Clinton: Israel must halt West Bank settlements

Clinton: Israel must halt West Bank settlements

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged Israel in unusually blunt terms Wednesday to completely halt settlements on land that Palestinians claim as part of a future state of their own.

In remarks to reporters at the State Department, Clinton said President Barack Obama had made clear last week during talks at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that stopping settlements is a key part of moving toward a deal establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

“He wants to see a stop to settlements — not some settlements, not outposts, not ‘natural growth’ exceptions,” Clinton said, referring in the last case to population growth on existing Israeli settlements in the West Bank from births and from allowances for adult offspring of settlers to buy homes near their parents.

“We think it is in the best interests [of the peace process] that settlement expansion cease,” Clinton added, with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit at her side. “That is our position. That is what we have communicated very clearly. ... And we intend to press that point.”

Man pleads not guilty to killing Chandra Levy

WASHINGTON — A man serving a prison sentence for attacking women in a Washington park pleaded not guilty Wednesday to killing federal intern Chandra Levy.

Ingmar Guandique, 27, was arraigned in District of Columbia Superior Court on six counts, including first-degree murder, kidnapping and attempted sexual abuse. He pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Judge Geoffrey Alprin set a jury trial, expected to last two weeks, for Jan. 27.

Levy, a Modesto, Calif., native, disappeared in May 2001, and her remains were found in Rock Creek Park a year later. Guandique has been serving a 10-year sentence for two other attacks in the same park.

Swine-flu deaths hit 101

CHICAGO — A second person in Illinois has died from complications of swine flu — pushing the world’s death toll past 100.

Illinois officials said the latest victim was a woman from northwest suburban Cook County who had other medical problems that might have made her illness more severe. They said no other information would be released.

The death reported Wednesday was the 15th in the U.S. and the 101st worldwide linked to the virus that has sickened more than 12,000 people. The deaths of two more New Yorkers were linked Tuesday to swine flu.

Elsewhere, 83 deaths in Mexico, two in Canada and one in Costa Rica have now been linked to swine flu.

4 bodies left behind in vacant Ind. funeral home

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Four decomposed bodies left behind in a recently sold funeral home were “definitely not” the responsibility of the business’ former director, the man said Wednesday.

“Definitely not. Definitely not. I’m almost positive,” said Darryl Cammack, the owner of the defunct Serenity Gardens Funeral Home in Gary. “I’m sure they’re not.”

The bodies were discovered Sunday by leaders of the Northlake Church of Christ after the church bought the vacant building in a tax sale. Lake County Coroner David Pastrick and his staff found one body in a bag on a table, another in a burial box and two in coffins.

The identities of the bodies have not been determined.

Catholic orders plead poverty in Irish abuse

DUBLIN — The Catholic orders responsible for abusing Ireland’s poorest children say they’re struggling to come up with money to help their victims. Yet investigations into their net worth paint a very different picture — that of nuns and brothers with billions’ worth of carefully sheltered assets worldwide.

Irish government leaders said Wednesday they expect the 18 religious orders involved in abusing children in workhouse-style schools to pay a much greater share of compensation to 14,000 state-recognized victims. They also demanded that the secretive orders reveal the true scope of their wealth for the first time in face-to-face negotiations with the government.

Monkeys inherit green gene

NEW YORK — Scientists gave marmosets a gene that made their feet glow green, and one of the animals passed it along to its offspring — the first time that an added gene has been inherited by a monkey.

It was a milestone, experts said, that should make it easier to produce animals with versions of human disease for medical research.

Monkeys offer a promising avenue for medical studies because of their similarity to humans.

Associated Press