Palestinian prime minister retracts his resignation
Palestinian prime ministerretracts his resignation
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia retracted his resignation today, ending a two-week standoff with President Yasser Arafat.
"The president refused my resignation, and I will comply," Qureia told a news conference in the West Bank City of Ramallah.
The two men emerged from a meeting in Ramallah, kissing each other on the cheeks and clasping and holding up their hands together.
Qureia's resignation two weeks ago coincided with a wave of kidnappings, riots and calls for reform that plunged Palestinian politics into turmoil.
Arafat reportedly offered Qureia more say in running the Palestinian Authority in exchange for staying on.
However, Qureia denied that he and Arafat agreed on granting the prime minister more authority over the all important Palestinian security apparatus.
"I'm not going to bargain with the president about authority over the security branches," Qureia said. "We have enough powers over them as it stands."
Qureia's decision to remain in office ends the stalemate between the prime minister and Arafat that called into question Arafat's ability to rein in dissident elements of his ruling Fatah movement.
Bomb threat aboard flight
SYDNEY, Australia -- A United Airlines flight from Australia to Los Angeles returned to Sydney International Airport today after staff on board found a note carrying a bomb threat, Australia's transport minister said.
UA Flight 840, carrying 246 passengers, turned around "when an object which raised some security suspicions was found on board," the company said in a brief statement.
"As a precaution, the captain immediately returned to Sydney, landing without incident at 5:50 p.m. (3:50 a.m. EDT). Further investigations will be carried out," United Airlines said.
Australia's Transport Minister John Anderson said he was "pretty sure it was a hoax."
The emergency came just days after a purported Al-Qaida affiliate in Europe, the Tawhid Islamic Group, warned it would turn Australia into "pools of blood" if Canberra doesn't withdraw its troops from Iraq. Australia has nearly 900 military personnel in and around Iraq.
Anderson told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio the "object" discovered was a note carrying a bomb threat. He said an investigation would immediately be launched.
Australian media reported the note was written on an air sickness bag found in or near one of the aircraft's toilets.
Missing woman case
SALT LAKE CITY -- The last day her co-workers saw her, Lori Hacking was heading home for the weekend after getting a phone call that left her stunned and sobbing, The Associated Press has learned. She never showed up at her office the following Monday.
Several colleagues said Hacking had been arranging for on-campus housing at the University of North Carolina medical school and that they believe the school was returning a call to say her husband, Mark Hacking, was not enrolled there, as he had told her.
"She was visibly upset. She started to cry and got up to walk away," her supervisor, Randy Church, told the AP on Monday. He said that when co-workers asked her what was wrong, she replied, "It's no big deal; I'm OK. But I think I will go home."
At the time of her disappearance, the couple was packing to move to North Carolina. But after she vanished, police and family members learned that besides lying about being accepted to medical school, Mark Hacking had not even graduated from college.
Lori Hacking left work early after receiving the call Friday afternoon, July 16. Mark Hacking reported his wife's disappearance the following Monday. She is now feared dead, and her husband has become the focus of the police investigation.
Wildfire forces evacuationof camp and youth facility
MOUNT CHARLESTON, Nev. -- A Girl Scout camp and a youth correctional facility were evacuated and residents ordered out of about 15 homes as firefighters battled a fast-moving blaze that started in the rugged hills of a national forest.
Firefighters were planning a new assault today on the fire. "Until the sun comes up and gets some heat on it, it's not going to do anything," Larry Benham, incident commander, said as night fell Monday on the 1,500-acre blaze.
Officials said the fire started on a highway nearby when a flatbed truck coming down the mountain overheated its breaks and lost control, rolling into brush and igniting the blaze, Las Vegas police said. The 37-year-old woman driving the truck was hospitalized, but her condition was not given.
Associated Press