2018: A big year for Latin America elections

Yahoo – AFP, Tupac POINTU, 29 December 2017

The election in Chile of conservative Sebastian Pinera December 17 is part
of a tilt to the right in Latin American politics

Next year will be a big election year for Latin America, a region where democracy in many countries is only decades young, and where the shadow of corruption stretches wide and long.

Half of the population across the region is being called to cast ballots.

Here are the main points of note concerning the polls in regional economic heavyweights Brazil and Mexico, as well a newly pacified Colombia and troubled Venezuela.

Corruption: the roots of wrath

The Odebrecht scandal, an affair of tentacular graft involving a Brazilian construction firm that is alleged to have paid millions of dollars in bribes to Latin American government officials to secure juicy public contracts, has rocked the region.

It has led to Ecuador's vice president being imprisoned for six years, and last week nearly resulted in Peru's president being impeached.

But the scandal is just part of a much bigger picture of corruption, according to Gaspard Estrada, director of an Observatory of Latin America at Paris's Sciences-Po institute.

A corruption scandal involving Brazilian contractor Odebrecht is roiling politics in
Latin American countries like Peru where President Pedro Pablo Kuczynchi barely
escaped impeachment over graft allegations

"Corruption phenomena are deeply rooted in the region, and persist," he said.

"This will have an impact on the next political cycle," said Fiona Mackie, in charge of Latin America for The Economist Intelligence Unit. The Odebrecht scandal, she added, "is really shaking up the political scene."

The disheartening multiple cases of embezzlement and personal enrichment by officials in region has engendered "an impatience now in the electors, because they are so fed up," Mackie said.

"Elections in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico will be dominated by voter anger against the political establishment and demand for change, making them hard to predict and opening up room for negative surprises," the Eurasia consulting firm said in a recent report.

"Candidates that better capture this sentiment will be the most competitive, and the risk of negative surprises is high," as attested to by an unexpected surge for the left in a recent Chilean presidential election, the report said.

That "should serve as a reminder not to underestimate voter frustration," it said.

Outsiders like right-wing soldier-turned-politician Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil have 

gotten a lift from a wave of public disgust with corruption-tainted political elites

A boon for outsiders

The electoral landscape in Latin America in 2018 is dotted with an increasing number of candidates from outside the political system.

This can be put down to public disgust over the many instances of graft that has "disqualified the traditional political class," Estrada said.

He deplored a regional "leadership crisis" and feared political outsiders would fuel discourse that undermines democracy, as in Brazil where an extreme-right soldier-turned-politician, Jair Bolsonaro, has emerged as a contender.

Some traditional politicians were presenting themselves as outsiders "because that's a good thing to do in term of popularity, but they are insiders," Mackie said.

"An outsider needs to ally with a party that has a machinery. You need to have a political movement behind you," she added.

Eurasia said Mexico "is headed towards its most uncertain and consequential elections in decades on 1 July."

A leftwing candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, appears best placed for a win right now, it said.

A former mayor of Mexico City, Lopez Obrador is aiming for the presidency after a long political career. He has spurned the traditional leftwing PRD party to start the Movement for National Regeneration, known as Morena.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, seen here at an event in Cuba this month,
 leads the country with the region's worst economic crisis but analysts predict he will
win re-election next year in a tightly controlled process

Tilt to the right

The victory of conservative billionaire Sebastian Pinera as president-elect in Chile after a mid-December runoff has confirmed a general right-leaning tilt to the region, building on the stewardship of Mauricio Macri in Argentina, Michel Temer in Brazil and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in Peru.

But for Estrada, "it's not really a question of left or right -- it's just the government that had been in place, on the left, had flagged, which encouraged the parties on the right. What happened was a phenomenon of alternation."

More than political labels, 2018 will be decided by economic issues "because the economy is doing badly," he said.

"With a few notable exceptions, the policy and economic outlook for Latin America looks set to continue improving in 2018," Eurasia's report said.

But political dynamics could determine whether that "positive trend slows or, in some countries, is derailed," it said.

Eurasia predicted that in Venezuela, the Latin American country with the most severe economic problems, President Nicolas Maduro "will likely remain in office and win the presidential election in a tightly controlled process."

But, it added: "The government will also likely stumble into default, further complicating an already bleak economic outlook."

Half of the population across Latin America will be called to cast ballots in 2018 https://t.co/p2AqV75uaR pic.twitter.com/YxUgh4vHCb

— AFP news agency (@AFP) December 30, 2017

Obama warns of social media dangers, in interview with Prince Harry

Yahoo – AFP, December 27, 2017

The interview was recorded in Toronto in September on the sidelines of the
 Invictus Games, the athletic tournament created by Harry for wounded former
soldiers. (AFP Photo/HO)

London (AFP) - Former US President Barack Obama told Britain's Prince Harry he was concerned social media was "corroding civil discourse", in what he said was his first interview since leaving the White House, aired Wednesday.

"One of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities," he told the prince, who was guest editing BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"They can be cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases. Things aren't as simple as they've been portrayed in whatever chat room you've been in," he added.

"The question has to do with how do we harness this technology in a way that allows a multiplicity of voices, allows a diversity of views, but doesn't lead to a Balkanisation of society and allows ways of finding common ground."

The interview was recorded in Toronto, Canada, in September on the sidelines of the Invictus Games, the athletic tournament created by Harry for wounded former soldiers.

Despite admitting concern over the future of the US, Obama, who did not mention his successor Donald Trump by name, said he felt a sense of "serenity" on leaving the White House.

"There was a sense that we had run a good race," he added.

On his new routine, Obama told the prince: "I wake up later, it's wonderful to be able to control your day."

The prince opened the discussion by saying: "This is the first interview you've said 'yes' to doing since you handed over the reins", to which Obama replied: "that's true".

Harry is due to marry his US actress girlfriend Megan Markle on May 19 at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle near London.

According to British press reports, civil servants are concerned that a wedding invite from the couple to Obama could cause a further rift between Britain and Trump following a series of high-profile spats.

Pope's Christmas message seeks peace in Jerusalem

Yahoo - AFP, Catherine MARCIANO, 25 December 2017

Pope Francis kisses a figurine of baby Jesus during a mass on Christmas eve

Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas address on Monday called for peace in Jerusalem and highlighted the plight of children scarred by conflict, having earlier urged the world's Catholics not to ignore the conditions migrants face.

Tens of thousands of worshippers gathered at the Vatican to hear the pontiff's fifth "Urbi et Orbi" (To the City and The World) message. It was delivered hours after a Christmas Eve mass where he spoke on how migrants had been "driven from their land" because of leaders willing to shed "innocent blood".

On Monday, Francis's message sought "peace for Jerusalem and for all the Holy Land.

"We see Jesus in the children of the Middle East who continue to suffer because of growing tensions between Israelis and Palestinians," he said.

"Let us pray that the will to resume dialogue may prevail between the parties and that a negotiated solution can finally be reached, one that would allow the peaceful coexistence of two states within mutually agreed and internationally recognised borders."

The pontiff's plea came as fresh tensions simmered in the Israeli-occupied West Bank after US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Following Trump's declaration, Guatemala's President Jimmy Morales said Sunday his country would move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Pope Francis gives his fifth "Urbi et Orbi" (To the City and The World) Christas message

Trump's announcement on December 6 triggered demonstrations and clashes, including in Bethlehem in the West Bank where Christians marked the birth of Jesus at a midnight mass.

"May the Lord also sustain the efforts of all those in the international community inspired by good will to help that afflicted land to find, despite grave obstacles the harmony, justice and security that it has long awaited," the pope said.

The pontiff also mentioned other global flashpoints such as Syria, Iraq, Yemen, South Sudan and Venezuela, after stressing that the "winds of war are blowing in our world".

"Let us pray that confrontation may be overcome on the Korean peninsula and that mutual trust may increase in the interest of the world as a whole," the 81-year-old said.

Fewer tourists in Bethlehem

Earlier, celebrating midnight mass in the ancient town, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, used his homily to lambast the wars that "the Herods of today fight every day to become greater, to occupy more space".

Criticising Trump's announcement, Pizzaballa insisted "Jerusalem is a city of peace, there is not peace if someone is excluded. Jerusalem should include, not exclude," stressing the principle that the city is for both peoples and the three Abrahamic faiths.

Hundreds had gathered in the cold on Bethlehem's Manger Square to watch the annual scout parade towards the Church of the Nativity, built over the spot where tradition says Mary gave birth to Jesus.

But the square was noticeably quieter following recent violence between Palestinian protesters and the Israeli army.

Twelve Palestinians have been killed since Trump's declaration, including a 19-year-old who died of his wounds on Sunday nine days after he was shot during a Gaza protest.

Iraqis clergymen attend a Christmas Eve mass at Saint Paul's church in the country's 

second city Mosul

Israel seized east Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed it, in moves never recognised by the international community.

Palestinians view east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, and interpreted Trump's statement as rejecting their right to a capital in east Jerusalem, although the Americans deny this.

First Xmas in Homs in years

Christmas decorations have meanwhile become more visible in Christian areas of Syria's capital Damascus this year.

In the central Syrian city of Homs, Christians will celebrate Christmas with great fanfare for the first time in years after the end of battles between regime and rebel forces -- with processions, shows for children and even decorations among the ruins.

In Iraq too, this year marks a positive turning point for the Christian community in the northern city of Mosul.

In Europe, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II paid tribute to the cities of London and Manchester which this year suffered what she called "appalling" terror attacks.

"This Christmas, I think of London and Manchester, whose powerful identities shone through over the past 12 months," the 91-year-old monarch said in the pre-recorded televised message.

Israelis protest corruption in Netanyahu's government for fourth week

For the first time right-wing government allies joined anti-corruption rallies in Israel. Netanyahu is being investigated in two corruption probes that could take down his government.

Deutsche Welle, 24 December 2017

Several thousand Israelis protested against corruption in Tel Aviv for the fourth consecutive Saturday and called for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to step down.

In Jerusalem, hundreds of protesters also attended a right-wing anti-corruption rally with speakers including former Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon.

Corruption "is a greater danger than the Iranian threat, (Lebanese movement) Hezbollah, (Palestinian movement) Hamas or the Islamic State" group, Yaalon said. "Corruption is a disease, a disease that must be healed by electing and appointing honest people."

It was the first time right-wing protesters in Jerusalem, some supporters of Netanyahu's Likud Party, joined anti-corruption rallies that have so far been attended mostly by leftist and centrist critics of the right-wing prime minister.

Former defense minister Moshe Yaalon
addresses a right-wing demonstration
 against corruption.

Netanyahu has been questioned seven times in the past year in two corruption probes, which he says are part of a witch hunt carried out by his opponents.

If indicted, the four-term prime minister would be under pressure to resign or call new elections.

Corruption allegations swirling around Netanyahu

The first investigation, known as Case 1000, involves allegations that Netanyahu received cigars, champagne, cash and other gifts from Israeli-born Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer. The case also implicates his wife Sara and son Yair.

Netanyahu has said the gifts were tokens of friendship, and that no favors were done in exchange.

The second investigation, known as Case 2000, involves allegations that Netanyahu sought to negotiate positive coverage with the owner of Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper in exchange for cutting circulation of the pro-Netanyahu Israel Hayom.

The free circulation Israel Hayom has become Israel's largest newspaper and is backed by US casino magnate and major political donor Sheldon Adelson.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the chance of an indictment against Netanyahu in Case 2000 increased after the prime minister's former aide, Ari Harow, turned state's witness.

Police have seized Harow's phone, which had recordings of conversations between Netanyahu and Arnon Mozes, the publisher of Yedioth Ahronoth.

Several people close to Netanyahu have been implicated in other corruption scandals, including the so-called "Submarine Affair" and another involving the Communications Ministry and telecom giant Bezeq.

Anti-government protests drawing upwards of 10,000 protestors started in Tel Aviv earlier this month after Netanyahu's allies drew up legislation that would block Israel's police from publishing findings and issuing recommendations to the prosecutor's office on indictments related to public officials.

Under pressure, Netanyahu was forced to make changes to the controversial draft bill critics say is designed to shield him from ongoing corruption investigations.

cw/bk (AP/AFP)

Callista Gingrich takes over as US ambassador to Vatican

Yahoo – AFP, December 22, 2017

Wearing a traditional black mantilla, Callista Gingrich presented her credentials to
Pope Francis at the Vatican before officially beginning her new role (AFP Photo/HO)

Vatican City (AFP) - Callista Gingrich, wife of the former House speaker Newt Gingrich, on Friday began her duties as the new US ambassador to the Vatican.

Wearing a traditional black mantilla, she presented her credentials to Pope Francis at the Vatican before officially taking on her role.

The appointment carries some controversy: she is the former speaker's third wife, and had an affair with him when she was a young congressional aide named Callista Bisek and he was still married to his second wife.

In 1999 Gingrich divorced his second wife and the pair married the following year. She is credited with her husband's conversion to Catholicism.

Newt Gingrich was one of the few big-name Republicans to support Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

A self-described devout Catholic, Callista Gingrich hopes to work with the Vatican to "defend human rights, advance religious freedom and combat human trafficking," according to a statement released by the US embassy.

On Thursday she and her husband attended the funeral of disgraced American Cardinal Bernard Law at the Vatican.

Law, a once-senior church figure, was forced to resign in 2002 after revelations he failed to stop paedophile priests in one of the biggest crises in American Catholicism. He had been serving in a low-key position in a Rome basilica.

Callista Gingrich, a 51-year-old businesswoman, currently heads Gingrich Productions, a multimedia company and has written a series of children's books.

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Pete Hoekstra with president Donald Trump. Photo: Facebook

Revealed: the Pentagon's secret UFO-hunting program

Yahoo – AFP, 17 December 2017

The Pentagon says its UFO-hunting program wound down five years ago, but
the New York Times reported it is still in operation

The Pentagon has acknowledged funding a secret multi-million dollar program to investigate sightings of UFOs.

The shadowy program ended in 2012, according to the Defense Department, but the New York Times reported that it is still up and running -- with officials continuing to study incidents brought to their attention by US military service members while performing their regular duties at the Pentagon.

The so-called Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program operated from 2007 to 2012 and had $22 million a year in funding tucked away in the Pentagon's gargantuan budget, the Times said, quoting program participants and records.

The program yielded documents describing sightings of unidentified flying aircraft that apparently moved very fast with no visible sign of propulsion or hovered with no apparent means of lift, the Times said.

Program officials also examined video of encounters between unknown objects and US military aircraft.

This included one released in August of a whitish oval object about the size of a jetliner, being pursued by two Navy fighter jets from an aircraft carrier off the California coast in 2004, the paper added.

The Department of Defense said in a statement the program is now over.

"The Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program ended in the 2012 timeframe. It was determined that there were other, higher priority issues that merited funding and it was in the best interest of the DoD to make a change," it said.

It added: "The DoD takes seriously all threats and potential threats to our people, our assets, and our mission and takes action whenever credible information is developed."

The program was initially funded at the request of then Senator Harry Reid, the chamber's majority leader at the time and a long-time enthusiast of space phenomena, the Times said.

Most of the money in the program went to an aerospace research company run by Robert Bigelow, a billionaire entrepreneur and longtime friend of Reid, the Times said.

"If anyone says they have the answers, they're fooling themselves," Reid, who retired from Congress last year, said in a tweet Saturday night.

"We don't know the answers but we have plenty of evidence to support asking the questions. This is about science and national security. If America doesn't take the lead in answering these questions, others will," Reid wrote.

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"The Big Picture - You Are Not Alone" -  Feb 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"Common Questions from Non-Lightworkers" - Feb 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"... Question Three: Is there life on other planets?

Are you kidding? There's life everywhere. Everywhere! Right now, your scientists are searching for microbial life on all the planets and their moons in your solar system, and they will eventually find it. They expect to find it. They will eventually understand that the seeds of life are everywhere.

How much life might there be? How long has it been "out there"? When science starts to realize the scope of how long life has been in your galaxy, they will begin to see something counterintuitive to evolution - their own Human history. How old is your Universe? Ask your scientists and they will say about 13 billion years. That's OK. Let's use their numbers. How old is your own planet - 4 or 5 billion, perhaps? Correct. But how old is humanity? Why weren't you here with the dinosaurs? You think the earth wasn't ready? Do you think that perhaps that which controls evolution was a little too stupid to make a Human sooner, but the process could make a dinosaur? Have you ever thought about these things?

If you put the earth's entire history into a 24-hour clock, life itself only started in the last hour and humanity, all of civilization, happened the last few seconds. Isn't that odd to you? Therefore, in a Universe that may be 13 billion years old, you arrived in the last few seconds. Did you ever think maybe you're the newest ones on the block? Well, you'd be right.

If the Universe is really that old, do you think perhaps there are civilizations in your galaxy that might be a billion or more years older than you? If that's the case, do you think perhaps they have gone through anything you're going through? Do you think any of them might have had your DNA attributes? Perhaps they also went through what you are going through spiritually? Perhaps they even went into a quantum ascension status? The answer is dozens of them.

You already know them and you've listed them in your publications. The ones who directly seeded you are called Pleiadians. The ones who seeded them might be Octurian and the ones who seeded them may be even Orion. They're everywhere, and they're all here as well. They're looking at you, for you are the ones who are next, and you are passing this marker of the shift.

Oh, dear ones, it's going to be a long time before you really know any of these things to be your reality. The first step is peace on Earth. The next is a new kind of Human evolution that is going to increase your DNA efficiency to 100% and you're going to live a long time. Every time I say that, there are Humans in their intellectual mind saying, "Well, there is a geometric birth rate going on. We're not going to make it. It's going to over-crowd and we are going to run out of food. So what you're saying, Kryon, can't be a good thing. We're all going to be suffering and killing each other for food."

Let me address this, for if that is your thought, Human, you are assuming Humans are stupid and haven't figured out what's going on and why there's so much birth. You assume they can't control it because they haven't figured it out? I want to tell you, you're going to see something you didn't expect. You're going to see a decline in birth rate because Humans are smart and they're getting smarter. They're going to see that quality of life is linked to the number of children they have, and they're going to figure out the solution. It won't be how many children their church says they should have. They are going to do it intuitively. You're going to see it sooner than not.

You are going to see wisdom on the planet in many areas that no sociologist would ever have predicted. You will surprise them all, and it's going to happen without a government program. It's going to happen because you decide you want it. It's going to happen collectively, and you may even see it soon. Look for negative birth rates in first-world countries. Where Humans are able to see a larger picture and have freedom of information, the situation will not be what you have predicted.

Is there life on other planets? The scientists are saying, "It's going to be a long time before we get to the stars, you know? We have to get in this little metal can and put air in it, and then travel in it for years and years before we ever get to the next star." Meanwhile, a Pleiadian can do it in the blink of an eye! What do you think is going on there? Do you even believe me?

Not long ago, if you wanted to communicate to someone far away, you sent a letter. It was carried by a horse. It took a month to get a response. Now you communicate instantly!  Why is this so unbelievable to you about travel?

I will tell you, as long as you stay in 3D, you'll still be getting in little metal cans and air suits and going to planets. As soon as you begin the quantum age, however, you will simply wish yourself there, because you will be entangled with everything and can go with intent. If you don't believe this now, you will later, for what I give you is true. It may be lifetimes and lifetimes from now, but the group that is before me is the group that is going to come back over and over and over. The difference is that you're done coming back in an old energy. This is a new energy. ..”

Recognise East Jerusalem as Palestinian capital: Islamic leaders

Yahoo – AFP, Stuart WILLIAMS and Fulya OZERKAN, December 13, 2017

Erdogan, whose country holds the rotating chairmanship of the OIC, convened
 the emergency summit of Muslim leaders to denounce Trump's move (AFP Photo/
YASIN AKGUL)

Istanbul (AFP) - 'Islamic leaders on Wednesday urged world powers to recognise occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of the "State of Palestine", as Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas warned that the United States no longer had a role to play in the peace process.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan convened an emergency summit of the world's main pan-Islamic body, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in Istanbul, seeking a tough response to the recognition by US President Donald Trump of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

With the Islamic world itself mired in division, the summit fell well short of agreeing any concrete sanction against Israel or the United States.

But their final statement declared "East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine" and invited "all countries to recognise the State of Palestine and East Jerusalem as its occupied capital."

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, whose country does not recognise Israel, was 

among the leaders attending the Istanbul meeting (AFP Photo/KAYHAN OZER)

'Null and void

They declared Trump's decision "null and void legally" and "a deliberate undermining of all peace efforts" that would give impetus to "extremism and terrorism".

The status of Jerusalem, a city considered holy by Christians, Jews and Muslims, is perhaps the most sensitive issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel sees the entire city as its undivided capital, while the Palestinians want the eastern sector, which the international community regards as annexed by Israel, as the capital of their future state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response that he was "not impressed" by the OIC statements.

"The Palestinians would do better by recognising reality and acting in favour of peace and not extremism," Netanyahu said.

Erdogan, who sees himself a champion of the Palestinian cause, sought to underline his point with a powerpoint map presentation, flashing a laser pointer at how Palestinian territory had shrunk since the 1948 creation of Israel.

"The real proprietor of these lands is Palestine," he said.

"Mr Trump wants all this to be Israel. This is the product of an evangelist and Zionist mentality," said Erdogan, the current OIC chairman.

A surprise guest was Venezuela's leftist President Nicolas Maduro, 

whose country has no significant Muslim population but is a 

bitter critic of US policy (AFP Photo/KAYHAN OZER)

'No more role for US'

Using unusually strong language and bitterly anti-American rhetoric, Abbas warned that there could be "no peace or stability" in the Middle East until Jerusalem is recognised as the capital of a Palestinian state.

He added that Trump's move had withdrawn the United States from its traditional role as Mideast peace mediator.

"We do not accept any role of the United States in the political process from now on. Because it is completely biased towards Israel," he said.

The final OIC statement echoed his words, saying Trump's move was "an announcement of the US administration's withdrawal from its role as sponsor of peace".

Successive US administrations have sought unsuccessfully to broker a final peace deal since the 1990s Oslo accords. Trump, too, is working on such an offer through his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Saudi snub?

But bridging the gaps between 57 OIC member states -- which include archrivals Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran -- was always a tall order.

Key players, like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, were unlikely to want to risk their key relationship with Washington by putting their name to anti-American measures.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Jordanian King Abdullah II and Lebanese President Michel Aoun were among the heads of state present, as well as the emirs of Qatar and Kuwait and presidents of Afghanistan and Indonesia.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said the United States no longer had 

a role to play in the peace process (AFP Photo/KAYHAN ÖZER)

But there was no sign of Saudi King Salman or his powerful crown prince and son Mohammed bin Salman, who has reportedly been in close contact with Trump over the Middle East. Instead, Riyadh sent a senior foreign ministry official.

"Some countries in our region are in cooperation with the United States and the Zionist regime and determining the fate of Palestine," seethed Rouhani, whose country does not recognise Israel.

But as the summit was being held, King Salman echoed the calls over Jerusalem in an address in Riyadh, saying it was the "right" of the Palestinians to establish "their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital".

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and war crimes, was also in attendance and warmly greeted by Erdogan.

A surprise guest was Venezuela's leftist President Nicolas Maduro, whose country has no significant Muslim population but is a bitter critic of US policy.

Trump's announcement last week prompted an outpouring of anger in the Muslim and Arab world, where tens of thousands of people took to the streets to denounce Israel and show solidarity with Palestinians.

The decision sparked protests in Palestinian territories, with four Palestinians killed so far in clashes or Israeli air strikes in response to rocket fire from Gaza and hundreds wounded.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud presides over a cabinet 

meeting in Riyadh, December 5. (Reuters)

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Pope renews call for 'wisdom and prudence' over Jerusalem

Yahoo – AFP, December 10, 2017

Pope Francis says only a negotiated solution between Israelis and Palestinians can
bring a stable and lasting peace in the Middle East (AFP Photo/Andreas SOLARO)

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis on Sunday renewed a call for "wisdom and prudence" over US President Donald Trump's controversial decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, which has sparked protests and clashes.

"The Holy Father renews his appeal for the wisdom and prudence of everyone, and raises fervent prayers so that the leaders of nations, in this time of special gravity, commit themselves to avert a new spiral of violence," a statement from the Vatican said.

There were fresh protests in the Middle East and elsewhere Sunday over Trump's declaration, a move that drew global condemnation and sparked days of unrest in the Palestinian territories.

Noting that Jerusalem was sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims, the pope reiterated the church's "well-known position concerning the singular character of the Holy City and the essential need for respecting the status quo".

"At the same time the Holy See reiterates its own conviction that only a negotiated solution between Israelis and Palestinians can bring a stable and lasting peace, and guarantee the peaceful co-existence of two states within internationally recognised borders," the statement added.

Egypt's Coptic Church head Pope Tawadros II cancelled a meeting with US

Vice President Mike Pence in Cairo later this month in protest at Washington's

decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the church said (AFP Photo/

KHALED DESOUKI)

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Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, and Pope Francis embrace

 during his visit to the prestigious Sunni Muslim institution in Cairo on April 28,

2017 (AFP Photo/STRINGER)