Pentagon vows ‘overwhelming’ response to Pyongyang nuke

Jerusalem gets set for annual pro-Israel march

Jerusalem is gearing up for its annual evangelical pro-Israel parade. Many of the main thoroughfares in the city will be closed to traffic as participants march from Sacher Park to the Old City through the center of town.

The march, organized by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, kicks off in the next hour and is expected to draw participants from around the world. Organizers note that “the handing out of any tracts has been prohibited.”

Outside the King David Hotel, a mock-up of the Ark of the Covenant was spotted atop a Philippine participant’s car.

Philippine president announces ‘separation’ from US

Firebrand Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announces his country’s “separation” from the United States, his latest anti-American comment since taking office earlier this year.

“I announce my separation from the United States,” he said to applause at a meeting in Beijing.

— AFP contributed

Hungarian arrested in Budapest bomb plot

A Hungarian man has been arrested on suspicion of detonating a bomb in Budapest last month which seriously injured two police officers, authorities said Thursday.

The man was detained for alleged premeditated attempted murder as well as misuse of explosive materials, said senior prosecutor Imre Keresztes.

“It was a brutal and shocking act, which could have caused much greater damage,” he told a press conference in the Hungarian capital.

The young male suspect with no prior criminal record was arrested in the town of Keszthely, 190 kilometres (118 miles) southwest of Budapest on Wednesday afternoon.

He is believed to have acted alone in the September 24 explosion, Keresztes said.

A female policewoman, 23, and her male colleague, 26, had been on foot patrol in downtown Budapest when the homemade, shrapnel-packed device detonated.

The pair have now left hospital and are recovering, Hungarian police chief Karoly Papp said Thursday.

Security camera footage from after the explosion showed an unidentified man leaving a bag at the scene shortly before the blast.

Images of the man’s face, partially hidden by a fishing hat, were released later.

The explosion was “an execution attempt” on the officers, Papp had told reporters the day after the incident.

Authorities had offered a ten million forints (32,000 euros, $37,000) award for information leading to the suspect’s arrest.

— AFP

Infant bitten by poisonous spider

An 11-month-old child from the coastal town of Caesarea is hospitalized after she was bitten by a spider, apparently a poisonous Black Widow, Walla news reports.

Pentagon’s Syria spending limited to teapots

In some odd news, The Bureau for Investigative Journalism based in the UK says that Pentagon data shows that the only money spent in Syria for six years was on Turkish teapots.

Make tea not war? According to #Pentagon data, the only money it spent in Syria from 2009-15 went on buying 150-odd of these Turkish teapots pic.twitter.com/vq51BFRLRU

— The Bureau (@TBIJ) October 20, 2016

4 Israelis rescued by IDF after straying into Area A

The IDF says it received word that four off-duty Israeli soldiers strayed into Area A of the West Bank near the town of Halhoul during a hike and required extraction by the army.

The four are safe and sound and required no medical attention. The incident is under investigation.

Tiny wood clog found in Auschwitz

A tiny carved wooden clog that once belonged to a woman the Nazis deported to the Auschwitz death camp has been discovered after more than 70 years, a local foundation told AFP on Thursday.

Smaller than a matchstick, the charm “is a real piece of art from Auschwitz,” said Agnieszka Molenda, who runs the Foundation of Memory Sites near Auschwitz-Birkenau (FPMP).

“The tiny carved clog is just seven millimeters (0.28 inches) long and hangs on a small chain, indicating that a prisoner wore it as jewelry,” she said, adding that its origin and owner remain a mystery.

Auschwitz prisoners were banned from making or wearing any such items and according to Molenda the charm could have been a tiny symbol of resistance.

— AFP

10 hurt after van hits ambulance in Tiberias

Ten people suffered light injuries after a van collided with an ambulance in the northern city of Tiberias. The injured are at the Poria Hospital receiving treatment.

PM takes flak from Jewish Home, Likud officials over West Bank outpost

Likud and Jewish Home officials have criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he’s not doing enough to find a solution to the imminent demolition of homes in the illegal West Bank outpost of Amona, Channel 2 reports.

Jewish Home officials are quoted telling Amona residents behind closed doors that the prime minister is not “charging at this full force.” A senior Likud official says that Netanyahu is “consistently avoids” making decisions and prefers to blame US President Barack Obama.

Netanyahu reportedly told Amona residents that Obama was dangerous to settlements, which he later denied saying.

Lebanon’s Aoun set for presidency after key endorsement

Lebanon’s former prime minister Saad Hariri on Thursday endorsed the presidential bid of political rival Michel Aoun, paving the way for the ex-army chief to take the top post.

“I announce today before you my decision to endorse the candidacy of general Michel Aoun for the presidency of the republic,” Hariri said, describing his decision as necessary to “protect Lebanon.”

— AFP

IDF soldier lightly hurt by stone

An IDF soldier is lightly injured after being struck by a stone thrown by Palestinians near the Etzion bloc of settlements south of Jerusalem.

Palestinian said killed after throwing stones at soldiers

Arabic media report a Palestinian man has been shot dead by IDF troops near the village of Beit Ummar after throwing stones at soldiers and injuring one.

Palestinian media name teen shot by IDF

Palestinian media name the boy killed earlier by IDF fire as 16-year-old Khaled Bahr Ahmad Musa Bahr.

Pentagon vows ‘overwhelming’ response to N. Korea nuke

Pentagon chief Ashton Carter on Thursday decries North Korea’s latest missile test and vows an “overwhelming” response if Pyongyang were ever to launch a nuclear weapon.

“We strongly condemn last night’s attempt,” Carter says at a joint press conference with his South Korean counterpart, Han Min-Koo.

“Make no mistake: Any attack on America or our allies will not only be defeated, but any use of nuclear weapons will be met with an overwhelming and effective response.”

— AFP

‘Mossad official’ met with Morsi before he took power

A Mossad agent reportedly met in secret with ousted Egyptian president Mohammad Morsi before he took power in June 2012, according to a report in the Egyptian daily al-Youm al-Sabaa.

Reporter Hashem al-Fakhrani posted a classified document claiming to have been written by the Mossad representative, during the meeting with Morsi which was attended by an American official.

The paper published the Hebrew summary of the meeting which was supposedly compiled by the Mossad. The half-hour meeting between the unnamed agent and Morsi in Cairo received the blessing of Mohammed Badie, the overall leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, the political party to which Morsi belonged and which ruled Egypt for nearly a year until Morsi’s ouster in a military coup.

The agent, referred to only as “The Baron,” told Morsi he’d keep the meeting under wraps and asked a series of questions, including “are there any intentions by the Muslim Brotherhood to change the peace treaty between Cairo and Tel Aviv?” According to the document, Morsi said he plans to preserve normalized relations with Israel, has no intention of altering the peace treaty, and doesn’t consider Israel an enemy state.

The report doesn’t state how the paper acquired the document.

US soldier killed in blast in northern Iraq

A member of the US military was killed in a bomb blast in northern Iraq on Thursday, officials said, as Iraqi forces in the region continued their push on Mosul.

“A US service member died from wounds sustained in an improvised explosive device blast in northern Iraq,” Pentagon officials and the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group said.

They did not immediately identify the service member, or say whether he or she was one of the more than 100 US troops advising Iraqi security forces and Kurdish peshmerga as they push toward the IS-held city of Mosul on multiple fronts.

The death is at least the fourth time a US military member has been killed in combat in Iraq since operations against IS began there in 2014.

— AFP