ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS
UN chief urges calm amid Palestinian-Israeli violence
JERUSALEM (AP) β U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for calm during a surprise visit to Jerusalem ahead of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
The visit comes amid unrest that erupted a month ago over rumors that Israel was plotting to take over Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site. A spate of Palestinian attacks, most of which have involved stabbings, has caused panic across Israel and raised fears that the region is on the cusp of a new round of bloodshed.
The hilltop compound in Jerusalem’s Old City is revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, site of the two Jewish biblical Temples. It is the holiest site in Judaism.
Known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, it houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. It is the third-holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.
Israel has insisted it has no plans to change the status quo at the site, where Jews are allowed to visit but not pray.
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157-a-13-(U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, at news conference)-“live in fear”-U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he supports all efforts to lower tensions and prevent the situation from spinning out of control. (20 Oct 2015)
< 159-a-15-(Israeli President Reuven Rivlin (reh-OO’-vehn REEV’-lihn), at news conference)-“war with Islam”-Israeli President Reuven Rivlin says the violence between the Israelis and Palestinians has been fueled by rumors that Israel wants to take over Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site. (20 Oct 2015) < 158-a-11-(U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, at news conference)-“Israel and Palestine”-U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says it’s not too late to avoid a broader crisis. (20 Oct 2015) < 160-a-15-(Israeli President Reuven Rivlin (reh-OO’-vehn REEV’-lihn), at news conference)-“the Muslim worshipers”-Israeli President Reuven Rivlin says Israel will not change the status quo at the site, where Jews are allowed to visit but not pray. (20 Oct 2015) < 142-a-16-(U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in televised speech provided by UNTV)-“the international community”-In a dramatic appeal to Palestinian young people, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he understands their frustration. (20 Oct 2015) < 141-a-10-(U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in televised speech provided by UNTV)-“Israelis for security”-In an appeal to the Israelis and the Palestinians, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he is “dismayed” when he sees young people picking up weapons. (20 Oct 2015) < 143-a-18-(U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in televised speech provided by UNTV)-“the violent acts”-U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he believes the Palestinians have the right to live a decent life in dignity, respect and freedom. (20 Oct 2015) < 144-a-17-(U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in televised speech provided by UNTV)-“a potential victim”-U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he understands Israel’s concerns and fears during the recent outbreak of violence. (20 Oct 2015) < VATICAN-POPE Vatican denies report pope has small, curable brain tumor VATICAN CITY (AP) β The Vatican is denying a report in an Italian newspaper that Pope Francis has a small, curable brain tumor. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the report Wednesday in the National Daily was “unfounded and seriously irresponsible.” “The pope is carrying out as always with his intense activities,” Lombardi said in a statement. Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper said the pope had traveled to the San Rossore di Barbaricina clinic near Pisa in recent months to see a Japanese specialist, Dr. Takanori Fukushima. The newspaper said the doctor determined that the small dark spot on Francis’ brain could be cured without surgery. The newspaper’s editor, Andrea Cangini, said it expected Lombardi’s denial but stood by its story. DETROIT CHURCH SHOOTING Police release name of man killed in Detroit church shooting DETROIT (AP) β Police on Tuesday released the name of a man who they say was shot and killed by a pastor during a confrontation in a Detroit storefront church. Officer Jennifer Moreno said investigators are still questioning witnesses about the killing Sunday of 26-year-old Deante Smith, who was shot several times by the pastor at the City of God church. Police say the pastor shot Smith after Smith threatened him with a brick. Authorities have declined to publicly identify the pastor, who was questioned and released without charge and who is cooperating with the investigation. Police say the men knew each other and had problems. Officer Keisha Beasley-Dorsey said the pastor had previously filed a complaint about Smith with the department. Smith’s sister, Deja Ward, told The Detroit News that her brother and his wife had lived at one point with the pastor. Ward added Smith had no problems with anyone. BISTATE KILLING SPREE Man charged with killing 7 in 2 states says he heard voice ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) β A detective says a man who is accused of killing seven people in New Jersey and Pennsylvania over a seven-week period told police he heard the devil’s voice in his head. Twenty-three-year-old Todd West and two co-defendants are charged with homicide and robbery in connection with the July 5 shooting deaths of a man in Easton and a man and a woman in Allentown. The three defendants were ordered to stand trial on those charges following a preliminary hearing Tuesday. Police say West confessed to the killings and told them he heard the devil’s voice in his head. Authorities say one of his co-defendants purchased the ammunition used in the shootings, and the other drove him to the crime scenes. A prosecutor says the victims were shot at random. West is also charged with four homicides in his home town of Elizabeth, New Jersey. CLERGY TESTIMONY NC court: Telling others about murder confession fair game RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) β A North Carolina appeals court says the fact that a murderer confessed the killing to a minister could come out at his trial because the killer told someone else about the confession. The state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday on last year’s first-degree murder conviction of 53-year-old Victor Jay Crisco. He beat 21-year-old Carrie Welch to death with a baseball bat inside his home. State law forbids forcing ordained ministers of an established church from testifying in court about information told them by a person involved. The appeals court ruled Crisco told a friend he killed Welch and confessed it to a Sanford preacher. Crisco’s friend was permitted to testify about what the killer told him. The court also said there was plentiful other evidence to convict Crisco beyond his confession. SHOTS FIRED-OLD CHURCH 2 cousins plead not guilty in historic church shooting RIDGEWOOD, N.J. (AP) β Two cousins have pleaded not guilty to charges they fired more than 40 bullets from a high-powered rifle last year into a New Jersey church that is recognized as a nationally historic structure. The Record News reports that 23-year-old Alexander Norrell and 22-year-old Joseph Galli face property damage and gun charges. Police said no one was inside the Old Paramus (pah-RAM’-us) Reformed Church in Ridgewood when the men allegedly opened fire Nov. 16 and Dec. 26, 2014. Prosecutors have said the church was targeted because it was “isolated” and “convenient,” not because it was a house of worship. A stained glass window dating to 1875 was shattered in the barrage. Police said more than $2,000 worth of damage was done to the church. Galli’s attorney says his client was a decorated Marine who served in Iraq. GAY RIGHTS-MORMON CHURCH Mormon leader: Kentucky clerk takes wrong approach on gays SALT LAKE CITY (AP) β The Mormon Church is criticizing Kentucky clerk Kim Davis for refusing to license gay marriages. Mormon leaders say Americans should find common ground instead and seek compromises between protecting religious liberties and prohibiting discrimination. Mormon leader Dallin H. Oaks says our cultural differences should not become “culture wars.” His speech was delivered Tuesday to a gathering of judges and clergy in Sacramento, California. The Associated Press was given an advance copy. Oaks is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles that guides The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and was chosen to deliver the statement because he also served as a Utah Supreme Court judge. Davis and her attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. TEXAS-MUSLIM STUDENT-CLOCK Texas teen arrested for homemade clock to move to Qatar DALLAS (AP) β The family of a 14-year-old Muslim student from Texas who was arrested after a homemade clock he brought to school was mistaken for a possible bomb has announced they’re moving to the Middle East for him to attend school there. Ahmed Mohamed’s family said in a statement Tuesday they’ve accepted a foundation’s offer to pay for his high school and college in Doha, Qatar. He recently visited that country as part of a whirlwind month that included a visit to the White House on Monday. Before boarding a plane from Washington back home to Texas, Ahmed’s father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, told The Dallas Morning News that, “we are going to move to a place where my kids can study and learn, and all of them being accepted by that country.” WOMAN ATTACKED-INDIANA Muslim group says bail too low in Indiana attack BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) β The Council on American-Islamic Relations says an apparently racially motivated attack on a Muslim woman in Bloomington, Indiana, should be prosecuted with “the full weight of the law” According to a police report, a 47-year-old woman was sitting with her 9-year-old daughter when a man shouted racially charged threats before grabbing her by the neck and trying to take off her headscarf. Nineteen-year-old Indiana University student Triceten Bickford faces charges including intimidation, strangulation and battery in the attack, but authorities released him after he paid $705 in bond and other fees. CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper says the low bail suggests authorities aren’t taking the attack seriously. The woman complained of pain but declined medical attention. CHURCH ABUSE-MINNESOTA Clergy abuse trial underway against Duluth diocese ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) β A clergy sex abuse trial is underway against the Diocese of Duluth in what attorneys say is the first under Minnesota’s 2013 law temporarily lifting the statute of limitation on such claims. The diocese is accused by a plaintiff identified as “Doe 30” of failing to adequately supervise the Rev. James Vincent Fitzgerald. The plaintiff says that at age 13 he was molested by Fitzgerald at a parish in Squaw Lake in 1978. The lawsuit claims the diocese could have protected him or other children from abusive priests. The Child Victims Act allows abuse claimants to sue, even if the alleged crimes took place decades ago. The law allows for such claims to be brought until May 2016. The St. Paul Pioneer Press says many claims under the new law have been settled before trial. TIBETAN CLIMATE CAMPAIGN Dalai Lama calls action on climate a ‘human responsibility’ NEW DELHI (AP) β The Dalai Lama is calling for global action to limit global warming and protect fragile environments, including the Himalayan glaciers and Tibetan plateau. Calling climate change a “problem which human beings created,” the 80-year-old Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader said all of humanity is now responsible for taking action. But instead, he said, “we are relying on praying to God or to Buddha. Sometimes I feel this is very illogical.” He issued his plea in a pre-taped video released as part of a campaign launched by the Tibetan government-in-exile in India, where the Dalai Lama has been based since fleeing a Chinese military crackdown in Tibet in 1959. Temperatures for Tibet’s high-altitude plateau are rising about three times faster than the global average. Up to 70 percent of the plateau is covered in permafrost, with large reserves of both carbon dioxide and methane trapped within the ice. Scientists say thawing could release long-stored emissions of both greenhouse gases. IRAN-HAJJ Iran: Missing pilgrims possibly buried in Saudi Arabia TEHRAN, Iran (AP) β Iran’s official IRNA news agency reports that some Iranian pilgrims who have been missing since a September stampede during the hajj may have been buried in Saudi Arabia. The Tuesday report quotes Ali Marashi, an official with Iran’s Red Crescent, as saying it’s possible that Saudi authorities may have simply buried the unidentified victims. Tehran says 36 Iranian pilgrims are still unaccounted for. Iran, with 465 pilgrims killed, has repeatedly blamed the disaster on the Saudi government, accusing it of mismanagement and of covering up the real death toll. An independent count by The Associated Press shows at least 2,177 pilgrims from various countries were killed in the incident. The official Saudi toll of 769 people killed and 934 injured has not changed since Sept. 26.
