Tweeting accountant in spotlight over Oscar best picture blunder

LOS ANGELES | An accountant for the Academy Awards was at the center of a probe on Monday over how a meticulous procedure for announcing the Oscar best picture went disastrously awry, handing victory to “La La Land” before declaring “Moonlight” the real winner.

In a gaffe on Sunday that stunned the Dolby Theatre crowd in Hollywood and a television audience worldwide, presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were handed the wrong envelope for the movie industry’s top award.

The Wall Street Journal and celebrity website TMZ.com reported on Monday that one of the PricewaterhouseCoopers accountants responsible for handing out the sealed envelopes on Sunday had posted a backstage photo of actress Emma Stone on Twitter minutes before the mix-up.

The photo, from the Twitter account of Brian Cullinan, was later deleted but was still viewable on Monday on a cached archive of the page.

PricewaterhouseCoopers U.S. chairman Tim Ryan told USA Today on Monday that Cullinan was the person who handed the envelope to Beatty.

PwC did not respond to requests for comment on Cullinan’s tweet, nor his role in the envelope fiasco. Cullinan could not immediately be reached for comment.

The mistake was not rectified until the “La La Land” cast and producers were on stage giving their acceptance speeches. It was left to the musical’s producer, Jordan Horowitz, to put things right.

“Guys, guys, I’m sorry. No. There’s a mistake,” Horowitz said. “‘Moonlight,’ you guys won best picture. This is not a joke.”

It took PricewaterhouseCoopers, which has been overseeing Academy Awards balloting for 83 years, three hours to issue a statement confirming that Beatty and Dunaway “had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope.”

“We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred,” the accountants said in a statement on Monday. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organizes the Oscars, has made no comment.

An embarrassed Beatty carried the envelope in his hand to the glitzy Governor’s Ball after the show, with the writing clearly saying “actress in a leading role.” “La La Land” star Stone had been awarded that Oscar moments before.

Brand management experts said it could take years for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to recover.

“This is not advanced math. PwC had to get the right name in the right envelope and get it to the right person,” said Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University, calling the blunder a “bit of a branding tragedy.”

DOUBLE PRECAUTIONS

Under a tried and tested PwC procedure, just two accountants know the names of the 24 winners after their names are placed in two sets of sealed envelopes. The two accountants also memorize the winning names.

Tradition has it that the envelopes are taken separately in two briefcases to the Academy Awards venue. The two accountants — in this case Cullinan and Martha Ruiz — are driven there separately in case an accident or traffic should befall them.

The pair then stand off stage at opposite sides and hand envelopes to the respective presenters as each category is announced.

Last week, Cullinan told the Huffington Post that the procedure for dealing with the hand-off of an incorrect envelope, other than signaling to a stage manager, was unclear.

“It’s so unlikely,” Cullinan told the Huffington Post.

Anthony Sabino, a law professor at St John’s University in New York, said that although precious minutes passed, the error was corrected quickly.

“It’s not as if we woke up this morning, or if it had been uncovered after the telecast was over. That would have really have been a black eye,” Sabino said.

Sabino said that compared to accounting fraud at other companies in the past, “this incident diminished vastly to a vanishing point.”

The “Moonlight” filmmakers were gracious about the error.

Director Barry Jenkins told reporters back stage that he was given no immediate explanation for the mix-up but that “it made a very special feeling even more special, but not in the way I expected.”

“Please write this down: The folks from ‘La La Land’ were so gracious,” Jenkins added.

source: interaksyon.com

China reports more severe form of bird flu, threat to poultry - WHO

GENEVA/BEIJING -- China is working to assess the prevalence of a new strain of H7N9 bird flu, state radio reported on Wednesday, after global health authorities said the strain had evolved into a more severe form in birds.

So far the variant strain has only been detected in Guangdong province, but given the wide circulation of livestock and poultry in the country, it would be difficult to prevent its spread to other areas, the broadcast said, citing the agriculture ministry.

Until now, the H7N9 virus has shown little or no clinical symptoms in birds, despite being highly pathogenic when it infects human.

But China has detected an evolution in the virus that is capable of causing severe disease in poultry and requires close monitoring, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.

Samples of the virus taken from two infected humans were injected into birds in a laboratory and became "highly pathogenic" for poultry, it said.

But that designation applies only to birds, not humans, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said, and there is "no evidence that the changes in the virus affect the virus' ability to spread between humans."

A total of 304 new laboratory-confirmed human infections were reported in mainland China between January 19 and February 14, along with 36 deaths, the WHO said in its latest update on Monday.

The evolution of the virus may mean that the disease will become more apparent in some flocks, if birds begin to die off, making detection and control easier.

"This is the first time these changes have been detected. These are the only two cases in Guangdong province, China. So far, there have been no reports if similar changes have occurred elsewhere," Lindmeier said.

"It is a reminder that we have to keep looking closely," he told Reuters.

Any culling carried out in response to the detection of the virus on farms would be compensated, the Chinese report added.

Animal health experts say bird flu infection rates on Chinese poultry farms may be far higher than previously thought, because the strain of the deadly virus in humans is hard to detect in chickens and geese.

In all, since the "fifth wave" of the virus, first identified in 2013, began in October 2016, 425 human cases have been recorded in China, including 73 deaths officially reported by authorities, according to WHO figures.

"Most of these cases had known exposure to poultry or its environment, that is the main important link to this influenza type," Lindmeier told a news briefing.

In all since 2013, there have been 1,200 laboratory-confirmed cases in China, including more than one-third since October, he said.

source: interaksyon.com

McCain: How to get started as a dictator? Suppress free press.

MUNICH - US Senator John McCain, defending the media against the latest attack by President Donald Trump, warned suppressing the free press was "how dictators get started."

The Arizona Republican, a frequent critic of Trump, was responding to a tweet in which Trump accused the media of being “the enemy of the American people.”

The international order established after World War Two was built in part on a free press, McCain said in an excerpt of an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" that was released in advance of the full Sunday morning broadcast.

"I hate the press. I hate you especially," he told interviewer Chuck Todd from an international security conference in Munich. "But the fact is we need you. We need a free press. We must have it. It's vital."

"If you want to preserve - I'm very serious now - if you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and many times adversarial press. And without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time. That's how dictators get started," he continued.

"They get started by suppressing free press. In other words, a consolidation of power. When you look at history, the first thing that dictators do is shut down the press. And I'm not saying that President Trump is trying to be a dictator. I'm just saying we need to learn the lessons of history," McCain said.

McCain’s comments followed Trump’s tweet and came days after the president held a raucous news conference at which he repeatedly criticized news reports about disorder in the White House and leaks of his telephone conversations with the leaders of Mexico and Australia.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel underscored the importance of a free press at the Munich conference on Saturday, saying, "I have high respect for journalists. We've always had good results, at least in Germany, by relying on mutual respect."

Merkel did not mention Trump specifically, but called freedom of the press "a very significant pillar of democracy."

source: interaksyon.com

Trump's sons Eric and Donald Jr. in Dubai to open golf club

DUBAI — Two of US President Donald Trump's sons arrived in the United Arab Emirates for an invitation-only ceremony yesterday to formally open the Trump International Golf Club in Dubai.

Photographs shared on social media by real estate brokers showed Eric and Donald Jr. attending a private luncheon yesterday afternoon in Dubai with Hussain Sajwani, the billionaire who runs DAMAC Properties, the developer that partnered with Trump on the golf course.

Trump's two sons gave brief remarks and met with over 80 people gathered at the event, attendee Niraj Masand told The Associated Press.

They were "expressing their gratitude to Mr. Sajwani, who is the chairman of DAMAC, and sort of expressing their happiness to meet with all the partners," said Masand, a director of the real estate firm Banke International.


Both sons are scheduled to attend a gala at the golf course yesterday night, which sits inside a larger villa and apartment building project called DAMAC Hills on the outskirts of Dubai. Some 100 Trump-branded villas also are on the property, selling from 5 million dirhams ($1.3 million) to over 15 million dirhams ($4 million).

Eric and Donald Jr., who now run the Trump Organization, receive Secret Service protection as immediate family members of the president.


It's unclear what additional security protection the two sons will receive while in Dubai as experts already have warned the Trump brand abroad now faces a global terror risk .

The US Embassy in Abu Dhabi has declined to comment about the trip, while Dubai police did not respond to a request for comment.

However, the United Arab Emirates, a staunch US ally in the war against the Islamic State group and host to some 5,000 American military personnel, remains a peaceful corner of the Middle East. Its hereditary rulers hope to see a harder line from America on Iran and its foreign minister even backed Trump's travel ban on seven Muslim-majority nations earlier this month.

The ceremony in Dubai, home to the world's tallest building and other architectural marvels, marks the first major event abroad that the two Trump sons will attend together since their father's inauguration Jan. 20.

Ties between Trump and Sajwani remain strong. One of the Trump Organization's subsidiaries received from $1 million to $5 million from DAMAC for running the golf club, according to a US Federal Election Committee report submitted in May.

Sajwani and his family also attended a New Year's Eve celebration at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, where Trump referred to them as "the most beautiful people from Dubai."

Trump days later told journalists that DAMAC had offered the Trump Organization $2 billion in deals after his election, something DAMAC later confirmed.

The Dubai golf course marks Trump's first successful venture in the Arab world. Another Trump-managed golf course is planned for another even larger DAMAC project under development and the developer has been putting up billboards around Dubai advertising the newly opened course.

The 18-hole course has raised questions about how the Trump Organization's many international business interests will affect the administration of America's 45th president.

Already, a liberal-funded watchdog group has filed a lawsuit alleging his business violates the so-called emolument act of the US Constitution. Similar questions have been raised by legal experts over Trump's Dubai course.

Trips abroad by Trump's two sons are expected to continue. Before Trump's inauguration, his son Eric visited the Trump Tower Punta del Este in Uruguay to check on the tower's progress and personally greet buyers. A Trump hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia, is also expected to soon host Trump's sons.

source: philstar.com

Toyota recalling fuel-cell Mirai vehicles

TOKYO, Japan — Toyota said Wednesday it is recalling all the Mirai fuel-cell vehicles it has sold globally due to a software glitch that can shut off its hydrogen-powered system.

The auto giant said it would call back about 2,800 Mirai vehicles made between November 2014 and December 2016 to repair the defect.

Toyota launched Mirai — which means “future” in Japanese — in late 2014 as it looked to push further into the fast-growing market for environmentally friendly cars.

Mirai was its first mass-market hydrogen fuel-cell car, after Toyota scored a win with the top-selling Prius hybrid, which combines a regular engine and rechargeable electric battery.

Separately, Toyota on Wednesday launched a new plug-in model of its Prius, after the first version sold poorly following its 2012 release.

The new model can run in electric-only mode — unlike the original Prius — at higher speeds and longer distances than the previous version, Toyota said.

Fuel cells, meanwhile, work by combining hydrogen and oxygen in an electrochemical reaction, which produces electricity. This can then be used to power vehicles or home generators.

But a lack of hydrogen refuelling stations has been a major hurdle to bringing fuel-cell cars into the mainstream.

The Mirai was launched with a relatively expensive 6.7 million yen ($58,000) price tag.

source: interaksyon.com

Alanis Morissette loses millions in burglary: report

LOS ANGELES | Burglars made off with $2 million in jewelry from singer Alanis Morissette’s home in the upscale Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood, U.S. media reported Tuesday.

The Canadian-born alternative rock giant was not at home when the thieves struck on Thursday, celebrity news website TMZ said, although police were not immediately able to confirm the report.

The break-in comes less than two weeks after Morissette’s former business manager, who worked for other entertainment and sports figures, admitted embezzling more than $6.5 million from his clients.

Jonathan Schwartz, 48, entered his plea to federal wire and tax fraud charges for failing to disclose the embezzled funds to the Internal Revenue Service.

He is due to be sentenced on May 3, and faces a prison term between four and six years.

He acknowledged that between May 2010 and January 2014, he withdrew about $4.8 million belonging to Morissette without her knowledge or authorization.

Morissette said in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles last year that she fired Schwartz after growing suspicious when he could not provide timely information on her finances.

The singer was the voice behind a string of energetic rock anthems in the mid-1990s including “You Oughta Know,” “Hand in My Pocket” and “You Learn.”

Her 1995 album “Jagged Little Pill” won the Grammy for Album of the Year, making the then 21-year-old Morissette the youngest winner of the prestigious award until Taylor Swift.

source: interaksyon.com

Kinky ‘Fifty Shades’ stokes fantasy, not reality, says author

LOS ANGELES | E.L. James, the British author and producer of the erotic “Fifty Shades of Grey” novels and film franchise, knows that her story about an attractive couple engaged in a kinky relationship is very much a fantasy.

In the “Fifty Shades” trilogy, Christian Grey is a young handsome billionaire entrepreneur with a penchant for bondage, discipline, dominance, submission and sadomasochism (BDSM) who introduces the beautiful but naive Anastasia “Ana” Steele to his world of whips and sex toys.

“It’s a wish fulfillment piece that you can escape into, you can become Ana, you can see where you can go to with this guy and change him to be a far better human being, and of course, that’s just a fantasy,” James, 53, told Reuters.

James’ trilogy, born out of fan fiction that she had written inspired by young adult vampire love story “Twilight,” has sold more than 150 million copies worldwide since its 2012 release. It became a pop culture phenomenon, making erotic literature mainstream, and spawned a film franchise for Universal Pictures.

The “Fifty Shades of Grey” film, starring Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson, grossed $560 million worldwide in 2015. The sequel, “Fifty Shades Darker,” debuted in theaters on Friday.

After the first film ended with Ana and Christian driven apart because she couldn’t commit to his desires, “Darker” sees the two reconcile, but on her terms. James said Ana is now “empowered and strong” and that it is Christian who finds himself under her spell.

Ana and Christian’s relationship, in which he exhibits controlling and stalker-ish habits, fueled a domestic abuse debate after the books were released. When the first film came out, a grassroots movement urged people to donate to women’s shelters rather than see the film.

“What I find really annoying about these people is that women are entitled to their fantasies too, and it’s a far safer place to explore things in a book,” James said.

“This does not encourage domestic violence, it’s not about domestic violence, they’re completely missing the point – however it’s an important issue so I’m glad it’s out there,” she added.

The film franchise wraps up next year with the release of “Fifty Shades Freed” and James said she’s already written another book exploring a young adult love story – with no sex.

“If you can make people fall in love with your characters and care about them, then that’s a huge achievement,” she said.

source: interaksyon.com

Senators question Goldman Sachs on its role in Trump banking policy

WASHINGTON - Two US senators are seeking details from Goldman Sachs Group Inc's (GS.N) chief executive on the extent to which the bank's employees were involved in drafting of the recent executive orders on banking and fiduciary regulations.

In a letter to CEO Lloyd Blankfein dated Feb. 9 and made public on Friday, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Baldwin asked for details on "lobbying" activities in the bank related to review of the Dodd-Frank Act and the Obama-era fiduciary rule on financial advice.

Blankfein was also asked to detail the profits Goldman would make if these reforms came into effect.

"We've had no involvement in the drafting of any executive orders," a Goldman spokesman said on Friday.

In December, Trump appointed Gary Cohn, former Goldman president and chief operating officer, to head the White House National Economic Council, a group that coordinates economic policy across agencies.

Trump last week ordered reviews of major banking rules that were put in place after the 2008 financial crisis, drawing fire from Democrats who said his order lacked substance and squarely aligned him with Wall Street bankers.

"The executive orders released by President Trump on Friday last week raise our concerns about the degree to which Cohn's advice to Trump is good for Wall Street, but bad for Americans," the senators wrote on Thursday.

"Goldman Sachs would be a major beneficiary of these efforts to deregulate the financial industry," they added in the letter.

Trump also named former Goldman partner Steven Mnuchin as his pick for Treasury secretary in December.

The senators have asked for any communication between the bank's employees and Cohn, Mnuchin, nominee for the SEC chair Jay Clayton and chief strategist Steve Bannon.

source: interaksyon.com

Trump’s attacks on courts over travel ban dismay his own SC pick

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump renewed his attack on the courts Wednesday, describing them as "so political" as a panel of judges weigh his executive order barring refugees and visitors from seven mainly Muslim countries.

The contentious ban has been frozen by the courts and has embroiled Trump in an arm wrestle with the judicial branch, less than three weeks into his presidency.

Speaking to police chiefs and sheriffs, Trump condemned as "disgraceful" a hearing Tuesday in which three federal appeals judges heard arguments appeared skeptical about the government's case to reinstate the ban.

"Courts seem to be so political," he said.

Trump's comments have sparked a firestorm in a country where such personal and vitriolic attacks by a president on another, independent branch of government are rare.

The uproar extended to Trump's own Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.

He described Trump's attack on the Seattle judge who froze the ban as "disheartening" and "demoralizing," according to spokesman Ron Bonjean.

Trump's ban was suspended nationwide on Friday, after two US states sought to have it overturned on grounds of religious discrimination and because it had caused "irreparable injury."

New attorney general

The agency tasked with defending the ban in court amid the legal standoff got its new chief, after the US Senate overrode fierce opposition to confirm Jeff Sessions as attorney general.

His nomination process saw fierce debate about his civil rights record and Democratic concern over whether he serves as the top US law enforcement officer independent from President Donald Trump.

In the hearing before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, a Justice Department lawyer argued that the president had clear authority to order the ban on national security grounds.

"This is a traditional national security judgment that is assigned to the political branches and the president," August Flentje said.

Critics of the ban claim it violates the US Constitution by discriminating against people on the basis of their religion.

"Has the government pointed to any evidence connecting these countries with terrorism?" asked Judge Michelle Friedland, who was appointed by Barack Obama.

Flentje said the government had not had an opportunity to present such evidence, given the speed at which the case had moved.

The court must decide whether to maintain the lower court's suspension, modify it or lift it. The ruling by the judges -- two were appointed by Democratic presidents and a third by a Republican -- is expected before the end of the week.

The case is likely to eventually wind up on appeal in the US Supreme Court, which currently is short-handed and evenly divided between liberal and conservative justices. A tie there would leave in place the appeals court decision.

Should Trump's nominee to fill the vacant seat be confirmed by the Senate, he could break the tie.

'Horrible, dangerous and wrong'

Trump vented his frustration in tweets, referring to the ban's suspension as "the horrible, dangerous and wrong decision."

He went further in a rambling speech to the law enforcement chiefs, which at points drew polite applause.

"It's really incredible to me that we have a court case that's going on so long," he said.

Trump then read out the text of a law -- interspersed with his commentary -- that confers on the president authority to suspend entry to any alien or class of alien deemed detrimental to the interests of the United States.

His decree summarily denied entry to all refugees for 120 days, and travelers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days. Refugees from Syria were blocked indefinitely.

Top administration officials have argued it is needed to keep out Islamic State and Al-Qaeda fighters migrating from Middle East hotspots, insisting time is needed to implement stricter vetting procedures.

Travel analysis firm ForwardKeys says travel bookings to the United States fell 6.5 percent the week after the ban, compared to last year, with a sharp drop in numbers from the targeted countries.

Blame shifting

The sudden rollout of the restrictions, and their blanket nature, sparked protests and international condemnation. Polls now show eroding public support for the move in the United States, amid jubilant scenes at airports of returning immigrants.

Shifting the blame to his security advisers, Trump said he had proposed giving a one-month notice, but his law enforcement experts told him "people will pour in before the toughness."

"I think it's sad, I think it's a sad day," Trump said.

"I think our security is at risk today, and it will be at risk until such time as we are entitled and get what we are entitled to as citizens of this country, as chiefs, as sheriffs of this country. We want security."

source: interaksyon.com

Strong 6.3-magnitude quake strikes off Pakistan - USGS

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan --  A strong 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck near the coast of Pakistan early Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said.

The shallow quake struck at 3:03 am (2203 GMT), with an epicenter just 23 kilometers (14 miles) southwest of Pakistan's coastal city of Pasni, the USGS said.

Last April, a large 6.6-magnitude quake struck neighbouring northeastern Afghanistan, rattling parts of South Asia and killing at least six Pakistanis.

In October 2015, a 7.5-magnitude quake in Pakistan and Afghanistan killed almost 400 people, flattening buildings in rugged terrain that impeded relief efforts.

Pakistan straddles part of the boundary where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet, making the country susceptible to earthquakes.

It was hit by a 7.6-magnitude quake on October 8, 2005 that killed more than 73,000 people and left about 3.5 million homeless, mainly in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

source: interaksyon.com

Sting and Wayne Shorter Win Polar Music Prize

Sting and Wayne Shorter are this year’s recipients of Sweden’s Polar Music Prize, which comes with a cash prize of one million Swedish krona (about $113,000).

The two are no stranger to awards: they have 26 Grammys between them. Both are expected to attend a gala to accept their prizes in Stockholm on June 15.

“As a composer, Sting has combined classic pop with virtuoso musicianship and an openness to all genres and sounds from around the world,” the award committee wrote in a statement. He released the album, “57th and 9th” last year, and is on a world tour.

Mr. Shorter, 83, a hugely influential jazz saxophonist over his storied career, played at the White House for 2016 International Jazz Day (Sting did, too), and appeared on the Norah Jones album “Day Breaks” last year. He has shows scheduled throughout this year. The Polar prize committee noted, “Without the musical explorations of Wayne Shorter, modern music would not have drilled so deep.”

Stig Anderson, the lyricist and manager for Abba, established the prize in 1989, aiming to “celebrate music in all its various forms.” Past recipients include Ray Charles, Elton John, Bob Dylan and Renée Fleming.

nytimes.com

Eminem returns with a new Trump attack

NEW YORK | Hip-hop superstar Eminem has returned with a fresh attack on U.S. President Donald Trump, contributing an angry verse on the new album of Big Sean.

The lyrics mark the latest political intervention by Eminem, who re-emerged weeks before the November 8 election with a charged, eight-minute freestyle rap against the billionaire Republican.

On “No Favors,” a track on Big Sean’s album “I Decided.” which came out Friday, Eminem and the fellow Detroit rapper both boast of rising from humble means as they question the world’s direction.

Eminem declares himself an avowed opponent of Trump and his administration: “I’m anti / Can’t no government handle a commando … I’ll make his whole brand go under.”

The rapper denounces the racial dynamics behind the white tycoon’s campaign and reserves his most heated verses for Ann Coulter, a conservative commentator known for her provocative statements.

Eminem — in his trademark delivery of super-fast verses that crescendo in anger — imagines acts of violence against Coulter including running her over with a car.

“Gotta make an example of her / That’s for Sandra Bland… and Philando,” he raps, in reference to two African Americans whose deaths following police traffic stops triggered protests.

Eminem similarly imagined vengeance in his October song “Campaign Speech,” in which he spoke of attacking George Zimmerman, the volunteer neighborhood watchman in Florida who shot dead African American teenager Trayvon Martin as he walked home with iced tea and candy.

Eminem, the best-selling rapper of all time and by far the most prominent white artist in hip-hop, was rarely described as political as he built his career in the 1990s.

But in interviews he has long identified with the political left, even as his songs — often rapped in character — have generated controversy for derogatory lines about women and gays.

Eminem has said he is working on a new studio album, which would be his first since 2013.

“I Decided.,” the fourth album by Big Sean, is a concept album about a man who is reborn and sees the same life with new eyes.

source: interaksyon.com

Israel to build first new West Bank settlement since 1990s

AMONA, West Bank -- Israel said on Wednesday it would establish a new settlement in the occupied West Bank, the first since the late 1990s, to rehouse settlers evicted on the same day from an outpost built on private Palestinian land.

A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he was making good on a commitment to the settlers of Amona and had ordered the formation of a committee to locate a site where they could rebuild their homes.

"As promised a month and a half ago to the settlers, (Netanyahu) has set up a committee that will promote the establishment of a new settlement ... It will begin work immediately to locate a spot and to establish the settlement," a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said.

The announcement was made shortly after Israel's Supreme Court rejected a government plan to rehouse some of the Amona settlers on an adjacent plot because it ruled that homes built there would also encroach on land owned by Palestinians.

According to the Israeli human rights group, B'Tselem, Israel last established new settlements in the West Bank in 1999, although outposts such as Amona, that settlers set up without official permission, have been built far more recently.

Around 330 Israeli settlers live in Amona, the largest of scores of outposts built in the West Bank. The Supreme Court ruled in November, after a lengthy legal battle, that settlers had to leave because their homes were built on privately owned Palestinian land.

On Wednesday, rightist protesters scuffled with Israeli police carrying out a court order to evict the Amona settlers, hours after the government announced more construction in larger settlements.

With no weapons visible but wearing backpacks, hundreds of police walked past burning tires and pushed back against scores of nationalist Israeli youths who flocked to Amona in support of the settlers.

Working into the night the forces made slow progress, with three or four policemen at a time lifting each of the protesters out of dwellings in which they had holed up, and carrying them away onto buses.

By dark police said many of Amona's 40 families had left but some protesters remained holed up in the settlement's synagogue and negotiations were ongoing to secure an orderly eviction.

Thirteen protesters were detained by police during the scuffles and there were a few instances of stone-throwing. A police spokesmen said at least 20 officers were injured slightly by rocks and caustic liquid thrown at them.

"A Jew doesn't evict a Jew!" the youngsters chanted.

The Amona settlers themselves stayed largely put inside their homes after erecting makeshift barriers in front of their doors and vowing passive resistance to eviction.

"We won't leave our homes on our own. Pull us out, and we'll go," one settler told reporters. "It is a black day for Zionism."

On a nearby hilltop, Issa Zayed, a Palestinian who said he was one of the owners of the land on which Amona was built, watched the scene through binoculars. "With God's help, it will be evacuated and our land will return to us," he said.

Most countries consider all Israeli settlements to be illegal. Israel disagrees, citing historical and political links to the land - which the Palestinians also assert -- as well as security interests.

New settler homes

Earlier, Israel announced plans for 3,000 more settlement homes in the West Bank, the third such declaration in 11 days since U.S. President Donald Trump took office. Trump, a Republican, has signaled he could be more accommodating toward such projects than his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama.

An announcement a week ago by Israel that it would build some 2,500 more dwellings in the West Bank, territory captured in the June 1967 Arab-Israeli war and where Palestinians now seek statehood, drew rebukes from the Palestinians and the European Union. It followed approval a few days before of over 560 new homes in East Jerusalem, also taken by Israel in 1967.

"The decision ... will place obstacles in the path of any effort to start a peace process that will lead to security and peace," said Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Palestinians want the West Bank and Gaza Strip for an independent state, with its capital in East Jerusalem. Israeli troops and settlers withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

In 2006 Amona saw a violent partial eviction, with nine shacks torn down by authorities. Police were confronted by thousands of settlers and more than 200 people were injured.

The Amona issue had caused tension within Netanyahu's coalition government. But it eased after he got behind a law proposed by the Jewish Home party, a far-right political ally, to retroactively legalize dozens of outposts. This would not apply to Amona because of the existing court decision.

"We have lost the battle over Amona but we are winning the campaign for the Land of Israel," Cabinet minister and Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett tweeted after the evacuation began.

Parliament is expected to pass the legislation next week. It is opposed, however, by Israel's attorney-general, and legal experts predict that it will eventually be overturned in court.

source: interaksyon.com