Register for E-mail alerts. Comment on articles. Sign up today, it's easy.
Close
The Washington Times Online Edition

World Scene

SOUTH AFRICA

Effort to cut poverty seen behind schedule

JOHANNESBURG — The world will miss its targets for reducing poverty, and millions of people will die needlessly during the next decade unless drastic measures are taken soon, according to a major U.N. report released yesterday.

Despite progress globally, many countries are falling behind, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where the HIV/AIDS pandemic is slashing life expectancy and creating financial and social burdens that slow development.

The stark findings contained in the 2005 Human Development Report were presented to world leaders a week before they meet in New York for a U.N. summit to review progress toward the Millennium Development Goals. The goals include halving extreme poverty, reducing child deaths by two-thirds and achieving universal primary education by 2015.

ISRAEL

Rabbi sees Katrina Bush’s punishment

JERUSALEM — Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment to President Bush for supporting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s pullout from Gaza, one of the country’s most influential rabbis said in an interview broadcast yesterday.

“This is [Mr. Bush’s] punishment for what he did to [Gaza],” said Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual leader of Israel’s biggest religious party, Shas. “The time will come, and he will receive a pounding on his head.”

The 85-year-old rabbi, who has a history of controversial pronouncements, also said New Orleans was devastated because many people there did not adhere to the Jewish Scriptures.

IRAN

Ahmadinejad granted visa for U.N. session

The United States has granted a visa to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attend U.N. meetings in New York next week, but said yesterday it still was investigating whether he had a role in the 1979 U.S. Embassy siege in Tehran.

Story Continues →

View Entire Story
Comments
blog comments powered by Disqus
You Might Also Like
  • ** FILE ** Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich speaks during a news conference on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

    Questions surface on Gingrich campaign travel payments

    By Luke Rosiak - The Washington Times

  • This artist rendering shows Amine El Khalifi before U.S. District Judge T. Rawles Jones Jr. in federal court in Alexandria, Va., Friday, Feb. 17, 2012. El Khalifi, a 29-year-old Moroccan man was arrested Friday near the U.S. Capitol as he was planning to detonate what he thought was a suicide vest, given to him by FBI undercover operatives, said police and government officials. (AP Photo/Dana Verkouteren)

    Terror suspect arrested near U.S. Capitol

    By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

  • Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Associated Press)

    Justice says Supreme Court should revisit campaign finance

    By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

  • Happening Now

          Independent voices from the TWT Communities

          Forbidden Table Talk

          Political satirist and Christian apologist Bob Siegel discusses religion and politics.

          The Political Pro-Con

          Not your typical discussion, writer Conor Murphy writes about the cons, and pros, of politics

          A Heart Without Compromise; Advocating for Children

          Children around the globe are too often silent. From victims of abuse - physical, mental, and sexual to those whose lives embrace joy, their stories are many and need to be heard.