Jerusalem

EPHRAIM KATZIR, 93 Israel's fourth president Ephraim Katzir, Israel's fourth president and an internationally recognized biophysicist, died Saturday, several weeks after his 93rd birthday. Dr. Katzir's 1973-1978 tenure spanned two seminal events in Israeli history: the 1973 Mideast war and the visit of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to Jerusalem in 1977. He left the presidency after one term to return to scientific research. Born in Kiev in 1916, Dr. Katzir immigrated at age 6 with his family to British-ruled Palestine and studied biology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, receiving his Ph.D.

Pelosi backs bill to aid ailing auto industry WASHINGTON: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for "emergency and limited financial assistance" for the battered auto industry yesterday and urged the outgoing Bush administration to join lawmakers in reaching a quick compromise. Four days after dismal financial reports from General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., Pelosi backed legislation to make the automakers eligible for help under the $700 billion bailout measure that cleared Congress in October.

In Israel, some people want to know if Barack Obama will visit Jerusalem on his way to Tehran. It's shorthand for concerns about the president-elect's interest in engaging Iran rather than continuing to isolate the Islamic Republic. In the Arab world, some might well complain that Mr. Obama doesn't need to stop in Jerusalem; he's been there. That telegraphs a different concern, that as president, Mr. Obama will favor the Jewish state over the Palestinians, as did his predecessors in the White House.

On October 9, 2008 RALEIGH BRYANT, JR. beloved husband of Sherby Bryant. On Monday friends may call at the VAUGHN C. GREENE FUNERAL SERVICES, 5151 Balto. Nat'l Pike from 3:00-8:00 p.m. On Tuesday, Mr. Bryant will lie in state at New Jerusalem FBH Church, 1905 N. Rosedale Street, where the family will receive friends from 10:30-11:00 a.m. with services to follow. Inquiries to 410-233-2400.

The pictures were beautiful, the words were elegantly cast and the reception inspiring. But watching Sen. Barack Obama's pilgrimage from terrorist-fraught Afghanistan to Iraq, Jerusalem, Berlin and Paris had an otherworldly quality for Americans back home wrestling with depressing economic problems, shoddy treatment of injured veterans, plunging home prices and iconic corporations suffering record losses. There is no doubt the Democratic presidential candidate signaled inspirational change for many Europeans, just as he has for many Americans.

JERUSALEM - A Palestinian driver of a large construction vehicle plowed into traffic on a busy Jerusalem street yesterday, hitting a bus, mangling cars and injuring at least 24 people before the driver was shot dead by an off-duty soldier and a border police officer. The attack, the second in Jerusalem this month involving a construction vehicle, took place on King David Street near the Liberty Bell Park in Jerusalem's upscale hotel district, close to the King David Hotel. Local news media reports said Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate for president, was due to stay at the hotel last night.

JERUSALEM - A 3-foot-tall tablet with 87 lines of Hebrew that scholars say they believe dates from the decades just before the birth of Jesus is causing a quiet stir in biblical and archaeological circles, especially because it may speak of a Messiah who will rise from the dead after three days. If such a messianic description really is there, it will contribute to a developing re-evaluation of both popular and scholarly views of Jesus, because it suggests that the story of his death and resurrection was not unique but part of a recognized Jewish tradition at the time.

JERUSALEM - A New York fundraiser and businessman testifying in a corruption investigation told an Israeli court yesterday that he gave $150,000, mostly in cash, to the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert. The businessman, Morris Talansky, 75, who is at the heart of the investigation involving Olmert, told the court that he believed the money was used for Olmert's political campaigns and also for his expenditures on hotels and first-class flights. But Talansky said he never received anything in return for the cash and other money, such as payment of credit card bills.

JERUSALEM -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, pressing for progress in peace talks ahead of a visit next week by President Bush, said yesterday that an Israeli-Palestinian agreement by the end of the year is an "achievable goal." Rice's upbeat remarks contrasted with more pessimistic assessments voiced by leaders on both sides, and her talks in Israel were overshadowed by a new corruption investigation against Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Talks were revived in November at a conference hosted by Bush in Annapolis with the goal of reaching an agreement by year's end. But since then, there have been no visible signs of progress.