Palestinian-only buses spark uproar

Palestinian-only buses spark uproar

JERUSALEM

Israel’s decision to launch a pair of “Palestinian-only” bus lines in the West Bank on Monday — presented by the government as a goodwill gesture, assailed by critics as racism and welcomed by Palestinian riders — is shining a light on the messy situation created by 45 years of military occupation and Jewish settlements in the area.

Though full and formal peace remains distant, the Jewish and Palestinian populations of the West Bank are so intertwined that daily routines often are shaped in mind-boggling ways. Military checkpoints, special permits and different sets of laws are all part of everyday life, and even steps that are well-intentioned, such as the new bus lines, can backfire and spark controversy.

Vegas suspect appears in court

LOS ANGELES

A self-described pimp suspected of a deadly shooting that caused a fiery crash on the Las Vegas Strip stood silently in court Monday while the grief-stricken brother of a taxi driver killed in the mayhem glared at him from the courtroom gallery.

The suspect, identified as Ammar Harris, 26, did not speak or enter a plea as proceedings began to extradite him to Nevada.

He was represented by a public defender, and the judge set another hearing for March 14 to establish his identity.

12 charged with manslaughter

ORLANDO, Fla.

Twelve former Florida A&M University band members were charged Monday with manslaughter in the 2011 hazing death of a drum major.

Ten of the band members had been charged last May with third-degree felony hazing for the death of 26-year-old Robert Champion, but the state attorney’s office said they are adding the charge of manslaughter for each defendant. They also have charged two additional defendants with manslaughter, though they have yet to be arrested.

The second-degree manslaughter charge announced during an afternoon status hearing carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.

48 Syrian soldiers killed in Iraq

BAGHDAD

Dozens of Syrian soldiers who had crossed into Iraq for refuge were ambushed Monday with bombs, gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades in an attack that killed 48 of them and heightened concerns that the country could be drawn into Syria’s civil war.

The fact that the soldiers were on Iraqi soil at all raises questions about Baghdad’s apparent willingness to quietly aid the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Study: Life span of some women shrinks

NEW YORK

A new study offers more compelling evidence that life expectancy for some U.S. women is actually falling, a disturbing trend that experts can’t explain.

The latest research found that women age 75 and younger are dying at higher rates than previous years in nearly half of the nation’s counties — many of them rural and in the South and West. Curiously, for men, life expectancy has held steady or improved in nearly all counties.

The study is the latest to spot this pattern, especially among disadvantaged white women. Some leading theories blame higher smoking rates, obesity and less education, but several experts said they simply don’t know why.

The phenomenon of some women losing ground appears to have begun in the late 1980s, though studies have begun to spotlight it only in the past few years.

Associated Press