World Briefing | Europe: Russia: Greenpeace Members Held at Arctic Oil Rig

Room for Debate asks whether the Man Booker Prize should be open to all English-language writers.

The Social Democrats saved Germany. Can they save themselves?

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World Briefing | Middle East: Polio Virus Found in Jerusalem’s Sewers

Polio virus has been found in Jerusalem’s sewers for the first time since Israel eliminated the disease, the nation’s Heath Ministry announced on Monday. No children are known to have been paralyzed by the disease.

Israel is conducting a nationwide vaccination drive, trying to give a million children under age 10 drops containing a live vaccine. For the last 10 years, doctors have given the injected killed vaccine used in polio-free countries, but the drops — while somewhat riskier, especially to immunocompromised children — provide greater protection.

In August, Israel’s Supreme Court quickly rejected a motion by anti-vaccine activists to freeze the campaign.

In June, the virus was found in sewage in Rahat, a small city in the Negev desert inhabited mostly by Bedouins. It slowly spread north to several cities. The strain originated in Pakistan but appeared in Cairo’s sewers in January. Previously, polio virus had not been found in Israeli sewers since 2002.

No one has been paralyzed by polio in Israel since 1988; paralysis occurs in only about 1 of 200 cases, but those infected shed virus in feces for weeks. Stool-sample testing in Israel has found dozens of asymptomatic carriers.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: September 11, 2013

A report in the World Briefing column on Tuesday about the discovery of the polio virus in Jerusalem’s sewers referred incorrectly to Israel’s use of injectable polio vaccines instead of oral drops. The injectable vaccine has been used for the last 10 years, not used “until 10 years ago.”

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World Briefing | The Americas: A Mammal Long Overlooked, but Now Embraced

Lawmakers are lining up for a chance to take money from the banks — and do their bidding.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a fan of opera, which, like the court, wrestles with questions of crime and punishment.

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National Briefing | South: Florida: State Plans Suit Over Water

Lawmakers are lining up for a chance to take money from the banks — and do their bidding.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a fan of opera, which, like the court, wrestles with questions of crime and punishment.

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