HARRISONBURG — Israel must stop building settlements in Palestinian territories if peace is ever to be achieved in the Middle East, former President Jimmy Carter said Monday night as he received an award at a Virginia university for his humanitarian efforts.

A 13-year-old boy was recently suspended from his crumbling, inner-city middle school in Michigan.  His family had immigrated to the United States because, in his words, “My parents wanted a better life for us than fighting. There is no government in Somalia, no army or police to keep the peace. Different tribes and groups of people were fighting and killing each other to gain power.”