Israel has been placed a dismal 141st out of 144 on a list of the world’s most peaceful countries, beating just Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.
Countries which ranked higher in the 2009 Global Peace Index included Sudan, Zimbabwe, Lebanon, North Korea, and Iran.
Israel scored poorly for a high level of “organised conflict”, and poor relationships with its neighbours. It was also given a very low score for the perceived level of “respect for human rights.” Israelis were also given low marks for their “perception of distrust in others”.
Israel has always fared poorly in this particular index: it ranked fifth from last in 2008, and just third from last in 2007.
A German Catholic bank has apologised to investors and promised to sell its shares in a contraception producer, a weapons firm and tobacco companies.
The lawyer who fights for victims of British foreign policy and military action says the stories of abuse at the hands of authority have only just begun.
Injecting oxygen into cancerous tumours significantly boosts the chances of recovery, a ground-breaking study has revealed.
By Martha Ireland 
Israeli police have evicted nine Palestinian families living in two houses in occupied East Jerusalem. Jewish settlers moved into the houses almost immediately. The US has urged Israel to abandon plans for a building project in the area.
Britain has accused Israel of allowing extremist Jewish settlers to disrupt attempts at relaunching the peace process after police evicted more than 50 Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem.
Suicide counts tend to be undercounts, and the trend is less marked in other branches of the military. Nor are there reliable figures for veterans who have left the service; the Department of Veterans Affairs can only systematically track suicides among its hospitalized patients, and it does not issue regular suicide reports.
