Khaled Mashaal, Hamas’ most influential political leader, told McClatchy Newspapers that his Islamist organization is unwilling to make any significant concessions to Israel or to its Palestinian rivals in Fatah to repair fractured Middle East peace talks.

In a rare 90-minute interview with an American news reporter earlier this week, Mashaal dismissed any suggestion that Hamas would recognize Israel or agree to early elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He said Hamas wouldn’t release an Israeli soldier captured last summer in the Gaza Strip unless Israel releases hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

And he warned that the Palestinians could stage a third violent uprising, known as an intifada, if Israel doesn’t relinquish control of the West Bank.

“The Palestinian people will never stop the intifada,” Mashaal said. “Maybe they will calm down. Sometimes they might stop to catch their breath. But the only thing that will stop resistance is ending the occupation.”

Canberra, Australia

Night at strip club may affect election

A drunken night in a New York strip club four years ago by a lawmaker who is trying to become the next prime minister has turned the spotlight on Australian politicians’ private lives.

Opposition leader Kevin Rudd predicted he would “take a belting in the opinion polls” after a report in News Corp. newspapers throughout Australia on Sunday about a drunken night he had in the high-priced Manhattan club Scores in 2003.

The 49-year-old former diplomat has denied reports that he was warned by management for touching strippers but added his recollection of the night was hazy because of alcohol.

His companions that night, fellow opposition lawmaker Warren Snowdon and New York Post editor Col Allan, have publicly vouched for his good behavior while in New York as a U.N. observer.

A poll published in The Australian national newspaper Tuesday showed that Rudd’s rating as preferred prime minister was around 48 percent, with Prime Minister John Howard’s 39 percent. But news of Rudd’s night out did not break until the final day of the poll’s three-day survey period.

Dhaka, Bangladesh

Curfew ordered to halt protests

The military-backed government imposed an indefinite curfew in six major cities Wednesday, clearing the streets and temporarily shutting down cell phones in a bid to quell three days of unrest by students demanding an end to emergency rule.

Police with loudspeakers urged residents to stay home as the curfew came into effect at 8 p.m. Security forces patrolled the deserted streets.

“This is a temporary measure. The curfew will be lifted as soon as the situation improves,” Bangladesh’s interim head of government, Fakhruddin Ahmed, said in a brief televised speech.

The curfew order came after students took their protests from university campuses to the streets of the capital, burning cars and buses and battling with security forces. Students also clashed with police in three other cities.

Cell phones stopped working about an hour before the curfew went into effect. An official at the country’s largest mobile operator, GrameenPhone, said the government ordered all cell phone service temporarily shut down.