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Possibly fearing the increasing loss of their Jews as European Aliyah escalates, European leaders and communities are taking steps to combat local anti-Semitism. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls visited the Great Synagogue in Paris just before Rosh Hashanah, and declared, "Denying the existence of Israel is the first step towards anti-Semitism." Speaking to more than 1,000 representatives of the French Jewish community, Valls assured them that the fight against anti-Semitism is a national cause. 'To be a Jew, to be French, French and Jewish identities are inseparable,’’ he said. In Italy, the Jewish community announced the launch of a special...

Russia used its annual appearance at the U.N. General Assembly on Saturday to accuse the United States and its Western allies of bossing the world around, complaining they were attempting to dictate to everyone "what is good and evil."

Poland kicks off major military exercises involving eight NATO partners on Wednesday amid the West's worst standoff with Russia since the end of the Cold War sparked by differences over the Ukraine crisis. Organised every two years since 2006, this year's Anaconda manoeuvres involve 12,500 soldiers, with 750 from NATO members the US and Britain among others, the Polish defence ministry said, adding the event "has become a permanent training element of the North Atlantic alliance". The exercises are designed to coordinate cooperation with NATO's rapid reaction forces, created at the alliance's Cardiff summit earlier this month. They also come...

If Miliband wants peace let him task his Labour Friends of Palestine to produce a reformed, pragmatic Hamas. Persuade Fatah-led Palestinian Authority to recognize the right of the Jewish people to live in peace in the Land of Israel Statements made by Ed Miliband and his Shadow Foreign Minister, Douglas Alexander at the Labour Party Conference on Monday, September 22, were appalling for their one-sided bias against Israel. Although they paid lip service to a condemnation of “Hamas rockets and the terrorization of civilian populations” the only use of the word “illegal” was in reference to Israeli building, and the...

Conservative MP for Rochester and Strood Mark Reckless is joining Ukip. Developing

Conservative MP Mark Reckless has announced that he is joining UKIP. The Rochester and Strood MP told the UKIP conference, in Doncaster, that he has resigned as an MP, triggering a by-election in the constituency. Delegates started to spontaneously chant "UKIP, UKIP" when Mr Reckless announced his decision to defect, which he said was not easy. The move comes just weeks after Clacton MP Douglas Carswell defected from the Conservatives to join UKIP.

The new European Commission has rejected the UK Government’s call to set up an independent body to scrutinize EU regulation and impact assessments before and after legislative proposals are adopted by the executive. Jean-Claude Juncker’s spokeswoman, Natasha Bertaud, told EurActiv that impact assessments would remain an internal matter before proposals were adopted. Frans Timmermans, Juncker’s choice for the new post of vice president in charge of better regulation, would ensure their quality, she said, after pointing to EU treaties governing Commission procedures. Currently, research on the impact of regulation is looked over by an internal Commission department. It is then...

The UK Parliament has backed British participation in air strikes against Islamic State extremists in Iraq. After a seven-hour debate, MPs voted for military action by 524 votes to 43. The Conservatives, Lib Dems and Labour leaderships all backed air strikes although some MPs expressed concerns about where it would lead and the prospect of future engagement in Syria. The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said RAF planes could be called into action as early as Sunday. Speaking after the vote, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said a long campaign lay ahead and there would not be a "series of immediate...

Parliament is to be recalled on Friday to discuss the UK's possible involvement in air strikes against Islamic State (IS) in Iraq. Prime Minister David Cameron said MPs should respond to the Iraqi government's request for help. He added that the UK "should not turn away from what needs to be done". The Liberal Democrats are backing air strikes in Iraq and Labour leader Ed Miliband has confirmed his support, saying the UK cannot "opt out". Meanwhile, the Foreign Office has said it is "aware" of reports that a British national has died in Syria, but it has "no further...

The number of Europeans joining Islamist fighters in Syria and Iraq has surged to about 3,000 from 2,000 only months ago, the EU counter-terrorism chief said Tuesday. (snip) The European fighters, he said, come mainly from France, Britain, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark but a few come from Spain, Italy, Ireland and now Austria.

The U.S. Embassy in Turkey has issued a security warning, urging U.S. citizens to be vigilant against possible terrorist attacks in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic State group.

German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen and President Massoud Barzani. ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A cargo plane carrying the first delivery of high-tech German weapons arrived in Erbil today, ready to boost Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the fight against Islamic State militants. "We assure you that we are beside you to tackle this crisis," German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen told Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani at a press conference.  “It is clear that a lot of support has arrived but more is needed,” she added. The minister landed in Erbil shortly after a plane...

The U.S. military and two Arab allies on Wednesday bombarded a dozen small-scale oil refineries in eastern Syria as part of an expanding campaign to cut off key sources of financing and fuel for the Islamic State, according to the Pentagon. ... The Islamic State is estimated to produce between 25,000 and 40,000 barrels of oil a day, earning as much as $1 million a day, according to industry experts. The attacks on the refineries came on a day when U.S. military forces reported hitting an Islamic State convoy in Syria near the Iraqi border and Syrian opposition groups reported...

US-led air strikes on Islamic State (IS) militants have destroyed four tanks and damaged another during a fourth night of bombardments in Syria. ... The Danish government says it is sending seven F-16 fighter jets to join anti-IS operations - but only in Iraq.

BRITAIN WILL go to war again after politicians today voted overwhelmingly to join airstrikes against the so-called Islamic State terrorist group. RAF jets could now fly bombing missions over Iraq within hours after all three major parties backed action against the brutal regime, which David Cameron called a "clear" threat to Britain. The vote comes amid warnings that the action to defeat the Islamic terrorists could take years. Initially British airstrikes will only take place over Iraq, despite the IS group controlling areas of Syria in its bid to establish an Islamic caliphate across the Middle East. The vote comes...

Thomas EscrittSeptember 24, 2014  THE HAGUE (Reuters) - The Dutch government said on Wednesday it would deploy six F-16 fighter jets, which could be operational in a week, to support the U.S.-led strikes against Islamic State insurgents in Iraq. The Netherlands, a member of NATO and a close U.S. ally, will target the ultra-radical Islamist militants in Iraq and provide training and advice to Iraqi and Kurdish regional military forces for a period of up to one year, Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asschertold journalists. "We regard IS as a grave threat, not just for the region it is destabilising,...

Two major groups of Arab sates questioned Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas in Gaza, in addresses to the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday in Geneva. Describing Israel’s actions in Gaza as self-defense is both “legally incorrect” and “morally abhorrent,” said Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. […] Switzerland, Ireland, and Iceland were among the few Western countries to address to address the UNHRC under Agenda Item 7. Ireland condemned both Israel and Hamas as unacceptable for attacking innocent civilians during the Gaza war. With respect to Israeli attacks in Gaza, Ireland said,...

The first results are coming in for the referendum to decide whether Scotland should stay in the UK or become an independent country.

Alex Salmond has raised the prospect of Scotland unilaterally declaring independence without another referendum as he abandoned his promise to accept the result and claimed that No voters were “tricked”. Despite it being illegal, the First Minister argued the Scottish Parliament could say Scotland was leaving the United Kingdom at the point at which it had been devolved so many powers it was effectively independent. The First Minister appeared to blame elderly Scots, who were most hostile to leaving the UK, for holding back younger generations and argued that independence is inevitable after they die off

On Friday morning the Scottish people must felt like the failed suicide who awakes in hospital the next day and wonders to himself: "Now why in the hell did I do a stupid thing like that?" The convincing drubbing that the independence movement took on Thursday should have made most Scots aware of how facile and threadbare were their ideas of separation. Without a solid financial structure, with the threat of the UK withdrawing the usage of the English pound and with the EU 's own president declaring how difficult it would be for Scotland to gain entry into the...