Thousands of elderly and disabled refugees are being cut off from Social Security benefits they had qualified for, a lawsuit alleges, because their citizenship applications are mired in post-Sept. 11 delays. Nearly 6,000 of these impoverished immigrants have lost their benefits because of a law saying that to keep them, people granted asylum must obtain citizenship within seven years, according to the Social Security Administration. Another 46,000 will lose them by 2012. Legal advocates call the cutoffs unconstitutional, saying the delays in becoming a citizen are beyond the refugees' control because more background checks are being done after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, hindering the process. Some wait years just to receive permanent residency and must wait another five years before applying for citizenship. "They are invited to this country because they're fleeing persecution," said lawyer Jonathan Stein of Community Legal Services in ...
http://abcnews.go.com
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Editor - 18:39:00 12-21-06
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 U.N. Deputy for Tsunami Recovery Defends Rebuilding Efforts Despite Growing Criticism |
The U.N. deputy envoy for the 2004 tsunami recovery on Thursday defended the efforts of aid workers to rebuild battered countries despite growing criticism that much of the $14 billion in donations has been spent poorly. "I think one can be encouraged by the progress that has taken place without being ignorant or wanting to ignore the overwhelming challenges ahead," Eric Schwartz said at a news conference. Schwartz, who presented a report issued by former President Clinton, the top U.N. envoy for tsunami recovery, acknowledged the effort has been a continual "work in progress." "As much as we want to credit the progress that has taken place, not for a minute do I want to suggest that the challenges ahead aren't daunting," he said. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2744883
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Editor - 18:36:00 12-21-06
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| Russia secures control of key Siberian project State-run Gazprom takes 50% of Shell's Sakhalin-2 venture |
Russia, thrusting itself into the lead role on the huge Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project, will halve Royal Dutch Shell and its Japanese partners' stakes in the field, paying them $7.45 billion in cash to make room for state-owned energy giant Gazprom, Shell said Thursday.The move concludes months of wrangling and heavy pressure from the Kremlin over control of the $22 billion project, which aims to build one of the world's biggest liquefied natural-gas export terminals on Sakhalin Island -- conveniently close to an eager Japanese energy market. It also fits Russia's recent push to reassert control over its strategic resources, giving it more leverage in the global oil market while enhancing its overall economic and political clout. Russia is now the world's second-biggest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia. Shell said in a statement that under the redefined terms of the deal Gazprom (UK:GAZ: news, chart, profile) would take a 50% stake -- plus one share -- in the venture. ...
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/russia-wrests-control-key-siberian/story.aspx?guid=%7B633D26F4%2D27F5%2D427B%2D8A67%2D5C2B3204CF7F%7D&dist=morenews
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Editor - 18:35:00 12-21-06
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| Religious leaders arrive in Bethlehem for three-day pilgrimage |
The heads of the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches in England have arrived in Bethlehem for a three-day Christmas pilgrimage to the West Bank town.The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster and leader of the Catholic church in England and Wales, are leading prayers for the beleaguered town, which is separated from nearby Jerusalem by the Israeli "security barrier".Dr Williams has warned in the past of an exodus of Christians from Bethlehem, which has evolved from a majority Christian to a majority Muslim town in the past 50 years. Its population is around 40,000.Before leaving for Israel, Dr Williams said that the purpose of the trip was to "be alongside people, Christians, Jews and Muslims, whose lives have been wrecked in different ways by terrorism and by the sense that they're hated and feared by each other....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1977209,00.html
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Editor - 14:19:00 12-21-06
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| 'We are facing the hardest Christmas yet' Israeli road obstacles rise by 40% in a year, strangling the Palestinians, says UN |
On a map the route looks straightforward enough. From Nazareth, amid the ploughed brown farmlands of northern Israel, Highway 60 travels south for nearly 100 miles, winding down through the mountains of the West Bank, through the heart of central Jerusalem and into the narrow streets of Bethlehem. This is the direct route from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the closest approximation to the journey described in the Bible when Joseph and Mary travelled south to register for taxes in the time of Caesar Augustus. But to travel the route today is to go through the geographical and political labyrinth of the Middle East conflict, through occupied land, restricted roads, military checkpoints, heavily guarded Israeli settlements, strongholds of Palestinian militancy and the West Bank barrier. Today, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, and other church leaders from Britain will visit Bethlehem....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1976573,00.html
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Editor - 14:03:00 12-21-06
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| Wash. Statehouse: Menorah OK, Crèche Not. State Officials Say Nativity Scene Might Give Stronger Message Than Christmas Tree Or Menorah |
The Christmas controversy in Washington state has shifted from the airport to the state capitol, where the governor lit a menorah this week, but officials rejected a Nativity scene. It all started earlier this month with the plastic holiday trees at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. A rabbi wanted to add a large menorah to the display, but airport officials, worried about lawsuits and requests from other religions, ordered the trees removed instead. They put the trees back up a few days later — without a menorah — after Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky said he would not sue. Bogomilsky said he was delighted Monday when Gov. Chris Gregoire lit a menorah, the candelabrum lit by Jews to celebrate Hanukkah. But when Ron Wesselius, a real estate agent, proposed adding a display depicting the birth of Jesus, the religious heart of Christmas, he was turned down. I guess some religions or more “Political Correct” than Christianity. ...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/21/national/main2290956.shtml?source=RSSattr=U.S._2290956
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Editor - 13:44:00 12-21-06
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