Gaza measures near, Israel says
Israel will take action to stop Palestinian arms smuggling and rocket fire in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday, but he could not point to specific solutions.
Olmert also said any new offensive would not result in Israel’s retaking Gaza, which it left a year ago after a 38-year occupation.
Olmert was speaking at a special Cabinet session to vote approval of the addition of an ultra-hawkish party to his ruling coalition, a step seen as virtually ruling out any Israeli-Palestinian peace initiatives in the near future. Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu Party, has advocated bombing Palestinian population centers and redrawing Israel’s borders to exclude its Arab citizens.
MANILA, Philippines
Vietnam next in typhoon’s path
Typhoon Cimaron headed toward eastern Vietnam today after leaving at least 15 dead in landslides and flooding in the northern Philippines, officials said.
Originally a super typhoon, Cimaron quickly lost strength after making landfall in the northeastern Philippine province of Isabela late Sunday and cutting across Luzon island Monday with winds of 75 mph and gusts of up to 130 mph.
The overall damage appeared to be minimal compared to last month’s Typhoon Xangsane, which left 230 people dead and missing as it ripped through Manila and neighboring provinces.
A senior agriculture official said Monday there was no significant damage to rice crops. The typhoon struck during the harvest season in the country’s major rice producing areas.
ABUJA, Nigeria
Pilot in fatal crash got advice to wait
A plane crash that killed 96 people in Nigeria might have been averted if the pilot had heeded advice from air traffic controllers to wait for a lightning storm to clear before taking off, the aviation minister said Monday.
Citing the decision as a possible cause of the third fatal passenger jet crash in this West African nation in a year, Aviation Minister Babalola Borishade said the government was preparing guidelines to stop such “reckless abuse of crew discretionary power.”
Borishade did not directly blame pilot error for Sunday’s crash, and authorities were still investigating what brought down the Boeing 737 owned by the Aviation Development Co.
MOGADISHU, Somalia
Marriage rule part of crackdown
Islamic leaders Monday banned youthful Somalis from marrying without the consent of their parents, saying such unions violate Islam.
“It is against the teaching of our religion and parents do not approve of it,” said Sheik Mahad Mohamed Sheik Hassan, chairman of the regional Islamic court in Wanlawien.
The edict was the latest step to impose strict religious rule as this chaotic nation emerges from more than a decade of anarchy.
Islamic leaders already have banned women from swimming at the main beach in Somalia’s capital, live music, the viewing of films and sports, and the use of qat, a leafy seminarcotic plant.