Thursday, January 15, 2015

Kerry Says Pakistan Will Now Act Against ‘All’ Terrorists, But Top Terrorist Still Enjoys Gov’t Support

Secretary of State John Kerry said this week Pakistan has assured him it will act against “all” terror groups – notably including Laskhar e-Toiba, a group whose leader has long enjoyed government support despite being a U.N.-designated global terrorist, the subject of a $10 million U.S. reward offer, and wanted by India for masterminding a major 2008 terror attack. Read

UK Broadcaster Apologizes to Viewers After French Guest Tries to Show Mohammed Cartoon

The British TV network Sky News on Wednesday scrambled to cut off a French guest – a former editor at Charlie Hebdo – as she held up a copy of the satirical publication’s latest edition, with its front cover cartoon portrayal of Mohammed. Read

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Carter Links Islamic Terror Attacks in Paris With ‘the Palestinian Problem’

“The Palestinian problem” is part of the reason for Islamic terrorist attacks like those in France last week, former President Jimmy Carter said on Monday. Read

Israeli Media Bias May Explain Criticism of Netanyahu’s Visit to Paris

Reports claiming that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu angered French President Francois Hollande by taking part in Sunday’s mass rally in Paris may have more to do with Israeli politics and media bias than with supposed strains in bilateral relations. Read

UN Chief: Stop Debating Terror Definition, Just Act Against It

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says U.N. member-states, instead of spending time and energy debating how to define terrorism, should instead work on ensuring that those who perpetrate it are brought to justice. Read

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Islamic Bloc Raises UN ‘Anti-Religious Intolerance’ Measure Backed by Obama Administration

In contrast to the widespread support for freedom of expression following the Charlie Hebdo terror attack, there are fresh calls for a United Nations measure, which critics say seeks to limit speech considered “blasphemous.” Read

Russian Media, Turkish Politicians Suggest U.S., Israeli Involvement in Paris Attacks

Conspiracy theories are swirling around last week’s terror attacks in Paris, and beyond the customary fringe websites, they are being aired by Turkish politicians and mainstream Russian and Iranian media outlets. Read

Monday, January 12, 2015

Boko Haram Using Young Girls As Suicide Bombers

As the terrorist carnage in northern Nigeria continues, eyewitness and police accounts of two deadly bombings over the weekend raise concerns that the Islamist group believed responsible may be using young girls, wittingly or otherwise, as suicide bombers. Read

Kerry Gets It Wrong on Climate’s Impact on New Zealand’s Dairy Farmers

In a speech in India on Sunday, Secretary of State John Kerry cited as an example of the global impact of climate change a recent drought in New Zealand that was so dire, he said, farmers had been forced to kill “all of their dairy cattle and sheep.” Read

Friday, January 09, 2015

State Dep’t Disputes That Its Response to Turkey-Hamas Ties Is 'Muted'

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki demurred Thursday when asked whether NATO ally Turkey was risking being listed as a state sponsor of terrorism over its close relationship with Hamas, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. Read

Eligibility of Palestinians’ Bid to Join ICC Disputed; US Funding is Targeted

As Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) seeks to cut U.S. funding to the Palestinian Authority unless it drops its bid to join the International Criminal Court, the ICC application is stoking fresh debate over the decision by the U.N. General Assembly in 2012 to upgrade the status of “Palestine” at the U.N. Read

Thursday, January 08, 2015

Islamic Bloc Slammed French Magazine for Poking Fun at Islam, But Condemns Deadly Attack

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which has been at the forefront of criticism of the French magazine Charlie Hebdo’s satirical treatment of Islam, added its voice to condemnation of Wednesday’s terror attack at the publication’s offices in Paris. Read

CAIR on Paris Attack: Marginalize Both ‘ISIS-Type Extremists and Anti-Muslim Bigots’

The “proper response” to attacks like the one targeting a satirical French magazine in Paris Wednesday is not to vilify any faith, but to “marginalize extremists of all backgrounds who seek to stifle freedom and to create or widen societal divisions,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said Wednesday. Read

Wednesday, January 07, 2015

Cyberattack Only One Reason to Return N. Korea to Terror-Sponsor List

The possibility of returning North Korea to the U.S. list of state-sponsors of terrorism has stoked debate about whether its cyberattack on Sony Pictures constitutes terrorism, but there may be plenty of other good reasons for the administration to do so. Read

Anti-Islamist Rallies in Germany Condemned by U.N., Turkey’s President

A spate of anti-Islamist rallies in Germany drew the condemnation Tuesday of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cited what he called growing “Islamophobia” to mount a new verbal attack on the European Union. Read

Tuesday, January 06, 2015

State Dep’t: Raising of Taiwan’s Flag at Private Event in DC ‘Not Consistent With US Policy’

The State Department distanced itself Monday from a New Year’s Day event at a Taiwanese-owned property in Washington where Taiwan’s national flag was hoisted, saying the U.S. government was not notified in advance and that the flag-raising was “not consistent with U.S. policy.” Read

Pentagon: ISIS Mounts ‘Regular’ Attacks Against Iraqi Airbase Where US Troops are Based

American troops training Iraqi recruits at a key airbase in Anbar province face “regular” but “completely ineffective” gunfire from Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters, according to the Pentagon. Read

Monday, January 05, 2015

Palestinians May Again Ask U.N. to Set Deadline for Statehood

Just days into the new year, the Palestinian Authority has indicated it may resubmit its failed bid for the U.N. Security Council to set a deadline for Palestinian statehood, even as its strategy aimed at bringing Israel before the International Criminal Court moves ahead. Read

Senior Democrat Warns Getting an Ambassador to Cuba Confirmed Will be 'Very Difficult'

The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Sunday criticized the Obama administration for secretive diplomacy with hostile regimes, hinted that officials can expect tough questioning when they come up before the committee this year, and predicted that getting a U.S. ambassador to Cuba confirmed will be “very difficult.” Read

Friday, January 02, 2015

Israel Wants Int’l Criminal Court to Reject Palestinian Bid: It’s ‘Not a State’

Israel expects the International Criminal Court to reject the Palestinian Authority’s bid to join the tribunal on the grounds that it “is not a state,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Thursday. Read

White House Faces Big Foreign Policy Battles With GOP-Controlled Senate in 2015

From Iran to Ukraine to climate change, 2015 promises to present President Obama with new challenges as he seeks to pursue key foreign policy objectives in his last two years without being blocked by skeptical and frustrated Republicans – and some Democrats – on Capitol Hill. Read