Friday, Aug 01st
Last update02:09:30 AM GMT
International Glance
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday signed a law banning Palestinians from working in Israeli settlements and selling settlement goods, with violators facing up to five years in prison and stiff fines.
The law marks the Palestinians' most determined campaign against the settlements Israel has built on lands they want for a state. The Palestinians vehemently oppose the settlements but many rely on them for work.
The Israeli government has effectively frozen new Jewish construction in Jerusalem's disputed eastern sector, municipal officials said Monday. The decision was made despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's public insistence that building would not be stopped in the face of U.S. pressure.
For eight years, Israeli commuters have whizzed between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Route 443, a highway whose West Bank portion is lined with barriers and is off-limits to Palestinians who live along the way.
Naji Suliman, mayor of the Palestinian community of Beit Ur al-Tahta, thought that would change after a decision by Israel's Supreme Court calling for the ban on Palestinians to be lifted by May. But after meeting with a commander from the Israeli military last week, Suliman concluded that Israel's actions have been "just for public relations."
Spain's most prominent judge, already charged with abuse of power in a potentially career-ending indictment, denied any wrongdoing as he testified Thursday as a suspect in a separate bribery investigation that has compounded his legal woes.
Judge Baltasar Garzon - internationally known for having gone after former Chilean ruler Augusto Pinochet and Osama bin Laden in Spain's court system - testified for more than four hours as a suspect before the Supreme Court.
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TVNL Comment: Every msm article covering this story OMITS the fact that Judge Garzon also investigated six officials of President George W. Bush's administration for their alleged roles in what he called the "systematic program" of torture at Guantánamo Bay. Coincidence? Just asking....
U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged all countries, including Israel, to sign the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT.
"Whether we're talking about Israel or any other country, we think that becoming part of the NPT is important," Obama said. "And that, by the way, is not a new position. That's been a consistent position of the United States government, even prior to my administration."
Nearly 23,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico since the launch of a government crackdown on drug gangs at the end of 2006, according to a government report. The report, leaked to media on Tuesday, said gang violence has continued surging this year, with 3,365 people killed between January and March.
An Israeli bookstore chain says it has pulled a book highly critical of Jewish settlers in the West Bank after customers complained about it.
The book calls the settlers "hypnotized zombies" and attacks the Israeli right for its strong ties to the them. The Tzomet Hsfarim chain packaged the book with an Israeli flag for independence day next week.
TVNL Comment: Contrary to the headline, the book does NOT attack settlers. It is CRITICAL of settlers. Israel's concept of freedom of speech apparently excludes those who oppose settlements in the occupied territories.
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