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A volcano pumping a huge plume of gas, steam and ash into the atmosphere from a crater ringed with dead trees is unlikely to explode in a devastating eruption, a vulcanologist said Thursday, bringing applause from anxious islanders. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...rint?id=1388184

A suicide bomber detonated explosives Thursday inside a packed bus bound for a southern Shiite city, killing 32 people and wounding 44, police said. The blast pushed the three-day death toll from suicide attacks in the capital to at least 75. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...rint?id=1388474

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is prepared to address European doubts about U.S. practices in the war on terror during a gathering of NATO countries, her spokesman says. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...om/id/10323501/

FEMA's top official was told more than a year before Hurricane Katrina that the agency's emergency response teams were unprepared for a major disaster and were operating under outdated plans, documents show. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...,178048,00.html

An agitated passenger who claimed to have a bomb in his backpack was shot and killed by a federal air marshal Wednesday after he bolted frantically from a jetliner that was boarding for takeoff, officials said. No bomb was found. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...,177996,00.html

Federal law enforcement sources tell ABC News they had been on the alert for a possible shoe bomber when a federal air marshal opened fire at the Miami International Airport today. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...rint?id=1383832

Senior Likud figures fear the departure of ruling party Chairman Tzachi Hanegbi marks the latest blow on the way to the Likud’s complete disintegration, Israel’s leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Thursday. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...3181346,00.html

Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) asked a judge Wednesday to separate the two remaining charges against him and let him go to trial quickly on one count. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...0702287_pf.html

The Pentagon has tentative plans to halt the scheduled deployment of two brigades to Iraq and instead send in smaller teams to support and train Iraqi forces in what could be an early step toward an eventual drawdown of U.S. forces, defense officials said Wednesday. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...aq_x.htm?csp=34

Kidnappers extended a deadline until Saturday in their threat to kill four captive peace activists and posted a video of two of the hostages wearing robes and shackled with chains. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...ne_x.htm?csp=34

The House passed three separate tax cuts yesterday and plans to approve a fourth today, trimming the federal revenue by .5 billion over five years -- nearly double the budget savings that Republicans muscled through the House last month. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...72124/from/RSS/

Gold prices rose yesterday on fund buying, hitting a 24-year high. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...heavily?mode=PF

Hizbullah could open a military front in any Arab or Iranian war against Israel. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...er/12_08_2.html

An Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a car carrying Palestinian militants on Wednesday, killing one militant and wounding 10 other people -- the first such attack since a Palestinian suicide bombing this week. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...curity/7203.htm

At least one senior militant was killed and ten other people hurt after an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a car in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, according to the Israeli military. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...,177957,00.html

US foreign secretary Condoleezza Rice's visit to Berlin on Tuesday (6 December) has led to irritation, after her aides contradicted remarks by German chancellor Angela Merkel that Ms Rice had admitted "mistakes" on CIA operations. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...ver.com/9/20496

Two militant Hindu groups struck churches in India's Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh states and forced some believes to bow for Hindu idols states as violence against Christians spread across the country, news reports said Tuesday, December 6. http://www.worthynews.com/christian-persec...-militants.html

Iranian Christians are mourning the death of Ghorban Dordi Tourani, an Iranian believer assassinated two weeks ago by an unnamed group of fanatical Muslims and the first Turkmen in Iran known to have been martyred for his Christian faith. http://www.worthynews.com/christian-persec...urn-martyr.html

The Palestinian Authority yesterday revealed a new law that allocates money to family members of shahids, or 'martyrs.' A shahid is the highest honor attainable to a Muslim, and signifies a death for Allah. The Palestinian Authority regularly labels suicide terrorists as 'shahids.' http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...new.htm#b061205

Washington's ambassador to the United Nations has criticized the Security Council for failing to condemn the latest terrorist attack in Israel. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...enderforprint=1

This year is likely to go down as the hottest, stormiest and driest ever, making a strong case for the urgent need to combat global warming, a report released Tuesday at the U.N. Climate Change Conference said. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...le1102625.shtml

Likud Party Chairman Tzachi Hanegbi is expected to announce Wednesday his intention to join Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Kadima party. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...3180702,00.html

Waving a finger and pounding his desk, Saddam Hussein told the judges in his trial to "go to hell" and vowed not to return to court Wednesday. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...rint?id=1380255

Even if hundreds of us are arrested, Israel will not succeed in dismantling Islamic Jihad, Abu el-Mauman, a senior member of the group’s military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, told Ynet on Tuesday. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...3180373,00.html

Israel will seek diplomatic means to end Syria’s sway over Palestinian terror groups which it harbors in Damascus, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Tuesday. http://www.worthynews.com/zone.cgi?http://...3180306,00.html