Envoy: Palestine continues pursuing UN membership (AP)

UNITED NATIONS ? The Palestinians will employ new creative ideas to gain membership at the world body despite a U.S. threat to veto such an action, Palestinian U.N. observer Riyad Mansour disclosed Friday. Mansour presented the Security Council president with a four page letter detailing Israeli settlement activity in the occupied territories, and the two [...]

Israel frees 550 Palestinians in Shalit swap (Reuters)

RAMALLAH/GAZA (Reuters) ? Israel released 550 Palestinian prisoners Sunday in the second stage of a deal with Hamas that brought home soldier Gilad Shalit after five years of captivity in the Gaza Strip. While many of the 450 prisoners freed on October 18 in the first phase of the Egyptian-brokered prisoner swap were serving life [...]