From The Daily Mail
Secret US memo for Congress seen by Mail On Sunday says Britain’s ‘special relationship’ with America is over
- Memo damningly states UK may no longer be ‘centrally relevant’ to the US
- Congressional Research Service, which gives confidential analysis, warns of turmoil if there is a hung parliament following general election
- Organisations such as the G20 group of major economies has led to a decline in the ‘influence and centrality of the relationship’
Washington believes that the ‘special relationship’ between Britain and the US is over, according to a secret briefing document seen by The Mail on Sunday.
The memo for members of Congress states damningly that ‘the UK may not be viewed as centrally relevant to the United States in all of the issues and relations considered a priority on the US agenda’.
Dated April 2015 and drawn up to brief the Senate and House of Representatives on the impact of Britain’s General Election, the memo also warns that the UK faces turmoil if there is a hung parliament.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Kerry and top negotiator meet Jewish leaders to discuss Iran deal
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Top Obama administration officials met for two hours with U.S. Jewish community leaders to discuss the emerging Iran nuclear deal.
Represented at the April 8 meeting were Secretary of State John Kerry and his undersecretary, Wendy Sherman, who is leading the U.S. side in the nuclear talks.
On the Jewish organizational side, representatives of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Federations of North America, and the Orthodox, Reform and Conservative streams were present.
A State Department official said the meeting was part of the administration’s regular outreach to various civil society groups in the United States.
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From Ynet News
Settlements, Iran and Hamas: Hillary Clinton’s Israel policy
After finally announcing her bid for the US presidency, Ynet takes a look back at Clinton’s positions on Israel, starting from her time as a first lady, then as a senator, until leading US foreign policy as secretary of state. WASHINGTON – After months of speculation and anticipation, Hillary Clinton finallyannounced Sunday she is running for president of the United States. Much ink has and will be spilled on her positions in both the domestic and foreign arenas – but in the meantime, Ynet takes a look back at her position regarding Israel.
With her experience as first lady, senator and US secretary of state, Clinton has countless hours of meetings with Israeli leaders like Rabin, Peres, Barak, and Netanyahu under her belt; and has also been at the forefront of pro-Israel legislation in the Senate. Clinton understands Israel’s complex reality better than most contemporary American politicians – possibly even better than her husband, Bill Clinton.
Photo: AFP
However, while Clinton is perceived as a long time Israel supporter, there were some controversial moments throughout her career which have cast doubt on the firmness of her position.
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From The Times of Israel
Zionist Union: Iran deal must provide for Israeli strike
Policy document calls for ‘necessary changes’ in framework to allow Israel to contend with nuclear-armed Tehran
The Zionist Union party said Sunday that a final nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers should contain a provision legitimizing Israeli military action against Iran if it violates the terms of the accord.
In a new policy document, the party called for the implementation of “necessary changes” to the framework deal reached between P5+1 states and Iran last week, so that Israel can “cope with a nuclear-armed Iran and its role in sponsoring regional terrorism.”
The left-wing party said it was “committed to an overarching, extensive and determined struggle” aimed at preventing Iran from building nuclear weapons and said that Tehran must be made aware that if it attempted to make a bomb, “all options, including sanctions and military action,” remain on the table.
A staunch opponent to the US-led drive to sign a deal with Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also proposed amendments to the emerging deal between P5+1 states and Iran on Sunday.
Asserting that “Iran could not be trusted,” Netanyahu called for the emerging deal to lift the economic sanctions against Iran at a fixed date, provided that it complied with the terms of the agreement and halted its support of regional insurgencies and its public threats to annihilate Israel.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Netanyahu offers alternatives to Iran deal following latest Obama criticism
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel offered alternatives on the nuclear framework agreement with Iran.
Netanyahu released a statement on Sunday with the changes to the deal signed earlier this month, a day after President Barack Obama told reporters that Netanyahu had not provided any alternatives.
The Israeli leader called on the international community to negotiate a better agreement.
In his statement, Netanyahu criticized Iran for insisting in the wake of the agreement on maintaining its nuclear capabilities and refusing to allow nuclear inspections, as well as its continuing aggression in the region.
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From PressTV
Aid groups call for removal of Israeli blockade on Gaza
A coalition of aid groups has called for the removal of the Israeli-imposed siege on the Gaza Strip, urging the acceleration of reconstruction efforts in the coastal enclave following the latest Israeli war on the territory last year.
A Monday report by the Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA) called on Israel to allow the free movement of Palestinians between the occupied West Bank and Gaza “in line with their (Israelis’) obligations as an occupying power.”
The report added that the international community, in particular the “Quartet” of the US, the EU, Russia and the UN, “should propose a time-bound plan to support an end to the blockade.”
The coalition, which includes major charities like CARE International, Oxfam, Save the Children and the Norwegian Refugee Council, further warned of a return to conflict by Palestinians and Israel as the siege on the Palestinian sliver continues to remain in place.
“Without economic, social and political stability, a return to conflict — and the cycles of damage and donor-funded reconstruction that accompany it — is inevitable,” the report said.
From PressTV
UN slams Israel’s unlawful administrative detention
The United Nations human rights office has voiced concerns over Israel’s so-called administrative detention, calling on Tel Aviv to end the unlawful practice of detaining Palestinians without charge or trial.
Briefing reporters in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), expressed worries about the continued and increasing use of administrative detention by Israeli authorities.
The UN official further said the detainees were often transferred to prisons located outside of the occupied Palestinian territories in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The convention prohibits the forcible transfer of detainees and prisoners outside of occupied territory.
“We call, once again, on Israel to end its practice of administrative detention and to either release without delay or to promptly charge all administrative detainees and prosecute them with all the judicial guarantees required by international human rights law and standards,” Shamdasani said.
She also referred to the case of Khalida Kan’an Muhammad Jarrar, a Palestinian lawmaker, who was abducted in a raid by Israeli forces on her house in the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on April 2.
Jarrar, one of the most outspoken critics of the Israeli occupation and atrocities against Palestinians, reportedly remains under administrative detention in an Israeli jail.
The administrative detention is a sort of imprisonment without trial or charge that allows Israel to incarcerate Palestinians for up to six months. The detention order can be renewed for indefinite periods of time.
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From Russia Today
Appalling ISIS video shows ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud being razed to ground
READ MORE: Jihadists smash Iraq’s 2,000-year-old statues to dust in new ISIS video
The seven-minute video shows the jihadists vandalizing the ancient reliefs in Nimrud, an area that is held by militants. They also used sledgehammers and drills to bring down some of the walls and ultimately levelled the whole complex with explosives.
The video follows a statement made by Iraq’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in March. It said Nimrud, a UNESCO cultural heritage site with archaeological riches dating back to the 13th century BC, was bulldozed with heavy machinery. RT could not verify the footage.
From Ynet News
Kerry fires back at critics over Iran deal details
‘I stand by every fact,’ Kerry says after Senator McCain questioned whether he was forthcoming about deal’s details. US Secretary of State John Kerry defended on Sunday his presentation of a framework agreement on Iran’s nuclear program after a different interpretation was offered by Iran’s supreme leader, and a prominent U.S. senator said Kerry was “delusional.”
“I will stand by every fact that I have said,” Kerry told ABC’s “This Week.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had strong words last week about Iran’s agreement with major world powers, declaring that once a final deal was reached it should result in an immediate end to all sanctions on Iran.Kerry has said the sanctions would be suspended in phases.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Eric Lynn, one-time Obama campaign Jewish liaison, launches bid for Congress
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Eric Lynn, a former liaison between the Obama presidential campaign and the Jewish community, is running for Congress in Florida.
Lynn, a 36-year-old Democrat, launched a challenge last week against the Republican incumbent, Rep. David Jolly, in the Tampa-area district. Lynn, who graduated from high school in St. Petersburg, now works in the district as a defense industry consultant.
Jolly is considered vulnerable. He won the district in 2014 following the death of longtime incumbent Republican Rep. C.W. Bill Young, but the district favored Obama in the 2008 and 2012 elections, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Lynn parlayed his role in 2008 getting out the Jewish vote for Obama into senior advisory jobs in government, first at the State Department and then at the Pentagon.
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From The Times of Israel
Jewish leader says he’s worried about Hungary’s far right
At Holocaust commemoration, WJC president expresses concern over rise of Jobbik party, but supports dialogue
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The president of the World Jewish Congress said Sunday he was concerned about the increasing popularity of Hungary’s far-right Jobbik party, particularly among young voters.
American businessman Ronald Lauder told The Associated Press that support for Jobbik showed that Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party and the opposition Socialists “are not giving them any hope.”
Lauder, whose maternal grandparents were born in Hungary, said that many younger voters were turning to the party led by Gabor Vona not because of anti-Semitism but because “they’re looking for an alternative. They’re looking for something different.”
Recent polls suggest Jobbik is the second most popular party behind Fidesz and lately has been steadily closing the gap.
