Australia has had six Prime Ministers in the last nine years, and the most recent election held last Saturday was far from definitive. The Liberal-National Party gained 70 seats in the Parliament and Labour had 67 seats. A majority in the Parliament is 76 seats. It appears as if the incumbent Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and his conservative coalition might be in a better position to form a government, but the process of coalition building could take a considerable period of time. The outcome is just another index of the current frustration of voters in liberal democracies.
On Sunday, there was a bomb blast in Iraq that killed more than 250 people. Iraq is getting pummeled as the strategic situation of Daesh (the Islamic State) continues to deteriorate due to Russian and American air strikes. Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Syria, and Pakistan are the places where the vast majority of terrorist attacks have taken place. While the richer countries have had dramatic incidents, the truth is that most of the attacks occur have occurred in those five countries.
Israel has announced new plans to build settlements outside of Jerusalem as well as in Arab sections of East Jerusalem. The US, the UN, and many of the European states have condemned the plans as a significant barrier to any peace settlement. The spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon stated:
“This raises legitimate questions about Israel’s long-term intentions, which are compounded by continuing statements of some Israeli ministers calling for the annexation of the West Bank.”
It is unlikely that anything more than a verbal condemnation will be forthcoming from any of the outside parties to the conflict
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