Dr. Patrick Slattery’s News Roundup
A service of DavidDuke.com
From PressTV
Israel plans over 55,000 new West Bank settler units: NGO
Israel plans to build more illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to the Israeli rights group Peace Now.
The group published a report on Monday, based on government data obtained under a Freedom of Information Act, revealing that the Israeli regime’s housing ministry was seeking to build 55,548 units in the West Bank – including two new settlements – of which more than 8,300 would be in the contentious area of the occupied West Bank known as E1, which is located adjacent to East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
The housing ministry spokeswoman could not be immediately reached for comment on Monday.
E1 and the Maaleh Adumim settlement next to it form an Israeli buffer east of Jerusalem that the Palestinians say would divide the West Bank and severely undermine the likelihood of the creation of a contiguous Palestinian state.
“The area of Maale Adumim and E1 is one of the most sensitive areas in terms of the chances for two state solution,” Peace Now wrote.
“For these reasons, whenever an Israeli leader tries to promote the plans in E1, the international community strongly condemns them.”
International bodies including the United Nations and the European Union are all opposed to Israeli settlement building but have voiced particular concern about plans for E1.
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From Russia Today
Ukrainian President Poroshenko’s approval rating drops below ousted predecessor’s
Published time: 28 Dec, 2015 14:44
Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich (L) and Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko © Reuters
President Petro Poroshenko is currently less popular with the Ukrainian people than his predecessor Viktor Yanukovich was just before being ousted in an armed coup almost two years ago, a Gallup poll showed.
Poroshenko’s approval rating dropped from 47 percent a few months after his election in May 2014 to just 17 percent after a year in office, the polling companyreported. When Yanukovich was forced to leave office by armed crowds in February 2014, his performance was approved of by 20 percent of Ukrainians.
In Eastern regions still under Kiev’s control roughly 11 percent of people polled approve of Poroshenko’s work as president. The rating dropped even lower in the south, where just 7 percent said the president was doing a good job. Approval ratings were around 22 percent elsewhere in the country.
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Despite his poor performance in the polls, Poroshenko is not yet the least-approved-of president of Ukraine as recorded by Gallup. Yanukovich’s predecessor, Viktor Yushchenko, who came to power in the wake of mass riots in Kiev in 2004, had a rating of just 7 percent in 2009, when his term was about to expire. Yanukovich came to power the following year with a 46 percent approval rating, much like Poroshenko had near the start of his term.
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From Russia Today
ISIS sets up ‘spoils of war’ dept to handle slaves, stolen treasure
Published time: 28 Dec, 2015 13:49
Militant Islamist fighters © Stringer / Reuters Leaked documents from US officials reveal Islamic State has a high level of organization, with numerous departments, including one dealing with ‘war spoils’ such as slaves, stolen antiquities and natural resources.
The documents, seized by US Special Operations Forces in a raid in Syria in May, reveal the extremist group’s hierarchy and complex bureaucracy.
Some of the documents – including data stored on computer hard drives, CDs, DVDs and paper – were later seen by Reuters.
“This really kind of brings it out. The level of bureaucratization, organization, the diwans [high governmental body], the committees,” Brett McGurk, President Barack Obama’s special envoy for the anti-IS coalition, told Reuters.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Israel: Brazil fomenting diplomatic crisis over failure to OK envoy
(JTA) — Israel’s deputy foreign minister said Brazil is likely to fuel a diplomatic crisis by withholding consent for its choice of ambassador, a former settler leader.
Tzipi Hotovely declared Sunday that the Jewish state will use a number of channels to secure the nomination of Dani Dayan, saying no other name will be put forward for the post.
Brazil has not officially signaled its apparent objection to Dayan since he was confirmed by the Israeli Cabinet in September to replace the current envoy. In September, President Dilma Rousseff expressed discomfort with Dayan’s appointment, saying it would signal “support for the settlement enterprise.”
The Argentina-born Dayan, 50, a former head of the Yesha Council of Jewish settlements, was tapped for the post by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in August. The following month, Rousseff sent a back-channel message disapproving of Dayan’s appointment after leftist Brazilians and Israelis lobbied against it, but has taken no official action.
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