The official noted that it was true that Israel wants to see the over-throw of the Assad  regime, official said, however, they are absolutely terrified of having a militant Islamic state with modern weapons right on their door step. According to the official, the US President, having repaired the US economy and introduced a national health scheme, while determined to add a major international diplomatic coup to his laurels, and reluctantly had rejected the proposal. The official said imagine how history will paint him if he can also solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It might be worth a second Nobel Prize!.

The Garlic pointed out that the new Secretary of State has made three trips to the Middle East since his appointment, the official pointed out that a number of meetings with Israel’s government have occurred. When the Garlic pointed out that these trips had received little publicity, the official responded that there was no reason to publicise the visits.

The official conceded that Israel has made a number of press statements expressing concern about Syrian armed activity on the Golan Heights, using ambiguous language that fails to identify the forces involved. Reading the press, its not easy to see who the Israeli’s are blaming. Furthermore the US is taking a very cautious approach to claims that Assaad has used chemical weapons.

The official conceded that an agreement between USA and Israel would have enormous benefits to all concerned. In fact, it would be hard to imagine a better agreement. Just think! Isreali’s would avoid a well-armed Islamic state appearing on their door-step. Obama would get a major diplomatic coup, restarting the Israelis-Palestinian peace process. In addition, the Palestinians would have a chance to achieve statehood, under terms which protected Israelis sovereignty. On top of that, the US would avoid arming Al Qieda affiliates in Syria, and possibly, the need for another land invasions in Arabia.

After nearly a decade of intense negotiations, Australia has signed a free-trade agreement (FTA) with China.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has noted that the FTA deal is expected to open up billions of dollars in new markets for Australian exporters. But not everyone is welcoming the agreement. Some people have commented that China is giving Australia nothing. The text of the FTA has not been released to the public. The Greens have come out against the deal.

One of thegarlic reporters has managed to get access to the FTA and the notes made by the Chinese government. The notes appear to suggest that one of the major aims of China in signing the FTA is to gradually buy significant land parcels in Australia. They wish to acquire most of Tasmania over the next 50 years since their bid to buy Alaska failed 2-3 years ago. Also, it has been reported that the Chinese love the new Tasmanian museum MONA and would love to acquire it. Tasmania is the 26th largest island in the world and it has 334 surrounding islands. Tasmania’s area is 68,401 square kilometers (26,410 sq miles), of which the main island covers more than 90%. Acquiring Tasmania and surrounding islands would also mean that China would not have to worry about islands in the South China sea.

A total of 17 people were killed in three days of terror attacks in the French capital last week. About 10,000 troops are being deployed across France after the attacks, and a huge unity rally was held in Paris on Sunday.

The latest cover of Charlie Hebdo has been published in advance by French media. Outside France, the Washington Post, Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine, Corriere della Sera in Italy and the UK’s Guardian are among publications to show the cartoon.

In spite of these publications, The Garlic has decided not to publish the cartoons. Furthermore, The Garlic has decided not to publish any articles that offend Muslims.

Australia and India are playing a series of cricket matches in Australia. The matches are managed by the Australian Cricket Board (ACB).

It has been reported that the ACB made a surprising discovery in the match that was played in Brisbane.  ACB proudly served a meal of juicy Australian beef steak for the visiting team but it appears some Indian players were not happy with the food and walked out. On making enquiries, ACB made the surprising discovery that the players walked out that because some players were vegetarian and did not eat meat. Others that did eat meat did not eat beef.

ACB immediately appointed a subcommittee to investigate the matter. The committee found that there are about 500 million Indians who are vegetarians and do not eat meat. Many of them do not even eat fish, chicken or eggs. Furthermore those that do eat meat, 90% do not eat beef.

A team of British researchers from Newcastle University  claim to have discovered that men are bigger idiots than women. The researchers decided to test the theory by examining sex differences in “idiotic risk-taking behaviour” among Darwin Award nominees over a 20-year span.

The Darwin Awards commemorate those who die not in accidental deaths but in idiotic accidents involving astonishingly stupid methods.

Worthy candidates include a man stealing a ride home by hitching a shopping trolley to the back of a train, only to be dragged two miles to his death before the train was able to stop. There is also a terrorist who posted a letter bomb with insufficient postage stamps and who, on its return, unthinkingly opened his own letter to disastrous result.

Of the 413 Darwin Award nominations, 318 were independently verified and confirmed by the Darwin Awards committee. It was found that out of the 318 cases, 282 Darwin Awards were awarded to males and just 36 awards given to females. Males thus made up 88.7 percent of Darwin Award winners and this sex difference is highly statistically significant.

The Democrats’ leader Mattias Karlsson  has noted that his party will focus entirely on the issue of immigration. It is well-known that the Democrats admire Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and the Immigration Minister Scott Morrison. The Party has been in negotiations with Abbott and Morrison to advise them how to win the Swedish election.

The Swedish prime minister Stefan Löfven admitted the the Democrats now had a veto over Swedish politics, leaving him no choice but to call elections just six months after the country went to the polls in September.

Roger Federer got to know a number of Bollywood stars and was excited to learn that he might be able to act in Bollywood movies after retirement. He was given a lesson in Bollywood dancing which he said he loved. He is hoping to improve his dancing in the next 2-3 years.

Federal Opposition leader Tony Abbott has defended comments he made about homosexuality, saying gays and lesbians “challenge” the order of things and he “probably felt a bit threatened … as most people do” when asked how he felt about homosexuality.

It now appears that the Prime Minister, Mr Abbott, feels a bit threatened by the new US ambassador to Australia. The ambassador came to Australia more than 12 months ago. It has been rumoured that Mr Abbott has not yet shaken hands with the Ambassador.

The 54-year-old former head of the Office of Personnel Management, Mr John Berry, is the first openly gay US ambassador to serve in a Group of 20 nation and the highest ranking openly gay man in United States history. He married his partner of 17 years, Mr Curtis Yee, in Washington last year.

The powerful International Labour Organisation, (ILO) a United Nations agency, has denied that unions in developed countries are demanding time for social media activity.

“It’s pretty clear that everyone in a modern society has a new need”, said a spokesperson who refused to be identified, “however, we cannot comment on whether the ILO is planning to recommend that this should also be an industrial right for workers”, she said.

The Garlic contacted the ILO after a series of articles on reporting both by employers’ successful attempts to discipline workers for  excessive social media activity, and the increasing evidence of smartphone use. Recently, the Australian Tax Office, a government agency with some 24,000 employees, disciplined an employee for posting on Facebook during working hours, and surfing a real estate (property listing) site in working hours.

A senior official for an highly militant Australian union said that it may be time for “social media” to become part of the normal working week. A Australian unionist noted that workers are spending too much time in their workplaces where they can be penalized for meeting this fundamental need.” The Union leader further noted “we are looking at reduced working hours to allow for social media use without loss of family time”. The official said that in fact, workers were already spending work time in social media activities, so, all they are seeking, is its formalization’. The unions believe that 2 hours of social time be allowed per day.

The unionists note that productivity has increased substantially with the new technologies including robotics and therefore the employers must deliver some of the benefits of automation to the workers.