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Prince William arrived in Jordan on Sunday on the first stop of a five-day Middle East tour that will make him the first British royal to pay an official visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. The Duke of Cambridge was greeted by Crown Prince Hussein, the son of Jordan's King Abdullah II, at the airport in Jordan's capital, Amman. The Jordanian prince then drove William to a technology-focused event for young people linked to the Crown Prince Foundation. Kensington Palace tweeted that Prince William was "looking forward to building a real and enduring relationship with the people of the...

The drama in St. Petersburg, the marriage proposal at the break and the Persian celebration. Yair Kattan heard from the Iranians why they are actually our friends. Video in Hebrew at link.

The outsider party of Swedish politics, the Sweden Democrats, got some good news this week. A "You Gov" poll showed them at 28.5 percent support, that's 6.5 percent more than the Social Democrats who currently lead a coalition government after picking up 31 percent of the vote in the 2014 election. If this trend continues into the election, the Sweden Democrats will emerge as the largest single party with around 100-105 seats in the 349 seat Parliament. Voters in Sweden will go to the polls on September 9th to elect the new makeup of their Parliament (the Riksdag). The Sweden...

Hamas paid family to claim Gaza baby was killed by Israeli tear gas, says cousin Mahmoud Omar, arrested by Israel for terror-related offenses, tells interrogators his relatives lied: 8-month-old Layla actually died from fatal blood condition that runs in family. A 20-year-old Palestinian indicted Thursday on terror-related charges told Israeli investigators during his interrogation that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar paid his relatives to falsely tell the media that his baby cousin died of tear gas inhalation. The story of baby Layla Ghandour’s death, purportedly from inhaling tear gas fired by Israel at the Gaza border, made headlines around the world...

In the background of the strike stands Iran's attempt to construct a network of friendly forces stretching from Iraq through Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon. In 2016, pro-western sources in Iraq warned that Iran was building just such a conduit. In December 2017, The New Arab reported that convoys of unmarked vehicle had passed into Syria from Iraq through checkpoints manned by the Hashd al-Shaabi, the mostly Shi'ite militias that are known as Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). These militias play a complex role, forming one of a patchwork of similar groups that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has enlisted to...

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports Hezbollah will not withdraw from western and southwestern borders of Homs with Lebanon as the Russians demanded. Nasrallah: 'the whole world can not remove us from Syria' Hezbollah fighters are still stationed in western and southwestern Homs in Syria, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Thursday, and are refusing to comply with a Russian demand to pull away from the Israeli border. "All that has happened is a media withdrawal," the non-government affiliated organization reported, claiming the Russian forces are deployed in a way that ensures they will not need...

Former Energy Minister Gonen Segev was arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran, it was cleared for publication Monday. Segev was arrested by the Shin Bet and the Israel Police last month on suspicion of committing the offenses of assisting the enemy in a time of war and of spying against the State of Israel. At the end of the investigation, on June 15, 2018, the Jerusalem District Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment against Segev in the Jerusalem District Court for these offenses, as well as for numerous offenses of giving information to the enemy. The indictment was approved by...

"We are hours away from the beginning of the #OpBasalt in Daraa and al-Quenitra, a military choice that God knows we were forced to pick, we gave them Ramadan and Eid to accept a peaceful solution, and they didn't, what happen from now on is their responsibility" "WithinSyriaBlog" Twitter 6/18/2018 "The United States remains committed to maintaining the stability of the southwest de-escalation zone and to the cease-fire underpinning it. We also caution the Syria regime against any actions that risk broadening the conflict or jeopardizing the cease-fire" US State Department Statement May 25th, 2018 Its being called "Operation Basalt",...

A female suspect was arrested on Sunday after she ran after children with a knife while shouting “I want to kill all you Jews” in the Haringey area of London. The suspect was arrested ...

Israel will strike against Iranian efforts to entrench itself militarily throughout Syria, and not only along the Syrian-Israeli border, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Russian President Vladimir Putin and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over the weekend. Netanyahu told the weekly cabinet meeting that he spoke with both men and discussed the region, with an emphasis on Syria. The prime minister said he reiterated and made clear the principles guiding Israeli policy toward Syria. “First of all, Iran needs to withdraw from all of Syria,” he said. “Second, we will take action – and are already taking action –...

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, announced that he’s expelling Uber from Turkey, a result of pressure from Istanbul's taxi industry. Istanbul taxi drivers, numbering more than 17,000, claimed Uber was providing an illegal service and that it needs to be banned. Ever since Uber began its service in Turkey in 2014, it's caused dissension among the country's taxi drivers, not unlike what's happening elsewhere. In a speech on Friday, Erdogan said, “This thing called Uber emerged. That business is finished. That does not exist anymore. We have our taxi system.... Where does this come from? It is used...

Dr. Turley thinks the whole globalist dream is Humpty Dumpty – or at least, it soon could be ol’ HD: He seems to be saying that the German people’s rejection of open borders may well cause Mutti Merkel to be strapped into her rocking chair for a well-deserved rest. Further, if her coalition fails, then ultimately so does the globalist, multi-cultural project known as the Europe Union. Perhaps it’s too early to break out the champagne, but certainly, it’s time to order a bottle before supplies run out. Or maybe some Rhine wine would be more appropriate? Or, if you...

French carmaker Renault will maintain its presence in Iran while taking measures to avoid the risk of penalties for breaching renewed US sanctions, CEO Carlos Ghosn said Friday. “We will not abandon it, even if we have to downsize very strongly,” he said at the annual shareholders’ meeting in Paris. “When the market reopens, the fact of having stayed will certainly give us an advantage,” he predicted. […] Renault’s rival PSA, which produces the Peugeot and Citroën brands, has also announced it will quit Iran to abide by the US sanctions. But Ghosn signaled that Renault, which counted 160,000 cars...

GENEVA (Reuters) - Talks with the United States over how to reform the main U.N. rights body have failed to meet Washington’s demands, activists and diplomats say, suggesting that the Trump administration will quit the Geneva forum whose session opens on Monday. A U.S. source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the withdrawal appeared to be “imminent” but had no details. Diplomatic sources said it was not a question of if but of when the United States retreats from the Human Rights Council, which is holding a three-week session through July 6. A separate U.S. official in Geneva had...

Conservative Senators had previously brought forward similar legislation and it was defeated last month by Justin Trudeau-appointed Senators. So everyone figured they knew how Tuesday’s vote would go down: Conservatives in favour, Liberals mostly against. Even Speaker Geoff Regan must have thought this. Because after he’d finished tallying the “yeas” from the Conservative side he then called to register the “nay” votes, as if he assumed the “yeas” were done. Then there were rumblings. Regan realized that maybe there were a few more “yeas” kicking around on other benches and reopened the count. There were. And the first one to...

For the umpteenth time, the United Nations General Assembly has voted to condemn Israel for defending itself. By a tally of 120 to 8, the members declared that Israel was guilty of “excessive use of force” against Palestinians who were protesting the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. The resolution also requested recommendations to protect Palestinians. For 10 weeks now, the two sides have clashed at the border, resulting in 120 Palestinian deaths. Israeli Defense Forces warned protesters not to approach the Israeli-Gaza border on May 14, the day of the embassy opening. They did anyway - some armed...

Highlights Former world junior girls' champion Soumya Swaminathan has pulled out of the Asian Team Chess Championship, to be held in Iran Swaminathan cited the Islamic country's "compulsory headscarf" rule as violation of her personal rights In 2016, Indian shooter Heena Sidhu had withdrawn from a meet in Iran citing the same reason PUNE: Woman Grandmaster and former world junior girls' champion Soumya Swaminathan has pulled out of the Asian Team Chess Championship, to be held in Hamadan, Iran, from July 26 to August 4, calling the Islamic country's "compulsory headscarf" rule violative of her personal rights. "I do not...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised US ambassador Nikki Haley for Wednesday night her spirited defense of Israel in the U.N. and her efforts to get an amendment to the resolution added that would condemn Hamas violence. "Israel appreciates the firm support of the Trump administration in Israel at the United Nations and Ambassador Haley's resolute statement today, which exposed the hypocrisy of the bias against Israel at the U.N.,” he said in a statement

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Donald Trump’s Mideast negotiating team will visit the region 'next week' as it finalizes its as-yet unveiled Israeli-Palestinian peace plan and will hold talks on deteriorating conditions in the Gaza Strip. The trip comes as officials say the Trump administration is near completion of the plan with an eye on a possible release this summer. The National Security Council said Wednesday that senior adviser Jared Kushner and special representative for international negotiations Jason Greenblatt would travel to Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. It said they would discuss “the next stages of the...

German police have arrested a Tunisian man after discovering "toxic substances" at his flat in Cologne, officials said Wednesday, with prosecutors not ruling out a possible terror motive. The man and his wife, whose nationality was not released, were detained late Tuesday night after officers raided their flat and came across "unknown substances" that are now being analysed by specialists, Cologne police said in a statement.