Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called on Hamas on Thursday to endorse the creation of a Palestinian state on territory occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. If the radical Islamic movement refuses, he said, he will put the proposal to a referendum within two months. Abbas gave leaders of Hamas, the principal political rival of his Fatah movement, 10 days to accept a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel, something the group has rejected since its founding nearly two decades ago. Hamas envisions the creation of a Palestinian state across territory that now includes Israel.
Japan: Film cameras slip away
Japan’s top camera maker Canon Inc. will stop developing a new single-lens reflect camera as more people increasingly abandon film cameras for digital cameras, company officials said Thursday. Tokyo-based Canon’s move followed a similar move by its closet rival in Japan, Nikon Corp., which announced earlier this year it would stop making seven of its nine film cameras and concentrate on digital models. Japanese camera makers sold a combined total 64.77 million digital cameras last year globally, compared with 5.38 million film cameras.
Benin: Gas tanker blast kills 35
A tanker truck exploded in northern Benin, killing at least 35 people who were siphoning gasoline, officials said Thursday. The truck overturned near Benin’s northern border with Burkina Faso on Wednesday, then ignited in the evening when a group of local people converged to siphon off its cargo, a Burkina border transport official said. He said the tanker caught fire from lanterns the villagers were carrying. “There are between 35 and 40 dead,” he said. He said many were also injured, but did not give an exact number.
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