Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had an unscheduled meeting a day before Abbas was leaving on a trip that takes him to the US later this month.
The moderate Palestinian leader has talks scheduled for April 23 with US President George W. Bush. He was scheduled to leave yesterday for Jordan, the first leg of his trip.
Sunday was the last opportunity for Abbas to meet Olmert, though the two talked last week.
The intention appeared to be to keep the meeting at Olmert’s official residence a secret. In the past, their frequent sessions have been announced well in advance and news photographers are granted some access. Sunday’s meeting was confirmed only hours before it took place and then only after the Associated Press queried officials.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Abbas asked Olmert to agree to an Egyptian initiative to arrange an unofficial ceasefire in Gaza, but Olmert gave no commitment. Israel refuses to deal with Hamas. Erekat said the meeting took place on Sunday because Abbas was leaving yesterday on the trip that will take him to the US.
Months of meetings at various levels have failed to produce noticeable progress toward a peace deal.
Israel and the Palestinians renewed negotiations in November at a US-hosted conference in Annapolis, Maryland, ending a seven-year impasse. The talks have been troubled by Palestinian militant attacks, by ongoing Israeli construction and military operations in the West Bank and by the fact that Islamic Hamas militants rule Gaza. Abbas controls only the West Bank.
On Sunday an explosion in a Gaza house killed three people and wounded seven, Palestinian officials said. Residents said it was caused by explosives that went off prematurely.
Later on Sunday, a Palestinian was wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza City, Palestinians and the Israeli military said.
Last week, militants attacked the Israeli border terminal that pipes the only fuel that reaches Gaza, killing two workers. Israel immediately shut down the terminal and launched raids that have killed 16 people since, including at least six civilians.
Palestinians have warned of a looming fuel shortage and the director of the territory’s only power plant has said it would have to be shut down this week because its fuel would run out.
Turning heads as they cruise past office buildings and malls, driverless taxis are slowly spreading through Chinese cities, prompting both wariness and wonder. China’s tech companies and vehicle manufacturers have poured billions of dollars into self-driving technology over the past few years in an effort to catch industry leaders in the US. Now the central city of Wuhan boasts one of the world’s largest networks of self-driving cars, home to a fleet of more than 500 taxis that can be hailed on an app just like regular rides. At one intersection in an industrial area of Wuhan, AFP reporters saw at least five
China and Vietnam yesterday inked 14 documents spanning cross-border railways to crocodile exports after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met with new Vietnamese leader To Lam in Beijing. The Vietnamese president’s visit to Beijing, his first overseas trip since becoming the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam earlier this month, signals a desire between the two communist neighbors to strengthen ties, amid growing trade and investment, despite occasional clashes over boundaries in the South China Sea. “China has always regarded Vietnam as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy, and supports Vietnam in adhering to the party leadership, taking the socialist
A former Saudi Arabian official alleged in a report that the kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman forged the signature of his father on the royal decree that launched the kingdom’s years-long, stalemated war against Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the allegations made without supporting evidence by Saad al-Jabri in an interview published yesterday by the BBC, but the kingdom has described him as “a discredited former government official.” Al-Jabri, a former Saudi Arabian intelligence official who lives in exile in Canada, has been a years-long dispute with the kingdom as
‘ENOUGH IS ENOUGH’: Hospitals said faculty staff from medical colleges were assisting with emergency cases as more than 1 million doctors were expected to strike Hospitals and clinics across India yesterday turned away patients except for emergency cases as medical professionals began a 24-hour shutdown in protest against the brutal rape and murder of a doctor in the eastern city of Kolkata. More than 1 million doctors were expected to join the strike, paralyzing medical services across the world’s most populous nation. Hospitals said faculty staff from medical colleges had been pressed into service for emergency cases. The strike, which began at 6am, cut off access to elective medical procedures and out-patient consultations, the Indian Medical Association said in a statement. The discovery of the 31-year-old doctor’s bloodied