IN BRIEF (Page 12)

THAILAND

Abhisit offers new elections

Thailand's prime minister, facing calls for new elections, on Monday proposed a Nov 14 date for the polls if anti-government protesters accept his reconciliation plan and peace and stability is restored.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva made the offer in a live speech Monday night on all television channels - eight weeks into a tense standoff in the capital that has cost 28 lives.

He said that he would proceed with his reconciliation plan even if the so-called "red shirt" protesters occupying central Bangkok rejected it, but in that case he could not set a date for the election.

GERMANY

Cabinet OKs Greek aid bill

A German official says Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet has approved legislation to provide Greece with billions in aid as part of an EU bailout plan.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the formal announcement was to be made later Monday, told The Associated Press the Cabinet approved the plan but gave no further details. It now needs to pass both houses of Germany's parliament but the legislation is being fast-tracked to be done by Friday.

PAKISTAN

Afghan diplomat pleads for life

An Afghan diplomat kidnapped in Pakistan nearly two years ago has appeared in a video pleading with Kabul to save his life and accept conditions for his release.

Abdul Khaliq Farahi, 53, was snatched at gunpoint in September 2008 in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar. His driver was killed.

Farahi had been appointed Afghan consul general in Peshawar in 2002. In August 2008, he was promoted to ambassador to Pakistan but was kidnapped before taking up his new duties.

UNITED KINGDOM

Poll: Tories may win outright

Britain's opposition Conservative party is gaining ground in pivotal parliamentary seats and could secure a narrow but outright win in Thursday's general election, a poll published on Monday showed.

The final Reuters/Ipsos MORI marginals poll, which surveys voters living in the kind of constituencies held by the ruling Labour party that the Conservatives need to win for a majority, shows support for the parties in these seats is neck-and-neck.

That represents a 7 percent switch in support to the Conservatives from Labour compared to the 2005 election and could be just enough to put them into power in the 650-seat parliament.

Roger Mortimore of Ipsos MORI said that with a third of voters still prepared to change their minds, either a more comfortable Conservative win or the first inconclusive election since 1974 were possible.

ISRAEL

Anti-Zionist rabbi dead at age 86

Controversial Rabbi Moshe Hirsch, who once served as a cabinet minister under the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, died on Sunday at the age of 86 after a long illness, relatives said.

Hirsch, who was born in New York, was the son-in-law of Aaron Katzenelbogen, who founded the ultra-Orthodox and anti-Zionist group Neturei Karta (Guardians of the City), which Hirsch went on to lead from 1974.

In 1995, Arafat formed his first Palestinian government and appointed Hirsch his minister for Jewish affairs.

Hirsch long described the iconic Palestinian leader as a "friend and brother" and was a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause.

Reuters - Associated Press

(China Daily 05/04/2010 page12)