Thursday, November 27, 2014
Europeans debate Palestinian state
BRUSSELS
Frustrated by deadlock in the Middle East peace process, a growing number of European leaders and lawmakers are calling for unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.
That movement took a step forward Wednesday as members of the European Parliament began debating whether they can agree on a common approach for the European Union’s 28 member states.
Recognition of a country is a decision for national governments. But EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told lawmakers meeting in Strasbourg, France, that the bloc needs to forge “a united and strong message” to influence events.
Obama pardons 2 Ohio turkeys
WASHINGTON
President Barack Obama has issued an executive action that some of his Republican opponents may be hard-pressed to disagree with — sparing Thanksgiving turkeys from the dinner table.
In the spirit of the holiday, Obama on Wednesday took “action fully within my legal authority, the same kind of action taken by Democrats and Republican presidents before me” to pardon the National Thanksgiving Turkey, a 49-pound bird named Cheese. He also spared an alternate turkey, a 47-pounder named Mac. Both came from Cooper Farms in Oakwood, Ohio.
Smoking rate drops
NEW YORK
A government report says the smoking rate for U.S. adults dipped below 18 percent for the first time last year.
That’s still about the same rate found in 2012, and translates to about 42 million smokers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the findings Wednesday.
Smoking is the nation’s leading cause of preventable illness.
Spy balloons used over Jerusalem
JERUSALEM
Israeli police are watching from above in their attempts to keep control in Jerusalem in the face of the city’s worst wave of violence in nearly a decade.
Police have been flying surveillance balloons over the city’s eastern sector and Old City — the location of its most sensitive holy sites — to monitor protests and move in on them quickly. They say the puffy white balloons, which carry a rotating spherical camera pod, have greatly helped quell the unrest. But the eyes in the sky are unnerving Palestinians.
The Israeli company that makes the Skystar 180 aerostat system says the balloons can stay in the air for 72 hours and carry highly sensitive cameras.
Associated Press