From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Israel bombs Gaza targets in retaliation for Hamas shelling
Israeli soldiers patrolling at the Anzac Memorial just outside the central Gaza strip in southern Israel, on April 13, 2016. (Corinna Kern/Flash90)
(JTA) — Israel bombed five targets in Gaza after Hamas fired more than five mortar rounds into Israel in a 24-hour period — an escalation attributed to Israel’s intensified efforts to detect and destroy Hamas’ underground tunnels leading toward and across its border.
Israel Air Force warplanes struck five targets near the Gazan border town of Rafah Wednesday evening, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed in statements on Twitter.
The IDF confirmation followed Palestinian media reports of the bombings, The Times of Israel reported. No injuries have been reported yet.
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From Ynet News
Trump on his way to Republican nomination after Cruz drops out
After losing Indiana, the Texas senator announced the suspension of his campaign; meanwhile, Clinton’s path for the nomination slowed by rival Sanders’ victory in the state.
INDIANAPOLIS – Republican front-runner Donald Trump all but sealed the party’s presidential nomination on Tuesday with a commanding victory in Indiana that forced rival Ted Cruz to finally end his campaign.
The New York billionaire, who has never held public office and who repeatedly defied pundits’ predictions that his campaign would implode, now can prepare for a matchup in the Nov. 8 election with Hillary Clinton expected to be his Democratic opponent.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Israel to open mission at NATO headquarters
JERUSALEM (JTA) — At the invitation of NATO, Israel agreed to open an official mission at the intergovernmental military alliance’s Brussels headquarters.
In an announcement Wednesday, NATO’s governing council stated that Israel’s Ambassador to Belgium will serve as the head of the mission.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the invitation.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Republican Jewish group congratulates Trump but doesn’t praise him
Donald Trump delivering a speech about his vision for foreign policy at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., April 27, 2016. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Republican Jewish Coalition congratulated Donald Trump on becoming the presumptive Republican nominee, but otherwise withheld praise for the candidate.
“The Republican Jewish Coalition congratulates Donald Trump on being the presumptive Presidential nominee of the Republican Party,” said the statement from the group issued Wednesday, a day after it became clear that the real estate magnate had secured the party’s nomination with a crushing primary win in Indiana.
Much of the rest of the statement focused on why the RJC continues to believe Hillary Clinton is “the worst possible choice for a commander in chief.”
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Donald Trump set to be Republican presidential nominee, maverick Israel views and all
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump speaking to supporters and the media at Trump Tower in Manhattan following his victory in the Indiana primary in New York, May 3, 2016. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Donald Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee for president after trouncing his opponents in Indiana, driving Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, out of the race.
Bernie Sanders, the Independent senator from Vermont, bested Hillary Clinton in Indiana’s primary on Tuesday, but the former secretary of state still has the advantage in the Democratic race.
After it became clear that Trump had swept Indiana, Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican national Committee, tweeted that the party should unite behind its candidate.
From Russia Today
Turkish ground op in Syria unlikely due to presence of Russian air force – Lavrov
Published time: 5 May, 2016 00:02
Russian Su-24 tactical bombers at the Hmeimim airbase in the Latakia Governorate of Syria. © Ramil Sitdikov / Sputnik
A foreign military is unlikely to launch a ground operation in Syria due to the Russian Airspace Forces there, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in commenting on the readiness Turkey has expressed to send troops to Syria “if necessary.”
“I do not think that anyone will decide to play dangerous games and carry out any provocations due to the fact that there are Russian Aerospace Forces stationed [in Syria],” Lavrov said when asked about the possibility of a Turkish or Saudi Arabian incursion.
The Foreign Minister stressed that “it’s necessary to educate, those who are trying to advocate” a military invasion because it “would be a direct aggression,” according to Sputnik.
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From Russia Today
Russia to form 3 new divisions to counter NATO buildup
Published time: 4 May, 2016 09:04
© Vladimir Semenuk / Sputnik
Russia is to deploy two new divisions in the west and one in the south to counterbalance NATO’s increased military presence near Russian borders, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu announced.
“The Defense Ministry is taking a number of measures to respond to the NATO military buildup at the Russian border,” Shoigu said on Wednesday. “Before the year’s end two new divisions will be formed in the Western Military District and one in the Southern Military District.”
Earlier there were reports in the Russian media that three new divisions with 10,000 troops each may be deployed in Rostov-on-Don, the Smolensk Region and the Voronezh Region.
NATO has been sending additional forces to Poland, the Baltic States and elsewhere near Russian borders since 2014. It claimed that the deployments were necessary to build confidence of Eastern European members in the face of “Russian aggression.”
From The Independent
Sadiq Khan under fire after footage emerges of him using derogatory term to describe fellow Muslims
From The Independent
Jewish author whose Israel ‘relocation’ map was shared by Naz Shah condemns ‘obscene’ Labour antisemitism row
From Ynet News
IAF strikes Hamas targets in Gaza in response to mortar fire
Despite Palestinian claims of renewed ceasefire, the military to continue operations to locate more attack tunnels crossing into Israel and the exchange of fire is expected to continue. The Israel Air Force struck four Hamas targets in the northern Gaza Strip early Thursday morning, for the second time over the past 24 hours.
The airstrike came after senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk declared on Wednesday night that the IDF will pull back from the Gaza border and in return, the different Palestinian factions in the Strip would cease fire after six mortar shells were launched at Israeli troops operating near the border fence throughout the day Wednesday. “What is happening on the eastern border of the Gaza Strip is an Israeli attempt to set new facts on the ground, over 150 meters away from the border. This is what caused our men to enter this confrontation, to prevent their bulldozers from perpetuating this conduct,” Abu Marzouk said.
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From PressTV
Iraqi forces retake four villages in Anbar province
Iraqi army soldiers and fighters from Popular Mobilization units have managed to liberate a number of villages in the western Anbar province, dealing another blow to the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group as anti-terror operations continue.
The Iraqi ground forces, backed by the country’s Air Force and artillery fire, recaptured four villages of Albu Khamis, Albu Khalid, Albu Asi and Albu Manahi, all located south of the flashpoint city of Fallujah, Arabic-language al-Sumaria news website reported on Wednesday.
The report added that Daesh moved families of its members from southern parts of the city to the central areas but it did not allow civilians to evacuate those areas in order to use them as human shields against the advancing government troops.
Iraqi forces are now just a few kilometers away from the militant-held city from its south.
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From PressTV
Israeli warplanes bomb Gaza Strip
Israeli warplanes bombed at least five positions around Gaza’s derelict international airport near the southern city of Rafah and in nearby farming areas on Wednesday.
Following the attacks, the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, said in a statement that “we will not allow a continuation of Zionist aggression against the Gaza Strip. The enemy should not invoke any reason whatsoever for its actions and leave the Gaza Strip immediately.”
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement also released a statement warning Tel Aviv against any escalation along the border.
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From Russia Today
US, Russia agree to include Aleppo in Syrian ceasefire deal
Published time: 4 May, 2016 17:28
© Abdalrhman Ismail / Reuters
Moscow and Washington have agreed that the ceasefire in Syria should include the city of Aleppo, which has recently been the scene of the county’s heaviest fighting. TagsSyria
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From Ynet News
German Jews divided over fears of 1 million Muslim newcomers
Over a million immigrants from Muslim countries with cultural tendency for anti-Semitism came to Germany and have cause and increase in anti-Semitic incidents; German Jewry split over how to respond. When the leader of Germany’s Jews spoke out against the flow of Muslim migrants to Europe, a rabbinical student denounced his views as racist and ignited a debate over whether Jews are right to fear unprecedented levels of immigration from Muslim lands traditionally hostile to Israel.
The student, Armin Langer, was kicked out of the Abraham Geiger College in Potsdam after he wrote that the leader of Germany’s Central Council of Jews was wrong to seek a cap on Muslim immigration. Langer, a founder of an interfaith group called Salaam-Shalom committed to fostering dialogue between Muslims and Jews, said his community should never cast an intolerant eye toward other minority groups.
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From Russia Today
Honey, I shrunk the kids: Japan’s child population hits historic low
Published time: 4 May, 2016 16:53
© Kyodo / Reuters
The number of children under the age of 15 in Japan has hit a historic low, recent government figures say, after 35 straight years of decline. The country’s newborns comprised the smallest group.
The figures were released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications before the country’s Children’s Day, which is to be celebrated Thursday.
The number of children aged 14 or under was 16.05 million as of April 1, 2016. This figure was down 150,000 on 2015.
Currently there are 8.22 million boys and 7.82 million girls aged 14 or under in Japan.
READ MORE: Fukushima radiation killing our children, govt hides truth – former mayor
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