From Russia Today
US invasion of Iraq helped create ISIS – former UN chief
“I was against this invasion and my fears have been founded. The break-up of the Iraqi forces poured hundreds if not thousands of disgruntled soldiers and police officers onto the streets,” Kofi Annan told the Munich Security Conference on Sunday. He added that some of these former security force members went on to join the Islamic State.
“The aim of creating democracy without the existing institutions ushered in corrupt sectarian governments,” Annan said. He added that the country has been unstable ever since and this has proved the perfect breeding ground for Sunni radical Muslims, who have become affiliated with the Islamic State.
From Russia Today
50,000 casualties in Ukraine? German intel calls Kiev’s 6k toll ‘not credible’
The German intelligence service estimates the real losses in the Ukrainian civil war at 50,000 dead (civilians and servicemen), which is nearly 10 times higher than reported by the Kiev authorities, German media report.
The information comes from a source in German intelligence, who spoke to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAZ) newspaper.
“Germany’s special services estimate the probable number of deceased Ukrainian servicemen and civilians at up to 50,000 people. This figure is about 10 times higher than official data. Official figures are clearly too low and not credible,” the newspaper reported on Sunday, citing its source.
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From Russia Today
Ukraine crisis: Putin, Poroshenko, Hollande, Merkel voice plans for Minsk meeting
The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany held a joint telephone call this morning, the German government says.
“In [the call] they worked further on a package of measures in the context of their efforts on a comprehensive settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine,” Steffen Seibert, Germany’s government spokesperson, said in a statement.
“This work will be continued tomorrow in Berlin with the goal of holding a ‘Normandy Format’ summit on Wednesday in Minsk,” he added.
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From The Times of Israel
Netanyahu vows to scuttle world powers’ Iran deal
Prime minister says he will lead international efforts against imminent ‘bad and dangerous’ nuclear agreement
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Sunday he would continue to try to defeat an expected agreement between the US and Iran over the latter’s nuclear development program as Washington predicted a handshake on the matter in the coming weeks.
“The [international] powers and Iran are racing forward with an agreement that will allow Iran to arm with nuclear weapons, something that will threaten the existence of the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said before the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu declared that he was ready to go head to head with US Secretary of State John Kerry in order to stop the deal.
“At the end of the week, Kerry and [Iranian Foreign Minister] Zarif announced their intention to complete the framework agreement by the end of March, and that is what gives rise to the urgency in our efforts to try and halt this bad and dangerous agreement,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue to act and to lead the international efforts against the arming of Iran with nuclear weapons and we will act in every way to foil the bad and dangerous agreement that would cast a heavy cloud over the future of Israel.”
The comments came after Kerry stressed to his Iranian counterpart, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, that the US aimed to meet a late March deadline for a deal reining in Iran’s nuclear program when the two men met on Friday in Munich.
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From The Times of Israel
Herzog: Netanyahu must cancel his speech to Congress
Labor leader warns PM ‘throwing Israel’s security under the bus’; Jewish Republicans threaten to ‘shame’ politicians who boycott address
Political bickering over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned speech to the two houses of Congress on March 3 continued on Saturday, both in Israel and the United States.
In Israel, Netanyahu’s chief rival in the March 17 general elections, Labor chief and Zionist Camp leader Isaac Herzog, said the premier must cancel his trip to the US due to the antagonism his address — which was coordinated with House Majority Leader John Boehner without involving the White House — has caused in Washington.
“The time has come when Bibi (Netanyahu) must announce the cancellation of his visit to Congress,” Herzog said in a speech at an international security conference in Munich. “In conversations I’ve held with many European and US leaders, it is clear there is great anger over Netanyahu diverting the discussion on Iran’s nuclear program for political gain, and turning it into a confrontation with the president of the United States.”
“This speech that was born in sin, as an electioneering ‘production,’ endangers the security of Israel’s citizens and the special relationship between Israel and the US,” Herzog charged.
“With all due respect to Bibi’s campaign, this is the moment when you must act as an Israeli patriot and not throw Israeli security under the bus.”
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Netanyahu sounds warning as Iran talks framework deal
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “will take any action” to prevent the world powers from signing a “bad and dangerous” deal with Iran over its nuclear program.
Netanyahu made the remarks Sunday at the start of the regular weekly Cabinet meeting after Iran’s foreign minister said his country and world powers intend to complete a framework agreement by the end of March.
“From this stems the urgency of our efforts to try and block this bad and dangerous agreement,” Netanyahu told the Cabinet. “The major powers and Iran are galloping toward an agreement that will enable Iran to arm itself with nuclear weapons, which will endanger the existence of the State of Israel.”
Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif met Friday and early Sunday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
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From PressTV
Belgian parliament approves Palestine state resolution
Belgium’s parliament has approved a resolution that calls for recognizing Palestine as an independent state as an international campaign to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state is gaining momentum.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel from the Reformist Movement party and three other parties namely the Flemish Liberals and Democrats, the Christian-Democratic and Flemish Party, and the New Flemish Alliance have submitted the resolution.
Sweden is the only European country that has officially recognized Palestine’s statehood, although several other parliaments in the European Union have also made similar moves, which demand that their governments recognize Palestine as a state.
Israel has been angered by the motions submitted to European parliaments.
On December 2, 2014, French lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of a motion to recognize Palestine as an independent state. The motion, urging the government to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state, was backed by a majority of 339 lawmakers while 151 members voted against.
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From The Daily Mail
Britain’s former Nato chief hits out at ‘irrelevant’ David Cameron as he warns Ukraine crisis could spiral into ‘total war’
- General Sir Richard Shirreff criticised Cameron in scathing interviews
- Said the Prime Minister is ‘clearly a bit player’ in the Ukraine crisis
- Argued nuclear deterrents must be updated in light of Russian upgrades
- Comments came as French and German leaders sat down with Putin
- Downing Street has played down a rift between France and Germany
The crisis in Ukraine could lead to ‘total war’, Britain’s former Nato chief warned yesterday.
His stark warning came as the French and German leaders flew to Moscow to thrash out a peace deal – without David Cameron.
General Sir Richard Shirreff also criticised Mr Cameron for not doing enough to persuade Vladimir Putin to pull back from Russia’s intervention in the country, saying he risked becoming a ‘foreign policy irrelevance’.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Green Party’s Dr. Jill Stein considering second presidential run
(JTA) — Dr. Jill Stein, a Boston-area Jewish internist, has launched an exploratory committee for the 2016 presidential race in what would be her second run.
Stein, 64, of Lexington, Mass., announced the committee’s launch on Friday during a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, the Boston Globe reported.
As the Green Party candidate in 2012, Stein appeared on ballots in 36 states and won 469,000 votes, or some 0.36 percent of the ballots cast.
Stein ran unsuccessfully for governor of Massachusetts in 2002 and 2010.
From Russia Today
Huge explosion at Donetsk chemical plant, military ‘don’t know what they hit’ (VIDEO)
The powerful explosion took place at 10:50pm local time on Sunday. Local militia reported that a military chemical plant DKZHI was the target of Kiev’s artillery shelling.
Witnesses saw the sky lit up by the explosion, some nearby living residents had their windows broken by the blast’s shockwave and many others felt the ground shake, RIA Novosti reported. Even those living in nearby towns said they felt the tremor.
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From Ynet News
UK needs to take urgent action over anti-Semitism, report says
All-party report says country must tackle ‘disturbing’ rise in anti-Semitism, including measures to deal with growing ‘cyber hate’ on social media. Urgent action is needed to tackle a “disturbing” rise in anti-Semitism in Britain including measures to deal with growing “cyber hate” on social media, a group of senior lawmakers said on Monday.
Last week, the body which advises Britain’s estimated 260,000 Jews on security reported that the number of anti-Semitic incidents in Britain had risen to a record level last year.
From Ynet News
Women want Jerusalem modesty signs removed
After Beit Shemesh residents win battle against signs disrespecting women, Jerusalem councilwoman and two social activists call on mayor to remove offensive signs from capital’s haredi neighborhoods. Will the Jerusalem Municipality remove the famous modesty signs which have been hanging in the city’s ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods for years?
Following the recent victory of four religious women from Beit Shemesh in a battle against signs disrespecting women, Jerusalem Councilwoman Laura Wharton and social activists Nili Weinfeld and Karnina Keinan have appealed to Mayor Nir Barkat, demanding that he remove the offensive signs from the capital’s streets.
