Biden condemns settlement plan

Biden condemns settlement plan

JERUSALEM

Vice President Joe Biden condemned an Israeli plan to build hundreds of homes in disputed east Jerusalem on Tuesday — a disagreement that tarnished a high-profile visit that had been aimed at repairing ties with the Jewish state and kick-starting Mideast peace talks.

Israel’s Interior Ministry said late Tuesday that it had approved construction of 1,600 new apartments, an embarrassing setback for Biden after a day of warm meetings with top Israeli officials.

Bank sued for seizing home, parrot

PITTSBURGH

Bank of America has apologized to a Pittsburgh-area woman after one of its contractors purportedly trashed her house and took her parrot while wrongly repossessing her home.

Forty-six-year-old Angela Iannelli sued the bank Monday. She claims her mortgage was up-to-date when one of the banking giant’s contractors damaged furniture, took her pet parrot, Luke, and padlocked her Allison Park door in October.

The woman says she eventually got her bird back after repeated calls to the bank.

Poll: Young adults are pessimistic

WASHINGTON

Young adults are financially anxious, worried that they can’t meet their educational, housing and health-care needs, according to a new poll that exposes a growing pessimism about achieving the American Dream.

The poll by Harvard’s Institute of Politics found that six out of 10 of those surveyed worry they may not meet their current bills and obligations. Nearly half of those attending college wonder whether they will be able to afford to stay in school.

Fewer than half said they believe they will be better off than their parents when they reach their parents’ age.

Charge: Pa. woman aided terrorists

PHILADELPHIA

A suburban Philadelphia woman “desperate to do something” to help suffering Muslims has been charged with using the Internet to recruit jihadist fighters and help terrorists overseas, even agreeing to move to Europe to try to kill someone, prosecutors said Tuesday.

A federal indictment charges that Colleen R. LaRose agreed to kill a Swedish citizen on orders from the unnamed terrorists and traveled to Europe to carry out the killing. It doesn’t say whether the Swede was killed, but LaRose was not charged with murder.

Assisted-suicide advocates indicted

ATLANTA

A grand jury indicted four members of an assisted-suicide group Tuesday on charges they helped a 58-year-old man with cancer kill himself, clearing the way for a trial that could not only decide their fate but also help validate — or repudiate — their work.

Attorneys representing the Final Exit Network members say they are confident they will be exonerated if their case lands before a jury.

Pro-democracy icon barred from election

YANGON, Myanmar

A new election law issued by Myanmar’s ruling military has barred pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from joining a political party and thus running in upcoming elections, state-run newspapers said today.

The Nobel laureate, who has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention, was convicted last August of violating the terms of her house arrest by briefly sheltering an American who swam to her lakeside residence.

Associated Press