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The United States Congress has blocked nearly $200m in aid for the Palestinians, threatening projects such as food aid, health care, and support for efforts to build a functioning state.

The decision to delay the payments runs counter to the wishes of the Obama administration and reflects Congressional anger at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's so far unrealised pursuit of Fatah-Hamas reconciliation and statehood recognition at the UN.

While the president of the Palestinian Authority speaks at the United Nations, reporting to government leaders and ambassadors about Palestinian preparedness for an independent state, Yehuda Etzion is working on his own plan for the region.

Etzion, a resident of the settlement Ofra, has a draft master plan for Jerusalem, which he is preparing with a team of Ofra residents and an architectural firm. The plan centers around the Third Temple: where a ring road will pass, where pilgrims will park, where observation points will be located. The Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem will be demolished. They are not part of the plan.

The U.S. condemned Tuesday Israel's plan to build 1,100 new housing units in Jerusalem's contested Gilo neighborhood, which lies beyond the Green Line.

"We are deeply disappointed by this morning's announcement by the government of Israel approving the construction of 1,100 housing units in East Jerusalem," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

Muslim countries at a 151-nation conference demanded Friday that Israel open its nuclear program to international purview, asserting that its undeclared arsenal is a threat to Mideast peace.

Unlike in recent years, however, Arab states did not push for a resolution directly targeting Israel by name after such an attempt was narrowly voted down at last year’s International Atomic Energy Agency general conference.

Three earthquakes struck southern Guatemala Monday within 90 minutes, shaking buildings in the capital and killing three people.

The quakes struck near Guatemala's southwestern coast in the sugar cane-growing region around Santa Rosa, forcing the evacuation of about 400 people and cutting electricity and telephone services, emergency services said.

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit a remote area in northeastern India on Sunday evening, killing at least two people and damaging buildings and blocking roads, as well as killing four in neighboring Nepal, officials said.

One child died in Sikkim state, the epicenter of the earthquake, and another person died in Bihar state as a result of a stampede sparked by the quake, CNN-IBN broadcaster said.