Israeli occupation forces have knocked down the home of Khaled al-Zeer and his family two times in as many years.

The latest demolition occurred on 29 October, when Israeli authorities sent bulldozers to the small flat that Khaled, his wife Areej and their six daughters shared in the al-Abbasiyeh quarter of Silwan, a neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem.

Al-Zeer, 40, was alerted by a friend early that morning to the arrival of the demolition team working for the Jerusalem municipality and accompanied by armed police. He abruptly woke up his daughters and sent them to his parents' home.

"It took the girls several months to shake off the trauma caused by the demolition of our former home last year and I did not want them to witness another demolition," al-Zeer said.

That previous demolition had occurred in August 2013. The reason cited for the demolition was one with which Palestinians are all too familiar. Al-Zeer had built his home without getting permits from the Israeli occupation authorities, who routinely deny such permission to Palestinians in Jerusalem.

In some areas of the world, purposely cutting off someone's family line is considered to be one of the most wicked things that you can possibly do. But that appears to be precisely what the United Nations is doing. Two UN organizations, the WHO and UNICEF, have just been caught red-handed administering "tetanus vaccines" laced with sterilizing agents to girls and women in Kenya. And as you will see below, this is not the first time that this has happened. Apparently there is a well-coordinated international program to use vaccines to secretly sterilize women in poor countries all over the planet. The United States needs to immediately demand a full investigation of the UN vaccine program, but I wouldn't count on that ever happening under the Obama administration.

Two trapped window washers dangled 68 floors above lower Manhattan on a scarily tilted 1 World Trade Center scaffold before a heroic sky-high Wednesday rescue.

The two men were stuck on the shaky scaffolding for about 90 minutes before the rescuers carved a 4-foot-by-8-foot hole through a thick double window at the new skyscraper and hoisted the pair to safety.

"Both people were rescued, taken to Bellevue Hospital, no injuries, mild hypothermia," said Patrick Foye, executive director of the Port Authority.

The whole drama aired on live television and before a live audience of gawkers peering skyward at the amazing rescue from the precarious perch.

Georgia woman Alexis Wilson-Britten was arrested after she reportedly kicked a 20-month-toddler at a Clayton County day care, which can be seen in surveillance footage of the event.

Kids R Kids Day Care owner Robert Phelps said Wilson-Britten was scheduled to be terminated the day she reportedly kicked the toddler. Phelps noted that Wilson-Britten had taped a pacifier to a toddler's mouth to prevent her from crying in a previous incident.

Phelps first realized that something was amiss when one client, Kimberly Johnson, picked up her twin toddlers on Thursday. Although one of the toddlers appeared to be agitated, Wilson-Britten explained that the children had left the playground early that day and the child was probably upset about it. However, Johnson noticed her son holding his arm as if it was hurting and the twin's father brought him to the doctor, who reported that the child had a fractured arm.

Johnson later learned that the toddler had fallen on the playground, but that Wilson-Britten never reported the incident to administrators. When Johnson complained about the lack of communication, managers at the daycare began to watch Wilson-Britten's interaction with the toddlers via surveillance footage. To their surprise, they witnessed the 22-year-old teacher kick Johnson's son when he tried to bring her a toy.

On Friday, Clayton County police arrested Wilson-Britten, who does not have a previous criminal record. She was charged with simple battery.

Peter Gabriel, former The Police star Stewart Copeland and Def Leppard's Rick Allen are among the stars who have contributed to a new album to benefit Palestinian charities.

Gabriel and Copeland collaborated on Across The River for the 2 Unite project, which will raise funds to support the surgical and medical teams of the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and Project Peace On Earth.

Gabriel says, "We have watched the Palestinians subjected to more and more suffering for far too long, especially in Gaza. Meanwhile, their long-held land is repeatedly stolen by force for illegal settlements."

However, he insists his participation in the album does not mean he is anti-Israel, Palestine's longtime foe.

The human rights stalwart adds, "I am not, and never have been, anti-Israeli or anti-Semitic; I am anti-Israeli government policy, anti-injustice, anti-oppression and anti-occupation."

Copeland also teamed up with System Of A Down star Serj Tankian on the track Spinning Mysteries At The Sacred Grove.

The drummer adds, "Helping to rebuild the lives of Palestinians in Gaza is a necessary and noble worldwide humanitarian prerogative that we must not shy away from. It's the least we can do for a people that have suffered under an occupation, embargo and invasion."

Launched in 2004, the Rosetta spacecraft mission to rendezvous comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has just succeeded in landing its Philae module on the surface of the comet. After a last-minute glitch that temporarily had the lander failing to respond to signals from the European Space Agency's controllers, Philae came online. With the mission a success so far, researchers hope to find the building blocks of life, testing the theory that comets spread life-bearing molecules throughout the cosmos.

It should come as no surprise to readers of SOTT.net that, so far, ice is nowhere to be found on the comet. Despite its 'surprisingly' dry surface, however, it is producing a large amount of water. Like so many 'comets' before, this one is like all the others: a big hunk of rock. So, on the one hand, a great day for scientific advancement; on the other, yet another example of people who should know better being 'totally surprised' at facts that should have been totally obvious. Comets are not dirty snowballs!

Unfortunately for humanity, scientific and technological progress have absolutely no correlation with moral progress. We can't help but find it ironic that as humanity makes this 'great step' towards understanding the secrets of space and life in the cosmos, our world is on the brink of societal, economic and moral collapse. Just today, we can find the following stories and headlines in the news.

According to new FBI statistics released this week, violent crime rates in the US fell over 4% in the past year alone, bringing the amount of violent crimes lower than it has been in nearly 40 years. The statistics showed that there were an estimated 1.16 million violent crimes in the year of 2013, which is the lowest number since 1978, when 1.09 million were recorded.

Broken down, the report revealed that manslaughter dropped by 4.4% to 14,196, the lowest rate since 1968, while instances of rape were down 6.3%. Despite the tough economic times, robbery is also down by 2.8% and property crimes were down by 4.1%.

The violent crime rate has been steadily declining since 1994, but the prison population has continued to increase over the decades. There are currently over two and a half million people imprisoned in the US, which is by far the largest prison population in the world.

However, a study recently published by Pew Charitable Trusts showed that for the first time in decades, the US prison population is actually on a decline. Their research found that the drop in crime that was seen in 2013 actually coincided with a decline in the prison population. According to their data, the amount of people in the US prison system peaked in 2008, and has since dropped 6%.

It would take a special type of person to look forward to a trial that will determine whether you will live or die. Yet, I have a sneaking suspicion that convicted murderer Jodi Arias may be that rare breed. A lethal combination of sociopath and narcissist with a dollop of daredevil that may have her actually excited about once again basking in the spotlight as she tries to convince a skeptical jury and public that she is not who she seems to be.


Arias, who seemed like a seasoned pro during numerous TV interviews, has been relaying tweets from prison on everything from domestic violence to artwork she sells online to health tips.

So why is Arizona repeating this spectacle? Arias was convicted on May 8th, 2013 of brutally murdering Travis Alexander in 2008, but the jury hung by a vote of 8 to 4 (8 for death) on the question of whether she should be executed.

That means she is guaranteed at least life in prison, the only question would be whether she would ever be eligible for parole. So why not just offer her life without parole and end this sordid legal drama?


(It's always possible that happened and she rejected it, but it seems highly unlikely based on the pleas of the defense team and determination of prosecutors to pursue death).

Many who support this new trial talk like failing to execute her would be akin to letting her walk. Beyond the absurdity of that on its face, it's important to note that Arizona is one of only two states that would even permit this type of death penalty retrial.

Full disclosure: I have never thought this was a death penalty case. Not because I believe her far-fetched claims of abuse but because as horrible as it was, this is a somewhat typical domestic murder -- hardly representative of the worst of the worst for which I believe the death penalty should be reserved. She was a jealous, troubled and spurned lover.

Madrid has said it will sue Artur Mas, the Catalonian president for "disobedience and dishonesty" after Sunday's independence vote, which saw 80 percent backing a split from Spain. Mas defied a court injunction barring him to hold a succession vote.

Court sources have said the details of the case against Mas are being finalized and will probably be filed on Thursday, Reuters reports.

Although the independence vote was informal and non-binding, it saw 2 million out of a possible 5.4 million people take part, in which 80 percent voted for independence.

Mas hailed the vote as "a great success" but it immediately drew harsh criticism from the Spanish government.

Justice Minister Rafael Catala dismissed it as "a sterile and useless sham" and "a day of political propaganda."