Israel, its allies stop bill to censure country
VIENNA – Israel and its allies fended off an Arab-led attempt Friday to censure the Jewish state’s refusal to acknowledge that it possesses nuclear weapons and put them under international oversight.
The Jewish state is overwhelmingly considered to possess such arms but declines to confirm it. Its Arab neighbors say Israel’s nuclear weapons threaten peace in the Middle East and miss few international opportunities to criticize it on that account.
Ahead of the vote, diplomats said the motion would likely pass or fail by no more than one or two votes. But 54 nations voted against it Friday, while 43 backed the resolution and 32 abstained. The other 30 countries were absent during the vote.
One diplomat at the meeting said the outcome was the result of strong U.S.-led lobbying on behalf of Israel.
Mexican soldiers search for victims, helicopter
ACAPULCO, Mexico – Mexican soldiers dug through tons of mud and dirt Friday in their continuing search for landslide victims, as authorities looked for a federal police helicopter that went missing while carrying out relief operations on the flood-stricken Pacific coast.
The helicopter with three crew members on board was returning from the remote mountain village of La Pintada, where the mudslide occurred, when it went missing Thursday, said federal security spokesman Eduardo Sanchez.
Search efforts continued in the town north of Acapulco, where 68 people were reported missing following Monday’s slide. Two bodies have been recovered, but it was unclear if they were among those on the list of missing.
Associated Press
