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Fallout from the U.N., Murder in Moscow? The Weekend Behind, the Week Ahead

What happened in the world over the long holiday weekend.

By , a global affairs journalist and the author of The Influence of Soros and Bad Jews.
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bibi-crop

Fallout is continuing from the U.S. vote -- or abstention thereof -- on Friday’s U.N. Security Council resolution to condemn and halt the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.  

Fallout is continuing from the U.S. vote — or abstention thereof — on Friday’s U.N. Security Council resolution to condemn and halt the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.  

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Israelis of the potential passage of another resolution censuring Israel before U.S. President Barack Obama leaves office late next month. Israel is also bracing itself for the outcome of a peace conference the French are organizing for Jan. 15. Israel has repeatedly said it will not participate.

U.S. Ambassador Dan Shapiro was summoned to meet with Netanyahu late Sunday; several other foreign dignitaries were also called to Israel, but only he was meant to meet with the prime minister. Netanyahu, under criticism from opposition leaders in his own country, also accused Obama for playing a leading role in the creation and passage of Friday’s resolution, although the United States denied this. Netanyahu looks ahead to the arrival of the administration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to change U.S. policy at the United Nations when he is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

In other news: On Monday, Oleg Erovinkin, assistant to Russian oil giant Rosneft boss Igor Sechin, who is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was reported to have been found dead in a car in Moscow. State media has reported that the 61-year-old died of a heart attack.

It was one of many Russian-related deaths reported over the weekend. On Sunday, a Russian plane crashed into the Black Sea near Sochi. The Russian army’s official choir was on board, en route to perform in Syria. The plane was carrying 92 people. There are no apparent survivors.

Also on Sunday, it was reported that the Christmas truce that was brokered for Eastern Ukraine fell apart. It was supposed to go into effect at midnight on Dec. 24. The Ukrainian military Anti-Terror Operation said the Russian-backed separatists broke the truce at least 39 times in 24 hours.

Photo credit: AMIR COHEN/AFP/Getty Images

Emily Tamkin is a global affairs journalist and the author of The Influence of Soros and Bad Jews. Twitter: @emilyctamkin

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