Shorter Question Everything

By xxxevilgrinxxx | Published: November 17, 2009

Kosovo
The first elections in Kosovo since it declared its independence from Serbia in 2008 went off without any real trouble, security officials said Monday. Turnout was light Sunday in local elections. Early results put voter turnout at 32.86 percent of registered voters. Among the voting municipalities are three in which Serbs are the majority population and Serbia was urging them not to vote, saying conditions for their participation have not been satisfied by Kosovo, Serbian news outlet B29 reports. Many Serbs in Kosovo oppose the declaration of independence. Kosovo’s president Fatmir Sejdiu said polling officials should announce who won the local elections held on Sunday with “more urgency.”

Palestine
The United States would veto a Palestinian declaration of statehood in the United Nations Security Council, U.S. senators visiting Israel said Monday. Israel reacted quickly, warning that a negotiated peace agreement was the only solution to the conflict, while declaring a state without it would lead to Israeli counter-measures that could include annexation of more West Bank territory. Monday, however, Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said moves were already under way to seek a decision from the U.N. Security Council to recognize the Palestinian state. He said Israel had for 18 years continued to “impose facts on ground by stealing Palestinian lands and build settlements and barriers aiming to finish off the two-state project.”

US
The number of Americans who lack dependable access to adequate food shot up last year to 49 million, the largest number since the government has been keeping track, according to a government report released Monday that shows particularly steep increases in food scarcity among families with children.