U.S. and Israel: Is the “unbreakable Bond” finally breaking?
July 26th, 20230 Israeli President Isaac Herzog added nothing of great value in his speech at the United States Congress on July 19. His was the typical language. He spoke of a “sacred bond”, touted the shared experience between both nations as “unique in scope and quality”, and celebrated the great, common “values that reach across...
U.S. Congress tries to wish away Israeli racism and apartheid
July 22nd, 20230 On July 18, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution by the kind of lopsided vote (412 for, 9 against, 1 present) normally reserved for proclamations lauding members' hometown Little League programs. Unlike most legislation, Concurrent Resolution 57 is short enough to fit comfortably into newspaper op-ed length: "Resolved...
Israel signs memorandum of understanding with the U.S. to join Visa Waiver Program
July 22nd, 20230 On Wednesday, the U.S. and Israel signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), setting the conditions for Israel’s entry into the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. An Israeli statement late on Wednesday quoted its national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi as saying U.S. Ambassador Thomas Nides and Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog signed what...
Congress passes resolution supporting Israel after Democrats described it a racist and apartheid state
July 21st, 20230 WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Republican-led resolution reaffirming its support for Israel with strong bipartisan approval — an implicit rebuke of a leading Democrat who, over the weekend, called the country a “racist state”, but later apologized. The resolution, introduced by Rep....
Iraq expels Swedish ambassador over desecration of the Qur’an
July 21st, 20230 BAGHDAD - According to an Iraqi government spokesman, Iraq has expelled the Swedish ambassador and is withdrawing its envoy from Stockholm for permitting the desecration of the Holy Qur’an. Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani’s office released a statement Thursday saying the prime minister “instructed the Swedish ambassador...
Palestinians paraded in defiance of Israel’s Jenin assault and in protest against the Palestinian Authority
July 8th, 20230 JENIN — Palestinian fighters paraded in Jenin on Wednesday and angry crowds confronted senior Palestinian Authority officials, accusing them of weakness, after one of the largest Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank in years. The two-day operation, which the Israeli military said targeted infrastructure and weapons...
Russian uprising caught everyone by surprise, remains a mystery
July 5th, 20230 Recent events in Russia have been surprising, even shocking. When the private army employed by Russia’s Wagner Group left Ukraine and moved toward Moscow last month, it caught everyone by surprise. We’re used to thinking of Russian leader Vladimir Putin as a dictator who has complete control of his country. Maybe he does, but the...
Israel launches large-scale deadly attack on Palestinian Jenin camp
July 3rd, 20230 JENIN, WEST BANK - Israeli occupation forces launched their largest operation in the West Bank city of Jenin since the Second Intifada on Sunday night with a large-scale military campaign. The operation included airstrikes on multiple buildings as armored occupation military snipers and vehicles surrounded the Jenin Camp. At least...
China surpasses U.S. in popularity among Arab youth as Beijing expands Middle East footprint
June 25th, 20230 More young Arabs see China as an ally of their countries than the United States, a survey of regional youth has found. The U.S. ranks seventh among nations considered as friendly, compared to China, which ranked second in the Arab Youth Survey conducted by Dubai-based public relations firm ASDA’A BCW. The findings show that support...
Hundreds of armed Israeli settlers storm Palestinian town setting fires to dozens of homes, vehicles
June 21st, 20230 Palestinians in the towns of Ramallah and Al-Bireh in the occupied West Bank announced a comprehensive strike and day of rage Wednesday afternoon to be observed on Thursday, June 22, in response to Israeli settler attacks on Turmusaya and to mourn the souls of the Palestinians that were slaughtered. At around lunchtime on Wednesday...
Israeli soldiers will not face criminal charges over death of Palestinian American
June 16th, 20230 Israel's military advocate general said on Tuesday that soldiers who left a Palestinian American man outside overnight after detaining him and who was later found dead will not be criminally prosecuted, but will face disciplinary measures. Israeli forces detained 78-year-old Omar As'ad at a makeshift checkpoint in his West Bank hometown...
What health experts say wildfire smoke novices need to know
June 9th, 20230 Wildfires are increasingly causing destruction and illness around the world, but the smoke drifting southward from eastern Canada this week is a new experience for the tens of millions who live in the U.S. Northeast. Many in those states are wondering what they need to know about a first-time wildfire smoke event. Are health risks...
Biden administration wants Congress to mandate flight delay compensation
June 9th, 20230 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Biden administration has submitted draft legislation to Congress that would mandate airlines pay cash compensation for delays of three hours or more when carriers are responsible. The proposal sent earlier this week and seen by Reuters would require "cash compensation in an amount commensurate with the...
Tlaib, Khanna lead letter urging President Biden to support ending war in Yemen
May 26th, 20230 WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D- Detroit) and U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) led 39 of their colleagues in a letter to President Biden and his Yemen policy team in support of ongoing diplomacy to end the 8-year long war in Yemen. “We write to applaud the recent diplomatic progress made by the warring parties...
The White House is urged not to adopt a definition of anti-Semitism that includes criticism of Israel
May 26th, 20231 WASHINGTON, D.C. – "The Biden administration is close to completing a national anti-Semitic strategy, but the question of how it defines anti-Semitism remains fluid," Jewish Insider revealed. According to the site, "As the White House prepares to launch a national strategy to combat anti-Semitism in the coming weeks, the question of......
Syria’s Assad boosted by return to Arab fold
May 19th, 20230 President Bashar al-Assad has always seen time as an ally in the Syrian civil war, along with the Iranian and Russian firepower that helped him defeat his enemies, according to sources familiar with his thinking. After more than 12 years of civil conflict that made him a reviled figure to much of the world, his strategy appears have...
U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum introduces bill to restrict aid to Israel
May 16th, 20230 WASHINGTON, D.C. – A U.S. representative from Minnesota has renewed a push to ensure that aid to Israel does not contribute to abuses of Palestinians, particularly children, as progressive legislators continue to call for conditions to be placed on the assistance. On Friday, May 5, Democratic U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum reintroduced a...
Friend or foe — The dawn of the AI revolution
May 16th, 20230 By Peter White A research scientist who works on the intersection of reasoning and machine learning likens the boom in artificial intelligence to the Industrial Revolution. “I wasn’t around then,” said Hector Palacios, “but back in the day people would say, ‘I’m going to buy an engine.’” After a while, nobody was...
How to apply for your share of Facebook’s $725 million settlement in privacy suit
May 1st, 20230 Facebook users have until August to claim their share of a $725 million class-action settlement of a lawsuit alleging privacy violations by the social media company, a new website reveals. The lawsuit was prompted in 2018 after Facebook disclosed that the information of 87 million users was improperly shared with Cambridge......
Free speech vs. national security in proposed TikTok ban
May 1st, 20230 By Peter White With a billion users worldwide and 150 million in the U.S., Chinese-owned social media giant TikTok is facing a possible ban here amid growing concerns around data privacy and rising geopolitical tensions with Beijing. Opponents of the ban say it ignores wider data concerns around social media and potentially raises...
Israeli company’s malware used to hack dissidents, activists across 10 countries
April 14th, 20230 An Israeli firm's hacking tools have been used against journalists, opposition figures and advocacy organizations across at least 10 countries — including people in North America and Europe — according to new research published Tuesday by Microsoft Corp and the Internet watchdog Citizen Lab. Citizen Lab said in its report that it......
Classified docs leak: Who should go to prison
April 13th, 20230 by Thomas L. Knapp As I write this, Politico reports that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has made an arrest in the matter of “classified” government documents found circulating on social media after allegedly being posted on an Internet game chat server over a period of weeks or months. The New York Times reports that...
Top Iranian, Saudi envoys meet in China in restoration of diplomatic ties
April 8th, 20230 BEIJING/RIYADH — The foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia met in Beijing on Thursday for the first formal gathering of their top diplomats in more than seven years, after China brokered a deal to restore relations between the top regional powers. After years of hostility that fueled conflicts across the Middle East, Iran and......
