U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in New York next week at a time of high tension in Europe and the Middle East, but the Kremlin and the White House disagreed on Thursday over the top priority for the talks.
The Palestinian Authority, Jordan and the Arab League slammed the Israeli government for an operation during which police officers found pipe bombs on the Temple Mount in the Old City in Jerusalem on Sunday.
Russia has started to build a huge military base housing ammunition depots and barracks for several thousand soldiers near the Ukrainian border, a project that suggests the Kremlin is digging in for a prolonged stand-off with Kiev.
Russia is “playing with fire” with its nuclear saber-rattling and the United States is determined to prevent it from gaining a significant military advantage through violations of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, the deputy U.S. defense chief said on Thursday.
Last November, a senior IDF officer warned of the implications of a Third Lebanon War. His name is Yair Golan, and he was at the time ending his stint as GOC Northern Command and transferring to Tel Aviv to serve as deputy chief of staff, Ynet reported.
Prime Minister Netanyahu met in secret with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan before the Gaza ceasefire was announced Tuesday.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder arrived in Ferguson to lead the investigation into the shooting. It was revealed that Darren Wilson, the police officer whose fatal shooting of Michael Brown touched off more than a week of demonstrations, suffered severe facial injuries, including an orbital (eye socket) fracture, and was nearly beaten unconscious by Brown moments before firing his gun. Meanwhile, Community elders and the clergy were credited with helping to bring “a different dynamic” to protests in this St. Louis suburb, police said as fewer arrests took place.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani told the visiting head of the UN nuclear watchdog said Tehran’s long-range missile program will not be discussed as part of talks aimed at resolving a decade-long nuclear dispute. Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister did not believe a final-status agreement would be made with the West by the time the next deadline comes in four months.
Over the weekend in cities throughout the United States, demonstrators marched in solidarity with Missouri protesters over the killing of Michael Brown, a unarmed black teenager, who was shot by a police officer. Despite a curfew imposed by the Missouri governor, one person was critically injured after being shot, and seven others arrested as clashes continued to break out over the weekend in Ferguson, Missouri. A private autopsy revealed the teen was shot six times, including two in the head, as the Justice Department ordered a second autopsy into the teenager’s death as the FBI took over the investigation.
As photos of heavily armed police officers in full combat gear squared off against protesters in the small suburban town of Ferguson, Missouri, America got a sobering wake up call of the militarization of its local police forces. Since 2006, U.S. police departments have acquired 93,763 machine guns, 432 mine-resistant trucks, over 500 aircraft and hundreds of thousands of ammunition magazines, all provided by the U.S. military with the help of Congress.
As Operation Protective Edge enters its fifth week, Israel and Hamas have agreed to an Egyptian proposal for a 72-hour ceasefire beginning Tuesday morning.
As the conflict in Gaza entered its third week, pro-and-anti Israel rallies took place throughout the world. Since the beginning of the war, a surge in anti-Jewish hate crimes has taken place especially in Europe, leading to fears among Jewish communities that Europe is no longer a safe haven for its population.
Tensions intensified internationally as a U.N. run school was caught in the midst of a battle that left 19 Palestinians dead, and scores more injured. Nevertheless, Israel called up another 16,000 reservists as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) pressed forward with its campaign against Hamas vowing to destroy every terrorist tunnel. Meanwhile, the U.S. allowed Israel to resupply its grenades and mortar rounds from a U.S. munitions store located in Israel.
After U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry failed in bringing a ceasefire to the region, U.S. President Barack Obama called and urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayahu to agree to a ceasefire late Sunday night as Operation Protective Edge enters its 21st day. Since the beginning of the operation, 2,538 rockets have been fired into Israel. The death toll in Gaza move above 1,000, while the Israel Defense Forces have lost 43 soldiers.
Israel accepted a Egyptian proposed ceasefire that went into effect at 9 AM, while Hamas’ armed wing rejected the offer completely saying it was “surrender.” If the ceasefire does not hold, Israel vowed to respond in force. Over the seven days of Operation Protective Edge, Israel has struck over 1,500 terrorist related targets in the Gaza Strip.
Israel is taking ‘significant steps’ in preparation for a Gaza campaign, military sources told the Jerusalem Post.
Leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations decided Thursday to tighten defenses against the risk of terror attacks by European jihadists returning from the Syrian front.
President Barack Obama is close to authorizing a mission led by the U.S. military to train moderate Syrian rebels to fight the regime of Bashar al-Assad and al Qaeda-linked groups, a move that would expand Washington’s role in the conflict, U.S. officials said.
Israel wouldn’t need the security barrier, if acts of incitement and terrorism against it stopped, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told Pope Francis on Monday at the start of their meeting at the Notre Dame Center in Jerusalem.
Ukrainian government helicopters have launched an unprecedented airstrike against pro-Russian rebels who seized an airport terminal in the eastern city of Donetsk, with reports of civilian casualties.