(WORLD) Missing channel pirate ship carried Russian arms for Iran…

A CARGO ship that vanished in the Channel was carrying arms to Iran and was being tracked by Mossad, the Israeli security service, according to sources in both Russia and Israel.

The Arctic Sea, officially carrying a cargo of timber worth £1.3m, disappeared en route from Finland to Algeria on July 24. It was recovered off west Africa on August 17 when eight alleged hijackers were arrested. The Kremlin has consistently denied that the vessel was carrying a secret cargo. It claims the ship was hijacked by criminals who demanded a £1m ransom.

The official version was challenged by sources in Tel Aviv and Moscow who claimed the ship had been loaded with S-300 missiles, Russia’s most advanced anti-aircraft weapon, while undergoing repairs in the Russian port of Kaliningrad.

Mossad, which closely monitors arms supplies to Iran, is said to have tipped off the Russian government that the shipment had been sold by former military officers linked to the underworld. READ MORE

(POLITICS) READ: Obama to Moderate Abbas-Netanyahu Meeting: Peres…

(Newser Summary) – President Obama will play moderator to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a meeting at the UN before the end of next month, Israeli President Shimon Peres tells Fox News. “I think they will meet by the end of September,” he says. “President Obama will chair it, and I think that at least there is a chance that they will decide they are going to reopen negotiations.”

Of course, Peres continues, “that will not include Hamas.” The president also says “negotiations are going on” over the freezing of Israeli settlement construction in Palestine, a likely precondition for peace talks, but “there is not yet an agreement.” Still, Netanyahu is aware there “is no chance, no escape, no alternative” to restarting the peace process. “He knows he must do it,” Peres says. “It’s just not a simple proposition.”

—Harry Kimball

Source: Fox News  (DNN apologizes for Newser using Fox News, but it was a good read! So sorry!) 😉

 

(WATCH): Israelis restrict Palestinians’ water supply…

Source: The Real News Network (trnn.com)

World Bank report: Israelis have access to four times as much water as Palestinians due to restrictions

After World Bank issues report, commissioned by the Palestinian Authority on the condition of water accessibility in the West Bank, Israel claims the reports authors are biased. To understand the conditions on the ground, how they’ve been addressed, and whether the so-called peace process succeeded in addressing them, The Real News speaks to LifeSource Project, a non-profit organization focusing solely on the issue of water. Susan Koppelman and Taysir Arabasi tell The Real News’ Lia Tarachansky the Mountain Aquifer, the biggest supply of fresh underground water is pumped by Israel even though it lies almost entirely in the West Bank. They also speak about restrictions on Palestinians to dig water wells, and their dependence on the Israeli national water corporation, Mekorot.