REUTERS - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden publicly condemned on Wednesday Israel's new plan to build 1,600 homes for Jewish settlers, saying on a West Bank visit the project undermined Washington's peace efforts. "It is incumbent on both parties to build an atmosphere of support for negotiations and not to complicate them," Biden said in a media statement alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The German Foreign Ministry on Wednesday voiced sharp criticism of an Israeli decision to approve the building of new homes on occupied land in East Jerusalem. A spokesman for Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said that, particularly in light of planned peace talks, the plan to build 1,600 new homes was "not acceptable." "In terms of content and the timing, this gives an entirely wrong signal," a ministry spokesman said. "All political efforts must focus on creating the conditions for comprehensive negotiations, to resolve the key issues in the conflict."
The German Foreign Ministry on Wednesday voiced sharp criticism of an Israeli decision to approve the building of new homes on occupied land in East Jerusalem.
A spokesman for Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said that, particularly in light of planned peace talks, the plan to build 1,600 new homes was "not acceptable."
"In terms of content and the timing, this gives an entirely wrong signal," a ministry spokesman said. "All political efforts must focus on creating the conditions for comprehensive negotiations, to resolve the key issues in the conflict."
and that's what Israel has got. US acquiescence. Choke on it Biden, you got played. keep to the Fen Causeway
A group of Knesset faction chairmen on Wednesday sent a letter to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden requesting clemency for Jonathan Pollard, who is serving a life sentence in the U.S. after being convicted of spying for Israel.
REUTERS - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates traded barbs on Wednesday during briefly overlapping visits to Afghanistan, where Washington has troops at war but Tehran has growing clout. Ahmadinejad, who arrived as Gates was wrapping up a three-day visit, told a news conference alongside Afghan President Hamid Karzai that U.S. and Western troops would never defeat terrorism by waging war in Afghanistan. Gates said earlier in the week Iran was playing a "double game" in Afghanistan by being friendly to the government while trying to undermine the United States. He said on Wednesday he had passed those concerns on to Karzai.
AFP - New laws released by Myanmar's junta mean the opposition National League for Democracy must expel its detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi ahead of elections this year, a party spokesman said Wednesday. Details of the Political Parties Registration Act published in state newspapers state that anyone serving a prison term cannot be a party member. Suu Kyi is serving an 18-month suspended sentence under house arrest.
AFP- Two US missile strikes on Wednesday killed at least 12 militants in Pakistan's tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said. The first strike took place at 8:00 pm (1500 GMT) in Mizar Madakhel village, some 50 kilometres (31 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, followed swiftly by a second attack. Eight militants were killed when the drone fired four missiles, hitting a vehicle and a compound which were being used by the insurgents, a senior security official in the area said.
AFP - Sunni Islam's top cleric, Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, died on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia of a heart attack suffered while boarding a plane, Egyptian officials and state media said. Tantawi, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar -- Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning -- was in Riyadh to attend the King Faisal awards ceremony, the official MENA news agency said. Tantawi was boarding a plane early Wednesday morning when he suffered severe pain and fell on the stairs, Egyptian television said.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Initial results from Iraq's national election are likely to be released by Thursday, Iraqi and U.N. officials said on Wednesday, as further signs emerged of a strong showing for Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. The Iraqi National Alliance (INA), a largely Shi'ite group that is challenging Maliki's bid to win a second term, told a news conference that according to their informal tallies the prime minister was ahead in at least 10 of Iraq's 18 provinces.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Initial results from Iraq's national election are likely to be released by Thursday, Iraqi and U.N. officials said on Wednesday, as further signs emerged of a strong showing for Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
The Iraqi National Alliance (INA), a largely Shi'ite group that is challenging Maliki's bid to win a second term, told a news conference that according to their informal tallies the prime minister was ahead in at least 10 of Iraq's 18 provinces.
