Guatemala Will Move Its Israel Embassy to Jerusalem, Following Trump’s Lead
December 25, 2017 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
Comments Off
The consensus of international law is that Jerusalem’s status is unresolved, that claims of sovereignty by Israel are invalid and that the issue must be settled in negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Mr. Trump insisted that he was merely recognizing reality and not prejudging negotiations on the future borders of the city, but Palestinians saw the move as siding with Israel on the most delicate issue in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Last week, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning Mr. Trump’s decision by a vote of 128 to 9, with 35 countries abstaining and 21 countries absent.
Mr. Trump had threatened to cut off aid to countries that did not take the side of the United States, but he has not yet done so, and experts say it would be difficult to do. Many Muslim-majority countries that voted for the resolution, like Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, are strategic partners of the United States in the region.
Guatemala was one of seven countries to join the United States and Israel in voting against the resolution, along with Honduras, Togo, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia — mostly tiny countries heavily dependent on American aid.
Newsletter Sign Up
Continue reading the main story
Thank you for subscribing.
An error has occurred. Please try again later.
You are already subscribed to this email.
Guatemala was one of the first nations to recognize the state of Israel upon its establishment in 1948.
Mr. Morales’s decision was immediately seen as an effort to curry favor with Mr. Trump and, perhaps, to distract attention from his political problems at home. His brother and his son are under investigation by an anticorruption commission that has been strongly backed by the United States and the United Nations.
Mr. Morales has clashed with the commission and even tried to expel its chief in August before he was stopped by the country’s highest court.
Advertisement
Continue reading the main story
The commission relies on a close relationship with Guatemala’s attorney general to pursue its cases. Washington will be watching to see whether a new attorney general, to be appointed next year when the term of Attorney General Thelma Aldana expires, will prove as committed to collaborating with the commission, known by its Spanish initials as the Cicig.
Winning the favor of the Trump administration could prove helpful to Mr. Morales if the new attorney general he selects proves less cooperative with the commission.
Guatemala is also awaiting the approval of aid under an Obama administration initiative set up to stem Central American migration to the United States.
Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel in 1967 and is home to sites important to Jews, Muslims and Christians. Under multiple Security Council decisions, East Jerusalem and the West Bank are considered occupied territory.
Mr. Trump’s announcement set off weeks of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces that have left 12 Palestinians dead.
Correction: December 25, 2017
Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article misstated Benjamin Netanyahu’s title. He is Israel’s prime minister, not president.
Continue reading the main story
Share and Enjoy
Tropical Storm Tembin: Philippines rescuers seek victims
December 24, 2017 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
Comments Off
Rescuers are searching for victims of a tropical storm in the southern Philippines, where nearly 200 people have died in mudslides and flash floods.
Rescue teams have yet to reach some of the affected areas on Mindanao island.
Many people are missing after Storm Tembin, with winds up to 80km/h (50mph), swept through the area.
The towns of Tubod and Piagapo were badly hit, while the remote Dalama village was wiped out by flash floods.
The storm is now moving west.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was saddened by the loss of life, adding that the UN was ready to help.
There are fears the death toll will rise further.
Tembin, known as Vinta in the Philippines, started lashing Mindanao on Friday, with a state of emergency declared in some areas including the Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur regions.
Regional officials quoted by the Rappler website said there were 127 fatalities in Lanao del Norte, up to 50 in the Zamboanga peninsula and at least 18 in Lanao del Sur.
Tubod police officer Gerry Parami told the AFP news agency that there had been at least 19 deaths in the town, which is in Lanao del Norte.
Another official told AFP that at least 10 people had died in the town of Piagapo, 10km east of Tubod.
A number of homes in the two towns were buried by boulders.
Speaking about Dalama, he said “the river rose and most of the homes were swept away. The village is no longer there”.
Image copyright
AFP/Getty Images
The loss of communications is hampering rescue efforts
The official added that volunteers were digging through mud to try to recover bodies in the village.
“We’ve sent rescuers but they’re making little progress,” Saripada Pacasum said.
More deaths were reported in Bukidnon, Iligan and Misamis Occidental.
Power cuts and the loss of communications have hampered rescue efforts.
Andrew Morris, from the UN children’s agency Unicef in Mindanao, said in some areas there were big risks of disease, particularly for children, and restoring clean water supplies would be a priority.
“Lanao del Sur province is the poorest in the Philippines, and in the past seven months there have been around 350,000 people displaced in that province because of fighting,” he told the BBC, referring to battles between government forces and Islamist militants in Marawi.
Meanwhile, Richard Gordon, of the Philippines Red Cross, told the BBC: “We have already provided water and hot food.
“And we’re going to be distributing non-food items – certainly blankets, mosquito nets and certainly hygiene kits for those who are in evacuation centres so that we can alleviate the suffering of many of the folks there.”
Storm Tembin made a second landfall on Balabac island in the Palawan archipelago and is forecast to travel west, south of the Spratly Islands, reaching southern Vietnam in about three days.
A week ago, Tropical Storm Kai-Tak hit the central Philippines, killing dozens.
The region is still recovering from Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 5,000 people and affected millions in 2013.