The decision of the Latin American countries to recall their ambassadors in Tel Aviv is a "deep disappointment", says Israel.

El Salvador on Wednesday became the fifth Latin American country to withdraw its ambassador from Israel in protest at Israel's military offensive in Gaza.

Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Peru have already recalled their ambassadors.

Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yigal Palmor said that the move encourages Hamas; "this decision encourages Hamas which has been recognized as a terrorist organization by several countries. 
The countries standing against terror must act responsibly and should not reward them. While Hamas has been responsible for hindering a ceasfire, El Salvador, Peru and Chile were expected to support international attitude for peace and demilitarization of Gaza", the statement said.

Earlier Israel criticized Brazil over its decision to recall its ambassador in protest at Israel's military offensive in Gaza.

Brazil was one of 29 countries in the UN Human Rights Council that voted last Wednesday to investigate Israel over its military offensive in Gaza.

Bolivia on Wednesday renounced a visa exemption agreement with Israel in protest over its offensive in Gaza, and declared it a terrorist state.

Source: AFP

The foreign department said all 13,000 Filipinos there were to be repatriated as clashes between rival militias threaten to tear the country apart three years after Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi was toppled.

"We reiterate our call to our remaining nationals in Libya to immediately get in touch with the Philippine embassy in Tripoli and register for repatriation," said a fresh foreign department advisory issued Thursday.

The call came as the ministry confirmed reports that a Filipina nurse was abducted and gang-raped there on Wednesday.

The woman was seized outside her residence and taken to an unknown location, where she was sexually assaulted by up to six youths.

The department said a consular team has stayed behind in Tripoli despite the precarious security situation to coordinate the evacuation of Filipinos by land to Tunisia and Egypt where they will eventually be flown home. It has also barred its nationals from traveling to Libya.

About 10 million Filipinos live and work abroad, many of them in the Middle East, in search of better-paying jobs.

More than 20 migrants have died and dozens are missing after their makeshift boat sank off the Libyan coast, the navy said late Tuesday.

“A navy patrol on Monday rescued 22 clandestine migrants who were clinging to debris from their boat,” spokesman Colonel Ayoub Kassem told AFP, adding that more than 20 bodies were plucked from the water.

Hundreds of would-be immigrants die in the process every year, while others are detained by Italian police once they reach the southern EU member’s territorial waters or the islands of Sicily or Lampedusa.

This year nearly 80,000 migrants have landed in Italy so far, many more than the 2011 record of a total of 63,000, according to authorities in Rome.

TOKYO, Japan - Sweltering summer heat in Japan has left at least 15 people dead over the past week, while more than 8,000 others were rushed to hospital with heatstroke symptoms.

At least six people died on Saturday alone, when the state weather agency warned temperatures had topped 35 degrees Celsius, with dripping humidity in certain parts of the country.

Nearly 8,600 people were taken to the emergency room for heat-related symptoms in the week through Sunday, more than double the previous week, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.

The elderly were particularly vulnerable to the rising temperatures, with nearly half of those taken to hospital aged 65 or older, the agency data showed.

The Japan Meteorological Agency has warned that the mercury was expected to top 35 degrees Celsius again today.

Last year, Japan experienced its hottest summer on record, with the mercury hitting a record 41 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country.

Tens of thousands were taken to hospital suffering from heat-related symptoms.

The archipelago nation regularly experiences sweltering summer temperatures.

Catholicism is by far the dominant religion in Mexico, but the cult of Santa Muerte, or Saint Death, is quickly gaining followers.

Millions including drug traffickers are asking for her protection. The church calls it a Satanic cult.  

Actually, many beliefs in that area of the world are often a combination of voodoo and Christianity (among other tribal religions). The people were impressed with the Christian religion when the missionaries brought it to them and basically adopted it carrying along much of their own religious beliefs creating an interesting mix of customs and beliefs.

MANILA, Philippines—Protesters are dispersed with water cannon as they attempt to force their way closer to the House of Representatives to coincide with the State of the Nation Address (Sona) by Philippine President Benigno Aquino III Monday, July 28, 2014, in Quezon City. 

People not known to join past protest actions against President Aquino, such as award-winning scriptwriter Ricky Lee and satirist Mae Paner (aka Juana Change), were at a huge rally against the President’s fifth State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday.

“The people now have a different view of this government. There’s a growing desperation and anger among the people,” Lee, who wrote the script of Nora Aunor’s highly acclaimed movie “Himala,” said of the crowd gathered a few kilometers from the House of Representatives where Aquino delivered his address.

“As long as there are people sleeping on the streets, as long as there’s hunger, the state of the nation is not OK. It’s that simple,” the scriptwriter said. Lee said he supported Aquino in the 2010 presidential election.

Paner joined the protest calling for Aquino’s impeachment, wearing a Filipiniana dress she once wore in an election campaign for him in 2010.

Anticrime crusader Dante Jimenez and about 30 members of the Volunteers against Crime and Corruption were also among the first-timers at the Sona rally.

“President Aquino has failed to realize that the worsening corruption results in increased criminality in our society. We cannot fight crimes if we cannot address corruption,” said Jimenez.

“I was ‘yellow’ before,” Paner told the crowd on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, referring to the President’s political campaign color.

“I’m sorry that I supported him. I thought the lives of ordinary people would improve under his administration,” said Paner, a petitioner in one of the three impeachment complaints against Mr. Aquino.

“It turned out that at the end of his straight path is a cliff,” she said.

Paner told the crowd to watch out for her costume change when she goes to the House to attend the President’s Sona. She was among the hundreds of people in the gallery of the House of Representatives as the President delivered his address.

Paner, the comedian known as “Juana Change” who campaigned for Aquino in 2010, stayed behind and attempted to heckle the President during the latter part of his speech.

A member of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) was quick to confiscate Paner’s placard before she could create a commotion. Paner was not kicked out of the event, as she stayed slumped over her seat while the PSG stood eagle-eyed across the aisle for the rest of the affair. 

"We do not dismiss the possibility that there could be licensed hunters who are exceeding quotas set by Perhilitan, along with illegal hunters out to make easy money," she said.
She said Perhilitan personnel would be monitoring hot spots throughout the week to curb poaching.

DEMAND for exotic meat has led to an increase in poaching in Pahang.
Berita Harian reported that the problem arose following demand from consumers for exotic meat.
Among the animals sought were deer and jungle fowl.
State Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) director Khairah Mohd Shariff said they were aware that more poachers would be on the prowl during the Hari Raya period.
"We do not dismiss the possibility that there could be licensed hunters who are exceeding quotas set by Perhilitan, along with illegal hunters out to make easy money," she said.
She said Perhilitan personnel would be monitoring hot spots throughout the week to curb poaching.
Khairah said poachers faced fines of up to RM50,000 (S$19,552) and a maximum of two years' imprisonment.
She also warned licensed hunters against exceeding their quotas.
However, she explained that Perhilitan faced an uphill battle curbing poaching due to the vast jungle areas and lack of personnel.
- See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/malaysia/poaching-rise-due-demand-exotic-meat#sthash.Hr8b4bP3.dpuf

An al-Qaeda-linked group fighting in Syria has released video of the first American to carry out a suicide attack in the country's civil war, showing him smiling and saying he looked forward to going to heaven. 

Al-Nusra Front released the new video on Friday showing American citizen Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, 22, with other fighters before the May 25 attack that targeted several army positions in the government-held city of Idlib in northwestern Syria. 

It said two of the other three suicide attackers were from foreign countries, including one who was identified as being from the Maldives. 

Abu-Salha appears smiling in the video and speaks in broken Arabic. "I want to rest in the afterlife, in heaven. There is nothing here and the heart is not resting," Abu-Salha says. 

"Heaven is better. When people die they either go to heaven or hell. There is happiness beyond explanation.'' The video, released by al-Nusra Front's media arm, al-Manara al-Baydha, was posted on self-proclaimed jihadi websites.

Two US F16 fighter jets were scrambled to escort a Panama City-bound flight from Canada back to Toronto on Friday after a man on the plane apparently threatened to blow up the aircraft, authorities said.

Major Julie Roberge of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said the jets flew up to join Sunwing Airlines flight 772 as a “precaution” less than an hour after it took off from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.

Video shot by a passenger showed armed Canadian law enforcement officers shouting “heads down, hands up” as they stormed aboard the aircraft in helmets and tactical gear after it was escorted back to Toronto.

Local media said a 25-year-old Canadian man was arrested on suspicion of threatening the aircraft.   
Toronto’s City News quoted one passenger as saying the suspect became angry after learning that the duty-free items he wanted were not for sale.
Flight 772 had another diversion on Friday night after a passenger on board suffered a head injury after fainting.
The plane  made an emergency landing in Montego Bay, Jamaica, landing about 6: 45 p.m. local time. 
It departed for Panama at 8:05 p.m.

 

Malaysia former prime minister accused the state of Israel of behaving like untouchables in their annexation of Palestinian land, secure in their arrogance as the “chosen” people of God.

The Jews are acting worse than the Nazis who persecuted them during World War II, with their continued military oppression of the Palestinian people, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed said today.

“​When Jews were persecuted by the Nazis in Germany, they seek the sympathy and support of the world. But their sufferings have taught them nothing, have not made them understand the pain of suffering,” Dr Mahathir said in his latest post on his blog, chedet.cc.

“Instead they are now behaving worse than Nazis, not caring at all for the sufferings and deaths they inflict upon others.”

Dr Mahathir said the ongoing Israeli military offensive, which has so far killed over 600 Palestinian civilians and razed numerous public buildings and private homes, is proof that the Israelis “don’t care” what the world thinks of the massacre.

The retired politician, who is a staunch supporter of the establishment of a Palestinian state and the ouster of Jews from Arab land, accused the West of supporting Israel’s conduct by branding those who criticise the Israelis as anti-Semitic.

“​The Jews are Semitic people. So are the Arabs. But today the Jews behave as if they are the only Semitic people. They accused everyone of being anti-Semitic if they criticised the Jews or accuses them of wrong doings. For whatever they do, however criminal it may be they would accuse their detractors as being anti-Semitic.

“​In this free world we can accuse anyone of anything and it is tolerated because it is part of freedom of speech. But the Jews may not be a criticised in any way without the critic being labelled ‘anti-Semitic’. And many European countries support this view to the extent of jailing anyone accused of being anti-Semitic.

“​The Europeans and the Americans created this monster and they care not for the atrocities committed by it. They will continue to support Israel even if the Israelis commit genocide, kill all the Arabs. This is their way to atone for all their treatment of the Jews in the past.

“The Jews should really be venting their spite on the Germans and other Europeans. But they are too smart. Killing Arabs is easier and more fun,” he said, referring to historical accounts of persecution of Jews by the Europeans.