Lucasbalo:
Don't worry Buddy, America is too diverse and politically sophisticated to elect a racist and a pathological liar to the presidency. This hullabaloo will end on November 8 when we hear Madam President Elect Hillary Clinton. You can take that to the bank and cash it, if not I will donate 50.000 Naira to any charity of your choice in Nigeria. Hold me to this promise and keep this post for future reference.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday, Dec 5, 2013 that some progress had been made in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and that he had presented Israel with ideas for improving its security under any future accord.

"We have always known that this is a difficult, complicated road and we understand that. I believe we are making some progress," Kerry told reporters in Jerusalem after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Acknowledging Israel's concerns that handing over occupied territory to form part of a Palestinian state could make it vulnerable to attack, Kerry said he had offered Netanyahu "some thoughts about that particular security challenge". He did not elaborate.

Netanyahu said Israel's ability to defend itself must be safeguarded in any peace deal, and called on the Palestinian to hold uninterrupted and discrete negotiations.

"What we need is not grandstanding, but understanding and agreements and that requires hard and serious work," he said.

Kerry then traveled to the West Bank to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that core sanctions against Iran would remain in place despite its interim nuclear deal with world powers.

The November 24 accord in Geneva was denounced as a "historic mistake" by Netanyahu, increasing strains in an alliance already marked by his past disputes with U.S. President Barack Obama over strategy on Iran and the Palestinians.

Visiting Israel as the talks with Tehran gathered pace, Kerry met an irate Netanyahu. But they worked to affirm their friendship on Thursday: Their offices issued pictures of them smiling in private conversation, and while briefing reporters afterwards Kerry referred to Netanyahu by his nickname "Bibi".

Israel argues an easing of some sanctions on Iran before it abandons nuclear projects with bomb-making potential risks snowballing as foreign business partners rush into the breach.

"Steps must be taken to prevent a further erosion of sanctions," said Netanyahu, who has described a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic as a mortal menace to the Jewish state. Iran says it enriching uranium only for peaceful nuclear energy.

Kerry said Washington would confer closely with its Israeli ally about crafting a permanent Iran agreement after the six-month confidence-building period laid out by the Geneva deal under which Iran will curb sensitive aspects of its nuclear program in exchange for limited relief from sanctions.

"I can't emphasize enough that Israel's security in this negotiation is at the top of our agenda and the United States will do everything in its power to make certain that Iran's nuclear program, the program's weaponisation possibilities, is terminated," Kerry said.

GOING SLOW ON SANCTIONS

The Obama administration was warning any other country against "moving ahead of sanctions" in trading with Iran, Kerry said.

"The fundamental sanctions regime of oil and banking remains absolutely in place. It is not changed. And we will be stepping up our effort of enforcement through the Treasury Department and through the appropriate agencies of the United States," Kerry said.

Israel's fierce opposition about the Geneva deal have raised speculation - fuelled by regular public hints from Netanyahu - that it might carry out long-threatened unilateral strikes against Iran.

But while Israel is widely assumed to have the region's only nuclear arsenal, many independent analysts believe it lacks the conventional clout to deliver lasting damage to the distant, dispersed and well-defended Iranian facilities.

The Israelis are also unlikely to go it alone as their most important foreign partner is engaged in diplomacy with Tehran.

Hoping to stay Israel's hand, the Americans have invested heavily in its strategic defenses. Kerry said that during his visit he hoped to tour Palmahim air base, near Tel Aviv, where Israel's command-and-control centre for the Arrow ballistic missile interceptor and other systems is located.

"I want to see first-hand the remarkable ballistic missile defense technologies in place that our nation has spent over 20 years building with our friends here in Israel," he said.

"The advancement of these programs in recent years, I think, is a reflection of President Obama's and his administration's strong commitment, unwavering commitment to Israel's security."

Horus:

We need fews nuclear missiles to be used as deterrent for self defence.

Horus:

We need few nuclear missiles to be used as deterrent for self defence.

A hearty congratulations to the outgoing Batch B 2012 Corps members.
Remembering the early morning whistling, drills, punishments, unnecessary lectures, march pasts under the sun, squash 1, remove hairdressing, yankara tinz, meal times, cultural dances, inter platoon
competitions, mammy market ..., they were treasured memories indeed.
People screamed with delight when they saw their posting letters, some cried! while so many protested. Also was the strict & full implementation of the new FG posting policy that threw everybody off-balance.
But here you are today. If u are alive, my friend forget all and give praise to almighty God.
Yes, one journey has ended and another just begun, but its a good sign, at least you've sucessfully completed one. God who saw you thru those past year, is more than able to secure the uncertain future for us.
For this reason i say, roll out the drums and celebrate! All is well that ends well.
U came, U saw, U remodified & liberalized & Finally conquered!!!

A move that was immediately condemned by Hamas, the rulers of the Gaza Strip.
Abbas and the militant Islamist group agreed in principle
last month to form a unity government for the divided Palestinian territories, and a Hamas spokesman said Hamdallah's appointment threw that into doubt.
Fawzi Barhoum told Reuters: "Abbas should have
implemented the reconciliation [deal]" achieved in Cairo last
month, rather than name his own independent candidate as
prime minister. The group called Hamdallah's appointment
"illegal".
But the official Palestinian news agency, WAFA, said that in
naming Hamdallah, Abbas, who has sought to end abuse of the Islamist group's activists by security forces in the West Bank, had "stressed his commitment to reconciliation" with Hamas.
A little-known figure outside the Palestinian territories,
Hamdallah is a professor of linguistics who has been president of An Najah National University in the West Bank's largest city since 1998.
He will replace the western-favoured economist Salam
Fayyad, who quit in April and formally leaves office this month.
"President Abbas has designated Rami Hamdallah to form a
new cabinet," the official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. Palestinian and Israeli media also reported the appointment.
Led by the secular Fatah party, Abbas's western-backed
Palestinian Authority has pursued surveillance, firings, arrests and torture to bar its Islamist rivals from public life in the West Bank, since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip enclave in 2007. Political attempts to heal the rift have foundered in the past, largely on differences over policy toward Israel.
Hamas rejects any recognition of the Jewish state, while
Abbas's Fatah party signed an interim deal with Israel in 1993
and is a party to US-brokered efforts to revive peace talks that
broke down in a dispute over Jewish settlements in 2010.
US secretary of state John Kerry's efforts to renew peace
talks have met with little success. The Palestinians want a
settlement construction freeze, while Israel insists that talks
should be held without preconditions.
Hamdallah also pledged his commitment to Abbas's agenda
of returning to the table with a goal of establishing an
independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, the WAFA agency said. Under Palestinian law, he has up to six weeks to form a government.
Fayyad, a former World Bank official credited with building
Palestinian institutions needed to gain independence from Israel, resigned over an economic crisis caused by cuts in western funds and Israeli freezes on money transfers. His departure was seen as a major blow to the Palestinians' western backers.
Media reports have quoted Fayyad as saying that he would
have stayed on had he thought Kerry's initiative would succeed.
The absence of Fayyad, a trusted gatekeeper of western aid, may bring renewed scrutiny of Palestinian accounts and accusations of corruption.
The US and parts of Europe reduced funding for the
Palestinians late last year in protest at Abbas won de facto United Nations statehood recognition, which Washington objected to as an attempt to bypass direct talks with Israel.
Kerry has promised $4bn in aid but given few details.