevent Arabs under PA jurisdiction from "shooting Israelis." The official, Abbas Zaki, is a leader in PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction. His comments came in an interview on the Lebanese Palestine Today TV, which was translated by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). "I'm against signing the Rome Statute (i.e., joining the ICC) as long as our country is occupied. If tomorrow you shoot, they'll say you signed an agreement,"...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday night attempted to respond to the outpouring of criticism for his unilateral decision the night before, in which he sealed a ceasefire deal with the terrorist group Hamas. "With the establishment of the ceasefire I can say that this is a great military and diplomatic achievement," claimed Netanyahu, accompanied by Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz. Netanyahu stated "Hamas has been hit critically and didn't receive any of the demands it set." Palestinian Authority (PA) officials revealed that in the deal Gaza received an immediate ease of the blockade...

Middle East Quartet Envoy, Tony Blair, applauded the ceasefire in Gaza and called to focus on a long-term plan to restore the region, which would include opening the Strip to the world, under the control of the Palestinian Authority. “Such a plan can allow Gaza residents to lead better lives, and Israeli citizens to live in safety and security,...

Israel is claiming victory in the 50-day war with Hamas, which temporarily ended in a ceasefire that went into force Tuesday. "We were victorious in the negotiation phase,” said Liran Dan, Head of the National Information Directorate in the Prime Minister's Office, in an interview with IDF Radio Wednesday. “The military blow that the IDF dealt Hamas – the hardest it has experienced since it was founded – was heavy and meaningful. What we saw is that in a prolonged and well executed campaign, Hamas suffered a harsh military blow and damage to the most heavily constructed arrays it built.”...

In welcoming the long-term ceasefire in Gaza, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced hope on Tuesday that it will set the stage for talks on a final Israeli-Palestinian Authority (PA) peace deal. "The secretary-general remains hopeful that the extended ceasefire will act as a prelude to a political process as the only way of achieving durable peace," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, according to AFP. Ban warned that "a brighter future for Gaza and for Israel depends on a sustainable ceasefire" and that "any violations of the ceasefire would be utterly irresponsible." .....

The first night of the ceasefire was peacefully quiet: no violations were reported on the part of either side. .....

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Israel and Hamas agreed Tuesday to an open-ended cease-fire, halting a seven-week war that killed more than 2,200 people, the vast majority Palestinians, left tens of thousands in Gaza homeless and devastated entire neighborhoods in the blockaded territory. Hamas declared victory and bursts of celebratory gunfire erupted across Gaza, but the terms of the deal fell far short of Hamas' demand that Israel and Egypt open Gaza's borders. Under the Egyptian-brokered deal, Israel is to ease imports into Gaza, including aid and material for reconstruction. It also allows Palestinians to fish six nautical miles...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lly2AfFW8kw

Terrorist factions in Gaza are apparently split once again over the possibility of accepting an Egyptian ceasefire proposal, with Hamas stubbornly refusing to accept it and at least two Islamic Jihad leaders claiming a truce will come into effect imminently. Islamic Jihad official Khaled al-Battash told interviewers a ceasefire would be coming into effect "within hours", along the same basis as the ceasefire following Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012, as outlined by an Egyptian proposal. The truce deal would include provisions for the rehabilitation of Gaza after a month and a half of fierce fighting, as well as an...

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is continuing his quest to unilaterally achieve a Palestinian state. Aides to Abbas on Sunday told The Associated Press (AP) that he will soon appeal to the international community to set a deadline for Israel to withdraw back to the pre-1967 borders and make way for an independent Palestinian state. Abbas is expected to unveil his proposal as part of a "day after" plan following the current war in Gaza, likely at a meeting of the Palestinian leadership on Tuesday, said the aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity. With no end in sight...

The White House said over the weekend it was ready to "take action" against any threat to America as it indicated serious consideration of U.S. military strikes against the Islamic State (IS, formerly called ISIS) in Syria, AFP reports. The Pentagon has warned of the dangers of IS and said operations against it in Syria may be needed, after weeks of air strikes have slowed the advance of the Sunni group in Iraq. The White House also said late Friday that air strikes in Syria may be necessary, as deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes agreed that "any strategy to...

Thousands of people shouted anti-Israel and anti-Semitic slogans, wore anti-Semitic T-shirts, and defended Hitler on Saturday - all in alleged defense of a "free Gaza" and "Palestinian rights" at a protest outside London's Downing Street. ...... Video .....

Israel is considering launching another heavy ground offensive into Gaza, Communications Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) indicated Saturday, in the wake of renewed rocket fire and an exodus of Negev residents from their homes. "Has the decision been made? No," Erdan stated to Channel 2 News. "But we are closer to it than we ever have been." A ground offensive would be the most extensive so far since the 2005 Disengagement, Erdan said. No matter what, he stressed, Israel would take action. "We are committed to this operation, and making sure it does not revert to how life was before," Erdan...

The Hamas regime in Gaza continues to execute its own civilians, even while engaged in a terror war against Israel. In a central venue in Gaza City on Friday morning, 11 local Arab residents who were charged with "collaborating with Israel" were publicly executed by Hamas, according to the Arabic-language Al-Rai news agency as cited by Walla!. However, Hamas TV reported that the number of those executed actually consisted of 18 men. Six of those executed were shot dead in front of a mosque by men in Hamas military uniforms, witnesses told AFP. The public killing comes in the midst...