Back to school in Gaza

Back to school in Gaza

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Tens of thousands of children returned to schools across Gaza on Saturday after three weeks of war, playing games for some relief from the devastation and telling friends and teachers about the explosions they heard and relatives they lost.

In one classroom, signs with the names of three 14-year-old boys killed in the fighting were set on their desks — and their desk mates sat with stunned expressions next to the empty seats as the teacher encouraged the class to talk about their experiences.

Meanwhile, an Israeli foreign office official said President Barack Obama’s newly appointed special envoy to the Middle East, George J. Mitchell, is expected in Israel on Wednesday for talks on reviving Mideast peace negotiations after the Gaza fighting and on ensuring an arms blockade on the territory’s Hamas rulers.

Children’s health bill

WASHINGTON — Republicans appear to have overplayed their hand when blocking the expansion of a children’s health care program last year.

They face the likelihood that Democrats in the coming weeks will pass a bill that they dislike even more.

With more Democrats in Congress and President Barack Obama in the White House, GOP lawmakers don’t have the numbers or a veto threat to do anything about it.

The Senate planned to begin debate as early as Monday on a bill that would increase spending on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program by $31.5 billion over the next 41‚Ñ2 years.

Congress approved a similar bill in late 2007 that former President George W. Bush vetoed. The House fell about 15 votes shy of overriding the veto.

Charged with killing mother

FLINT TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A man accused of allowing his 73-year-old mother to die of malnutrition and dehydration while he spent her pension checks has been charged with murder.

Christopher Mukdsi, 50, of Flint Township, was arraigned Friday on felony murder and second-degree vulnerable adult abuse in the death of Katherine Mukdsi on June 3.

He was denied bond and is being held in the Genesee County Jail. Court records indicated he did not have a lawyer.

Prosecutors told The Flint Journal and the Detroit Free Press that Katherine Mukdsi was a homicide victim because she wasn’t given proper care. An autopsy of the body found malnutrition and dehydration, as well as bedsore ulcers.

Investigators said her son moved in with his mother after his father died in 2002 and was living off his mother’s Social Security checks, her pension and a $300 monthly check she earned from investments.

Senator denies extortion

NASSAU, Bahamas — A Bahamas senator accused of trying to extort money from actor John Travolta after his son’s death resigned Saturday and vowed to prove her innocence.

Sen. Pleasant Bridgewater, an attorney from Grand Bahama, said she plans to fight “untrue and unfair charges” stemming from actions she took as a lawyer.

Travolta had filed a complaint of attempted extortion, according to police, but did not release any details of the alleged plot. The actor and his wife, Kelly Preston, have returned home to Florida with the ashes of their 16-year-old, chronically ill son, Jett, who died of a seizure this month at their family vacation home on Grand Bahama.

Koresh’s mother slain

HOUSTON — The mother of infamous Branch Davidian sect leader David Koresh has been stabbed to death, and Koresh’s aunt was in custody on a murder charge Saturday.

Bonnie Clark Haldeman, 60, was found Friday afternoon at the home of her sister, Beverly Clark, in a rural area near Chandler, Henderson County Sheriff Ray Nutt said.

He said deputies were called to the home Friday and the two women were the only people in the house when deputies arrived. A knife believed to be the murder weapon was found.

Clark, 54, was being held without bail pending a court appearance.

Source: No more jobs bank

NEW ORLEANS — Chrysler LLC has eliminated — at least temporarily — the controversial “jobs bank” program that gives union workers most of their pay and benefits while they are laid off, according to a union official.

The jobs bank will end Monday, according to a letter sent to union members by United Auto Workers Vice President General Holiefield.

The contents of the letter were reported to The Associated Press by a local union official who had read it. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the elimination of the jobs bank has not been made public.

Associated Press