TV News LIES

About 1,200 inmates have escaped from a jail in the restive Libyan city of Benghazi. A security official told the AP news agency that most of the escapees were facing serious charges.

Another report said a riot had taken place inside the al-Kwafiya prison. The jailbreak comes a day after the assassination of a prominent political activist triggered protests in the city, although it is not clear whether the two are connected.

The Free World has been faced with a conundrum: how to oppose Israel’s occupation of the West Bank while making clear that it does not delegitimize Israel’s existence per se. The E.U.’s new guidelines forbiding financing or supporting Israeli Institutions in the West Bank may send the right message: the West stands behind Israel, but will never accept the occupation.

While Israel’s current government includes two parties—Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid and Tzipi Livini’s Hatnu’a—that are committed to the two-state solution, the Likud itself is nowadays largely composed of people who expressly reject the two-state solution. They are taking over the party’s central institutions, and it is doubtful that Benjamin Netanyahu could genuinely move towards a two state solution, even if he wanted to, without losing his own party.

MPs cheered in the House of Commons as it was announced that royal assent had been given to the new Bill, paving the way for the first same-sex weddings next spring.

The Queen, who is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, gave her formal approval to the Bill – one of the most radical pieces of social legislation of her reign – this afternoon.

The European Union has dealt a harsh blow to the Israeli settlement enterprise in a directive that insists all future agreements between the EU and Israel must explicitly exclude Jewish colonies in the West Bank or East Jerusalem.

The move, described by an Israeli official as an "earthquake", prompted furious criticism from the Israeli prime minister over "external diktats".

But it was hailed by Palestinians and their supporters as a significant political and economic sanction against settlements.

Judging by the headlines—“Israel names Romney backer to be ambassador to Washington,” “Israel's next U.S. envoy: Right-wing neo-con with close ties to Bush family”—Ron Dermer’s greatest sin is that he didn’t support Barack Obama’s reelection. That’s silly.

Israeli prime ministers and American presidents have been trying to unseat each other since Dermer was in graduate school. In 1996, two Democratic political consultants served as liaisons between Israel Prime Minister Shimon Peres and President Bill Clinton in their coordinated bid to defeat Benjamin Netanyahu.

A group of 17 U.S. retailers and clothing makers -- including Walmart, Target and Gap -- have agreed to a five-year safety pact aimed at improving conditions at Bangladesh apparel factories.

They're also agreeing to set up basic safety standards within three months. And it calls for inspecting all factories that supply their garments within a year.

Retailers have been under pressure to improve the oversight and safety of Bangladesh factories since an April building collapse killed 1,129 garment workers there. It was the deadliest incident in the history of the garment industry and followed a November fire in another Bangladesh garment factory fire that killed 112 workers.