Israeli and Palestinian leaders decided to downplay a dispute over construction in Jerusalem and begin negotiations on larger issues, clearing the way for US President George W. Bush to try his hand at significant peacemaking next month.
The two-hour meeting on Thursday between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was the first since they declared a resumption of peace negotiations last month at Bush's Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland. Bush is due to visit in two weeks.
"Beginning next week, final status negotiations will be resumed," said Ahmed Qureia, the lead Palestinian negotiator, referring to key issues like final borders, Palestinian refugees and Jerusalem holy sites, which have stymied peace efforts for years.
Alongside the talks, violence continued in the Gaza area. Late on Thursday, Israeli aircraft killed Mohammed Abdala, a senior Islamic Jihad commander, the militant group said. He was the third senior Islamic Jihad militant killed in the last two weeks.
At Annapolis, Abbas and Olmert set a target of next year for a final peace agreement. But attempts to begin negotiations foundered over an Israeli plan to build more than 300 new homes for Jews in east Jerusalem. About 180,000 Israelis live in east Jerusalem neighborhoods built over the past four decades.
The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as their future capital. Until Thursday, they had insisted on peace negotiations cap on building.
In addition to Israeli pledges to halt settlement activity, the peace plan requires the Palestinians to dismantle militant groups that target Israelis.
Efforts to bring Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table gained traction after Islamic Hamas militants seized control of the Gaza Strip in June. Abbas, a moderate, expelled Hamas from government after the takeover, freeing him to conclude a peace agreement. Hamas is not party to the talks.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
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A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number