Treaties

UNITED NATIONS - The Middle East, that timeless tinderbox at the core of so much in world affairs, looms as a battleground in the U.N.'s meeting halls this month, as 189 nations debate nuclear proliferation.

KONSTANTINOVKA, Ukraine - Vladimir Gapor is a plumber by trade, but now he's a scavenger, prying bits of scrap steel from the ruins of his old factory and selling them for a pittance.

WASHINGTON - The White House rebuked Israel with heavy criticism Tuesday after the Jerusalem city government moved toward the construction of 900 additional housing units in a Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim for the capital of their future state.

JERUSALEM - Israel moved Tuesday to approve a plan to build 900 more housing units in a Jewish neighborhood in the part of Jerusalem claimed by Palestinians, drawing harsh criticism from the United States.