World in brief: Palestinians may postpone election

Jerusalem – Palestinian officials trying to organize a Jan. 24 election recommended Thursday that the vote be postponed, a move that could prolong uncertainty over President Mahmoud Abbas’ political future and the prospect for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Abbas, who is considered a reliable and moderate leader by the West, threw the Palestinian Authority into a crisis last week by declaring he would not seek re-election.

The independent election commission’s call to delay the voting for president and a parliament gives Abbas, 74, the option to heed his supporters’ calls and stay in office indefinitely.

A spokesman for Abbas, Nabil abu Rudaineh, said the Palestinian leader would decide on the proposed delay after returning from an upcoming trip to Jordan.

Lake Titicaca down to critical levels

La Paz, Bolivia – Evaporation blamed on global warming has reduced Lake Titicaca, one of the world’s highest navigable lakes, to its lowest level since 1949, authorities said Thursday.

Diminished rainfall and a rise in solar radiation have in the past four years led to critically low water levels that now threaten fish spawning areas and plant life, the Lake Titicaca Authority said in a statement.

Titicaca’s waters have dropped 2.65 feet since April and flora and fauna are apt to suffer damage if they drop another foot, the statement said.

Navy Capt. Jorge Ernesto Espinoza told ATB television that South America’s largest lake is receding by about an inch a week.

The lake, straddling Bolivia and Peru at 12,493 feet elevation, is a 3,240-square-mile oasis on an arid high plain.

The lake is fed by rainfall and melt water from glaciers, which scientists say are shrinking rapidly due to global warming and could disappear altogether by midcentury.