On a cool but sunny December day in Gaza, Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish took his eight children to the beach for the simple pleasures of paddling in the Mediterranean and playing in the sand.
Two months earlier, the children's mother had died from acute leukaemia, and Abuelaish was comforted to see his older daughters laughing and chatting as they wrote their names in the damp grains close to the water's edge: Bessan, Maya, Aya. "It was as close to heaven and as far from hell as I could get that day," he later wrote.
Gaza doctor writes book of hope despite death of three daughters
Revealed: The horrific trade in British children for sex
Yet the information on the trafficking of young people for sex within Britain is so scant that experts say the first official figures confirming the trade – seen by The Independent on Sunday – are just "the very, very tip of the iceberg". Figures from the UK Human Trafficking Centre for April 2009 to March 2010 show only 38 Britons were registered as victims. This comes after a snapshot survey by the children's charity Barnardo's revealed it worked with 609 sexually exploited children last year, of whom 90 appeared to have been trafficked within the UK.
Polish soldiers blow up Afghan house ‘for fun’
"That'll show 'em our strength," another soldier can be heard saying, to laughter.
The soldiers evidently used a Polish-made tank known as a "Wolverine" to blow up the building.
"This was done for fun," an unnamed Polish military officer told the Republic, adding that the building was one of several in the area that appeared to have been abandoned.
Petraeus cites Bush-era shortcomings in Afghanistan
U.S. military leaders inherited a faulty strategy for the war in Afghanistan at the end of the Bush administration and are still working to “refine the concepts,” the U.S. commander said in an interview airing Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
In the interview, which was conducted last week in Kabul and aired Sunday, Petraeus did not specifically criticize former President George W. Bush, who promoted him to head of U.S. Central Command in April 2008. But the timetable he described left little doubt that he believed the Bush administration inadequately laid the groundwork for integrating Afghan leaders into the allied military structure.
Drug firms hiding negative research are unfit to experiment on people
This week the drug company AstraZeneca paid out £125m to settle a class action. More than 17,500 patients claim the company withheld information showing that schizophrenia drug quetiapine (tradename Seroquel) can cause diabetes. So why do companies pay out money before cases get to court?
Hundreds of PTSD soldiers likely misdiagnosed
At the height of the Iraq war, the Army routinely fired hundreds of soldiers for having a personality disorder when they were more likely suffering from the traumatic stresses of war, discharge data suggests.
Under pressure from Congress and the public, the Army later acknowledged the problem and drastically cut the number of soldiers given the designation. But advocates for veterans say an unknown number of troops still unfairly bear the stigma of a personality disorder, making them ineligible for military health care and other benefits.
150 Irish artists announce Israel cultural boycott
Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign signs artists to pledge saying they will refrain from performing in Israel as long as it abuses Palestinian human rights. The artists signed a statement, pledging that they refrain from engaging in cultural activity with Israel "until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights”.
Dr David Kelly was on a hitlist, says UN weapons expert as calls grow for full inquest
Dr Richard Spertzel claimed Dr Kelly was on a 'hitlist' in the final years of his life.
The former head of the UN Biological Section, who worked closely with Dr Kelly in Iraq in the 1990s, has written to Attorney General Dominic Grieve about the 'mysterious circumstances' surrounding the death.
The weapons inspector's body was found after he was unmasked as the source of a damaging BBC news report questioning the grounds for the Iraq war.
Tylenol linked to asthma in teens
A major new international study released Friday has found that adolescents who take acetaminophen, better known under the brand name Tylenol, have a higher risk of asthma, allergic nasal conditions and the skin disorder eczema. Those who took the common painkiller as infrequently as once a month had twice the normal risk of developing the disorders.
Experts noted, however, that the study does not show that the drug causes the problems. In fact, some said, it is equally likely that the children were taking the drug because they were already suffering from asthma.
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