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A Conservative MP has drawn flak from Muslims in Britain for saying he will refuse to meet women wearing the full Islamic dress in his constituency unless they lift their veil.

A majority of Britons - around 67 percent - want to see the burqa banned in the country.

In late May, the Senate approved President Obama's request for nearly $40 billion in emergency war funding. Most of that was to pay for an additional 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to approve the nomination of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court next week, with a vote expected by the full Senate soon thereafter. Because Democrats hold a Senate majority, there is little doubt she will be confirmed, but the Republican leadership, and some outside groups, are pushing hard to raise the number of no votes.

Every year, Jews from around the world migrate to Israel, a process known as aliyah, a Hebrew word meaning "ascent." But for the Bnei Menashe community of India, who believe they are descendents of one of the 10 lost tribes of ancient Israel, the road has been long and fraught with difficulty.

Although swift food aid and agricultural supplies helped to ward off a post-earthquake food crisis in Haiti, funding shortfalls for farmers is hampering efforts to boost food production six months after the disaster, a United Nations agency cautioned today.

US taxpayers spend about US$140 million every year on non-emergency food aid in Africa, and roughly the same amount to ship food aid to global destinations on US vessels; money that could have been used to feed more people says a new study by researchers at Cornell University in the US.

A proposed Islamic cultural center and mosque two blocks from the site of the destroyed World Trade Center has become a flash point of controversy.

The Senate approved a sweeping bank regulation bill Thursday, sending President Obama a crackdown on banks and Wall Street that in some ways is tougher than what he sought. The measure passed by a vote of 60-39.

In Iraq, about 2 million people have been displaced by the war and sectarian fighting. Aid groups estimate that nearly 500,000 of them are living in cities and towns as squatters.