Hamas’ exiled leader on Wednesday called off a cease-fire with Israel, and militants threatened to attack Americans after 18 members of a family, including eight children, were killed in an Israeli artillery barrage on a densely populated Gaza neighborhood. Health workers said some 60 people were wounded, including 26 children. The declarations raised the prospect of a new wave of suicide bombings and large-scale fighting with Israel.
Violence claims 66 Iraqis
Beset by rampant sectarian violence, Iraq’s parliament voted Wednesday to extend the country’s state of emergency for 30 more days, as at least 66 more Iraqis were killed or found dead. The U.S. military, meanwhile, announced the deaths of a soldier and a Marine, raising the number of U.S. forces killed this month in Iraq to 21 in the first eight days of November.
U.S. seeks bond with Ortega
The State Department said Wednesday that it looks to establish “positive relations” with the Nicaraguan government of President-elect Daniel Ortega, a former rival who won Sunday’s presidential elections. Ortega has said he wants to maintain relations with the U.S. while forging closer ties with Cuba and Venezuela. During his campaign, he also projected a far more moderate image compared with his days as a Marxist-Leninist firebrand.
Year of the pope
He already has been spotted as a fashion follower, from his signature shades and shoes, to his ermine-trimmed velvet robes, but now Pope Benedict XVI is trying his hand at modeling for a 2007 calendar to come out later this month. For each calendar sold, 1 euro ($1.28) will go to charity. The calendar comes with Catholic Family magazine for an extra charge of 5 euros ($6.40.) It hits Italian newsstands on Nov. 23.
AND FINALLY
Invasion of the giant snails
A breed of giant, ravenous snails that first appeared in Barbados five years ago is destroying crops and prompting calls for the government to eliminate the slimy pests. A nocturnal “snail hunt” recently found millions of giant African snails swarming the central parish of St. George. “We saw snails riding on each other’s backs and moving in clusters,” said David Walrond, chairman of the local emergency response office that organized the nocturnal hunt.
