Civilian body count rises in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- As 80 more dead bodies were found Thursday in Iraq, the International Committee of the Red Cross said civilians are getting the worst of the violence.
The Red Cross said that 7,000 civilians have been killed since September, an average of more than 100 a day.
Georges Comninos, head of operations for the Middle East and North Africa, said that on a recent visit he found that ordinary life has simply become impossible for most Iraqis.
"Today it is rare to find a family in Iraq that has been spared," he said. "Fear of being killed or kidnapped or of becoming a refugee in one's own country is ever-present. Even staying at home does not always guarantee safety."
On Thursday, Iraqi security forces reported finding 52 bodies dumped in various parts of Baghdad, while 28 bodies were found in what appeared to be a mass grave near Baquba, the BBC reported. Most of the bodies bore the marks of torture.
In Basra, a Sunni religious leader and six bodyguards were shot and killed. The U.S. military reported that a soldier was killed Wednesday.
Rabbi suggests end to ban on gay rabbis
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- A Los Angeles rabbi says he plans to suggest an end to bans on gay rabbis and same-sex commitment ceremonies to an international rabbinical council.
However, Rabbi Elliot Dorff of the University of Judaism said his proposal to leaders of Judaism's Conservative movement would stay within the traditional rabbinical interpretation of the Bible by prohibiting anal sex between men, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday. He said other forms of consensual sex would be allowed between monogamous partners.
"It is a compromise, no question," Dorff said. His proposal seeks "to maintain the continuity of the law to the extent that we can, while at the same time getting rid of the harm it causes."
Some Conservative Jews have voiced opposition to ordaining homosexuals, citing a passage in Leviticus that many be interpreted as a denunciation of homosexuality: "Do not lie with a man as one would lie with a woman; it is an abomination."
However, others have argued for an end to both bans without sexual restrictions, as the Reform Judaism movement did in 1990.
'06 hurricane season ends quietly
MIAMI, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- In sharp contrast to the past two years, the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season ended quietly Thursday with not one hurricane hitting U.S shores.
Only three tropical storms made landfall, a welcome relief from the previous two years, when nearly a dozen hurricanes battered the United States, especially 2005's Category 5 storms Katrina, Rita and Wilma, the most intense hurricane ever recorded.
Storm activity this year was relatively light overall, the National Hurricane Center in Miami told CNN, with nine named storms and five hurricanes, two of them major.
Four of this season's five hurricanes -- Florence, Gordon, Helene and Issac -- started to march westward across the Atlantic toward the United States, only to turn out to sea.
Before the season began in June, the hurricane center predicted 13 to 16 named storms in 2006, with eight to 10 hurricanes, four to six of which could become major.
Wintry blasts sweep central U.S.
DENVER, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- The U.S. National Weather Service Thursday posted winter storm warnings from Illinois south to Texas through Friday morning.
Early Thursday, forecasters said as much as 12 inches of snow was possible in parts of eastern Kansas, while KDFW-TV, Dallas, reported ice had begun forming on bridges.
Oregon officials also announced the closure of Interstate 84 between Troutdale and Hood River due to snow and ice accumulation, the Yakima (Wash.) Herald-Republic said midday Thursday.
The Denver Post reported at least six deaths in that city as a result of the storm, which blew through Wednesday. While Denver recorded four inches of snow, 14 inches was reported in Idaho Springs, Colo., the newspaper said.
Midday, the National Weather Service had winter storm warnings posted for southeast New Mexico, northern Texas, Oklahoma, northwest Arkansas, Missouri, southeast Iowa and Illinois.
