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RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian West Bank, besieged by Israeli occupation, political division and weak leadership, got a boost on Monday: the announcement of a plan, led by the American government, to help tens of thousands of people buy homes. The plan, which establishes a $500 million mortgage company, aims to build 10 new neighborhoods over the next five years and, in the process, create thousands of jobs in construction and real estate. In doing so, it could improve the depressed local economy and the political prospects of the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, of the relatively pro-West Fatah party.

Caption for picture in Day in Pictures: "A woman in the Afghan capital, Kabul, receives bags of wheat from the World Food Programme sent by Japan."

American officials have agreed to a $23 million aid package from which most will go towards purchasing technology to prevent the fence from being perforated and for locating underground smuggling conduits, according to information received in the Israeli political circuit. From details that were made known to Ynet, the US intends to send teams from the US Army Corps of Engineers to the Egyptian side of the Gaza-Egypt border in the near future. Theses teams will assist Egyptian forces deployed along the frontier pinpoint the locations of smuggling tunnels west of the border in the Rafah area. In Jerusalem, Israel...

Congress is poised to pass the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) authorizing up to $50 million in unconstitutional foreign aid. The bill passed out of the Foreign Affairs Committee with a bipartisan agreement to nearly double the President's requested amount. It is always distressing to see officials in our government reach across the aisle to disregard Constitutional limitations. Much of this aid will run through government-to-government channels and will be vulnerable to corruption. Some of the aid will be sent to faith-based organizations who, along with accepting government largess, will now be subject to governmental controls and will...

The US government has pledged 148 million dollars this year to the UN refugee agency to aid Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and neighboring countries, both said Wednesday. The UN Relief and Works Agency said the amount includes 91 million dollars to UNRWA's fund for refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria as well as 57 million dollars to its 2008 West Bank and Gaza emergency appeal. The statement on the UNRWA website follows a similar one on the US State Department's website. "This support is essential for improving the daily lives of Palestine...

WASHINGTON - The U.S. government's humanitarian relief agency will significantly scale back emergency food aid to some of the world's poorest countries this year because of soaring global food prices, and the U.S. Agency for International Development is drafting plans to reduce the number of recipient nations, the amount of food provided to them, or both, officials at the agency said. USAID officials said that a 41 percent surge in prices for wheat, corn, rice and other cereals over the past six months has generated a $120 million budget shortfall that will force the agency to reduce emergency operations. That...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Feb. 19, 2008 – Harsh winter weather, coupled with rising food and fuel prices, has created a burgeoning humanitarian crisis in some areas of Herat province, in western Afghanistan near the Iran border. Village elders from Ala Udin, Jamali and Amma Sakina in Herat province sought help from the Afghan government to ease the suffering of villagers and avoid disaster in their villages. The commander of the Afghan National Army’s 207th Kandak met with the village elders, who presented him with a list of 327 families who were on the brink of starvation and needed immediate...

President Bush, in the midst of a warmly recieved visit here, today signed off on a $698 million aid package -- the latest and largest installment in an innovative program aimed at holding recipient countries accountable for the loans they recieve. The agreement, signed by Mr. Bush and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete in front of the massive State House here in Tanzania’s capital, will go toward building infrastructure, clean water projects, and hydro power development. Also today, Mr. Bush signaled support for Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia at a press conference with Mr. Kikwete several hours before a declaration...

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania - President Bush is betting Congress will hear him better from the heart of Africa than it does from down the street in Washington. Foreign aid programs that Bush sees as crowning achievements — and which he holds dear — are having their spending levels questioned on Capitol Hill. By visiting Africa for six days to showcase their results, Bush aims to change that in the short term and secure the programs' future beyond his presidency. His first stop Saturday was Benin, a tiny sliver on West Africa's coast. Hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars are...

Sgt. 1st Class Steven Bailey from 1st Platoon, Company C, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, shows an Iraqi boy how to carry his stuffed animal. Multi-National Division – North Soldiers brought food, supplies and toys to children at an orphanage in Kirkuk, Feb. 3. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Laura M. Buchta. KIRKUK — Soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, visited a Kirkuk orphanage, Feb. 3.  The Soldiers passed out food, supplies and toys, hoping to “brighten the children’s faces and provide them with some things that they...

Kenya violence prompts US to review its aid By Mike Pflanz in Naivasha and David Blair, Diplomatic Editor Last Updated: 3:53am GMT 31/01/2008 Kenya's tribal bloodshed amounts to "ethnic cleansing" and America is reviewing the £135 million aid it gives to the country, a senior US official has said. Authorities have pledged to restore calm. Some reports suggest that police have been given 'shoot-to-kill' orders Speaking in neighbouring Ethiopia, Jendayi Frazer, the assistant secretary of state for Africa, said that members of President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe were being forced from their homes. "The aim originally was not to kill,...

ISRAEL VS ARAB - THE WAR OF THE HUMANITARIAN VS THE UN-HUMANITARIAN     January 22, 2008   No one has been talking in the mainstream media about the daily "Palestinian" barrage of missiles aimed specifically at Israeli kids, the southern Israel under siege of "Palestinian" occupation, the trembling fear of Israeli women for their children's safety in Sderot ( Fear and trauma as rockets impact Israeli town), but everyone is up in arms if Israel acts.   No one has been talking in mainstream media as Israel has been successfully eliminating terrorists [with unimaginable efforts in carrying it out]...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2008 – Defense Department officials are assessing what help, if any, the department could extend to the government of Pakistan. Pakistan has become increasingly volatile due to political instability after the Dec. 27 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and stepped-up extremist activity in the ungoverned areas near the Afghanistan border. “The character of the fight in Pakistan has changed to some extent, and it is more focused inward, and we're watching that very carefully,” Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright said in a news briefing at the Pentagon...

KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Jan. 17, 2008 – Surrounded by snow-covered mountains, the medical personnel of Task Force Saber work side-by-side to provide a first-class, life-saving aid station on Forward Operating Base Naray located in northeastern Afghanistan along the Pakistan border. U.S. Army Spc. Melissa A. Hoffman, from Avondale, Ariz., assigned to Charlie Company, 173rd Brigade Support Battalion, prepares an Afghan mother to draw blood for testing Jan. 3, 2008, at FOB Naray Aid Station in northeastern Afghanistan. The aid station has seen more than 5,400 locals since Task Force Saber took over in May 2007. (U.S. Army photo by...

KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Jan. 14, 2008 – The Afghan National Army demonstrated flexibility in accomplishing missions at the behest of the Afghan government, as soldiers provided humanitarian and medical assistance to hundreds of Anchagal villagers in the Naray district here. An Afghan National Army soldier gives clothing to an Afghan girl during a humanitarian assistance visit in Anchagal village, in the Naray district of Kunar province, Afghanistan, Jan. 12, 2008. Gulhar Jalal, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan parliamentary representative for Kunar province, is seen smiling in the background. Afghan soldiers visited the village to provide humanitarian and medical assistance. Photo...

/begin my translation Aids to N. Korea Remain Blocked at Dandong Station [2008-01-13 ] Starting this year, Chinese government is restricting the export of grains, which are main items of N. Korea aid(rice, corn, flour, beans and barley), hampering efforts by international and domestic aid agencies to provide food aid to N. Korea for this year. Since Jan. 5, all freight trains carrying food shipments from Shenyang and Qingdao and scheduled to cross Yalu River have been blocked (from going over to N. Korea) at Dandong Station(just across N. Korea.) It is due to new policy of Chinese government...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Jan. 10, 2008 – Afghan national security forces and coalition advisors provided medical checkups and humanitarian aid to more than 100 villagers Jan. 6 near Khorma in the Tarin Kowt district of Afghanistan’s Oruzgan province. Security forces from the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police help village elders prepare to distribute supplies to villagers near Khorma in the Tarin Kowt district of Afghanistan’s Oruzgan province Jan. 6, 2008. Villagers received food, vitamins, personal hygiene items, and winter clothes, including sweaters, jackets, shoes and boots. Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force Afghanistan photo  (Click photo for...

"What are you doing about Bush's trip here?" the young man asked me as he emerged from the cave. For me, it was a surprising question. Or rather, the source of the question surprised me. I had just arrived at Homesh to do guard duty and help the young pioneers who have tenaciously maintained a Jewish presence in the settlement destroyed by Israel three summers ago. These young people are the absolute cream of the idealistic crop. Every time that the army comes to expel them, it also destroys everything that it can get its hands on. The only place...

N.Korea: U.S. not delivering aid Story Highlights North Korea says it has given the U.S. a list of its nuclear programs U.S. disputes it has received the documents U.S. says it is confident denuclearization process is moving ahead SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea said Friday it gave a list of its nuclear programs to the United States in November, claiming it tried to meet commitments under an international disarmament agreement and accusing the U.S. of not doing its part to deliver aid. North Korea also said that because of the delays by the U.S. and other parties to...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Dec. 26, 2007 – Afghan national security forces, assisted by coalition forces, delivered tons of humanitarian assistance to hundreds of villagers in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province. An Afghan police officer poses with children in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, Dec. 17, 2007. The children were waiting to receive toys donated by Afghan national security forces, assisted by coalition forces. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Afghan forces, including members of the Afghan National Police, delivered more than two tons of blankets, toys, soccer balls, flour, rice, prayer rugs, storage bags and other items Dec....