WASHINGTON // Barack Obama, the US president, was due to meet Jordan's King Abdullah II at the White House yesterday for talks expected to focus on stalled international efforts to push forward a Palestinian-Israeli peace process.
Jordan hosted Palestinian and Israeli negotiators in Amman this month and although the talks have yielded little progress so far, they mark the first time the sides have faced each other since 2010.
The talks also suggest Amman is seeking to fill a regional mediation role vacated by Cairo after the removal of Hosni Mubarak. Jordan is the only other Arab country that has a peace treaty with Israel.
In an interview in yesterday's Washington Post, King Abdullah said he believed Palestinians and Israelis remained committed to pushing ahead but faced major hurdles.
"I am cautious about saying that I'm cautiously optimistic," he said, adding the Amman talks amounted to "baby steps", but progress nonetheless.
"I do believe they want a way out, a way to get to [direct] negotiations. We all know the positions in which they have entrenched themselves. However, the intent, I believe, is there - from both sides. It is little baby steps, right at the beginning."
Three rounds of talks between the Palestinian and Israeli negotiators have so far been held in Amman and another meeting is scheduled for next Wednesday.
King Abdullah also alluded to the events of the Arab Spring in the Post interview and suggested Israeli leaders have realised they are running out of time. "Waiting is the worst mistake the Israelis can make. It wasn't until the elections in Egypt that suddenly Israel awoke ... Now I think there has been a big shift in the way the Israelis look at the issue, and it is imperative for them ... [to] get the Israeli-Palestinian issue off the menu."
Jordan has also had its share of protests, and there are weekly, if small, demonstrations throughout the country against government corruption. King Abdullah has promised domestic reform, but the pace of change has so far been slow.
A US-based Jordanian opposition group, the Jordan National Movement, said it was organising a protest outside the White House against King Abdullah's "absolute monarchy system".
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The biog
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FA CUP FINAL
Chelsea 1
Hazard (22' pen)
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
INFO
What: DP World Tour Championship
When: November 21-24
Where: Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
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Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially