09 Mar 11 21 Priests in Philadelphia Suspended on Sex Abuse Allegations Japan Hit By 7.3-Magnitude Earthquake China wants Israel as technology partner NPR executive slams tea party on hidden camera Former 1956 Israeli Pilot POW: Egypt Likely to Tear Up Treaty PA Rejects Compromise on Jordan Valley Sovereignty Magnitude 7.2 Earthquake Rattles Japan Republicans Expose 'Legislative Fraud' in ObamaCare IDF is preparing for mass civil uprising in West Bank Obama administration appeals healthcare ruling US urges China to stop lawyer and activist abductions Philadelphia priests suspended over sex abuse report EU police report shows holes in US data deal Moussa says he would maintain Egypt's peace with Israel Eleven killed in Egypt Christian-Muslim violence Pro-Gaddafi forces close in on rebel city Zawiyah
Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia on Tuesday placed 21 priests on administrative leave following a damning grand jury report last month -- the second investigation of sex abuse by priests in recent years -- that said up to 37 clerics suspected of abuse remained in ministry.
A tsunami alert was issued after northern Japan was hit with a 7.3 magnitude earthquake. Buildings shook hundreds of miles away in Tokyo, but there were no immediate reports of significant damage or injuries.
Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming signed a memorandum of understanding to promote commerce and cooperation between the Israel Export Institute and the Chinese commerce development institute during his recent visit to Israel.
The latest round of conservative attacks on public broadcasting got fresh ammunition with the release of a hidden-camera video of an NPR executive calling the tea party racist and saying the network would be better off without federal money anyway.
“Regardless of what we have on paper, there has never been real peace between Israel and Egypt, and there never will be.”
Quickly responding to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s statements Tuesday that an Israeli military presence in the strategic area is Israel’s “insurance policy” against terrorism, PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad stated, "There is no independent Palestinian state without the Jordan Valley.”
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake has struck northern Japan. The quake hit at 11:45 a.m. (Wednesday) local time. The country’s meteorological agency immediately issued a tsunami alert for its northeastern coast, however no oceanic disturbance has been recorded.
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) is blasting Democrats for "legislative fraud of the highest order." She says the Democrats' health care bill contains “baked-in” funding to be used for implementing Obamacare, which will make the law even more difficult to repeal. She is demanding that Democrats give the money back.
The Central Command and the Judea and Samaria Division of the Israel Defense Forces have been closely monitoring the recent events in Arab states and updating their operational plans for dealing with a potential popular, nonviolent uprising. Nearly a year ago the Judea and Samaria Division drew up a comprehensive program to combat large demonstrations in the West Bank, which is currently being adjusted in light of the popular revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt.
The Obama administration on Tuesday appealed a judge's ruling in Florida that struck down its landmark healthcare overhaul law as unconstitutional because it required Americans to buy healthcare insurance or face a penalty. President Barack Obama's Justice Department filed its notice of appeal and the case will go to the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, based in Atlanta. The fight over the law is expected to reach the Supreme Court.
The United States government has called on China to stop what it calls the "extralegal" abductions and detentions of lawyers and human rights activists. The US state department called on Beijing to uphold its internationally recognised human rights obligations. Since the middle of February human rights groups say more than a dozen high-profile figures have disappeared.
Twenty-one priests in the US city of Philadelphia have been suspended after being named in an inquiry into claims of widespread child molestation. The move follows the release last month of a grand jury report in which 37 priests were identified as suspects. Cardinal Justin Rigali, archbishop of Philadelphia, said the 21 Roman Catholic priests had been placed on leave while their cases were reviewed.
US demands for EU banking data under the so-called Swift agreement are "too general and abstract" for Europol to allow a proper evaluation of the necessity of those transfers, an inspection report carried out by the police agency's own supervisory body says. The EU-US deal, which entered into force in August 2010, allows anti-terrorism officials in Washington to get large sets of banking data, provided the EU joint-police body in The Hague, Europol, pre-authorises it.
Outgoing Arab League chief and Egyptian presidential hopeful Amr Moussa on Tuesday suggested that he would maintain the peace treaty with Israel if he were to win in elections later this year, The Associated Press reported. "We as Egyptians have a responsibility to lay the foundations for peace...We cannot rebuild Egypt ... while adopting an adventurous foreign policy," he said, adding "we would be kidding ourselves" if Egyptians didn't recognize Israel as a state.
Eleven people were killed in violence between Christians and Muslims in Cairo on Tuesday night, the state news agency reported on Wednesday. The agency quoted a senior health ministry official as saying 110 people were wounded in the violence. The violence was triggered by a Christian protest over an arson attack on a church in Helwan south of Cairo.
Heavy fighting has forced a shutdown of one of Libya's biggest refineries in the flashpoint town of Zawiyah 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, a refinery official said on Wednesday. ...The Libyan people will take up arms against Western powers if they seek to enforce a no-fly zone in their country's airspace, Muammar Gaddafi said in an interview with Turkish state-run television.
News from Rapture Ready: 09 Mar 11
