Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Israeli Military Overruns Village of Bab al-Shams

See also Syria Live Coverage: The Fight Near Damascus
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Insurgents Advance While Brahimi Stalls

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1830 GMT: Israel-Palestine. A day after ordering the military to disband a new village on Palestinian territory, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he will support Jewish settlements on the site.

Netanyahu told Israel Army Radio that, while it will take time to build in the "E1" area, "we will complete the planning, and there will be construction".

Asked why the protesters were removed, Netanyahu said, "They have no reason to be there. I asked immediately to close the area so people would not gather there needlessly and generate friction and disrupt public order."

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Israel, Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Netanyahu Dismisses Criticism of Settlements

See also Kuwait Analysis: Has the Emir Halted the Protests?
Syria Live Coverage: "The Land Where Assad Killed Santa Claus"
Friday's Iraq (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Security Forces Raid Minister of Finance's Home and Offices

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1945 GMT: Israel-Palestine. Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to disband the Authority, handing full control of the West Bank back to Israel, if West Jersualem does not halt its expansion of settlements: "We will not be guards of Israel's security and will never be a tool at Israel's hand to implement its plans on the Palestinian territories."

Abbas told his Fatah Party's Advisory Council that Israel's construction in the E-1 zone on Palestinian territory is "a red line and we will never allow it to happen", as it aims to "sabotage the peace process".

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Israel, Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: UN Criticises West Jerusalem's Settlement Expansion

See also Syria Live Coverage: The Humanitarian Crisis
Wednesday's Israel, Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: US Criticises Israeli "Pattern of Provocation" Over Settlements

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2123 GMT: Mali. The United Nations Security Council has unanimously authorised an African-led military force to try and oust Islamist insurgents from northern Mali.

The Council gave the force an initial one-year mandate to use "all necessary measures" to help Mali recover the north of the country from "terrorist, extremist. and armed groups". The resolution authorises the European Union and other UN member states to help rebuild Malian security forces.

Insurgents took control of northern Mali after a military coup in March and established Islamic law.

The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) says it has 3,300 troops ready to deploy, although an operation is not expected to begin before September 2013.

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Israel-Palestine Special: Why More Settlements Are Vital to West Jerusalem's Long-Term Strategy

On Monday, Israeli authorities authorised plans to expand the Ramat Shlomo settlement, located on Palestinian territory, with 1500 housing units. Reports followed that a total of an additional 6500 apartments across the 1967 Green Line will be approved this week.

The latest steps have received some international attention, with the US State Department criticising Israel's "pattern of provocation".

But here is the important question: does anyone recognise Israel's long-term agenda behind the "pattern"? These settlements are not just being established as a short-term extension of Israel --- they will be maintained as a "natural" and "inalienable" development, given the Palestinian "failure" to meet West Jerusalem's essential need for "security". These apartments are not being built to derail a would-be negotiation process; they are part of the attempt at Israel's perpetual superiority over the Palestinians.

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Israel-Palestine Opinion: Taking Apart Netanyahu's Threats After the UN Vote

So is Netanyahu looking to uproot the political and economic institutions set up since 1993 amid Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and dispute?

No. This "warning" is rhetoric, seeking to hold the line while the Prime Minister pursues his first priority: winning another term in office in the January elections.

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Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Internet Returns as Regime Tries to Hold Damascus "Periphery"

Saturday's rallies for Egyptian President Morsi and the draft Constitution

See also Syria Feature: How the Assad Regime Shut Down the Internet
Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Breaking Through the Blackout

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2135 GMT: Yemen Two tribesmen have been killed following intensive Government shelling in Marib province, east of the capital Sanaa. According to Associated Press, citing an anonymous official, the shelling "was aimed at intimidating militants who attacked a crude oil pipeline just half an hour after repairs to it were completed a day earlier".

2130 GMT: Syria. Journalist Jenan Moussa reports on food shortages and rising prices in Aleppo:

A pack of bread, 8 loafs, was for 20 Syrian liras b4 revolution in #aleppo. Now a pack, 6 loafs, costs 150 Syrian liras, 2 dollars | @akhbar

— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) December 2, 2012

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Palestine Analysis: A 6-Point Guide to the "Style and No Substance" of the UN Vote for Statehood

Mahmoud Abbas Addressing the UNThe upgrade in status at the UN will not be produce a two-state solution in weeks. Indeed, there is still no practical alternative to the reality before Palestine, with a political stalemate not only between Israel and the Palestinians but also between Gaza and the West Bank.

A 6-Point Guide....

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Insurgents Challenge the Regime in the Air

2122 GMT: Syria. The Free Syrian Army has captured yet another anti-aircraft base near Aleppo, this time near Assan, south of the city (map).

#Syria #Aleppo Rebels seized next air-defence near #Asan -using captured AA-guns immediatelyyoutube.com/watch?v=wOCxE8… wikimapia.org/#lat=36.057098…

— Mark (@markito0171) November 28, 2012

Another source suggests that this base is the headquarters of the 608 regime, though that is unclear. Still, there are plenty of videos that have been posted in the last few hours:

Another major victory? There's also a trend. The FSA is targeting relatively small anti-aircraft bases, capturing equipment that can be used against the Assad regime, but also looking for ways to confront the Assad airforce. Furthermore, there is a suspicion that they may have received encouragement to specifically target anti-aircraft bases, as this removes a threat to any foreign aircraft that could potentially engage in a no-fly zone.

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EA Opinion: Why Foreign Policy's "Global Thinker" List Is, Like, Really Brilliant

President Obama (left) is Really Brilliant. So is Dick Cheney (right). Not sure about that lady in the middle....

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I mean, it's not like being the President of the US is the reason why Mr. Obama would influence our lives. Any time he thinks something quite smart --- "Hey, another drone strike will solve the world's problems!" --- that's the reason he is Number One rather than, say, the power that he holds.

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Egypt, Gaza, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Morsi, the New Pharaoh?

2109 GMT: Israel-Palestine. This may be the strangest thing we've seen all week (and that is saying something). This video, entitled "Holidays 2012: A Dinner for Peace," was released by the Israeli embassy in Washington DC. Cartoons with cut-out heads (a la South Park's Saddam Hussein) representing many prominent world leaders are gathered around a table, apparently for some sort of holiday feast. They all look bored as they wait for President of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. suddenly, the phone rings and Abbas says, "I am on my way to the UN. I am not coming to the table," in a creepy voice, while he drives a bus full of civilians, including children. This is an apparent reference to Abbas's pursuit of UN recognition for Palestine at the United Nations.

What does the bus represent? Why the weird voice over? Is this really the best way to represent this argument? Does this conveniently dismiss inaction by most of the other parties that are pictured sitting at "the table"? We'll just let the viewers decide the answers to these questions themselves.

2100 GMT: Syria. According to the LCC, the death toll has grown to 70:

26 in Damascus and suburbs including 7 were field executed in Qadam, 17 in Aleppo, 6 in Daraa, 4 in each Deir Ezzor, Latakia and Hama, 3 in Idlib, 2 in Homs and a martyr in each Banyas and Qunaitra...

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