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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Two months after the ruinous January 12 earthquake in Haiti, the United Nations' $1.44 billion revised humanitarian appeal for the country is only 49 percent funded, UN officials said today. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, says humanitarian work is picking up speed, but emergency shelter and sanitation are still urgently needed ahead of the rainy season. Steady rains could come as soon as the end of March, and hurricane season starts in June. read more
Israel has imposed a full closure of the occupied Palestinian territory of West Bank, announcing that no one will be allowed in or out for 48 hours. Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, made the move amid reports of possible protests by Palestinians around the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem after Friday prayers. read more
by Sean J. Miller A burgeoning netroots movement has emerged from what its founder characterized as "ranting on my Facebook page." Several weeks ago, filmmaker Annabel Park posted a note on her Facebook profile expressing "frustration ... listening to news coverage that made it seem like the Tea Party was representative of America." read more
by James C. McKinley Jr. AUSTIN, Tex. - After three days of turbulent meetings, the Texas Board of Education on Friday voted to approve a social studies curriculum that will put a conservative stamp on history and economics textbooks, stressing the superiority of American capitalism, questioning the Founding Fathers' commitment to a purely secular government and presenting Republican political philosophies in a more positive light. The vote was 11 to 4, with 10 Republicans and one Democrat voting for the curriculum, and four Democrats voting against. read more
by Glenn Greenwald A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about what seemed to be a glaring (and quite typical) scam perpetrated by Congressional Democrats: all year long, they insisted that the White House and a majority of Democratic Senators vigorously supported a public option, but the only thing oh-so-unfortunately preventing its enactment was the read more
by Bob Egelko The federal court that touched off a furor in 2002 by declaring the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance to be an unconstitutional endorsement of religion took another look at the issue Thursday and said the phrase invokes patriotism, not religious faith. The daily schoolroom ritual is not a prayer, but instead "a recognition of our founders' political philosophy that a power greater than the government gives the people their inalienable rights," said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco in a 2-1 ruling. read more
by Abdu Rahman and Dahr Jamail BAGHDAD - Under Saddam Hussein, women in government got a year's maternity leave; that is now cut to six months. Under the Personal Status Law in force since Jul. 14, 1958, when Iraqis overthrew the British-installed monarchy, Iraqi women had most of the rights that Western women do. read more
