Israel begins releasing prisoners

JERUSALEM - Israel began releasing about 430 Palestinian prisoners on Monday in a bid to bolster President Mahmoud Abbas after a U.S.-sponsored conference last week on Palestinian statehood, Israeli officials said.

The prisoners, most of whom belong to Abbas's secular Fatah movement, were bussed from a desert prison to Israel's borders with the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, a Prisons Service spokeswoman said.

Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert launched formal peace talks at the U.S.-hosted Annapolis, Maryland, conference, and the prisoner release is meant to strengthen the Palestinian leader against Hamas Islamists who seized the Gaza Strip in June.

Hamas has rejected the peace moves with Israel.

The issue of prisoners is highly emotive for Palestinians, who see their nearly 11,000 brethren held in Israeli jails as fighters against foreign occupation. Many Israelis fear that such amnesties encourage Palestinian militants to strike again.
News
Druze convert and family killed in Syrian violence
Druze convert and family killed in Syrian violence

He was killed for being a Druze, rather than for his Christian faith, according to an Open Doors partner.

Will the Church of England save the Tories?
Will the Church of England save the Tories?

The Church of England has often been described as "the Tory Party at prayer".

Age verification on pornography websites welcomed
Age verification on pornography websites welcomed

The average child in the UK will first see online pornography at age 13.

Bishop of Sheffield to head Orgreave inquiry
Bishop of Sheffield to head Orgreave inquiry

Bishop Wilcox acknowledged the “weight of expectation” surrounding the inquiry.