From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Son of Lebanese immigrants, friend to Jewish community, named Brazil’s president
RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — The elevation of a centrist vice president, Michel Temer, as Brazil’s president amid the impeachment process of Dilma Rousseff is expected to result in a less strained relationship between Brazil and Israel, as well as its Jewish community, Jewish leaders said.
Temer, 75, the son of Lebanese immigrants, took the helm of Latin America’s largest nation on Thursday. He has been vice president since 2011.
Rousseff, who has served for 13 years, was suspended by the Brazilian Congress for 180 days as part of an ongoing impeachment process. She has rankled the Jewish community with what were seen as anti-Israel remarks, including calling Israel’s conflict with Hamas in 2014 “a massacre.”
Also, Brazil refused to accept the appointment of a former West Bank settler leader, Dani Dayan, as ambassador to Brasilia. In March, Dayan was named consul general in New York and no one has been named in his place.
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From PressTV
15 killed in Daesh attacks in and around Baghdad
Bomb attacks by Takfiri group Daesh in and around the Iraqi capital Baghdad have left at least 15 people killed.
Security and health officials said on Sunday that seven people, including two soldiers, were killed in a car bomb that targeted a shopping area in the town of Latifiyah, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Baghdad.
At least 18 people were also wounded in the attack, four of whom soldiers, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Police said three separate bomb attacks targeted commercial areas inside Baghdad, killing at least eight civilians and wounding 28 others. Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures.
The attacks were the latest in a new spate of bombings to have hit the Iraqi capital over the past days. Daesh, a terror group controlling areas in west and north, has claimed responsibility for the violence which has left more than 140 killed since Wednesday.
Earlier on Sunday, at least 11 people, including policemen, were killed and 21 others wounded when bomb attacks ripped through a state-run cooking gas factory in the town of Taji, located 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Baghdad.
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From PressTV
Bombing hits Yemen’s Mukalla, leaves 25 police recruits dead
At least 25 Yemeni police recruits loyal to the former Saudi-backed government have been killed in a bomb attack in the southern port city of Mukalla.
Security sources said the attacker set off his explosives as the recruits were lining up at a military base in Mukalla’s Foua suburb on Sunday.
Sixty people were also wounded in the attack, which has been claimed by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, a medical source said.
The incident came a few days after three bombings rocked army bases near the city and left at least 15 Yemeni troops dead. The Takfiri Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for one of the attacks, which was a car bombing.
On April 24, forces loyal to the resigned Yemeni president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, backed by Emirati troops, retook Mukalla, the capital of the vast desert province of Hadhramaut, from the al-Qaeda militants, who had occupied the city for a year.
From Russia Today
Saudi embassy branded ‘Daesh bank’ in Berlin projection stunt (PHOTOS)
Published time: 16 May, 2016 00:03
© PixelHELPER / Facebook
The embassy of Saudi Arabia in the German capital has been decorated with an ISIS flag and labeled the “Daesh Bank” in a projection stunt performed by human rights activists in an effort to draw attention to the kingdom’s purported links to terrorist organizations.
Artist Oliver Bienkowski and the Pixel Helper collective performed the stunt to draw public attention to Saudi Arabia’s egregiously bad human rights record and country’s alleged support of extremist groups.
Although Saudi Arabia plays one of the key roles in the US-led coalition aimed at eradicating Islamic State, the kingdom has faced criticism from its western allies for not making enough of an effort in the fight against terrorism.
OP-EDGE: ‘Saudi-backed Wahhabist ideology: The root cause of terrorism’
The kingdom has been regularly accused of supporting and financing various extremist groups serving their interests in the region. A 2009 memo published by WikiLeaks revealed that Hillary Clinton, who was back then the US Secretary of State, said that Saudi Arabia had been financing ISIS, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Saudi Arabia shrugged off the allegations, underscoring the initiatives it undertakes to prevent people from financing the terrorist groups.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Michigan public radio station refuses to air birthday greeting to Israel
(JTA) — A Jewish couple from Detroit is pressing a Michigan public radio station to broadcast a birthday greeting to Israel paid for by their sponsorship of the station.
Hannan and Lisa Lis made a donation to Michigan Radio, a statewide public radio group operated by the University of Michigan, that entitled them to sponsor a day’s broadcast and have a message read on the air six times.
The couple requested “Happy 68th Birthday Israel” to be broadcast on Israel Independence Day, which took place on May 12, Deadline Detroit first reported. Hannan Lis is an Israeli citizen, and one son is serving in the Israeli army. Lisa Lis is a daughter of Weight Watchers CEO Florine Marks.
The station first said it needed two months notice to broadcast a message, but then rejected the message outright, saying in a letter to the couple: “We have determined that this message would compromise the station’s commitment to impartiality and that it crosses over into advocacy, or could imply advocacy.”
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Bill Clinton: ‘I killed myself to give the Palestinians a state’
Bill Clinton speaking while campaigning for his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, in New Orleans, March 4, 2016. (Josh Brasted/Getty Images)
(JTA) — Saying “I killed myself to give the Palestinians a state,” former President Bill Clinton defended his record on Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, and his wife’s, at a campaign event.
“I had a deal they turned down that would have given them all of Gaza,” Clinton said Friday in response to a heckler at an event in New Jersey in support of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, Politico first reported.
The former president also commended Hillary Clinton, who as secretary of state during President Barack Obama’s first term from 2009 to 2013 pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to meet and make peace, and defended her against the heckler who pointed out that she said “neutrality is not an option” in dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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From Russia Today
New Zealand school sets up unisex toilet for 6-year-old transgender pupil
Published time: 15 May, 2016 11:07
© Jonathan Drake / Reuters
An Auckland primary school has installed a unisex toilet for a 6-year-old transgender pupil. The name of the school wasn’t given by Australian media to protect the child’s privacy.
Schoolmates supported the pupil, according to sources cited by the New Zealand Herald.
The school’s board chairman said that they had decided to set up a unisex WC to support and help the pupil “feel safe in the school environment.”
Other parents weren’t informed about the move, he said, but added that he thinks their “parent community supports diversity.”
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