WORLD IN BRIEF
JERUSALEM -- Israeli troops tore down part of a synagogue at a West Bank settlement outpost on Tuesday but made no attempt to move adjacent trailer homes, prompting accusations the government is not serious about meeting U.S. demands to dismantle dozens of the outlawed sites.</br></br>Meanwhile, Israeli army bulldozers smashed 25 houses and flattened a mosque in a Palestinian refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, leaving 400 people homeless, local officials said.</br></br>The military said it targeted buildings from which shots were fired at Israeli forces, but did not know how many structures were demolished.</br></br>BOMBAY -- Starving North Koreans have been publicly executed for stealing food and others have died of malnutrition in labor camps, Amnesty International said in a report.</br></br>The human rights group urged the North Korean government to "ensure that food shortages are not used as a tool to persecute perceived political opponents."