Palestine slams Israel's new settlement plan

"Ramallah, Feb 1 (IANS) A top Palestinian official Saturday slammed the new Israeli plan to build 450 settlement units in West Bank's Jewish areas, terming the expansion of settlements "a war crime".

"Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Xinhua that such actions were "certainly a war crime and need an international accountability".

"He said that the settlement plan was against international law and accused Israel of insisting on ruining the principle of the two-state solution." News Link

Australian PM Tony Abbott's Time is Up?

It's not looking good for the Australian Prime Minister!

Scene Two - Tony Abbott under fire over decision to grant knighthood to Prince Philip

"Some of Prime Minister Tony Abbott's most senior colleagues are bewildered, angered and dismayed by his decision to award an Australian knighthood to Prince Philip.

"Cabinet ministers have told the ABC the Prime Minister did not consult any of the leadership group before announcing the move." News Link

Netanyahu denies wife pocketed from returned bottles

"Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday dismissed as "false" reports that his wife Sara had pocketed at least $1,000 worth of public money by returning empty bottles to supermarkets." News Link

Taliban Are Not Terrorists, or So Says the White House

“Our policy is that we don't pay ransom. We don't give concessions to terrorist organizations,” Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said Wednesday. “This is a longstanding policy that predates this administration. And it's also one that we've communicated to our friends and allies across the world.”

"Schultz explained that the exchange the United States made with the Taliban -- releasing five Taliban prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in exchange for the release of Sgt. Bergdahl -- was consistent with that policy because the Taliban is an “armed insurgency” and not a terrorist organization." News Link

Israel's Ongoing War-crimes Investigation

"Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein [the U.N. human rights chief] catalogued abuses blamed on both sides, including Israeli shelling of hospitals, of schools housing displaced people and of a group of children playing hide-and-seek on a beach.

"He cited witness reports of Israeli soldiers firing on civilians with white flags as they fled an area where a 16-year-old girl in a wheelchair had been killed by shelling, and the shooting of an ambulance driver as he went to evacuate a child." News Link

ICC backers defy Israeli call to cut funding to war crimes court

"THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Many leading backers of the International Criminal Court will ignore Israel's call for them to cut funding in response to an inquiry into possible war crimes in the Palestinian territories, officials told Reuters." News Link