Dr. Patrick Slattery’s News Roundup
A service of DavidDuke.com
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Prominent scholars blast theory tracing Ashkenazi Jews to Turkey
Eran Elhaik (Screenshot from YouTube)
(JTA) — Prominent scholars of Jewish demography dismissed the findings of a newly published genetic study suggesting that today’s Ashkenazi Jews originate from converts to Judaism in what today is Turkey.
Titled “Localizing Ashkenazic Jews to primeval villages in the ancient Iranian lands of Ashkenaz,” the study by the University of Sheffield geneticist Eran Elhaik and three other researchers appeared in March in Oxford University Press’ prestigious scientific journal Genome Biology and Evolution.
It is based on an analysis of the genomes of 367 people, mostly from the United States, who reported having Ashkenazi lineage. Using a tool called geographic population structure, the researchers compared their genomes to those of non-Jews from German lands, south Russia and the Middle East. A match was found between the Jewish group’s genetic information and that of populations in northeastern Turkey.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Israeli troops come under fire on Gaza border
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli troops came under fire Tuesday on the border with Gaza hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the border and remarked on its quietness.
An Israeli army engineering vehicle was hit in the fire from northern Gaza and damaged by the bullets, the Israel Defense Forces said. There has been no claim of responsibility from Gaza.
Several hours earlier, Netanyahu had visited troops stationed on the southern Gaza border with the IDF chief of staff, Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, and the Southern Command chief, Maj.-Gen. Eyal Zamir.
From PressTV
Syria raps Norway militant training in Jordan
Syria’s Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned Norway’s plan to dispatch dozens of troops to Jordan to train militants for fighting the Damascus government, saying the move amounts to a flagrant violation of national sovereignty.
The ministry in a statement on Tuesday called the reported deployment of 60 Norwegian troops as “a blatant and unacceptable interference in Syria’s internal affairs and a flagrant violation of its sovereignty,” which came without authorization from the Syrian government.
The decision by the Norwegian government also runs contrary to internationally recognized norms and conventions on combating terrorism which calls for coordination with the governments of the states involved in fighting terrorism, it added.
The statement calls on the international community and the Norwegian public to take a stand against such irresponsible decisions that have resulted in the spread of terrorism in the Mideast region and elsewhere.
“….with terrorism striking in the hearts of European cities while their governments’ continue to practice imbalanced policies regarding the crisis in Syria and regarding the war on terrorism,” it explained.
It also criticizes the US-led Western policy of dividing terrorists into good and bad.
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said Monday the Norwegian Parliament will need to be consulted if troops from the Scandinavian country are to operate within Syria.
Defense Minister Ine Marie Eriksen Soreide did not identify which Syrian groups will be trained by the Norwegian soldiers, noting that they have been selected following a “thorough and systematic” selection process.
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From Russia Today
Mass protests in Japan as battle over changes to pacifist constitution looms
Published time: 3 May, 2016 21:15
© Ruptly
Tens of thousands poured out onto the streets of Tokyo on Constitution Day to protest Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s touted plan to change the country’s fundamental war laws in the coming months.
Adopted on May 3, 1947, with input from the occupying US force, the constitution contains Article 9, which reads that “the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes” and promises that “land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained.”
Abe has long proclaimed his desire to overturn Article 9, to give Japan more international influence, fend off China’s growing might, and create closer ties with Washington.
© Ruptly
As 50,000 demonstrators – according to organizers – gathered to mark the symbolic date at Rinkai Disaster Prevention Park in Tokyo, they shouted “Safeguard the Constitution! No more wars!” and “Abe out!”
© Ruptly
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From Ynet News
Israel-US deal mired with disagreements
As the two nations are negotiaing the largest arms deal in its history, Washington wants all money to be spent inside the US, while Jerusalem wants a 400% increase in anti-missile defense funding. Negotiations meant to enshrine US defense aid for Israel over the next decade have snagged on disputes about the size, scope and fine print of a new multibillion-dollar package, officials say.
Five months into the talks, several US and Israeli officials disclosed details about the disputes to Reuters on condition of anonymity. The US and Israeli governments said negotiations were continuing, declining to elaborate. Israel is seeking up to $10 billion more than the current 10-year package and billions more than the US administration is offering, partly by asking for guaranteed funding for missile defence projects hitherto funded on an ad hoc basis by the US Congress, the officials said.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Buoyed by haredi growth, Jewish school enrollment in NY up by 4.4 percent in one year
Haredi Orthodox Jewish girls in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, Jan. 1, 2014. (Nati Shohat/Flash 90)
NEW YORK (JTA) — Enrollment in New York State’s Jewish day schools and yeshivas increased by 4.4 percent last year.
According to data compiled by the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council from statistics provided by the New York State Education Department, more than 143,000 students were enrolled in 405 K-12 Jewish schools in the state during the 2014-15 academic year.
Not surprisingly, enrollment and growth was highest in counties with the largest haredi Orthodox populations. Brooklyn enrolled 80,132 students, up from 78,759 the previous year. Other top-enrolling counties were Rockland (23,618), Orange (10,997), Queens (10,503) and Nassau (7,592), all of which experienced increases over the previous year.
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From PressTV
Saudi, Turkish commanders ordered Aleppo attacks: Syrian minister
The Syrian information minister says Turkey and Saudi Arabia are to blame for the recent spike in terrorist attacks in the country’s northwestern province of Aleppo.
“Turkish and Saudi commanders have issued the order for targeting Syrian civilians and government troops in Aleppo,” Omran al-Zoubi was quoted by Arabic-language media sources as saying on Wednesday.
Zoubi made the remarks after around 15 people were killed as foreign-backed militants shelled two mosques, a hospital and several neighborhoods in Aleppo which has been divided between government forces and foreign-backed militants since 2012, a year after the conflict broke out in Syria.
On Tuesday, another 19 people were killed and 80 more injured as militants targeted the province.
Zoubi also said that around 6,000 terrorists had entered Syria over the last few days.
Meanwhile, the United Nations special envoy for Syria underlined the need for a faltering ceasefire in the country to be “brought back on track” amid the recent surge of violence.
“We need to make sure the cessation of hostilities is brought back on track,” Staffan de Mistura said during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.
The truce, brokered by Russia and the United States, went into effect in late February in a bid to facilitate negotiations between the warring sides to the conflict.
However, the escalation of attacks by foreign-backed militants in recent weeks has left the ceasefire in tatters and torpedoed the peace talks.
Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. De Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which has also displaced over half of the Arab country’s pre-war population of about 23 million.
From PressTV
Israeli forces shoot dead Palestinian in West Bank
Israeli forces have shot and killed another Palestinian who had allegedly rammed his car into three Israeli soldiers in the occupied west bank.
Local sources said the Palestinian was killed on Tuesday near the illegal Israeli settlement of Dolev northwest of Ramallah.
The Israeli military said in a statement that the unidentified Palestinian man was shot dead after he allegedly rammed his car into three Israeli soldiers in the area.
The Israelis were reportedly injured in the incident, one gravely, and were transported to a hospital in the occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem).
A new wave of uprising has erupted in the West Bank since last October after Palestinians accused Israelis of trying to change the status quo of the al-Aqsa Mosque by increasingly frequenting the religious compound. The mosque is one of the most sacred in the world for the Muslims.
More than 200 have been killed from the Palestinians since the start of the uprising, with Israelis claiming that most of them were involved in attacks against the settlers as well as against the regime forces. More than two dozen have been killed from the Israeli side.
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From PressTV
Charges of insulting Erdogan meant to quell dissent: Nobel laureate
A Nobel Prize-winning Turkish author has accused Ankara of bringing charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against people in an attempt to suppress dissent and frighten opponents.
Orhan Pamuk made the remarks in Istanbul on Tuesday after he attended the trial of Turkish writer, columnist and academic Murat Belge.
Pamuk expressed dismay over the increasing number of insult cases, saying, “This has nothing to do with insulting the president. This is only about silencing political opposition. This is about intimidating people and scaring the country so nobody would criticize the government.”
“I have been writing for 40 years. I am fed up with appearing at the gates of courts, defending my friends and my own cases,” Pamuk said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Pamuk called on authorities in European states to pay more attention to Turkey’s record on freedom of expression as it is cooperating with Ankara over the refugee crisis.
The European Union struck a deal with Turkey in March, promising money, accelerated EU accession negotiations and visa-free travel to Europe in return for help stemming the flow of refugees to the continent.
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From Russia Today
Ice Age Europeans had brown eyes & dark complexion – DNA research
Published time: 3 May, 2016 05:51
© interkcol / Instagram
A new study has revealed previously unknown details about early Ice Age Europeans, including fluctuations in their eye color and complexion. The research paints a picture of a dramatic history of mass migrations spanning thousands of years.
READ MORE: Mysterious ‘Denisova’ humans possibly inhabited Siberian cave 110,000 years ago
A paper titled “The genetic history of Ice Age Europe,” was published by Nature Journal on May 2. Researchers used new techniques to analyze 51 samples of degraded DNA from ancient remains to shed light on over some 40,000 years of prehistory.
The study concluded that the genes of Ice Age Europeans show prevailing dark complexions and brown eyes. The evidence also revealed that blue eyes appeared 14,000 years ago at most, while pale skin spread across the continent some 7,000 years ago. Both were brought in by migration from the Near East.
Another big find was that different groups of Europeans were descended from a single founder population between 37,000 years ago and 14,000 years ago. During the period, Neanderthal ancestry in Europeans was in decline, likely due to natural selection.
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