Israel defends Jerusalem evictions

Israel moved to defend itself in the face of international criticism Monday over its eviction of dozens of Palestinian families from a neighborhood of Jerusalem they have lived in for generations. “I think a lot of the criticism is simply not fair,” said Mark Regev, a government spokesman, who described the dispute as a legal one between two private parties over who had title to a property in East Jerusalem.

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Mumbai terror trial to summon FBI

An Indian judge Friday allowed prosecutors to summon five foreigners, including FBI agents, to testify in connection with the Mumbai terror trial. Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told CNN that the identities of the witnesses would not be disclosed. Prosecutors have argued that they need time to examine more witnesses despite confession of Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the alleged gunman captured alive from last year’s Mumbai’s terror assaults.

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Court: Confession won’t stop Mumbai terror trial

Despite a confession by the sole surviving suspect in the Mumbai terror attacks and his lawyer’s offer to withdraw from the case, an Indian court said Thursday that it will continue with the trial. Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, 21, stunned the court Tuesday when he admitted his role in the attacks on India’s financial capital, which began on November 26 and continued for four days and three nights. Prosecutors said Kasab’s guilty plea was an attempt to deflect attention from his alleged handlers in Pakistan.

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France Debates Retrying Anti-Semitic Murderers

It’s rare for public prosecutors to appeal successful convictions in high-profile criminal cases. But that’s exactly what French justice officials are now doing, arguing that sentences handed out to several members of a gang that tortured a young Jewish man to death on the outskirts of Paris were insufficient punishment for their barbarous anti-Semitic crime.

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In a Lurch Toward the Center, Netanyahu Backs Palestinian State

If the 300,000 West Bank settlers identified by the American President as an obstacle to Middle East peace were expecting Bibi Netanyahu to support their cherished dream of an Israel stretching from the Jordan to the Mediterranean sea, they were disappointed on Sunday night. The right wing leader instead took a sharp and unexpected lurch to the center and said he’d support a two-state solution, meaning something called Palestine is a step closer to being inked onto their 3,000-year-old Biblical map. To his credit, clench-jawed Netanyahu could have used the re-election of Israel’s favorite bogeyman Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran to raise the usual security alarms and resort to time-tested fear-mongering

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Analysis: Pope’s visit to Israel puts focus on Catholic-Jewish ties

As he arrives in Israel, the focus for Pope Benedict XVI shifts from Catholic/Muslim ties, which were at the heart of his three-day visit to Jordan, to relations with Judaism. TEL AVIV, Israel (CNN) — As he arrives in Israel, the focus for Pope Benedict XVI shifts from Catholic/Muslim ties, which were at the heart of his three-day visit to Jordan, to relations with Judaism. The pope comes to the Jewish state at a moment when Catholic/Jewish ties stand at a crossroads, in part related to broad historical and demographic trends, in part to the image of this particular pontiff.

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