International Glance
A fugitive who once acted as the lawyer for a group of U.S. Baptist missionaries accused of kidnapping 33 Haitian children was arrested on human-trafficking charges, authorities said Friday. Jorge Puello, 32, was detained at the United States' request as he left a McDonald's restaurant late Thursday in the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo, said National Drug Control Agency spokesman Roberto Lebron.
A judge has 30 days to meet with Puello, Dominican authorities, and an attorney representing the U.S. government before deciding whether to honor the government's extradition request, he said. Puello is wanted in the U.S. state of Vermont and in Canada for smuggling illegal immigrants, and in the U.S. city of Philadelphia for probation violations related to fraud charges, said a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Lawyer' for US missionaries in Haiti is arrested
Quartet calls for settlement freeze
The so-called Quartet of Middle East negotiators has demanded that Israel halt all settlement activity and denounced Israel's plan to build new housing in East Jerusalem. The Quartet's comments came at a news conference in Moscow on Friday, following a meeting by the group, which brings together the United Nations, the US, the EU and Russia.
Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary-general, read a joint statement by the group, saying that the Quartet "urges the government of Israel to freeze all settlement activities". In the statement, the Quartet condemned "the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem".
Tony Blair got cash for deal with South Korean oil firm
After 20 months of secrecy, the former prime minister has now been overruled by the chairman of the advisory committee on business appointments, the former Tory cabinet minister Ian Lang.
Petraeus Warns Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mullen that Israel Is Jeopardizing US Security Interests
Veteran military and foreign affairs analyst and author Mark Perry reports that CENTCOM commander General David Petraeus dispatched a team of senior military officers in January to brief Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Michael Mullen on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Perry reports that the briefers told Mullen that “Israeli intransigence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was jeopardizing US standing in the region.”
Pakistani court charges 5 Americans with terrorism
A Pakistani court charged five young Americans on Wednesday with planning terrorist attacks in the South Asian country and conspiring to wage war against nations allied with Pakistan, their defense lawyer said.
US envoy George Mitchell postpones Israel visit
US envoy George Mitchell has postponed a visit to Israel amid a continuing row over Israel's decision to build more Jewish homes in Arab East Jerusalem. Mr Mitchell had been due to meet President Shimon Peres on Tuesday but the trip has now been put off.
The building announcement - made as US Vice-President Joe Biden visited last week to try to kick-start stalled peace talks - angered Washington. Tension remains high in Jerusalem, with a number of clashes on Tuesday. Mr Mitchell had been due in Israel to try to set up the resumption of indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Netanyahu affirms settlement project that U.S. considers 'affront'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under pressure from his largely conservative coalition to press on with the project, told his Likud Party Monday that settlement building would continue on land that Israel won from its Arab neighbors in the 1967 Six-Day War.
"Construction will continue in Jerusalem as this has been the case over the past 42 years," Netanyahu said. Israel Interior Minister Eli Yishai — whose ministry decided to announce the plan during Biden's visit — echoed Netanyahu, stating that "there is no construction freeze in Jerusalem, nor will there be one."
"We're sorry the Americans found the timing offending, but there is no freeze in Jerusalem," he said. In the face of harsh U.S. criticism and demands that the project be scrapped, Netanyahu has tried to lower the visibility of the issue.
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