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Over 300,000 US citizens ,which represent a total of 29 states, have signed petitions for their states to withdraw from the United States of America.

They make references to the Declaration of Independence, whereby a situation may emerge when it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, to ensure security and happiness, the federal media report.

They want to be granted the right to peacefully secede from the United States or allowed the holding of a referendum on such secession. Those who have signed the petition feel that President Obama's economic reforms have proved ineffective. They claim the government has violated the rights and freedoms of Americans in the past two years.

Texas, a state boasting the best economic performance, was the first to start the secession movement. Almost 70,000 Texans had signed the petition on the White House website by Monday. They want Barack Obama to allow their state to peacefully withdraw from the United States of America, or allow them to hold a referendum on secession. They explained to the President that they have been prompted to seek self-determination by the federal authorities' inappropriate policy, weak economic reforms and the obvious violations of Americans' rights. The petitions are signed both by Republicans, the once loyal to Obama African Americans and liberals from 29 states.

Gaza Strip also wants to join Russia - Hamas website

According to online reports, the treaty on Crimea being accepted into Russia has prompted the setting up of an initiative group that will draw up a proposal for the Palestinian enclave in Israel to hold a referendum on joining the Russian Federation, too. This is reported by the Russian-language version of the Palestinian Information Centre.

The initiative group comprises Russian nationals making their home in Gaza. These are mostly Russian women, totallig some 50,000, who have married Palestinian men but have retained their Russian passports, the report says.

The report quotes a group member as saying that "Moscow has said it will defend Russians anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, we live in a place where Israel has threatened our lives and those of our children for years on end. But if the Gaza Strip joined Russia, we would also have a well-protected border, up-to-date weapons, perhaps, even nuclear weapons. This would make Israel and Egypt speak with Palestinians differently, the activists feel.

They are absolutely unperturbed by the fact that Russia is far away from Gaza. They point out that Gibraltar or the Falkland Islands are also far away from the UK. The activists have no doubt about the outcome of this kind of referendum, the Information Centre points out.

But then, the report about setting up this kind of initiative group has thus far failed to be confirmed by other sources, as well as by other language versions of the Palestinian Information Centre, owned by the radical movement HAMAS, currently at the helm in the Gaza Strip, NEWSru Israel points out. Nor has there been any reaction from the HAMAS leadership to the news. The publication suggests in this context that the Russian language version report is just a canard to attract more readers amid the general interest in the Crimea joining Russia issue.

Also questionable is the reported number of Russian nationals making their home in Gaza. The Russian media reported in December 2012 that the number of Russian passport holders in the Gaza Strip made up slightly fewer than 400.