Sunday, Dec 07th
Last update09:53:14 AM GMT
Sixty-three-year-old Ahmed Bargouth sits in the shade of a walnut tree and contemplates the view before him.
Behind Bargouth is the Jewish settlement of Har Gilo, built – illegally under international law – on occupied Palestinian territory and fast encroaching on what remains of the diminished village.
Presbyterian leaders strongly backed a proposal Friday that included a call to end U.S. aid to Israel unless the country stops settlement expansions in disputed Palestinian territories.
But they said the 172-page report, which details their church's approach to issues in the Middle East, was a sincere effort to mend long-standing fractures between the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Jewish groups.
Five US soldiers have been killed in separate incidents in Afghanistan, Nato has said. Three died in eastern Afghanistan and two were killed in separate roadside bombings in the south of the country.
More than 350 Nato soldiers have been killed this year as the Taliban steps up its campaign.
A month after seven former Union Carbide employees were given two-year jail terms for their role in the deadly gas leak in Bhopal a quarter-century ago, a senior Indian official met with survivors' groups Friday with a new plan to clean up the abandoned factory site.
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh told survivors in the central Indian city that he will head a panel set up to monitor the government's effort to decontaminate the site, which activists say has polluted the groundwater in the neighborhood and led to chronic ailments.
Some 300 left-wing activists clashed with police on Friday during the weekly protest at the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Ten activists were detained and held for questioning over blocking roadways and failing to comply with police instructions.
Every weekend, Israeli protesters demonstrate alongside the Arab locals against settler activity in the Arab neighborhood. The demonstrators decry the settlers' takeover of several homes in the area.
Several little-known provisions of the new health care overhaul law take effect in coming months that could have a lasting impact on the nation's health care system.
They include eliminating co-payments for certain preventive services such as mammograms, giving the government more power to review health insurers' premium increases and allowing states to expand Medicaid coverage to low-income adults without children.
Here's a quick look at some of the changes that are occurring this year:
Frustrated with limited data on the BP oil gusher, a group of independent scientists has proposed a large experiment that would give a clearer understanding of where the oil and gas are going and where they'll do the most damage.
The scientists say their mission must be undertaken immediately, before BP kills the runaway well. They propose using what's probably the world's worst oil accident to learn how crude oil and natural gas move through water when they're released at high volumes from the deep sea.
At least 50 people have been killed in a suicide bombing in a Pakistani tribal village on the border with Afghanistan, officials said. At least 100 people were wounded in the explosion in Yakaghund village in the Mohmand tribal region.
The bomber came on a motorbike and blew himself up near the gate of the local administrator's office, witnesses said. Mohmand is part of Pakistan's tribal regions where the Taliban and al-Qaeda have a strong presence.
Researchers associated with the Rand Corp.'s Drug Policy Research Center said Wednesday that not much is certain about the potential impact of Proposition 19 except that the price of California's choicest weed could plunge more than 80%, down from $300 to $450 per ounce to about $38.
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