The number of global natural disasters–defined as “earthquakes, storms, floods and heatwaves that either cause at least ten deaths, affect more than 100 people or prompt the declaration of a national emergency”–has quadrupled since 1970. Fortunately, however, the number of deaths associated with natural disasters, has been declining due to better predictions, safety measures, and improved building codes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended a ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank at which he declared: “We are here to stay, forever.” The statement is not new for the Prime Minister, but it is also an emphatic rejection of the official position of the European Union, the US, and the United Nations Security Council that the territories occupied in 1967 should be part of what is known as the “two-state” solution. The end of a promise of a Palestinian state would be a dramatic change in a policy that has been consistently upheld by most countries since 1967 and to which Israel agreed in the 1993 Oslo accords. There are now close to 500,000 Israeli settlers in the the West Bank.
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