PALESTINE: Israeli occupying forces demolished the home of a Palestinian resistance fighter in the West Bank city of Nablus today.

Abdul Fattah Kharushah, who was accused of killing two Israeli settlers, was himself killed in an Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp in March.

Israeli demolition of family homes of alleged Palestinian assailants has drawn intense criticism from rights groups, which see it as a collective punishment, which is prohibited under international law.

BRAZIL: For the first time in 14 years, presidents of nations home to the Amazon rainforest will attend a meeting of the Amazon Co-operation Treaty Organisation in the Brazilian city of Belem to chart a common course for protection of the bioregion and address organised crime.

The toothless 45-year-old alliance has met only three times before, while the forest has been systematically destroyed.

JORDAN: The Jordanian military said today that one man had died and two others were arrested during an attempt to infiltrate the country.

A Georgian man was found unconscious and transferred to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, while the other two, from Turkey and Azerbaijan, were detained.

GERMANY: The Defence Ministry said today that it has received 178 applications for compensation from gay people who had experienced discrimination in the military in the past.

The ministry said in a statement that it had expected more applications, but that, nonetheless, “the goals of the law were achieved.”

A law rehabilitating gay soldiers who suffered discrimination came into force two years ago, and so far, about €400,000 (£345,000) has been paid in symbolic compensation, the ministry said.