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Worldnews

Palestinian Officials Vote To Create A Vice Presidency Under Mahmoud Abbas

The expectation is that whoever holds the role would be the frontrunner to succeed President Mahmoud Abbas, 89. The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) has announced the creation of a vice presidency under 89-year-old leader Mahmoud Abbas, who has not specified a successor. After a two-day meeting, the body’s central council voted on Thursday to create the role of vice chairman of the PLO Executive Committee. This position would also be referred to as the vice president of the State of Palestine, which the Palestinians hope will one day receive full international recognition. The expectation is that whoever holds that role would be the frontrunner to succeed Abbas, though it’s unclear when or exactly how it would be filled. Abbas is to choose his vice president from among the other 15 members of the PLO’s executive committee. The PLO is the internationally recognised representative of the Palestinian people and oversees the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited autonomy in some areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Abbas has led both entities for 20 years. Hamas, which won the last national elections in 2006, is not in the PLO. Hamas seized control of Gaza from PA security forces in 2007, and reconciliation attempts between the rivals have repeatedly failed. Polls in recent years have shown plummeting support for him and his Fatah party. Western and Arab donor countries have demanded reforms in the PA for it to play a role in post-war Gaza. The authority is deeply unpopular and faces longstanding allegations of corruption and poor governance. Appointing an heir apparent could be aimed at appeasing his critics. Hamas slammed Abbas on Thursday for comments he made a day earlier, where he described the group as “sons of dogs” and urged it to release Israeli captives and lay down arms. “Abbas repeatedly and suspiciously lays the blame for the crimes of the occupation and its ongoing aggression on our people,” Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said. Since Israel’s war on Gaza resumed on March 18, at least 1,928 people have been killed there, bringing the total death toll since the war erupted in October 2023 to at least 51,305, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Abbas has been seeking greater relevance and a role in post-war planning for the Gaza Strip after having been largely sidelined. Talks on a new ceasefire appear to have made little progress, and a Hamas delegation is in Cairo for renewed negotiations with key Egyptian and Qatari mediators. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Trump Says Petrol And Grocery Prices Are Down. Facts Say Otherwise

The US president incorrectly said that prices of petrol and eggs had dropped while home sales were good. US President Donald Trump said that housing, petrol, and grocery prices are declining. However, current data do not fully support any of these claims. In the Oval Office on Thursday, the president, when asked about home sales and if it was an economic indicator that concerns him, said there were very good numbers on housing. However, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), which the reporter who asked the question was alluding to, sales of existing homes are moving at their slowest pace since 2009, and were down 5.9 percent in March from a month earlier. “Residential housing mobility, currently at historical lows, signals the troublesome possibility of less economic mobility for society,”  NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a public statement. Trump mentioned that energy prices have dropped to $1.98 in some states. While he did not specify the type of energy, his comments closely mirrored remarks he made last week. At that time, he cited petrol prices specifically. According to AAA, which monitors national petrol prices, the lowest recorded average was $2.70 per gallon ($0.71 per litre) last week in Mississippi. This week, Mississippi reported the lowest average petrol price again, but this time at $2.68 ($0.70 per litre). Data from GasBuddy, which tracks prices at individual petrol stations, found the lowest individual station prices to be $2.33 per gallon (0.62 per litre) — still above the figure mentioned by the president. The national average petrol price currently stands at $3.17 per gallon ($0.84 per litre). While that reflects a five-cent increase from last month, it is a decrease from $3.60 ($0.95 per litre) at this time last year. The president correctly noted that petrol prices are trending downward, though not to the extent he suggested. According to the latest report from the Department of Labor, overall energy prices declined by 2.4 percent over the past month, largely due to falling petrol prices. This decline helped offset increases in natural gas and electricity costs. Oil prices have also generally declined since Trump took office, predominantly on the back of economic uncertainties caused by Trump’s tariff threats. In his comments, Trump also stated that grocery prices are decreasing. Recent data does not support this claim. According to the Department of Labor, food prices rose 0.4 percent from last month and are up 2.4 percent compared with a year ago. Price increases were observed in four out of six major grocery categories. Eggs, which the president said had dropped in price, actually saw a 5.9 percent increase last month. Year-over-year, egg prices are up more than 60 percent. The beef index rose by 1.2 percent, and dairy prices increased by 4 percent. However, prices for fruits and vegetables did decline slightly, dropping by 0.5 percent. Follow Al Jazeera English:...