High level meetings taking place today in New York ahead of controversial UN vote on Palestinian statehood. Israel says the bid for global recognition by the PA will fail.
Violence escalates in Yemen as at least 26 more killed and hundreds wounded.
Syrian opposition leaders meet in Damascus, and again call for Assad to stop the bloody crackdown.
In Libya, Gadhafi loyalists continue to defend their strongholds of Bani Walid and Sirte.
Despite continued promises of 'soon' for the release of two jailed Americans, Iran still drags its bureaucratic feet, and the Americans remain in jail.
Details after the break.
Top diplomats from the United States and Europe have begun a last-ditch international push to avert a looming showdown at the United Nations over Palestinian statehood that could crush already dim Mideast peace prospects.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton held talks Sunday as part of an increasingly desperate effort to bring Israel and the Palestinians back to direct negotiations. Clinton said she and Ashton met to discuss “the way forward,” but she declined to reveal if mediators are making progress.
Senior envoys from the Mideast Quartet – the U.S., EU, U.N. and Russia – also met in New York Sunday.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he will seek full U.N. membership for an independent Palestinian state later this week – despite strong U.S. and Israeli opposition to unilateral moves on the statehood issue.
The U.S. says it will veto such an application in the Security Council. But former British Prime Minister Tony Blair – who serves as a Quartet envoy – said Sunday that a deal could still be reached.
Mr. Blair told ABC news that mediators will be looking for a way that allows Palestinians' “legitimate aspirations” to be recognized while renewing talks with Israel. He said direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations are “the only thing that will produce a state.”
Mr. Abbas said in Ramallah Friday that U.N. membership is a legitimate right for Palestinian people. But, in talks with his Cabinet Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu predicted the Palestinians' U.N. statehood bid will fail.
Even with a loss in the Security Council, the Palestinians are expected to take their case to the 193-member General Assembly, where a simple majority could grant a more symbolic recognition. The Palestinians currently hold observer status at the United Nations.
Meanwhile, israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu has told his Cabinet that the Palestinian bid for statehood recognition at the United Nations this week will fail.
He accused the Palestinians of torpedoing the resumption of direct negotiations, which he described as the only way to achieve peace.
Mr. Netanyahu said Israel is cooperating closely with the United States to make sure that the Security Council will reject a Palestinian request to be accepted to the U.N. as a full member state. The U.S. has threatened to use its veto, saying that unilateral steps are counterproductive and urging the Palestinians to return to peace talks.
Yemen
Yemeni security forces shot dead at least 26 people and wounded hundreds more Sunday when they opened fire on tens of thousands of anti-government protesters in the capital, Sana’a – the worst violence in several months.
Government troops fired heavy-caliber machine guns, water cannons and tear gas on the demonstrators when they left Change Square and marched toward the nearby presidential palace. Thousands of protesters have camped out in the square for months.
Medics estimated that about 340 demonstrators suffered gunshot wounds, leaving at least 25 of them in critical condition. The interior ministry accused protesters of throwing gasoline bombs and wielding batons, wounding four government troops.
The rally was the first in months in which protesters ventured outside the area of Sana’a controlled by Major General Ali Moshen al-Ahmar, Yemen’s top military officer, who has sided with the opposition. Protesters said they wanted to “escalate” the anti-government rebellion by moving to other districts of the capital.
The country’s youth-led protest movement has stepped up demonstrations in the past week, angered after President Ali Abdullah Saleh instructed his deputy to negotiate a power-sharing deal. Many call the move just the latest in a number of Mr. Saleh’s delaying tactics.
Yemen’s National Council, a protest group, accused Mr. Saleh’s troops of committing a “massacre.” The council called on the United Nations to “end its silence” and intervene to protect the Yemeni people.
Demonstrations also took place Sunday in other Yemeni cities, including Taiz, Saada, Ibb and Damar.
The recent clashes in Sana’a began late Friday when witnesses said security forces fired at anti-government protesters camped out in the square.
Syria
Dozens of Syrian opposition members have convened in the capital, Damascus, to call on President Bashar al-Assad to end his deadly crackdown on peaceful protesters across the country.
The National Democratic Change group organized the weekend meeting, attended by a group of opposition figures, including leading writer Michel Kilo, Arab and Kurdish nationalists, Islamists and secularists. They called on Syrians to continue their peaceful movement against Assad's rule and urged the government to stop all acts of repression and violence against citizens.
Most other opposition meetings have taken place outside of Syria. Inside the country, the U.N. estimates some 2,600 people have died in the bloody government crackdown.
Last week, Syrian security forces shot and killed at least 15 people as they conducted raids and fired on protesters who flooded streets after Friday prayers.
Syrian activists say the killings took place across the country, from the northwestern region of Jabal al-Zawiya, to the southern province of Deraa, to the central province of Hama.
Libya
Fighters loyal to Libya's ousted leader Moammar Gadhafi continued Sunday to defend their strongholds of Bani Walid and Sirte, as their former rebel opponents struggle to gain ground.
It was another day of fighting as forces loyal to the ousted Libyan leader fired mortar rounds and rockets at former rebels trying to advance on the coastal stronghold of Sirte.
Anti-Gadhafi fighters from the town of Misrata hold the southern entrance to Sirte but have been unable to punch through Gadhafi defenses. Witnesses say pro-Gadhafi forces have dug into residential areas, and street fighting continues.
Witnesses say the Gadhafi loyalists have large stockpiles of weapons and ammunition and could hold out for a long time. Anti-Gadhafi fighters reportedly control a small town east of Sirte as well as the city's main airport.
Bitter fighting also engulfed the Gadhafi stronghold of Bani Walid, in the desert south of Sirte. An advance by former rebels was pushed back Saturday and Gadhafi loyalists continue to hold the high ground inside the city, pounding their opponents with rockets and mortars.
Al Jazeera TV reported that NATO planes carried out airstrikes on pro-Gadhafi positions at Bani Walid overnight.
A commander of the anti-Gadhafi forces, Abdel Salam Qanuna, says his men have surrounded Bani Walid.
He says the revolutionary fighters control all entrances to the city and are making tactical retreats according to the situation.
Iran
The lawyer for two Americans jailed in Iran says their release has been delayed because a judge whose signature is needed is on leave.
Masoud Shafiei said he was unable to complete the paperwork Sunday on the $1 million bail deal for Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer because the second judge needed to sign the documents is on leave until Tuesday.
One judge signed the documents Saturday. Two judges' signatures are needed to post the bail.
Last month, Iran gave Bauer and Fattal eight-year sentences on charges of spying and illegally entering the country.
They were arrested on July 31, 2009, along with a third American, Sarah Shourd, who was freed on $500,000 bail last year and returned to the United States.
The trio has always proclaimed their innocence and said they were hiking in the mountains of northern Iraq while on vacation. They said that if they crossed the unmarked border into Iran, it was by mistake.
Iran's foreign minister has said the release of hikers would be a gesture of Islamic mercy. During a Saturday news conference, Ali Akbar Salehi also urged the U.S. to free Iranians held in U.S. prisons.
All content based on VOA News reports.
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