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Israel releases tax funds to Bolster Abbas

By TIMES WIRES
Published June 25, 2007

JERUSALEM

Israel agreed Sunday to start releasing $550-million in desperately needed funds to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a day before the moderate leader planned to meet the heads of Egypt, Israel and Jordan in a summit to support him in his struggle with Hamas. Israel has withheld the funds since January 2006, when Hamas swept Palestinian elections. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sought to play down expectations for the meeting in Egypt, with an aide saying it was premature to begin talks on a final peace deal. Anniversary of capture: The Hamas takeover of Gaza has complicated the case of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas-linked militants for a year today, prompting hundreds of protesters to gather outside Israel's Parliament. Meanwhile, a video released today shows kidnapped British journalist Alan Johnston wearing an apparent explosives belt and warning it will be detonated if an attempt is made to free him by force.

PARIS

Rice says world must act in Sudan

The world has fallen down on the job of ending the violence in Sudan's Darfur region, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday as she welcomed energy from France's new conservative-led government. She called the 4-year-old conflict "one of the true humanitarian disasters that we face in international politics, and one the international community has simply got to act more quickly and more responsibly to stop." Rice was in Paris for two days of get-to-know-you meetings and a strategy session on Darfur to speed deployment of about 20, 000 new peacekeeping troops.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

NATO chase kills Pakistani civilians

The NATO force in Afghanistan said Sunday that its soldiers, in pursuing Taliban insurgents Saturday, had unintentionally chased them across the border, confirming that the ensuing NATO bombs and helicopter fire killed Pakistani civilians. Pakistan had earlier placed the toll at 10. Also, a roadside bomb hit a convoy of British troops Sunday, wounding one soldier and prompting them to open fire in a civilian area in Helmand province, killing one man, police said. Other violence killed more than a dozen suspected militants, a U.S.-led coalition soldier and four Afghan troops.

Elsewhere

Karachi, Pakistan: Collapsed houses and severed electrical cables killed at least 228 people after rain lashed Pakistan's port city of Karachi, Sardar Ahmed, minister of health for Sindh province, said Sunday.

Manchester, England: Prime Minister Tony Blair on Sunday handed over Labor Party reins to Gordon Brown. Blair will step down as prime minister Wednesday. Brown will hold the position at least until a general election, which must be held by 2010.

Mexico City: Police in Tijuana discovered a tunnel under the border - 32 feet long, about 2 feet wide and about 3 feet high - that was used to smuggle drugs and possibly migrants into the United States, officials said Sunday.

Buenos Aires, Argentina: The capital sharply rejected a mayoral candidate backed by leftist President Nestor Kirchner on Sunday, as partial results reflected a runaway victory for a conservative who heads Argentina's most popular soccer team.

Bucharest, Romania: A bear attacked a group of U.S. tourists on a remote trail in the Carpathian Mountains, killing a 26-year-old woman, officials said Sunday.

[Last modified June 25, 2007, 00:40:40]