Around The World

SUDAN

Jet Hijacked in Darfur

A man waving a knife hijacked a jetliner carrying about 100 people, including Darfur officials, in Sudan's troubled Darfur region Tuesday, forcing it to land at Kufra, a desert oasis in neighboring Libya, officials said.

The Boeing 737 was commandeered after taking off from Nyala, capital of South Darfur, en route to Khartoum, the Sudanese capital. Libyan officials said they had been unable to contact the hijackers.

The politicians on board were members of the Darfur Transitional Authority, an interim government body responsible for implementing a peace accord between rebel factions and Sudan's government, a Nyala airport official said.

ISRAEL

Rice Issues Appeal

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on Israel on Tuesday not to undermine peace talks with the Palestinians after a report found it had nearly doubled Jewish settlement construction.

On her seventh visit to the region this year in a long-shot push for a peace deal by January, Rice said at a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah that the two sides were "somewhat closer" in their talks.

Israel's Peace Now group said construction had begun on more than 443 structures in the occupied West Bank since January, compared with 240 starts in the same period in 2007.

"The settlement activity is not conducive to creating an environment for negotiations," Rice said. "Yet negotiations go on."

Large Protests in Thailand

Thousands of anti-government demonstrators pushed into the Thai prime minister's office compound, and tens of thousands rallied outside, in the latest protest aimed at deposing Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. Opponents contend he is a proxy for former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and is living in self-imposed exile in England.

Canada to Map Arctic Resources

Canada plans to use state-of-the-art science and technology to map energy and mineral resources in its Arctic region in a bid to encourage development and assert its sovereignty in the far north, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said. Arctic sovereignty has moved to the forefront among northern countries as global warming melts Arctic ice and opens new shipping routes and access to untapped resources.

Cairo Hotel Lifts Alcohol Ban

Cairo's luxury Grand Hyatt hotel is serving alcohol again after a compromise was reached between the international chain and the hotel's Saudi owner, Sheik Abdel Aziz Ibrahim, who declared it a dry venue in April in line with Islamic practice. A company spokeswoman said that alcohol would be available through room service and in a single restaurant on the hotel's top floor overlooking the Nile River.

Karadzic: Fair Trial Impossible

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has called for charges of genocide and crimes against humanity brought against him to be dismissed because his "demonization in the media" has put a fair trial beyond reach. Karadzic is due to enter pleas to 11 charges Friday before the U.N. tribunal in The Hague.

Israel Detains Peace Activist

Police detained an Israeli peace activist who had sailed to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip to challenge Israel's blockade of the coastal enclave. They accused Jeff Halper, who also holds U.S. citizenship, of violating a ban on Israelis entering Gaza. Halper was among several dozen activists from 17 countries who sailed in two boats from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

Hurricane Gustav Hits Haiti

Hurricane Gustav barreled into Haiti with top sustained winds near 90 mph, toppling trees, dumping rain and causing the price of oil to shoot up $5 a barrel after the U.S. National Hurricane Center predicted the storm could enter the Gulf of Mexico as a major hurricane this weekend.

Nuns' Beauty Pageant Canceled

A priest in Rome backed off his idea to organize an online beauty pageant for nuns, saying he had been misunderstood by Catholics. The Rev. Antonio Rungi said he had hoped the beauty contest would give nuns more visibility in the church and fight the stereotype that they are all old and dour. The "Miss Sister 2008" contest was supposed to start in September on a blog run by Rungi.

From News Services