Kicanas in Mideast to discuss security, support Christians

Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas celebrated Mass at St. Justin Church in Rafidia, outside the West Bank city of Nablus, on a visit last January.

Israeli police, Palestinian youths clash near key Jerusalem shrine

JERUSALEM — Israeli police firing stun grenades faced off Sunday against masked Palestinian protesters hurling stones and plastic chairs outside the Holy Land's most volatile shrine, where past violence has moved into prolonged conflict.

Israeli police, Palestinian youths clash near key Jerusalem shrine

Abbas decrees elections —with Hamas or without it

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that his government would hold presidential and parliamentary elections Jan. 24, regardless of whether it reaches a power-sharing deal with the rival militant Hamas group that rules the Gaza Strip.

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BRITAIN

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Nobel jury speaks out in defense of Obama prize

OSLO — One judge noted with surprise that President Barack Obama "didn't look particularly happy" at being named the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Another marveled at how critics could be so patronizing.

Netanyahu vows never to allow war-crimes trials for Israelis

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday vowed never to allow Israeli leaders or soldiers to stand trial on war crimes charges over their actions during the military move in the Gaza Strip, furiously denouncing a U.N. report in a keynote address to parliament.

Netanyahu vows never to allow war-crimes trials for Israelis

Turkey: No joint drill with Israel

JERUSALEM — Turkey has called off an international military drill because it opposed Israel's participation, Israeli defense officials said Sunday, a move that strained relations between the two nations even further.

Prospects for Mideast peace seen as 'sliding into darkness'

JERUSALEM — President Obama's Mideast envoy finds himself increasingly hamstrung, with Israel's foreign minister on Thursday all but ruling out a peace deal for years to come and the Palestinian leader weakened by his decision not to push for a Gaza war-crimes tribunal against Israel.

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HONDURAS

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Israel releases 19 female Palestinians

JERUSALEM — On a day of high emotion for both sides in the Middle East conflict, Palestinians welcomed home 19 female prisoners, exchanged with Israel for a video proving that an Israeli soldier captured three years ago and held in a clandestine jail is alive and well.