Netanyahu-Obama Ties May Thaw After Israel Election

 WASHINGTON — For President Obama, whose relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has often resembled that of a couple trapped in a loveless marriage, the last three months must have offered some grim satisfaction.

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Parodies in Israeli Politics

Related

• Making of Israel’s New Power Broker (January 24, 2013)

• Tepid Vote for Netanyahu in Israel Is Seen as Rebuke (January 23, 2013)

• Charismatic Leader Helps Israel Turn Toward the Center (January 23, 2013)

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In November, Mr. Obama won re-election over Mitt Romney, who had been the not-so-subtle favorite of Mr. Netanyahu. Then on Tuesday, Mr. Netanyahu stumbled in his own re-election bid, with his Likud Party holding enough seats in Parliament to keep him in office but falling far short of expectations in the face of surging centrist voters.

Still, there was no crowing at the White House, at least in public, as the returns flowed in from Israel. Administration officials on Wednesday were reluctant to comment on how Mr. Netanyahu’s setback may affect his relations with Mr. Obama, especially since the Israeli leader has not yet begun the work of cobbling together a governing coalition.

As they sifted through the implications, analysts said there was more than vindication for Mr. Obama in Israel’s new political landscape.

Mr. Netanyahu’s weakened position could set the stage for, if not a “reset,” to use the administration’s well-worn phrase, then an improvement in his ties with the president.

If, as some analysts expect, Mr. Netanyahu seeks to put together a center-right coalition that includes Yair Lapid, whose Yesh Atid party won 19 seats in the 120-seat Parliament, it could sand away the roughest edges of Mr. Netanyahu’s existing right-wing coalition.

Mr. Lapid could push a new government in directions that would ease longstanding sources of tension with Mr. Obama. For example, he is more interested in creating jobs and providing housing than in expanding construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, a recurring source of friction between Mr. Obama and Mr. Netanyahu.

With Ehud Barak, a hawkish former general, leaving the Defense Ministry, Mr. Netanyahu may be under less pressure to consider a unilateral strike on Iran over its nuclear program. That would be a relief to the White House, which has had to plead with the Israelis for patience while it pursues a last-ditch diplomatic effort with Tehran.

“A weaker Bibi heading a government with some centrists was the best outcome the White House could have hoped for,” said Aaron David Miller, a longtime Middle East negotiator, using Mr. Netanyahu’s nickname. “It gives them a better chance to avoid war with the Iranian mullahs and preserve the chance of a peace with the Palestinians.”

The most optimistic outcome, Mr. Miller said, would be a kind of “odd couple” relationship between Mr. Obama and Mr. Netanyahu, in which they retain their differences over issues like settlements, but learn to manage them more skillfully.

That would be no small step, given the mutual suspicion that has suffused their relationship. White House officials alternately fumed and rolled their eyes during the presidential campaign when Mr. Netanyahu appeared to tilt toward Mr. Romney, inviting him to dinner at his home during the Republican candidate’s visit to Jerusalem last July.

Mr. Obama, members of the Likud Party believe, returned the favor during the Israeli election when Jeffrey Goldberg, an American journalist who writes frequently about Israel, reported that the president had disparaged Mr. Netanyahu after the Israeli government announced plans for settlements in a contested area of the West Bank known as E1.

Mr. Goldberg quoted Mr. Obama as saying repeatedly, “Israel doesn’t know what its own best interests are.” The White House did not confirm or deny Mr. Obama’s comments.

But days before the election, Mr. Netanyahu shot back that “only Israeli citizens will be the ones who determine who faithfully represents the vital interests of Israel” — a vivid reminder of his chilly relationship with the leader of Israel’s most important ally.

While in the past Israeli leaders — including Mr. Netanyahu himself during a previous stint as prime minister — have been punished by Israeli voters for mismanaging their relationships with American presidents, analysts were reluctant to attribute too much of his troubles to Mr. Obama, given the complexities of an election that surprised even the experts.

Still, as Martin S. Indyk, a former American ambassador to Israel, put it, “the Israeli public cares about the relationship, and it didn’t help that he mishandled it, and there was a reminder of how badly he mishandled it on the eve of the election.”

Among the intriguing questions, Mr. Indyk said, is whether Mr. Lapid would insist on concessions for joining a coalition with Mr. Netanyahu, like a freeze in settlement construction. While Mr. Lapid’s party has put its emphasis on concerns like jobs and housing, taking a stand on settlements would signal a shift from the right’s agenda.

Almost no one predicts that a new Israeli government will suddenly allow Mr. Obama to rekindle his first-term goal of a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians. Mr. Lapid’s party did not score its victory by pushing to revive long-moribund peace talks. The political climate on both sides remains hostile to such an effort.

Nor, after the frustrations of his first term, does Mr. Obama appear any more likely to invest heavily in Middle East peacemaking. The president scarcely mentions the subject these days.

While Mr. Indyk said that Senator John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who has been nominated to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state, would make a game effort to preserve the two-state solution, he is no more likely to achieve a breakthrough than Mrs. Clinton did.

Mr. Miller, now at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, said he had rarely seen a relationship as persistently dysfunctional as that between Mr. Obama and Mr. Netanyahu. A resounding Netanyahu victory would only have exacerbated those strains.

Now, though, in the wake of his deflating victory, Mr. Netanyahu may have the chance to mend fences, Mr. Miller said.

“The good news for Bibi, if he manages to put it together, is that a broader government would ease tensions and make the next four years much less rocky,” he said. “Netanyahu will be able to preside over a much more functional relationship with the United States.”        

Singh is back with Mere Dad Ki Maruti Read more at: http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/news/2013/yo-yo-honey-singh-mere-dad-ki-maruti-102899.html

After being in news for all the wrong reasons in the last few weeks, Yo Yo Honey Singh is back with a peppy foot tapping clean song in Yash Raj Films' next Mere Dad Ki Maruti. The film's driver song 'Punjabiyandi Battery' features a jugulbandi of Mika Singh and Honey. In fact, this time around to avoid any hassles, the makers ensured that before the song gets released, all its lyrics are cleaned up showcasing a new Honey Singh. Those who have heard the song say it is very good foot tapping song and set to become a chart buster. Mere Dad Ki Maruti is the youth division's big film and all set to release on March 15. This film will see Saqib Salem and Rhea Chakravatory in a new avtaar. After the launch of Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra in Ishaqzaade, now we have a new couple launch in Mere Dad Ki Maruti.

Read more at: http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/news/2013/yo-yo-honey-singh-mere-dad-ki-maruti-102899.html

Near-Earth asteroids to be mined soon?

A newly established US company, Deep Space Industries, Tuesday announced a plan to harvest near-earth asteroids.

It is the second company with such an ambitious plan. Another venture, the Planetary Resources Inc of Seattle, jointly backed by Google founders and explorer and filmmaker
James Cameron, went public with proposals for similar mission last year, reported Xinhua.

AsteroidDeep Space Industries said that it would create "the world's first fleet of commercial asteroid-prospecting spacecraft" and had planned to launch a fleet of asteroid-prospecting spacecraft out into the Solar System to hunt for resources, vowing to develop a "breakthrough process for manufacturing in space".

The company said as a first step of the mission, it would be launching small unmanned probes, named FireFlies and with a mass of about 25 kg, in 2015 on journeys that will last two to six months.

The next step will be sending bigger spacecraft, dubbed Dragonflies, to collect samples and bring them back to the Earth. These expeditions will take two to four years.

"Using resources harvested in space is the only way to afford permanent space development," said David Gump, chief executive officer of Deep Space Industries.

"More than 900 new asteroids that pass near Earth are discovered every year. They can be like the Iron Range of Minnesota was for the Detroit car industry last century - a key resource located near where it was needed. In this case, metals and fuel from asteroids can expand the in-space industries of this century."

Deep Space Industries' move turned the asteroid mining into a two-horse race. Some scientists are highly sceptical of the idea of asteroid mining, though new technologies have made it possible to exploit the rare metals present in the space rocks.

Give women right to kill rapist: JS Verma panel

Give women the right to kill rapist as part of self defence, Justice JS Verma Committee said on Wednesday in its recommendations for legislation and amendments to laws relating to crimes against women.
However, the three-member panel, which submitted its report to the Union home ministry, declined to recommend death penalty for rapists, saying existing laws were enough to deal with such offences but said amendments were needed.
http://www.dnaindia.com/
The recommendation fell short of matching people’s demand for capital sentence to those found guilty in the rarest of rare cases of crimes. “There is considerable evidence that the deterrent effect of death penalty on serious crimes is actually a myth,” the committee said. The committee instead suggested that the maximum punishment should be life imprisonment for convicted rapists.
Giving the right of self defence to women, the committee proposed that if a woman ends up killing a rapist or a would-be rapist, she can claim the right to self defence under Section 100 of the IPC. The committee also suggested punishment for voyeurism and stalking should not be less than one year and can extend to three years with fine.
Stressing on the ill medical effects of chemical castration, the committee said, “It would be unconstitutional and inconsistent with basic human rights treaties for the state to expose any citizen without their consent to potentially dangerous medical side effects.”
“Chemical castration fails to treat the social foundations of rape which is about power and sexually deviant behaviour. We therefore hold that mandatory chemical castration as a punishment contradicts human rights standards,” the recommendations read.
Justice Verma said speedy justice is essential for efficacy of law. The number of judges can be increased in a phased manner without compromising with the quality, he added. Further, more effective control of subordinate judiciary by higher courts is required.
He said law enforcement agencies like the CBI must be insulated from external pressures. “They must not become a tool in the political hands.” Another issued emphasised by Justice Verma is transparency in performance by all institutions of governance.
The report said the Delhi gang rape case shows the failures of traffic regulations, maintenance of law and order and dealing of sexual assault cases.
The committee also suggested punishment for those employing trafficked persons despite knowing that the adult has been trafficked. The punishment suggested is five years imprisonment, which can extend to seven years, with a fine.
The panel also suggested a new section to the existing rape law and said, “A new section 376(3) should be added for death caused in the course of committing rape in a vegetative state and shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than 20 years or life.”

Include sex edu in syllabus
New Delhi: Sex education must be made an integral part of school curriculum, Justice Verma committee has suggested. The committee’s report said sex education should be delivered by well-trained and competent teachers and must involve the participation of counsellors who are trained in the field of child psychology.
Children and young people have to be prepared for their transition to adulthood, the report stressed.There is a need for dispensing correct knowledge with respect to sexuality and sexual choices without enforcing gender stereotypes, it said.

India v England: Suresh Raina leads hosts to series win

India 258 for 5 (Raina 89*, Rohit 83) beat England 257 for 7 (Cook 76, Pietersen 76, Root 57*, Jadeja 3-39) by five wickets

Rohit Sharma

England fought hard to assemble a respectable total on a cold, wintry day in the Punjab, but when the fog cleared the view was a familiar one: another defeat in a one-day series in India. India's pursuit of 258 was far from trouble free, but a winning margin of five wickets with 15 balls to spare was emphatic enough and left them 3-1 up one to play.

Instead of a dead rubber in ODI in Dharamsala, in the foothills of the Himalayas, England would be forgiven for fancying a spot of skiing, but sadly for them the weather forecast is improving and only the cricket is going downhill. A record extended to 18 ODI defeats in their last 20 in India is proof of that.

Smart stats India won their fourth consecutive home ODI series against England. Of their last 20 matches against England at home (bilateral series), India won 18 and lost two. The target of 258 is the third-highest successful chase in ODIs in Mohali. India also chased 299 against England at the same venue in 2011. Suresh Raina's 89 is the second-highest score by an Indian No. 5 batsman against England, after Yuvraj Singh's 118 in 2008. For the sixth time in ODIs in Mohali, 450 or more runs (batsman runs) were scored with five half-centuries but no hundred. Joe Root's strike rate of 126.66 is the fourth-highest by an England No. 6 batsman against India (fifty-plus scores only). The 95-run stand between Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen is the fourth highest second-wicket stand for England in ODIs against India in India. It is also the second highest second-wicket stand for a visiting team in Mohali.

It might have been different had England not fallen again to the curse of Steven Finn's knee. When Finn thought he had Suresh Raina caught by Alastair Cook at first slip, India still needed 80 from 89 balls with what would have been five wickets intact. But Finn's recalcitrant right knee had collided with the stumps again and umpire Steve Davis invoked Law 23, ruling that Raina had been distracted. Cook's protests that Finn was entitled to a warning went unheeded. 

 Virat Kohli was gently removed by Tredwell, not as much dismissed as quietly informed that he would take no further part in the game. In the calming manner of a hospital consultant, Tredwell's entire demeanour is designed to allay fears. "Good morning, Mr Kohli, do relax, there is nothing to worry about." But there was and by the end of his first over, Kohli had chipped a gentle return catch as if half-anaesthetised. There must have been some dip, or subtle change of pace, but you could study innumerable replays and struggle to discern it.

Tredwell claimed a second wicket when he defeated Yuvraj Singh's sweep, dismissing him for the fourth time in the series.

England could ill afford to allow let-offs in the field, but both Kohli and Rohit survived half chances. Rohit, on 12, drove Tim Bresnan high to mid-off where Kevin Pietersen leapt to palm the ball in the air with his right hand but failed to locate it as it fell. Kohli was 2 when he pulled at Finn and the ball fell between the wicketkeeper, Jos Buttler, and Bresnan at fine leg.

Buttler was running backwards for a catch which could not have fallen more inconveniently had Kohli marked the spot with a cross, but

Suresh Raina

 he was a stand-in wicketkeeper for Craig Kieswetter, and an inexperienced one at that, and it was natural to wonder whether a more experienced keeper would have been more assertive.

England, for whom only Finn and James Tredwell possessed any real threat, never rallied again after Finn's unwitting collision with the stumps. Jade Dernbach dismissed MS Dhoni with a short, wide one, but his bowling circus has not troubled India.

India's pace attack made impressive use of a good fast-bowling morning after Dhoni had won the toss. Bhuvneshwar Kumar conceded only 30 runs in a probing 10-over allocation delivered without interruption and Ishant Sharma was as dangerous as at any time in either Test or one-day series.

Alastair Cook's methodical half-century was an appropriate response, but his demise, lbw to a ball from R Ashwin that pitched well outside leg stump was another rum decision. Umpires drawn from outside the elite panel, plus the absence of DRS, equals a greater likelihood of error wherever a game is played.

There was 76, too, from Pietersen, but it was a more fretful innings delivered by a batsman anxious for the first shaft of sunlight. He was struck on the elbow as Ishant cut one back and narrowly escaped an lbw decision in the same over when he just got outside the line. He needed 13 balls to get off the mark; 33 to find the boundary, an authoritative straight drive against R Ashwin.

He was illuminated only briefly, muscling Ishant over midwicket for six, but he got an excellent yorker in response as Ishant ensured that for once his bowling figures were not damaged by bowling at the most pressing times.

Cook, for all his frustration at his dismissal, had provided a solid layer, but England's cause was not helped when they lost Eoin Morgan and Patel in quick succession.

Morgan has had a poor series in a country in which, with IPL in mind, he was anxious to advance his reputation. He drove Ashwin weakly down the ground and only reached Yuvraj at mid-on. Patel was promoted to No. 5, presumably with the approaching batting Powerplay in mind, but he made a single in 10 balls when he chipped a return catch to Ravindra Jadeja. Patel stalked off; he has done more stalking off recently than is good for him.

England rallied with 100 from the last 10 overs, energised by Joe Root's maiden ODI half-century, 57 not out from 45 balls, after he had been dropped off Ishant by Kohli at slip. Throughout the winter, in all three forms of the game, Root has proved more adaptable than perhaps even he had expected. His cricketing intelligence is one of his greatest assets.

He should also have fallen on 42, a slog sweep against Jadeja bringing a comical drop by Raina at midwicket. Jadeja's left-arm slows have disturbed England throughout the series. The dismissal of Buttler and Bresnan in his final over left him with 3 for 39. 

England wary of threat from Shami and Bhuvneshwar

India went into the series with a depleted pace attack, but inexperienced Shami Ahmed and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have surprised everyone with the way the greenhorns have not only handled pressure, but have also managed to trouble the English batsmen.

Both are new entities in international cricket and Bell said that the team management even watched the India-Pakistan ODI series to get to know them better. "We watched their matches but it's different to face the bowlers in the middle. Both have been fantastic with the new ball and have made us struggle for the entire duration of the match," said Bell.

Shami And Bhuveneshwar

The form of the pacers has also allowed India skipper, MS Dhoni, to keep much experienced Ishant Sharma for the middle overs. While Bhuvneshwar dented the England chase in the second ODI, accounting for Alastair Cook, Eoin Morgan and Kevin Pietersen, Shami snared Ian Bell, effectively accounting for the visitors' middle order. In the third ODI at Ranchi, Shami picked up Cook, while Bhuvnesh provided the early breakthrough with Bell's wicket.
"They have fantastic bowling skills. They swing the ball both ways, they have made us work hard for our runs," said Bell.
Bell also said even Ravindra Jadeja has been the one to watch out for. "He is an excellent all-rounder and has managed to pick wickets in the middle overs. You can say he is the one with the golden arm. We know he is a good bowler, but we will have to play him a lot better in the coming matches," the England opener added

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