Dr. Patrick Slattery’s News Roundup
A service of DavidDuke.com
From Russia Today
Iran asks Lavrov to bless nuclear deal, Obama says ‘chances less than 50-50’
Iran insists the final document of the P5+1 negotiation in Vienna must be announced in the presence of the Russian foreign minister. Meanwhile the US president reassures colleagues he “wouldn’t agree to something he thought was weak or unenforceable.”
As the negotiating parties seek to conclude the long-awaited deal, Iran and the US seems to have made up their minds on how to treat the ongoing talks.
“For us it will be appropriate if Mr. [Sergey] Lavrov will be here for a deal. And I think for him it is important to be here when the deal is done, if it is done,” a senior Iranian diplomat told Sputnik.
Lavrov, who is currently attending the BRICS summit in Ufa, Russia, said that universal agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue is within a reach and the sides are just a step away from making a deal. The ending of nuclear talks in Vienna will open road to lifting sanctions against Iran, he said.
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From Ynet News
Gag order lifted: Two Israelis held captive in Gaza
Possibly mentally ill Israeli Ethiopian apparently crossed border fence on his own volition in September 2014, and then captured by Hamas; second citizen also reported to be in the Strip.
Two Israelis are believed to be held captive in the Gaza Strip, one of them missing for ten months, it was revealed on Thursday morning following the lifting of a gag order.
One of them, Avraham Mangisto, 29 from Ashkelon, has hone missing in the early hours of September 8, 2014, and was seen crossing the border into Gaza out of his own volition. A second citizen, a Bedouin resident of the south, has also crossed the border into the Strip, also of his own accord, several months later.
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From Russia Today
NSA spied on German Chancellors for 10 yrs, tapped 125 govt phone numbers – WikiLeaks
Edited time: July 08, 2015 23:29
America’s National Security Agency has spied on German chancellors and their offices for more than 10 years, a new WikiLeaks report says. The three leaked NSA intercepts indicate that the US targeted 125 phone numbers of top German officials.
The National Security Agency’s (NSA) intercepts published on Wednesday show that Washington has been tapping the phones of the political offices of the last three German chancellors – Angela Merkel, Gerhard Schröder (in office 1998–2002) and Helmut Kohl (chancellor from 1982 to 1998), the whistleblowing site said in a report Wednesday.
The new list released on Wednesday of the so-called “selectors” includes 56 phone numbers for the Chancellor and the Federal Chancellery (Bundeskanzleramt) with almost two dozen telephone numbers which belong to Merkel’s current political entourage.
Washington has been tapping not only the numbers for Chancellor Merkel, but also for her top officials, her aides, her chief of staff, her political office and even her fax machine, WikiLeaks said.
From The Times of Israel
Argentina’s Kirchner in series of anti-Semitic tweets
President evokes Shakespeare’s Shylock in talk on country’s financial woes, then refuses to apologize
The Times of Israel liveblogged events on Wednesday as they unfolded.
Opposition sees first Knesset vote win
A bill submitted by the opposition and expected to fail passed by a single vote at the Knesset plenum, marking a first loss for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition since its establishment more than two months ago.
The bill, submitted by Yesh Atid MK Karin Elharar, enables people whom the Tax Authority opened a file against in preparation for confiscation of their assets to manage the file only in a Tax Authority office near their home.
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From The Times of Israel
US floating possibility of open-ended Iran nuclear talks
White House says it won’t walk away from ‘useful’ negotiations despite repeated missed deadlines and significant gaps between the sides
After missing a second deadline in a week on Tuesday for concluding the nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers, the US administration has begun to suggest the talks could continue without set timetables.
American officials insisted this week that the sides “have never been closer” to sealing up a deal that would scale back Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from crippling international sanctions.
But that optimism hasn’t translated into agreement on key issues, including international inspections of Iranian military sites, the exact timeframe for sanctions relief after a deal is completed, and more.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest suggested Tuesday the US was unlikely to walk away from the talks even if they continued to miss calendar benchmarks.
“We’ve got some bipartisan agreement that this is an available approach that could benefit the United States and our negotiating partners in a way that continues to keep the pressure on Iran to reach a final agreement,” he said on Tuesday about the possibility of open-ended talks, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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From The Times of Israel
US leaving Israel in the dark on Iran talks, say Israeli officials
American negotiator Wendy Sherman tried to call Israel’s national security adviser Yossi Cohen, but couldn’t reach him, US officials insist
The American negotiating team at the Iran nuclear talks in Vienna has not updated Israel on developments in the talks in nearly two weeks, Israeli and American officials acknowledged Tuesday.
The officials did not agree on the reasons for the failure, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
In a briefing to reporters in Vienna, senior American officials said that Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, who has led the Iran talks for the US, tried to contact Israel’s National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen three times over the past ten days, but scheduling conflicts prevented the calls from going through.
A senior official in Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that the last update from Sherman took place 12 days ago, but insisted, “we have not declined any offers for further updates.”
From The Times of Israel
Hamas leader: Israel negotiating to get back soldiers’ bodies
Khaled Mashaal says EU officials appealed to Gaza-based group regarding return of remains captured during Gaza war
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said Wednesday that, through a European intermediary, Israel has requested the return of the remains of Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, two IDF soldiers killed during last summer’s 50-day war in the Gaza Strip.
Speaking to the London-based al-Araby al-Jadeed newspaper, Mashaal claimed that while European officials had appealed to the group with the Israeli request, Hamas had refrained from issuing an official response.
The Hamas leader declined to provide any further information regarding the ostensible negotiations.
Israel captured dozens of Hamas fighters during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.
In late March, al-Araby al-Jadeed reported that Israel had requested that European officials serve as mediators in negotiations with Hamas in a bid to recover the remains of the two soldiers. According to the report, Israeli security sources contacted German officials as well as those of several other European entities with the inquiry last month.
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