Wednesday, Dec 17th
Last update10:44:42 PM GMT
International Glance
Judges around the world have long looked to the decisions of the United States Supreme Court for guidance, citing and often following them in hundreds of their own rulings since the Second World War.
But now American legal influence is waning. Even as a debate continues in the court over whether its decisions should ever cite foreign law, a diminishing number of foreign courts seem to pay attention to the writings of American justices.
The U.S. said no Americans were hurt.
The U.S. plans to sell Israel 1,000 buster-bunker bombs which Israeli military experts said Monday could provide a powerful new weapon against underground arsenals in Lebanon or Gaza. The experts said they doubted, however, that the bombs could be used to deliver a crippling blow against Iran's nuclear program.
In announcing the proposed $77 million deal, which still needs Congressional approval, the U.S. Defense Department said the sale of the Boeing GBU-39 smart bombs would be consistent with the U.S. interest of assisting Israel "to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability."
As President George W. Bush nears the end of a mostly disastrous eight-year term, he too should be given credit for public appearances overseas.
Traveling by air — er, compressed air, that is — and landing on everything from brick walls to telephone poles to the doors of trash chutes, Bush boasts a presence in just about every last nook in the world.
Senior IDF officers on Thursday lambasted the legal system's inability to effectively crack down on radical West Bank settlers after a group of young far-right activists went on a rampage that culminated in an attack on an IDF position near Ramallah.
The IDF, one officer said, recently held a one-day conference together with the police to try to come up with ways to stop settler violence. According to the officer, in most cases the settlers involved in such clashes were either not apprehended or were released from police custody without being indicted.
"They have crossed a red line," one officer said. "The legal system needs to come up with ways to curb this unfortunate, growing phenomenon."
President Hugo Chavez ordered the U.S. ambassador to leave Venezuela in 72 hours and said he was immediately withdrawing his ambassador from Washington.
The security aid package the United States has refused to give Israel for the past few months out of concern that Israel would use it to attack nuclear facilities in Iran included a large number of "bunker-buster" bombs, permission to use an air corridor to Iran, an advanced technological system and refueling planes.Page 186 of 194
