This 2017 video is about Somali poetess Nacima Qorane reading a poem.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Somaliland: Three-year jail sentence for poet who read unity poem

POET Nacima Qorane has been jailed for three years in Somaliland after being found guilty of contempt for reading a unity poem.

She received the sentence in the self-declared republic after she called for Somaliland and Somalia to be reunited.

Prosecutors said she had referred to Somaliland as a region and insulted and defamed its government by reading the poem in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. The court found that she had brought the state into contempt.

Home to about 4 million people, the area in the north-west of Somalia was formerly a British protectorate, uniting with the former Italian colony in 1960 to form the Somali Republic. It declared its independence in 1991 following a bitter civil war but is not recognised internationally, being seen as an autonomous region of the country.

In February Somaliland allowed the United Arab Emirates to open a military base to launch strikes against Yemens Houthi rebels in the countrys ongoing civil war.

Ms Qorane was arrested in January after returning from the Somali capital and rights groups have raised concerns over her treatment.

A number of artists and reporters have been sentenced for similar offences as Somalilands government cracks down on opposition voices and press freedom.

Journalists Mo...

Doctors in Australia have called for urgent research into why a flesh-eating ulcer has become a "worsening epidemic" in the state of Victoria. Local cases of Buruli ulcer, a skin disease most commonly found in Africa, have surged by 400% in the last four years, experts say. Infections have also become more severe and spread to new areas. Doctors do not know how to prevent the disease, which is caused by bacteria that breaks down tissue. WARNING: Graphic image below A record 275 new infections were recorded the state last year, marking a 51% increase on 2016. Infectious diseases expert Dr Daniel O'Brien said cases of the Buruli ulcer, or Mycobacterium ulcerans disease, had become "frighteningly more common and also more severe" in the region. It was unclear why the ulcer, typically found in tropical areas, had emerged in the temperate climate of Victoria, he said.

Its one of the most unbelievable energy stories of the year.  A Chinese oil company was sitting on what might be a major oil discovery - a 182-million-barrel probable reserve, with great potential to grow. They spent hundreds of millions of dollars and sunk 13 wells, shot or acquired 6,700 km of 2D seismic, and shot over 1,000 km of 3D seismic. Then - thanks to a weird quirk of Sudanese geology - they gave away the entire African mother lode for free.

The future of research in Africa is in jeopardy unless adequate management of national scientific research systems is improved, a meeting has heard.

16 Apr 2018 | Times of ZambiaThe Zambia Land Alliance has challenged government to make public how much land is currently in the hands of foreigners.

Not everyone on death row is guilty. According to the Registry of Exonerationsmaintained at the University of California at Irvine Law School, where constitutional scholar Erwin Chemerinsky was the former deanon average 4 percent of men on death row across the United States are innocent.

Kevin Cooper may be one of them.

Cooper, a 60-year-old African-American man, is a death row inmate at Californias San Quentin Prison. In 1985, he was convicted of a 1983 quadruple murder and sentenced to death for the gruesome murders of a white family in Chino Hills, Calif.: Doug and Peggy Ryen, their 10-year-old daughter, Jessica, and her 11-year-old friend Christopher Hughes. The Ryens 8-year-old son, Josh, survived the attack.

At Coopers trial, evidence that might have exonerated him was withheld from the defense. Since his conviction, Cooper has become active in writing from prison to assert his innocence, protest racism in the American criminal justice system, and oppose the death penalty. His case was scrutinized in a June 17, 2017, New York Times column by Nicholas Kristof.

The state of California intends to execute Cooper when it resumes executions in the coming months.

Coopers case is not just another case of a death row inmate claiming his innocence. Many legal experts and longtime human rights advocates say it is the most well-documented and well-supported matter of wrongful conviction they have ever seen. Having exhausted his appeals in the U.S. courts, Coopers lawyers want to raise public awareness to seek remedy for what they maintain is his wrongful conviction, and the inadequate trial representation, prosecutorial misconduct and racial discrimination which have marked the case.

Here are some facts about Kevin Cooper and his case.

In 2009, referring to Coopers case, five federal judges of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals signed a dissenting opinion that begins: The State of California may be about to execute an innocent man. Six additional 9th Circuit judges have joined in the dissent, saying Cooper never has had a fair hearing to prove his innocence.

Read the unprecedented dissent by five federal judges below.

In February 2016, legal counsel for Cooper sent the following clemency petition to California Gov. Jerry Brown.

...

The Trump administration has largely ignored Africa in its first 16 months. Secretary of State-designate Mike Pompeo has an opportunity to change that.

A new special envoy to Yemen brings a new chance for negotiating peace. The Security Council can help by offering a realistic path forward.

The Syria attack reveals the hypocrisy of the West - which fuels the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen despite documented abuses - but relies on unverified claims to punish Syria, journalist and broadcaster Neil Clark told RT. As Riyadh's campaign in Yemen enters its fourth year, it has been repeatedly accused by rights groups of civilian casualties during the bombardment. However, in Syria's case, reports of a chemical weapon attack in Douma that are yet to be independently corroborated became the trigger for a coordinated military action, Clark pointed out. "On the one hand, they are rolling out the red carpet for Saudi leaders and they are supporting, either directly or indirectly, the Saudi bombing of Yemen, which is causing a great humanitarian catastrophe - and how many children has that conflict killed? "On the other hand, they pose as moral paragons, as moral crusaders when they claim children have died in Syria's chemical weapons attack without evidence."

After President Donald Trump tweeted "missiles are coming," the US, UK and France launched airstrikes on Syria. There was no international investigation of the alleged chemical attack, or UN authorization. How did it come to this? The US likes to present itself as the foremost guardian of the "rules-based international order," blaming Russia and China for flouting these rules or seeking to change them. Yet in practice it is Washington and its allies that trample on the rules at nearly every occasion. Friday's strikes are but one example. Earlier this week, US envoy Nikki Haley told the UN Security Council that Washington intended to act in Syria "with or without" the UN. Russia's Vassily Nebenzia responded with a reminder that the UN has all too often been used as a fig leaf for Western military adventurism. He specifically cited the example of Libya in 2011, when UNSC Resolution 1973 that authorized a "no-fly zone" was used by NATO as a license for regime change. George W. Bush flouted the UN entirely in 2003, when he invaded Iraq after basically telling the Security Council he intended to do so no matter what. Before that, Bill Clinton launched NATO's 78-day war against Yugoslavia in 1999, also without bothering with the UN.

"The situation in Yemen - today, right now, to the population of the country," UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock told Al Jazeera last month, "looks like the apocalypse." 150,000 people are thought to have starved to death in Yemen last year, with one child dying of starvation or preventable diseases every ten minutes, and another falling into extreme malnutrition every two minutes. The country is undergoing the world's biggest cholera epidemic since records began with over one million now having contracted the disease, and new a diptheria epidemic "is going to spread like wildfire" according to Lowcock. "Unless the situation changes," he concluded, "we're going to have the world's worst humanitarian disaster for 50 years". The cause is well known: the Saudi-led coalition's bombardment and blockade of the country, with the full support of the US and UK, has destroyed over 50% of the country's healthcare infrastructure, targeted water desalination plants, decimated transport routes and choked off essential imports, whilst the government all this is supposed to reinstall has blocked salaries of public sector workers across the majority of the country, leaving rubbish to go uncollected and sewage facilities to fall apart, and creating a public health crisis. A further eight million were cut off from clean water when the Saudi-led coalition blocked all fuel imports last November, forcing pumping stations to close. Oxfam's country director in Yemen, Shane Stevenson, commented at the time that "The people of Yemen are already being starved to submission - unless the blockade is lifted quickly they will have their clean water taken away too. Taking clean water from millions of people in a country that is already suffering the world's largest cholera outbreak and on the verge of famine would be an act of utmost barbarity."

The Russian Defense Ministry has reported that a total of 170,152 people, including 63,117 militants and their relatives, had been evacuated from the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta during a large-scale humanitarian operation in the area. 500 Jaysh al-Islam militants who were earlier evacuated from Eastern Ghouta, plan to go to Yemen, according to the pan-Arabic satellite television channel Al Mayadeen. It cited its own source as saying that the terrorists first intend to illegally arrive in Saudi Arabia, from where they will try to enter Yemen.

CINCINNATI, OHIO In a stinging rebuke of Black Lives Matter (BLM), the organizations local affiliate here last month announced that it was severing all ties to a movement it characterized as opportunistic, too invested in liberal, electoral politics and the Democratic party, and ultimately ineffective in fighting state-sanctioned violence against African-Americans.

Black Lives Matter Cincinnati (BLMC) explained its decision to change its name to Mass Action for Black Liberation in a tersely-worded letter, published March 30 on its website. With an organizational structure similar to the anarchist-influenced Occupy Movement, BLM and the Movement for Black Lives Matter network is a loose-knit often unwieldy confederation of chapters, affiliates, and spinoffs with broad autonomy and varying degrees of collaboration with the national leadership. Despite their initial reservations, activists in Cincinnati decided to adopt the BLM moniker early in 2015 out of a sense of urgency following a series of highly publicized police murders in 2014 including those of Eric Garner on a Staten Island street, 12-year-old Tamir Rice at a Cleveland playground, and 18-year-old Michael Brown Jr. on a suburban St. Louis street.   

The Cincinnati group wrote:

BLM did not create or build this new grassroots movement against police brutality and racism; they capitalized off a nameless groundswell of resistance sweeping the nation, branded it as their own, and profited from the deaths of Black men and women around the country without seriously engaging, as a national formation, in getting justice for fighting families. All the while raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars from high-end speaking engagements and donations from foundations that support the Black struggle (or want to co-opt it).

They have gained access to high profile associations, including invitations to the White House and celebrity events; have been on magazine covers; are on the way to profiting as authors and subjects of books; and have accepted numerous awards and accolades as so-called founders of the movement while families struggle, unassisted, to keep their fights going. So many people on the ground have shared a similar experience: when the reporters leave and the bright lights are gone, so are they [BLM].

Read more by...

In this video, Luke gives you the latest breaking news in Harare, Zimbabwe, with Jeff Berwick of The Dollar Vigilante. We cover the white farmers, bitcoin cryptocurrency community, the soft coup against Mugabe, the real social economic situation on the ground, hyperinflation, the run on the banks and so much more.

You can watch this video on DTube here.

For more from Jeff check out https://www.youtube.com/user/TheDollarVigilante

The post You Wont Believe What We Saw In Zimbabwe appeared first on We Are Change.

High in the Sierra Nevada mountains of Spain, an international team of researchers set out four buckets to gather a shower of viruses falling from the sky. Scientists have surmised there is a stream of viruses circling the planet, above the planet's weather systems but below the level of airline travel. Very little is known about this realm, and that's why the number of deposited viruses stunned the team in Spain. Each day, they calculated, some 800 million viruses cascade onto every square meter of the planet. Most of the globe-trotting viruses are swept into the air by sea spray, and lesser numbers arrive in dust storms. "Unimpeded by friction with the surface of the Earth, you can travel great distances, and so intercontinental travel is quite easy for viruses", said Curtis Suttle, a marine virologist at the University of British Columbia. "It wouldn't be unusual to find things swept up in Africa being deposited in North America." The study by Dr. Suttle and his colleagues, published earlier this year in the International Society of Microbial Ecology Journal, was the first to count the number of viruses falling onto the planet. The research, though, is not designed to study influenza or other illnesses, but to get a better sense of the "virosphere," the world of viruses on the planet.

Yemeni Armed Forces Spokesman Brigadier General Sharaf Qaleb Luqman disclosed extensive use of chemical and biological weapons by Saudi-led forces in Yemen's Ma'rib province. "The coalition of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia has used chemical and biological weapons in Ma'rib," Arab media outlets quoted General Luqman as saying on Tuesday. In early April, a senior Yemeni military official said that revolutionary fighters have confiscated a number of Saudi trucks carrying chemical substances for the terrorists running operations in the Muslim country. Yemeni Major General Khalid al-Barayemi said that the revolutionary forces found the chemical weapons in several Saudi trucks bound for areas under Saudi-backed ISIL and Al-Qaeda terrorists' control.

From the World Socialist Web Site in Britain:

I feel repulsed and outraged about last nights attack on Syriait was completely unnecessary

UK workers oppose drive to war

By our reporters

16 April 2018

Reporters from the World Socialist Web Site spoke to workers and young people over the weekend on the military assault by the US, Britain and France on Syria.

At a lobby outside Prime Minister Theresa Mays official 10 Downing Street residence Friday evening, Jeff, a software engineer, said, Theres no certainty that the Syrian government is responsible for a chemical weapons attack.

You dont bomb another country because you disapprove of what they are doing. If you want to bomb countries because you disapprove of them, why is Yemen still going on? Why is the problem in Myanmar still going on?

We saw what happened last time in Libya. We saw what happened before that in Iraq. We have had enough of going to war based on intelligence that we never see. The...

This report is an ADVERTISEMENT from OilPrice.com

Its one of the most unbelievable energy stories of the year.

A Chinese oil company was sitting on what might be a major oil discovery a 182-million-barrel probable reserve, with great potential to grow.

They spent hundreds of millions of dollars and sunk 13 wells, shot or acquired 6,700 km of 2D seismic, and shot over 1,000 km of 3D seismic. Then thanks to a weird quirk of Sudanese geology they gave away the entire African mother lode for free.

They literally abandoned their whole investment in the Al-Rawat Basin.

Now, a tiny Canadian explorer Stamper Oil & Gas (TSX.V: STMP; OTC: STMGF) stands to reap a petroleum opportunity unlike anything weve seen in years.

And, theyre doing it with an energy industry legend the one man with a nearly perfect 40-year record of striking oil in the tricky rock of Sudan.

Here are five reasons you should be paying attention to Stamper today:

• Chinas Huge Mistake
• Stamper Oils Secret Weapon
• A Fortune On The White Nile
• The Sudanese Oil Dream Team
• In Place Free Infrastructure

The story of Stamper Oil & Gas (TSX.V: STMP; OTC: STMGF) begins with a colossal blunder by Chinese geophysicists on the shores of the White Nile.

Beijings Huge Mistake

15 years ago, an oil hungry China made Sudans Al-Rawat Basin a major focus of their multi-billion dollar energy exploration machine.

One Chinese oil company spent ten years scouring the region for oil. Anticipating a massive find, they sank thirteen wells, acquired or shot 6,700 km. of 2D seismic and shot 1,000 sq. km. of 3D seismic spending $100s of millions in the process.

And, while they did strike a littl...

Restored Republic via a GCR Update as of April 16 2018

Compiled 12:01 am EDT 16 April 2018 by Judy Byington, MSW, LCSW, ret. CEO, Child Abuse Recovery www.ChildAbuseRecovery.com; Author, Twenty Two Faces, www.22faces.com, Byingtons Before Its News articles on Cabal/Vatican child abuse: http://beforeitsnews.com/contributor/pages/243/590/stories.html

Source: Dinar Chronicles

The following is a synopsis of un-vetted information found on the internet. It is up to the individual reader to make their own conclusions about what is actually happening.

A. April 15 2018 2:52 pm EST Intel Report: Operation Disclosure GCR/RV Intel Alert for April 15, 2018 https://operationdisclosure.blogspot.com/

(Disclaimer: The following is an overview of the current situation based on rumors from several sources which may or may not be truthful or accurate.)

1. The Syria situation continues to play out. New rumors suggest it was a ploy to humiliate and expose France, the UK, and the US once Russia released evidence proving the chemical attack originated from rebel groups. Trump was aware of this ploy. France and the UK were not.

2. Zimbabwe was preparing to announce the gold-standard for their currency.

3. Stock market corrections were expected to begin tomorrow April 16. Technical Breakdown: The Global Stock Market Crash is Now!

4. If the RV doesn't begin, the stock market would collapse within weeks.

5. Trump would announce the implementation of th...

By ALANNA KETLER, Collective Evolution

When I was first invited to a non-violent communication workshop, I thought the same thing that you might be thinking now, Im not a violent person and I dont ever intend to harm anyone with my words so why would I need to learn about this? Well, after learning about it, I can confidently say, trust me you do!

The label of non-violent communication seems pretty harsh, especially because it is just a term for our regular old ways of communicating, but once you understand what this is all about it becomes easy to see that how we communicate on a daily basis to our children, friends, family members and most importantly, ourselves, is actually damaging and can cause a whole slough of mental health issues that we may have otherwise not realized. Words are powerful, every word we speak is like putting an intention into the universe.

First, A Brief History Lesson

Founded by Dr. Marshall B. Rosenberg Ph.D., after growing up in a tremulous neighbourhood in Detroit Michigan, he developed an interest in developing new forms of communication that could provide peaceful alternatives to all of the violence that he encountered. His avid interest led to a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Wisconsin in 1961; combined with his experience and study of comparative religion, all led towards him developing the Nonviolent Communication (NVC) process. According to the official NVC website,

A dedicated teacher, peacemaker and visionary leader, Dr. Rosenberg led NVC workshops and international intensive trainings for tens of thousands of people in over 60 countries across the world and provided training and initiated peace programs in a number of war-torn areas including Rwanda, Burundi, Nigeria, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone, the Middle East, Colombia, Serbia, Croatia, and Northern Ireland. He worked...

"There is no OPT, there is no Palestine, there was never Palestine," says Israeli Ambassador to Ghana Israeli Ambassador to Ghana Ami Mehel angrily denied the existence of Palestine in a radio interview yesterday following Israel's decision to bar a Ghana MP from entering the country this week. Mehel flew into a rage after being questioned by a journalist as to why Ghanaian parliamentarian Ras Mubarak was prevented from entering the occupied territories via the Allenby Crossing, despite having been granted a visa. The use of the term "oPt", an acronym for the occupied Palestinian territories, prompted Mehel to refuse to answer the question if the journalist used such terminology. "Excuse me lady, excuse me! You said something that is unacceptable for me. If you want to talk to me, you will use the terminology that I use," he demanded. "There is no OPT, there is no Palestine, there was never Palestine. It's Israel, he wants to enter Israel!" The ambassador denied that Mubarak had been granted a permit to enter the country and claimed that the MP was told to wait while Israeli authorities investigated the situation but that he left the crossing early of his own accord. Mehel further claimed that Mubarak had lied about the incident because he is "a propaganda machinery of the Palestinian authorities. He never asked for a visa ... its b***ls***t, its propaganda!" Mehl insisted, before being asked to control his language.

Dozens of academics at the University of Sydney have declared their support for the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, reported The Australian. According to the paper, the move comes as a response to the lethal crackdown by Israeli occupation forces on Palestinian protesters in the Gaza Strip. The Australian notes that signatories to the BDS pledge say they "will not attend conferences sponsored by Israeli universities, participate in academic exchange schemes, or otherwise collaborate professionally with Israeli universities until the stated goals have been fulfilled." The BDS campaign, describes the paper, is an international movement "inspired by the success of boycotts in bringing an end to apartheid in South Africa". Nick Riemer, a senior lecturer in English and linguistics at the University of Sydney and a member of its BDS group, "said the response from fellow academics was encouraging" and expressed his hope that the pledge would spread to other Australian universities. "People are already talking at Melbourne about the possibility of something like this," he said. According to the Sydney BDS website, some 40 academics have currently endorsed the pledge.

This video from Kruger National Park South Africa says about itself:

10 April 2018

If I told you 7 male lions were after prey, youd think that the prey is long gone This porcupine definitely has luck and experience on its side to be able to teach 7 male lions a lesson!

Hennie Bekker (36), Director at Private Kruger Safaris, caught this action on camera. He told Latessightings.com: We headed out in a South Easterly direction from Lower Sabie and at first there was only general game. We spotted a jackal hanging around close to the vehicle and then suddenly heard a rattling sound. We looked around to see where the sound was coming from and noticed 7 young lions trying to corner a porcupine.

I was very eager to see what was going on as I have spent a lot of time in the Kruger Park and rarely ever encountered a porcupine, so to see the lions interacting with the porcupine was definitely exciting. It was astounding to see how all these lions were unable to get the upper hand on the porcupine, as the porcupine cleverly kept his back towards them at all times. After a few good minutes, the lions gave up as they realised they were not getting anywhere and the game was over! The lions then moved on to drink water and walked off into the darkness and the porcupine lived to see another amazing day in Kruger.

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• ...

This video from London, England says about itself:

STOP THE WAR DONT BOMB SYRIA Demo, Friday 13 April 2018 LONDON UK NO 10 DOWNING STREET

By Peter Lazenby in Britain:

Monday, April 16, 2018

Corbyn demands MPs have final say on war

May didnt bother to consult Parliament before joining Trumps and Macrons strikes

LABOUR demanded the introduction of a War Powers Act today to force a parliamentary vote before military actions are launched, as the row over Theresa Mays illegal bombing of Syria continued to escalate.

The call by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn comes as thousands mobilised for nationwide protests against the attack, including an emergency demonstration in London, where MPs are returning to Parliament after their Easter break.

A poll showed only 30 per cent of people in Britain supported the attack, which was directly authorised by Prime Minister Theresa May without consulting MPs.

Mr Corbyn said: Theresa May should have sought parliamentary approval, not...

Humanity Must Face The Hard Truth Now

Source: Messiah Note

There is nothing worse than Catastrophe Nature Noah Floods Type.

Do you see land in Kenya, Argentina split yet? That is a signal of Nature Earth are using all abilities to detox toxic chemicals, beings on Earth surface.

The disclosure must serve with purpose, otherwise it mean absolutely nothing.

There is only 3 things should not reveal to the public yet which are:

Aliens.

Hollow Earth civilization.

9/11 was an by foreigners & insiders but not by terrorism.

The rest should be disclosure to the public:

Human body function, secret to immortal life.

Whole nature earth system, the role of each animals. => Ban all kind of animals farming.

All kind of man-made chemicals are all the chemicals weapon like pesticides, GMOs, pharma, vaccine, plastics, etc. => Must be ban now.

Ban all kind of robot AI, animals & human clone => it serve nothing good

If the deep state, cabal do not totally shutdown their facilities then tell the public most of the celebrities, news network actors are clone and ban all.

Of course new finance system with physical good physical money & digital good digital money separate.

Do not fear about the chaos or lack of foods, the current human are already producing 3-4 times bigger than needed. It is hard to think eat green leaf instead of animal meat but they must do it if they want to live forever.
...

ALONG THE ISRAEL-GAZA BORDERThe flareup of deadly violence in Gaza is of a new kind, even in the inventive annals of Mideast conflicts: Israeli soldiers shooting at Palestinian demonstrators burning tires and hurling firebombs across what looks like an international border, inflicting casualties while claiming concerns of a mass breach of the barrier.

But viewed another way, its just the latest reflection of basic facts on the ground: the situation for the 2 million people of Gaza is extraordinarily harsh and difficult to resolve. Its not surprising so many would risk death by converging on the border fence, which has now happened three Fridays in a row, with dozens killed and hundreds injured.

By and large the people of Gaza over two-thirds of them descended from refugees from what is now Israel cannot leave their tiny strip of arid land along the Mediterranean coast. Anger toward Israel runs deep, yet dependence is great.

Israel blocks Gazans to the north and east, controlling who and what goes in and out. It blockades their waters to the west and prevents construction of sea and airports, with Egypt completing the blockade to the south.

Israels argument is that Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, will use materials that come into the strip for building rockets, making bombs and digging attack tunnels. The fear is well-founded.

Israel also severely restricts Gazans leaving the territory in a policy it defends on security grounds, but which often looks punitive. Every exit, even to cross Israel en route to Jordan and beyond for medical, academic, professional or personal purposes, requires the approval of Israel or Egypt, where the anti-Islamist government also deeply distrusts Hamas.

Israel and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, expelled by Hamas from Gaza in 2007, largely control power supplies. There are just a few hours of electricity a day.

Hamas remains committed to conflict with Israel, and attempts to pressure the population against Hamas are questionable. Gazans simply dont have the means to overthrow the well-armed group, even if they so wanted.

Meanwhile, half the strips workforce is unemployed. Much of the vast destruction from the last war with Israel, in 2014, still has not been rebuilt. Public entertainment is almost nonexistent and alcohol, in the name of Islam, is banned.

Adding insult to injury, the Palestinians do not have a currency. The few bills of cash in Gazan pockets are Israeli shekels emblazoned with the likenesses of Jewish religious and Zionist political figures.

Hamas says the border protests will continue through May 15, the anniversary of Israels founding and the nabka (catastrophe) for the Palestinians a day of mourning to mark the mass displa...

Jeffrey D Sachs, professor of sustainable development and of health policy and management at Columbia University in New York, is director of Columbia's Center for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. He is internationally renowned for advising governments in Latin America, Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Asia, and Africa on economic reforms and for his work with international agencies to promote poverty reduction, disease control, and debt reduction of poor countries Professor Sachs explains the American tragedy of the Syrian civil war and why the only answer now is to get out and negotiate an end to the war.

WASHINGTONThe future of the landmark Iran nuclear deal hangs in the balance and its survival may depend on the unlikely success of last-minute European interventions with President Donald Trump.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are to visit Washington separately later this month and, barring a sudden trip by British Prime Minister Theresa May, will likely be the last foreign leaders invested in the deal to see Trump ahead of his mid-May deadline for the accord to be strengthened. Trump has vowed to withdraw from the 2015 agreement by May 12 unless U.S., British, French and German negotiators can agree to fix what he sees as its serious flaws.

Iran has said U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions would destroy the agreement and has threatened a range of responses, including immediately restarting nuclear activities currently barred under the deal.

Negotiators met for a fourth time last week and made some progress but were unable to reach agreement on all points, according to U.S. officials and outside advisers to the Trump administration familiar with the status of the talks. That potentially leaves the Iran deals fate to Macron, who will make a state visit to Washington on April 24, and Merkel, who pays a working visit to the U.S. capital on April 27, these people said.

Its important to them and I know theyll raise their hopes and concerns when they travel here to the United States in the coming days, Mike Pompeo, the CIA chief and secretary of state-designate, told lawmakers on Thursday.

Pompeos testimony at his Senate confirmation hearing came a day after the negotiators met at the State Department to go over the four issues that Trump says must be addressed if he is to once again renew sanctions relief for Iran, officials said.

Those are: Irans ballistic missile testing and destabilizing behavior in the region, which are not covered by the deal, along with inspections of suspected nuclear sites and so-called sunset provisions that gradually allow Iran to resume advanced nuclear work after several years, which are part of the agreement.

Two senior U.S. officials said the sides are close to agreement on missiles and inspections but not there yet on the sunset provisions.

Malign Iranian activities, including its support for Lebanons Hezbollah movement, Syrian President Bashar Assad and Houthi Shiite rebels in Yemen, were dealt with in a separate session that ended inconclusively, according to the officials, who like the outside advisers were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The two officials and two outside advisers said the missile and inspections issues are essentially settled, but would not detail exactly wh...

The Saudi King also blamed Tehran for the ballistic missile strikes carried out by the Yemeni Shiite rebels which have been targeting his country. "We renew our strong condemnation of Iran's terrorist acts in the Arab region and reject its blatant interference in the affairs of Arab countries," Saudi King Salman said during a speech in Dhahran, eastern Saudi Arabia at the summit of the Arab League. He also blamed Tehran, which has repeatedly denied supplying ballistic missiles to Yemen's Houthi militia, of being responsible for the rebels' attacks targeting the Kingdom. Salman said that the missiles being launched from Yemeni territory were "produced in Iran." Commenting on the US embassy's relocation to Jerusalem, a decision which has been fiercely condemned by Arab states, Salman denounced the move. "We reiterate our rejection of the US decision on Jerusalem," the royal said. "East Jerusalem is an integral part of the Palestinian territories," he added. Comment: Yet the Saudis have been making an effort to get closer to Israel lately: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince recognizes Israel Salman announced that Riyadh would be making a $150 million donation to East Jerusalem.

This CBS TV video from the USA says about itself:

Demonstrators Protest President Trump Dropping Bombs On Syria

14 April 2018

A coalition of peace activists, Arab-Americans and people who dont like the president formed a protest rally they called an emergency protest in Downtown Los Angeles Saturday. Jeff Nguyen reports.

Translated from the Belgian peace movement:

The US, Great Britain and France launched dozens of missiles on Syrian targets in the night of April 14. This military operation is extremely worrying! It comes without waiting for research by the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). It is an act of war in violation of international law that adds fuel to the flames and brings an open confrontation between nuclear powers dangerously closer.

Did the Syrian population did not have enough war already?

We demand that Belgium condemn this...