Christian Bishop Investigates Islam with Yusuf Estes

Exit poll: Ruling Dutch coalition punished in local election

March 18, 2015

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch voters dealt a blow to Prime Minister Mark Rutte's reform agenda for the final two years of his second term in office Wednesday, with a provincial election exit poll showing he will soon struggle to cobble together a majority in Parliament's upper house.

The results appeared to be a ballot box punishment for years of austerity measures by Rutte, even as those reforms seem to be bearing fruit with the Dutch economy now showing strong signs of recovery.

According to an Ipsos poll carried out for national broadcaster NOS, Rutte's Liberal Party lost 3.8 percentage points of its vote compared to provincial elections four years ago. The vote is significant because provincial aldermen elected Wednesday will, in turn, choose a new Senate on May 26.

The exit poll, with a margin of error of two percent, suggested that the Liberals could lose four of their 16 seats in the 75-seat Senate. Rutte's junior coalition partner Labor fared far worse, shedding 7.3 percentage points of its vote or six of its 14 seats.

The Christian Democrats were running neck and neck with Rutte's Liberals and the centrist Democrats 66 also registered strong gains. Labor Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem called it a disappointing result for his party.

"We have asked a lot of people in recent years. In part that was unavoidable because we came into office at the deepest point of the (financial) crisis," he told NOS. He conceded that it would now be tough to push through reforms.

Rutte's two-party coalition already lacks a majority in the Senate and relies on three opposition parties — known as the constructive opposition — to help pass new laws. But the exit poll suggested that even that ad-hoc coalition will soon no longer command a majority in the upper house, putting in question the government's ability to push legislation through both houses of parliament.

The Freedom Party of anti-Islam firebrand Geert Wilders edged lower and was forecast to lose one of its 10 Senate seats. Elections for the lower house of parliament are not due until May 2017.

UK ambassador: "Canakkale is impassable"

18 March 2015 Wednesday

U.K. ambassador to Turkey, Richard Moore, has said that "Canakkale is impassable" on the 100th anniversary of Turkey's Martyrs’ Day.

The British ambassador tweeted the Turkish-language phrase on Wednesday, adding: "All the parties fought bravely but it was the Turks who won the deserved victory."

The Gallipoli campaign is regarded as a heroic war of defense by Turks but a catastrophe for Australians and New Zealanders -- grouped in the famous "Anzac" units -- who were fighting on behalf of Britain.

Around 13,000 New Zealanders and 50,000 Australians fought during the war and at least 2,700 New Zealanders and 8,700 Australians were killed. Ottoman forces lost almost 60,000 soldiers. Around 1,700 Indian soldiers, fighting for the British crown, also lost their lives.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/156718/uk-ambassador-canakkale-is-impassable.

Prince Harry will train with Australian army next month

March 17, 2015

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Prince Harry will be embedded in Australian army units on the north, west and east coasts of the country during the British royal's hectic four-week secondment to the Australian defense forces next month before he ends his decade-long military career, officials said Tuesday.

Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, who is Australia's Defense Force Chief, said that Captain Harry Wales, as he is known in the British Army, will be embedded with a number of Australian army units and regiments in the cities of Sydney, Darwin and Perth.

"We have prepared a challenging program that will see Capt. Wales deploy on urban and field training exercises, domestic deployments, as well as participate in indigenous engagement activities," Binskin said in a statement.

"While all our units are highly capable, we have selected those units that best utilize Capt. Wales' skill sets and give him some experience of the diverse range of capability we have within the ADF," he said.

The Australian tour is an extension of prince's regular British army duties, he said. The fourth in line to the British throne will also attend centenary commemorations of the World War I Gallipoli campaign in Turkey on April 25.

In a statement confirming he would leave the army in June, Harry said that leaving the army had been "a really tough decision" but he was excited about the future. "From learning the hard way to stay onside with my Color Sergeant at Sandhurst, to the incredible people I served with during two tours in Afghanistan — the experiences I have had over the last 10 years will stay with me for the rest of my life," he said. "For that I will always be hugely grateful."

Neil James, chief executive of the Australian Defense Association think tank, said the prince would likely be attached at an armed reconnaissance helicopter squadron in the northern city of Darwin and possibly an aviation unit supporting a commando regiment in the east coast city of Sydney.

The west coast city of Perth is the base of the elite Special Air Service Regiment which extensively uses helicopters in training exercises, James said. Tropical Darwin is also a training hub for U.S. Marines and the base of a predominantly Aboriginal infantry regiment, the North-West Mobile Force, better known as NORFORCE.

No more soldier prince: UK's Harry to leave army in June

March 17, 2015

LONDON (AP) — It's a soldier's life no more for Britain's Prince Harry.

Royal officials said Tuesday that the 30-year old prince will leave the armed forces in June after 10 years of service that included two tours of duty in Afghanistan. Harry's final army duties will include a four-week assignment in April and May with the Australian Defense Force. The prince will spend time in Darwin, Perth and Sydney and attend centenary commemorations of the World War I Gallipoli campaign in Turkey.

Harry said that leaving the army had been "a really tough decision" but he was excited about the future. In a statement, Harry said he felt "incredibly lucky" to have had the chance to serve in the armed forces.

"From learning the hard way to stay onside with my Color Sergeant at Sandhurst, to the incredible people I served with during two tours in Afghanistan — the experiences I have had over the last 10 years will stay with me for the rest of my life," he said. "For that I will always be hugely grateful."

Harry, who is fourth in line to the British throne, graduated from Sandhurst officers' academy in 2006 and joined the Household Cavalry as an armored reconnaissance troop leader. He served in Afghanistan as a battlefield air controller for 10 weeks in 2007-2008 until a media leak cut his tour short.

Keen to return to the front lines despite fears he would be a top Taliban target, Harry retrained as a helicopter pilot and served in Afghanistan in 2012-2013 as an Apache co-pilot gunner. Most recently he has served as a staff officer in the army's London headquarters, playing a big role in bringing the Invictus Games — an international sports competition for wounded troops — to Britain.

Kensington Palace said that after leaving the army Harry will volunteer with the British military's Recovery Capability Program, which helps wounded service members, "while actively considering other longer-term employment opportunities."

Harry was the first British royal to see combat since his uncle, Prince Andrew, who flew Royal Navy helicopters during the 1982 Falklands War. His older brother Prince William also attended Sandhurst before training as a Royal Navy search-and-rescue helicopter pilot. He has since left the navy to become an air-ambulance pilot.

Harry has often seemed more comfortable as a soldier than in his royal duties, although he has been visibly energized by his work with charities for wounded veterans. "It's very easy to forget about who I am when I am in the army. Everyone's wearing the same uniform and doing the same kind of thing," Harry said in an interview after returning from Afghanistan in 2013.

Cyprus president to seek removal of Central Bank chief

March 16, 2015

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus' president said Sunday that he will seek to have the bailed-out country's embattled Central Bank chief removed from her post over a perceived conflict of interest.

President Nicos Anastasiades met late Sunday with Central Bank Governor Chrystalla Georghadji to contain the damage from a debacle that has shaken public trust in the institution. It also threatens to erode Anastasiades' personal credibility as he tries to nurse the country back to financial health.

Georghadji is in breach of her contract because her husband's law firm represents the former head of a defunct lender, who's embroiled in a legal battle with the Central Bank, government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said.

Christodoulides said the president "has no other choice" but to ask the attorney general to initiate legal proceedings aimed at Georghadji's dismissal. "The president of the republic regrettably notes that trust in the Central Bank, as well as in himself, has been gravely degraded," Christodoulides said.

Anastasiades can't fire the Central Bank chief, who answers to European Central Bank boss Mario Draghi. Christodoulides said that the Cypriot president has already informed Draghi of his intentions. Anastasiades appointed Georghadji a year ago following the resignation of her predecessor, Panicos Demetriades, after the Cypriot president accused him of botching the country's bailout negotiations with international creditors a year earlier.

Cyprus received a 10 billion euro financial rescue package in March 2013 that pulled it back from the brink of financial meltdown. But a core demand from international creditors was to seize uninsured deposits in the eurozone country's top two banks to prop up the largest lender, while shutting down the smaller one.

The government spokesman said responsibility rests on Georghadji's shoulders because the president wouldn't have appointed her had she informed him of her husband's connection to former Laiki Bank chief Andreas Vgenopoulos.

Georghadji emerged from the meeting with Anastasiades saying that she would carry on with her duties and that the "matter is closed as far as I'm concerned." "There's a constitution and laws that must be respected and which protect the independence of this office," Georghadji said.

State Broadcaster CyBC reported that the Central Bank governor's husband, Andreas Georghadjis, said his law office would stop representing Vgenopoulos and accused individuals he didn't name of using "hypocritical tactics" to undermine the Central Bank and his wife. Georghadjis said the Cypriot president knew that Vgenopoulos was his client two years before appointing his wife.

The matter dates back to October when Anastasiades publicly criticized Georghadji for not disclosing that her daughter worked for her estranged husband's law office, prompting a revision of her contract and assurances that the matter would be resolved.

But things boiled over again during a tumultuous parliamentary ethics committee meeting last week when a Central Bank executive board member alleged that Georghadji had obtained a list with the names of lawmakers with overdue loans at the Bank of Cyprus.

The board member, Stelios Kiliaris, suggested that Georghadji could use the information as leverage against detractors and get them to back off from conflict of interest accusations. Kiliaris, who has since resigned, went as far as to say that Georghadji had a vested interest having her estranged husband's law firm win the case against Vgenopoulos because she and her family would stand to gain millions.

Georghadji denied the allegations, insisting that she only sought the list as part of her supervisory duties and that she had no intention of holding the information over anyone.

Sweden raises military spending amid concerns over Russia

Stockholm (AFP)
March 12, 2015

Sweden said on Thursday it would raise defense spending by 6.2 billion kronor (677 million euros, $720 million) and bring back troops to a "strategic" Baltic island amid concerns over Russia's military resurgence.

The country's left-wing government said most of the money, to be spent between 2016 and 2020, would go towards modernizing ships that could detect and intercept submarines.

"We want to strengthen our ability to hunt submarines," Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist said at a press conference.

The announcement came a few months after a week-long search for a suspected Russian submarine in the waters off Stockholm was called off despite members of the public reporting five sightings of suspicious vessels in a week.

The Swedish military's failure in October to find what it would only refer to as "a foreign vessel" -- but which was believed by most experts to be Russian -- raised questions over the country's military spending after years of cutbacks in the post-Cold War era.

The extra funds would also be used to re-establish a permanent military presence on the island of Gotland, between southern Sweden and Latvia, for the first time in 10 years.

The country's largest island "is of high strategic value for Sweden and all of the Baltic Sea," Hultqvist said.

The government wants 150 troops to be stationed on Gotland, Swedish media reported.

The United States on Monday began to deploy 3,000 troops on a three-month exercise in the Baltic to reassure Russia's nervous neighbors.

Operation Atlantic Resolve would see major NATO forces working alongside their allies in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia -- former Soviet republics now members of the Western alliance, military officials said.

The search last year in Stockholm's archipelago, involving battleships, minesweepers and helicopters, stirred up Swedes' memories of Cold War cat-and-mouse games with suspected Soviet submarines along Sweden's long, rugged coastline.

Together with a series of alleged airspace violations by Russian jets over the last year, it helped bolster public support for NATO membership in the non-aligned country.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Sweden_raises_military_spending_amid_concerns_over_Russia_999.html.

Brazil raises toll of bus accident to 54 dead, 10 injured

March 15, 2015

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The Brazilian government raised the death toll of a bus accident to 54 while police continued their search for more victims Sunday in the rugged lands of southern Brazil.

The dead include at least eight young children, three adolescents, 24 women and 14 men, the government of Santa Catarina state said in a statement earlier Sunday when the death toll stood at 49. There was no breakdown by age or gender given on the five additional casualties reported later.

The bus plunged 1,300 feet down a mountain near the city of Joinville on Saturday. Ten people were transferred to nearby hospitals with severe injuries, and only one patient has been reported in stable condition.

Officials earlier warned that the death toll could rise because more bodies could be found under the bus and in the woods. Police officers and emergency personnel started working on removing the bus on Sunday from the mountainous area in Serra Dona Francisca.

Later, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said the number of people confirmed killed had risen to 54, and she sent her condolences to their families. "In this hour of pain and suffering, I want to extend my sympathies to the families and friends who lost their loved ones," Rousseff said in a statement.

The bus crashed on a curvy road that winds through a verdant green region popular for hiking and biking in Santa Catarina state, located about 600 miles (950 kilometers) southwest of Rio de Janeiro.  Although the cause of the accident is under investigation, authorities suspect the driver may have lost control on a curve, causing the bus to run off the road.

The group was traveling from Uniao da Vitoria for a religious event near the coast in Parana state. The bus company could not be reached for comment.

Boko Haram losses and the Nigerian election campaign

By Phil Hazlewood
March 12, 2015

Lagos (AFP) - The Nigerian Army and its allies have claimed a series of successes against Boko Haram, on the face of it handing President Goodluck Jonathan a trump card in upcoming elections.

But experts say the apparent territorial gains may not translate into votes at the ballot box on March 28, with the situation still uncertain on the ground and tensions between the militaries involved.

Jonathan has been seen in combat fatigues congratulating troops after the recapture of Baga in northern Borno while the military has widely publicized its claimed gains on social media.

He told Voice of America in an interview published on Wednesday that Yobe and Adamawa state would be rid of Boko Haram by next week, and Borno within three weeks.

Earlier in the day, his government said 36 towns had been recaptured since a military coalition involving Cameroon, Chad and Niger began a concerted regional fight-back last month.

Ordinarily, a leader should be able to make political capital out of the successes, but with Nigeria outgunned and out-maneuvered for so long by Boko Haram, the situation is not so clear-cut.

"A lot of this (the military campaign) is coming almost as too little, too late," political commentator Chris Ngwodo told AFP.

"People are willing to applaud the Nigerian Army for what it's doing but not willing to extend the applause to the president, the commander-in-chief.

"I don't think it (the military campaign) is going to have the sort of dramatic, knock-on effect in the campaign."

- Good publicity -

Nigerians had been due to vote on February 14, with Jonathan and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) facing an unprecedented challenge from Muhammadu Buhari's All Progressives Congress (APC).

An Afrobarometer poll at the end of January put Jonathan and Buhari neck-and-neck on 42 percent, with the prospect that the PDP could lose the presidency for the first time since 1999.

Buhari, a former army general who headed a military government in the mid-1980s, has been seen as better placed to tackle Boko Haram, whose rebellion has killed more than 13,000 since 2009.

The military under Jonathan has been repeatedly criticized for failing to stop the violence, compounded by a series of previously misleading or untrue statements.

Thomas Hansen, from Control Risks consultants, described the military successes as "relatively credible" but with no independent verification, fears of propaganda persist.

For Imad Mesdoua, the military offensive has given a potential advantage to Jonathan and the PDP in terms of publicity.

"It certainly works in his favor and his party's favor," said Mesdoua, a political analyst specializing in West Africa at the Africa Matters consultancy in London.

"The president and his camp can point to genuine successes... The narrative was very negative. That's kind of reversed entirely."

But Nigeria's military has still had to face down claims from Niger and in particular Chad that their troops have played a major role in the recapture of towns previously under rebel control.

Questions remain, too, about overall election security, with a recent rise in suicide attacks and bombings by Boko Haram, which last weekend pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.

A longer term strategy once the military operation is over has yet to be outlined, including what happens to the presence of foreign troops on Nigerian soil.

- Voting intentions -

The controversial six-week extension to the election campaign was seen as favoring the PDP, allowing them to regain the momentum from the APC using the power of incumbency, including finances.

Since the delay was announced, both parties have campaigned less on the stump at large rallies and indulged more in mud-slinging against opponents and their backers.

Successful presidential candidates in Nigeria secure the mandate of both the Muslim-majority north and the Christian-dominated south.

Identity politics has seen the Boko Haram conflict largely ignored outside the northeast, with other factors -- including the current parlous state of the economy or corruption exercising voters more.

"The key now would be for the government to really consolidate the gains it has made against Boko Haram in the northeast," suggested Control Risks' Hansen, a senior West Africa analyst.

"My gut feeling is that the security issue will only play a prominent role in the voting in the areas most affected by security issues," added Mesdoua.

"The way the vote is won is often attributable to a whole range of complex factors. It can be from the region you're from to your ethnic group to your age range."

Netanyahu victory leaves damage in wake

March 18, 2015

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's strong showing in national elections this week has come with a price: He has managed to antagonize friends and foes alike with hard-line rhetoric on the campaign trail.

While the tough talk gave Netanyahu a last-minute boost in the polls, the Israeli leader could now face a difficult task convincing an already skeptical world that he is serious about reaching peace with his Arab neighbors — particularly if, as expected, he forms a new government comprised of religious and nationalistic parties.

Trailing in opinion polls, Netanyahu took a sharp turn to the right in the final days of the campaign to shore up support among his core nationalistic constituency. He vowed to increase settlement construction in east Jerusalem, the Palestinians' would-be capital, and rejected the idea of a Palestinian state in current conditions — putting him at odds with U.S. and European positions and reversing his own policy of the past six years.

In a last-ditch attempt to spur his supporters to the polls Tuesday, he warned that Arab citizens were voting "in droves" and endangering years of rule by his Likud Party. The comments drew accusations of racism from Israeli Arabs and a White House rebuke.

In Washington, the Obama administration said Wednesday that it was "deeply concerned" by the divisive language used by the Likud. White House spokesman Josh Earnest also said the U.S. would have to rethink the best way to bring about a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — a cornerstone of U.S. Mideast policy for years — after Netanyahu rejected the idea.

"Based on those comments, the U.S. will evaluate our position going forward," Earnest told reporters traveling aboard Air Force One on a flight to Cleveland. State Department spokesman Jen Psaki said Secretary of State John Kerry had called Netanyahu to congratulate him. But she refused to describe the conversation as "warm" or friendly.

Netanyahu's controversial stance appears to have paid off at home. Thought to be in danger of being voted out of office just a few days ago, the Likud emerged as the largest party in parliament when near-final results trickled in Wednesday, leaving it in position to lead the next coalition government. But the comments may have reinforced a belief in many world capitals that Netanyahu isn't serious about peace.

Dore Gold, a confidant and unofficial adviser to Netanyahu, said he was confident the prime minister could repair the relationship with the U.S., Israel's closest and most important ally. "The U.S. and Israel have had very sharp disagreements in the past about different aspects of Mideast policy but have usually been able to overcome the differences," Gold said. "I suspect that is exactly what is going to happen this time as well."

Gold declined to speculate on what Netanyahu might do, saying only that he is a masterful diplomat who knows "exactly how to address the U.S.-Israel relationship in a positive way." Elliot Abrams, a former adviser on Mideast policy to President George W. Bush, dismissed Netanyahu's campaign tactics as "hot rhetoric."

"I'm not sure they give us much insight into how he's going to govern," Abrams, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, told a briefing for reporters. The Likud led the election by capturing 30 seats in the 120-member parliament, according to near-final results released Wednesday.

Netanyahu is expected to cobble together a majority coalition in the coming weeks made up of religious and nationalist parties that generally oppose concessions toward the Palestinians, and a new centrist party whose agenda is focused almost entirely on domestic economic matters. The issue of the Palestinians is not expected to be high on the agenda.

Cabinet minister Yuval Steinitz, a close ally of Netanyahu's, said withdrawing from captured land to make way for a Palestinian state "is not relevant" in the current climate. He said Israel believes any land it relinquishes to the Palestinians will fall into the hands of hostile militant groups like Hamas or the Islamic State.

"Even though I understand the urge for peace now, we can't ignore the reality in the Middle East," he told Channel 10 TV. The only alternative, he said, is to "secure ourselves and preserve the status quo because we do not have a real partner for peace."

For now, the United States and the European Union appear set to give the next Israeli government the benefit of the doubt. The EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said in a statement that the 28-nation bloc was "committed to working with the incoming Israeli government on a mutually beneficial relationship as well as on the re-launch of the peace process."

It remains unclear, however, how long the world will wait. German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schafer said his government took Netanyahu's comments on Palestinian independence "very seriously." "We assume and hope that the current Israeli government's declared aim remains, which is to enter into talks with the Palestinians about a negotiated two-state solution at the end of which there will be a Palestinian state," he said.

An EU diplomat in Brussels said officials considered Netanyahu's rhetoric a "fundamental breach of the two-state solution." He said if Israel sticks to that policy, the EU will use its "leverage." The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss internal deliberations, refused to elaborate. But European officials in the past have discussed various potential measures, starting with the labeling of products made in West Bank settlements.

At home, meanwhile, Netanyahu risks facing a backlash from Israel's own Arab citizens, who make up about 20 percent of the population. Netanyahu's doomsday warnings about high Arab voter turnout prompted angry allegations of racism.

Following the election, Netanyahu appeared to be trying to sooth tensions. On Wednesday, he visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City and vowed to "do anything in my power to ensure the well-being and security of all the citizens of Israel."

But Aida Tuma-Suleiman, an Arab lawmaker, said the country's Arab citizens would not forget so easily. Israeli Arabs have long complained of discrimination. "Yesterday Netanyahu divided the citizens of Israel. It is them and us, the Jews against the Arabs," she told Channel 10 TV. "I won't let that go quietly. It is dangerous. If someone in France or England or Belgium would say, 'Go out and vote because the Jewish Belgians are voting,' what would have happened?"

Associated Press writers Ian Deitch in Jerusalem, Josh Lederman and Matthew Lee in Washington, Frank Jordans in Berlin and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.

Israel's Netanyahu emerges with slight edge after tight race

March 18, 2015

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to fend off a strong challenge from the country's opposition leader in parliamentary elections Tuesday, emerging from an acrimonious campaign in a slightly better position to form Israel's next government.

But with the sides nearly evenly divided, a victory by Netanyahu's Likud Party still was not guaranteed. His chief rival, Isaac Herzog of the Zionist Union, said he would make "every effort" to form a government, and an upstart centrist party led by a former Netanyahu ally-turned-rival was set to be the kingmaker. The country now heads into what could be weeks of negotiations over the makeup of the next coalition.

Both Netanyahu and Herzog will now compete for a chance to form a coalition that commands a majority in the 120-seat parliament, a daunting task in Israel's fractured political landscape. Netanyahu appeared to have a better chance of cobbling together a government with right-wing and religious parties that he calls his "natural allies." Herzog would have to appeal to more ideologically diverse parties.

Either will likely need the support of Moshe Kahlon, whose new Kulanu party captured nine or 10 seats, according to polls. Kahlon, whose campaign focused almost entirely on bread-and-butter economic issues, refused to take sides.

"I am loyal to my way," he told his supporters, saying he would work to form a government committed to social justice. The election was widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu, who has governed the country for the past six years, and recent opinion polls had given Herzog a slight lead.

As the results were announced on the nation's three major TV stations, celebrations erupted at Likud's campaign headquarters in Tel Aviv. "Against all the odds we obtained a great victory for the Likud," Netanyahu told the gathering. "Now we must form a strong and stable government that will ensure Israel's security and welfare," he added, in comments aimed at Kahlon.

He said he had already been in touch with all other nationalist parties in hopes of quickly forming a coalition. Netanyahu focused his campaign on security issues, while his opponents instead pledged to address the country's high cost of living and accused the leader of being out of touch with everyday people. Herzog also promised to repair tattered ties with the U.S. and to revive peace efforts with the Palestinians.

At a rally of his supporters, Herzog vowed to do his utmost to form a government and said he too had reached out to potential coalition partners. In a nod to Kahlon, he said he was committed to forming a "real social reconciliation government" committed to lowering the country's cost of living and reducing gaps between rich and poor.

Netanyahu's return to power would likely spell trouble for Mideast peace efforts and could further escalate tensions with the United States. Netanyahu, who already has a testy relationship with President Barack Obama, took a sharp turn to the right in the final days of the campaign, staking out a series of hard-line positions that will put him at odds with the international community.

In a dramatic policy reversal, he said he now opposes the creation of a Palestinian state — a key policy goal of the White House and the international community. He also promised to expand construction in Jewish areas of east Jerusalem, the section of the city claimed by the Palestinians as their capital.

Netanyahu infuriated the White House early this month when he delivered a speech to the U.S. Congress criticizing an emerging nuclear deal with Iran. The speech was arranged with Republican leaders and not coordinated with the White House ahead of time.

In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama was confident strong U.S.-Israeli ties would endure far beyond the election regardless of the victor. The Palestinians, fed up after years of deadlock with Netanyahu, are now likely to press ahead with their attempts to bring war crimes charges against Israel in the International Criminal Court.

"What Netanyahu is doing and stating are war crimes and if the international community wants peace it should make Netanyahu accountable for his acts," said Palestinian official Saeb Erekat. He said the Palestinian leadership will meet Thursday to discuss its next steps.

Exit polls on Israel's three main TV stations showed Likud and the Zionist Union in a near deadlock. Channels One and 10 gave Likud a 27-26 lead in the 120-seat parliament, while Channel 2 gave Likud a 28-27 edge. That breakdown could change as final results pour in on Wednesday.

Under Israel's fragmented electoral system, either Netanyahu or Herzog will have to court potential partners to secure a 61-seat majority. Herzog could potentially try to build a coalition that would rely on support from a new Arab alliance that captured 12 to 13 seats. But Arab parties have never sat in an Israeli coalition before, complicating any potential deal.

Stav Shaffir, a leader of the Zionist Union, called the results a "clear vote of no confidence in Netanyahu." She said the Zionist Union would wait for the official results before declaring victory or defeat, but claimed Netanyahu's opponents "have a majority."

Netanyahu has ruled out a "unity" government with the Zionist Union that would give him a broad coalition, and Herzog has also been cool to the idea. That would indicate the next government will be a narrow majority — a recipe for further instability in which any member could bring it down. The previous government lasted less than two years before crumbling apart.

President Reuven Rivlin will now spend the next few days consulting with the various parties, whose leaders will all offer recommendations for who should be prime minister. Based on those consultations, he will ask either Netanyahu or Herzog to begin the process of forming a coalition.

Associated Press writer Aron Heller in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.

Putin signs treaty integrating South Ossetia into Russia

March 18, 2015

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia tightened its control Wednesday over a second breakaway region of Georgia, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leader of South Ossetia signing a new treaty that calls for nearly full integration.

Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili denounced the signing as a "destructive" move against his nation's sovereignty and territorial integrity and said it would further exacerbate tensions. The United States, the European Union and NATO also strongly condemned the signing.

South Ossetia broke away from Georgia in the early 1990s as the Soviet Union collapsed. Russia effectively gained complete control over it and a second breakaway Georgian region, Abkhazia, after a brief war against Georgia in 2008.

A similar treaty was signed last year with Abkhazia. Both regions depend on subsidies from Russia. While Abkhazia is a lush sliver of land along the Black Sea coast, South Ossetia sticks like a thumb into northern Georgia.

Under the agreement signed Wednesday in the Kremlin, South Ossetia's military and economy are to be incorporated into Russia's. The treaty also promises to make it easier for South Ossetians to get Russian citizenship and to raise salaries for civil servants and state pensions.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington doesn't recognize the legitimacy of the agreement. "The regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia are integral parts of Georgia and we continue to support Georgia's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity," she said in a statement.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the Russian move "blatantly contradicts the principles of international law, OSCE principles and Russia's international commitments." The Georgian Foreign Ministry called Wednesday's signing ceremony an "intentional provocation," since it coincided with the latest round of talks in Geneva aimed at finding a diplomatic solution to the dispute.

Wednesday also was the one-year anniversary of Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, emphasizing Russia's expansion of its territory on the Black Sea.

Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili in Tbilisi, Georgia, John-Thor Dahlburg in Brussels and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

Australian Muslims to launch TV studio

17 March 2015 Tuesday

An Australian Muslim community has set up a A$1 million television studio to counter what it sees as negative representations of Islam in the country's mainstream media.

The One Path Network studio says it aims to spread the word of Islam among Muslims and non-Muslims through videos on current affairs and interviews with local sheikhs on Islamic teachings.

The studio - funded by community donations - runs from western Sydney, from where it makes films and edits videos for a YouTube channel.

Network head Malaz Majanni told ABC News this week that the studio had been set up at a time "where there is a lot of pressure on the Muslim community."

"Unfortunately, you do find that with the mainstream media, sometimes we are misrepresented, lost in translation, and here we are able to make sure that a clear message is sent out," he said.

The establishment of the studio – cited as a 21st Dawah initiative – comes in the wake of a thaw in relations between the Muslim community and government.

Grand Mufti Dr. Ibrahim Abu Mohamed has slammed Australia's involvement in Syria and its support for Israel, telling Australia's 7News that it will lead to more young Muslims joining the ISIL.

He's also advised embattled Prime Minister Tony Abbott to give up his day job, saying he should “work in any field other than politics.”

“I personally elected him in the previous elections. But believe me, I will not repeat this mistake again... If there’s any advice to be given, then with my full respect to the Australian people in choosing him, and my full respect to his presence as prime minister… I would say: ‘Work in any field other than politics.’”

Days before Abbott attempted to bring in new security powers to clamp down on extremists, an international Muslim organization even accused him of using Australia's Muslims as a scapegoat to sew up his dwindling popularity.

“It’s a clear case of the prime minister using national security to shore up his personal job security and, more broadly, he’s pulling out the good old national security card to tap into the politics of fear to gain political points," Uthman Badar - the spokesperson for the Australian chapter of Hizb ut-Tahrir - told.

To combat such "misrepresentations" One Path Network has striven to provide its own take on such events as the Sydney siege, where Iranian-born Australian Man Haron Monis took hostages at a Cafe for 17 hours.

He shot dead the cafe manager, and both he and a female hostage died in the ­ensuing gun battle.

Network head Majannitold ABC that it has a responsibility to highlight that such acts were rogue acts committed under a flag of Islam, not necessarily Islamic.

"Our approach was to make sure that it's clear that this act is not an Islamic act," he said.

"This person Man Haron Monis was known to the authorities as a criminal and he had no connection whatsoever with ISIL. He couldn't even get the right flag," he said.

With around 90 Australians thought to be fighting with ISIL in both Iraq and Syria, the channel has instead chosen to focus on a former Labor Party official who has been battling ISIL with Iraqi Kurdish groups in Syria.

"The approach was to make sure that there's no particular targeting against the Muslim community, that the law is applicable to all Australians," Majanni said.

In a National Security Statement at the Canberra headquarters of the Australian Federal Police last month, Abbot said that he hoped more Muslim leaders would state that Islam was a religion of peace and mean it.

Speaking on the new network's current affairs program, Spotlight, Sheikh Wesam Charkawi from the Auburn Gallipoli mosque in a Sydney suburb said that Abbott was implying that the entire Muslim community was complicit.

Such comments just add to our mistrust, he added.

"The Muslim community has lost trust and feels completely abandoned by the Government. I have never seen it at a point so low," Charkwai said.

"I haven't seen it this bad before. These are the sentiments that are being conveyed on a daily basis."

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/156702/australian-muslims-to-launch-tv-studio.