Middle East
Rabbi gets probation in NJ corruption case
The spiritual leader of the Syrian Jewish community in the United States was sentenced Wednesday to two years of unsupervised probation for using a charity he controlled to illegally funnel money to Israel.
Billionaire Pickens says Obama lacks energy plan
WEST CHESTER, Pa. — Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens faulted President Barack Obama on Friday, saying the president has failed to develop the energy plan he promised Americans as a presidential candidate in 2008.
Israel’s religious gays battle for acceptance
JERUSALEM – A once unimaginable movement is emerging from within Israel’s insular Orthodox Jewish community: homosexuals demanding to be accepted and embraced, no matter what the Bible says.
Afghan Boy, 6, Has Rare Surgery in NJ Hospital
LIVINGSTON, N.J. – A 6-year-old Afghan boy born with his bladder outside his body has been reunited with the U.S. soldier who arranged for his rare operation at a New Jersey hospital. Muslam Hagigshah’s journey to get the care needed to live a normal life brought him from an impoverished community in eastern Afghanistan to an affluent suburb just outside New York City.
Casualties of wars in Iraq, Afghanistan mourned while nation celebrates bin Laden’s demise
TRENTON, N.J. – Families and friends of U.S. troops recently killed in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan face a swirl of emotions as they bury their dead while the nation marks the killing of the terrorist mastermind of Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Jerusalem hosts first marathon, days after bombing
JERUSALEM — More than 10,000 runners dashed alongside ancient sites Friday in the Jerusalem’s first marathon, just two days after a bombing in the city killed a British woman and wounded dozens of others.
Bomb rocks Jerusalem bus stop, killing woman
JERUSALEM – A bomb struck a crowded bus stop in central Jerusalem Wednesday, killing one woman and wounding more than 20 other people in what authorities said was the first major Palestinian militant attack in the city in several years. The bombing brought back memories of the second Palestinian uprising last decade.
Desecration, attacks at ancient Jewish cemetery
JERUSALEM – A wide patch of steep hillside overlooking Jerusalem’s Old City holds row after row of graves. Biblical prophets, revered rabbis and a prime minister are buried there. Yet many of the tombstones have been smashed, litter is strewn around and tethered donkeys defecate on top of graves.
Israel unveils seized arms cache from cargo ship
ASHDOD, Israel – Rows of boxes, crates and containers filled with weapons stretched out on a dock Wednesday alongside a ship commandeered by Israel’s navy, a display of what Israel said was a shipment of arms, some sophisticated, to Palestinian militants in Gaza.
Remains of St. Therese, dead over 100 years, in Israel on world tour
JERUSALEM — Remains of a revered French nun who died more than 100 years ago have traveled the world, ventured into outer space and been worshipped by hundreds of thousands of Catholics. Now the relics of St. Therese of Lisieux are making their way through the Holy Land.