Hamas’ exiled political leader said on Monday that the militant group has agreed in principle to a proposal for reconciling with its rivals in the Fatah movement in a deal that would clear the way for new presidential and legislative elections.
A final deal being brokered by Egyptian mediators will be drawn up and signed next month, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal told reporters in Cairo after talks with Egypt’s intelligence chief.
The Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers and Fatah, which runs the West Bank, have been divided since a civil war more than two years ago.
Bringing the sides together and restoring some Fatah control in the Gaza Strip could open up the blockaded seaside territory to more aid from international donors that had shunned dealings with Hamas.
Egypt has been trying for months to broker such a deal, at first by proposing the formation of a unity government. Hamas, however, refused to be part of any Palestinian government that would involve the recognition of Israel.
Now, Egypt is proposing to bring the rivals together in an advisory committee that would have a say in running day-to-day affairs in Gaza and the West Bank until elections can be held sometime in the first half of next year.
The committee would be headed by Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, who is also the Palestinian president. Abbas’ government would deploy 3,000 security personnel to Gaza and both sides would release each other’s detainees.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
OVERHAUL: The move would likely mark the end to Voice of America, which was founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda and operated in nearly 50 languages The parent agency of Voice of America (VOA) on Friday said it had issued termination notices to more than 639 more staff, completing an 85 percent decrease in personnel since March and effectively spelling the end of a broadcasting network founded to counter Nazi propaganda. US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) senior advisor Kari Lake said the staff reduction meant 1,400 positions had been eliminated as part of US President Donald Trump’s agenda to cut staffing at the agency to a statutory minimum. “Reduction in Force Termination Notices were sent to 639 employees at USAGM and Voice of America, part of a
Canada and the EU on Monday signed a defense and security pact as the transatlantic partners seek to better confront Russia, with worries over Washington’s reliability under US President Donald Trump. The deal was announced after a summit in Brussels between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. “While NATO remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, this partnership will allow us to strengthen our preparedness ... to invest more and to invest smarter,” Costa told a news conference. “It opens new opportunities for companies on both sides of the
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
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