From Russia Today
E. Ukraine leaders order ceasefire, voice amendments to constitution
The eastern Ukrainian militias have stopped all military action in accordance with the Minsk peace deal. They will suppress any provocations that may be organized by Kiev forces, said Aleksandr Zakharchenko, head of Donetsk People’s Republic.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has ordered troops to cease fire at Sunday midnight local time (22:00 GMT) in line with the Thursday Minsk agreement. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on his Facebook page that “all National Guard and Interior Ministry units will halt fire at midnight.”
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From Russia Today
‘Get NATO, foreign countries out of Ukraine to end civil war’ – Ron Paul
From Ynet News
Case against Argentine president moves forward
Prosecutor who inherited case from the late Alberto Nisman formally renews investigation, amid government accusations of a ‘coup’ attempt.
The prosecutor who inherited a high-profile case against Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner on Friday reaffirmed the accusations, formally renewing the investigation into whether the president helped Iranian officials cover up their alleged role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center.
Prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita’s decision to go forward with the case was significant because it sets the stage for a close examination of the investigation that prosecutor Alberto Nisman was building before he was found dead Jan. 18. The next day, Nisman was scheduled to elaborate his accusations to Congress.
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From The Times of Israel
Israeli strikes on Gaza homes ‘killed mostly civilians,’ report says
AP reviews identities of Palestinians killed in residential areas; Israel says it regrets civilian loss of life, blames Hamas for waging urban warfare
Only ten percent of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes on private homes in the Gaza Strip last summer were confirmed terror operatives, according to a special report compiled by the Associated Press.
The review published on Friday did not deal with the entire Palestinian death toll of 2,205 reported throughout the fighting between Israel and Hamas in Operation Protective Edge, but only with the 844 people who died in strikes on homes.
Under the rules of war, the AP noted, these are considered protected civilian sites unless used for military purposes.
The Associated Press examined 247 airstrikes that — according to witness accounts and site visits — hit residential compounds, out of the some 5,000 Israeli strikes during the conflict.
The review found that 508 of those dead — just over 60% — were children, women and older men, all presumed to be civilians. Hamas says it did not use women as fighters in the war, and an Israel-based research group tracking terror operatives among the dead said it has no evidence women participated in combat.
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From The Times of Israel
Romney, Boehner and Bush to address GOP Jewish leaders
Republican Jewish Coalition stands behind Netanyahu’s congressional speech despite diplomatic rift it’s causing
WASHINGTON – Mitt Romney, House Speaker John Boehner and former President George W. Bush will be among the speakers at the Republican Jewish Coalition leadership meeting.
Romney, the Republican presidential nominee in 2012 who briefly considered a run this year, was announced as a speaker Wednesday by the RJC. The conference will be held April 24-26 in Las Vegas.
Boehner (R-Ohio) roiled some in Washington with his invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to Congress next month. The RJC is running an online petition drive supporting Netanyahu’s speech in the face of complaints from Democrats and the White House that Boehner did not consult them before issuing the invitation.
The Bush and Romney talks will be closed to the media.
The Washington Examiner reported that a number of likely presidential candidates will attend, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.
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From The Times of Israel
Jewish extremist group revived in Montreal, amid protest
Labeled a ‘right-wing terrorist group’ by the FBI, the Jewish Defense League plans to combat rise of ‘radical Islam’
MONTREAL — The long-dormant, controversial Jewish Defense League announced it would set up shop in Montreal next week despite opposition by local Jewish and Muslim groups.
“There is no need for a Jewish self-defense group in Montreal,” said Rabbi Reuben Poupko of the Jewish community’s main advocacy group, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, or CIJA.
JDL leader Meir Weinstein of Toronto said he would be setting up the country’s second branch outside that city on February 16 to stem the rise of “radical Islam” in Quebec and to help the pro-Israel Conservative Party government return to power in a national election slated for the fall.
Weinstein, 56, said he planned to have local JDL members aggressively monitor and “infiltrate” radical Islamic groups.
In August, Weinstein, in the wake of some incidents of anti-Semitic vandalism in Montreal, organized a local meeting to gauge interest in reviving the JDL after decades of inactivity.
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
David Cohen Becomes the CIA’s ‘Financial Batman’
Fighting Terrorism With Balance Sheets and Ledgers
By Nathan Guttman
Washington — In a reflection of the increasing role the U.S. Department of the Treasury is playing in clandestine operations, America’s “sanctions guru” was sworn in on February 9 as the country’s second-in-command spymaster.
David Cohen, whose appointment as deputy director of the CIA was announced in January, will be the highest-ranking Jew now in the spy agency’s hierarchy — but not the first to reach its upper heights. In 1995, President Clinton appointed John Deutch, a scientist and Energy Department official, to head the agency. Deutch served in this position less than two years.
As undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, the position Cohen held until his CIA appointment, Cohen stood at the forefront of the battle to dry up the financial resources of ISIS. Experts see his new job as a mark of the importance that financial tracking has assumed in America’s national security infrastructure.
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From Ynet News
The secret history of Jewish moonshine in eastern Europe
Bootleg liquor and Judaism seem at odds, but before the Holocaust, over 80% of Poland’s Jew were involved in the production of alcoholic and some even owned bars; all that remains of their legacy is a book of liquor recipes which recently landed in Israel – Ynet took it out for a spin.
A manuscript written in German in Hebrew letters is all that remains of the unknown story of Jewish liquor producer in Europe during the 19th century. The book contains recipes of liquors distilled by Jews from France, Wrocław and Gdańsk, and has recently arrived at Israel’s National Library.
It’s author, ‘Yankel the Bartender’, laid out clear instructions on how to produce these foreign yet distinctly Jewish drinks, including details about how they should smell and look.
From Ynet News
PM: Denmark on high alert after ‘terrorist attack’
Police issue photograph of suspect who likely attempted to assassinate Swedish cartoonist in Copenhagen cafe shooting which claimed the life of a civilian. Denmark’s prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, said the country was on high alert after a “terrorist attack” in Copenhagen that police said had been aimed at a controversial Swedish artist.
“We feel certain now that it was a politically motivated attack, and thereby it was a terrorist attack,” she told reporters close to the site of the shooting, in which one civilian was killed and three policemen were wounded. “We are on high alert all over the country.”
From the Jewish Daily Forward
Deep in Dixie, Synagogue Stands Up for Gay Marriage — and Couples Flock To Say ‘I Do’
Letter From Huntsville
By Larisa Thomason
Welcome to “Wedding Week” in Huntsville, Alabama, where the city’s only Reform congregation stepped up to host the celebration of all things matrimonial after the state’s top judge resisted a federal court order to allow gay marriage to go ahead — and plunging temperatures made outdoor plans impractical.
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From Ynet News
Israel was on the map for HSBC bankers offering Swiss tax shelters
Senior banker says tax evasion assistance ended years ago, hints that some Israelis now using Hong Kong as alternative location for unreported accounts. The huge tax fraud scandal at the Geneva branch of the world’s second-largest bank, HSBC, is making waves around the world, and its juicy details continue to make headlines.
We have learned recently that bankers from the Geneva branch held hundreds of secret meetings with clients and potential clients in 25 different countries, including Israel, and that the meetings were part of efforts to convince the clients to open accounts at HSBC’s Swiss branch, apparently without reporting the accounts to the authorities.
From The Times of Israel
Nigerian leader calls for US help against Boko Haram
President Goodluck Jonathan appeals to Washington for military aid to fight off jihadist insurgency
KANO, Nigeria (AFP) — Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan appealed for more US help in fighting Boko Haram, as the Islamists struck again on Saturday and called for a boycott of upcoming general elections.
The head of state for the first time claimed direct links between the Sunni radicals who have been waging a six-year insurgency in Nigeria and the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.
He told the Wall Street Journal in an interview: “Are they (the United States) not fighting ISIS? Why can’t they come to Nigeria?
“They are our friends. If Nigeria has a problem, then I expect the US to come and assist us.”
Jonathan’s comments were published as hundreds of Islamist fighters invaded the northeastern city of Gombe, firing heavy guns and throwing leaflets calling for locals to shun the elections.
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From The Times of Israel
Obama condemns ‘outrageous’ murders of Muslim students
US president speaks out against intolerance, offers condolences to family; earlier Erdogan criticized leader for quiet
US President Barack Obama on Friday condemned the “brutal and outrageous” execution-style murders of three Muslim students in North Carolina at the hands of a neighbor who espoused anti-religious views.
“No one in the United States of America should ever be targeted because of who they are, what they look like, or how they worship,” Obama said in a statement.
The president has faced criticism for not responding quickly enough to the deaths of the three students — Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23; his new wife Yusor Abu-Salha, 21; and her 19-year-old sister Razan Abu-Salha.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened an inquiry into the shootings, allegedly carried out by Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, who railed against all religions on his Facebook page.
