Pope Benedict XVI, in his Palm Sunday Mass, opened the Roman Catholic Church’s most solemn week by urging young people to live pure, innocent lives. This year, Holy Week also includes the second anniversary of the April 2, 2005, death of Pope John Paul II.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will convey an Israeli message to Syria that the country must stop supporting Palestinian militants before Israel will engage in peace talks, Israel said Sunday. Pelosi met Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during the Israel part of her Mideast tour, which drew criticism from the White House because of her planned stop in Syria.
Heavily armed paramilitary police raided a popular nightclub in an affluent, predominantly white part of Zimbabwe’s capital, attacking teenagers with riot batons and detaining scores for hours, witnesses said Sunday. The raid came after police shut down bars and beer halls in impoverished black townships as part of its latest crackdown on dissent.
Iraq’s government has endorsed plans to relocate thousands of Arabs who were moved to Kirkuk as part of Saddam Hussein’s campaign to force ethnic Kurds out of the oil-rich city, in an effort to undo one of the former dictator’s most enduring and hated policies.
A small brushfire on Saturday east of Los Angeles erupted into a blaze that burned 1,400 acres, prompting the evacuation of 200 homes for several hours, fire officials said. About 400 firefighters and a pair of water-dropping helicopters worked to keep homes and buildings from being consumed, said San Bernardino, Calif., County Fire spokeswoman Angie Samayoa.
More than 600 people have been charged in federal cases for Katrina fraud in 22 states – from Florida to Oregon – and the District of Columbia. The frauds range in value from a few thousand dollars to more than $700,000.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday invited Arab leaders to a regional peace conference, saying that he hoped for an exchange of views about solving the Mideast conflict.
The names of people infected with HIV will be tracked in all 50 states by the end of 2007, marking a victory for federal health officials and a quiet defeat for AIDS advocates who wanted to keep patients’ names out of state databases.
Avalanches struck two villages in a remote part of northwest Pakistan, killing at least 29 people and leaving 14 others missing, police said Sunday. Heavy rains and snow have been lashing Chitral, a rugged district near the border with Afghanistan, since late last week. In some areas, about six feet of snow has fallen over the past several days.
