Israeli minister meets Palestinian PM for peace talks
Jerusalem: Israel's Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon met with Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah in the Palestine's West Bank city on Monday, and called on to renew the long-stalled peace talks.
The rare meeting was attended also by the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Major General Yoav Mordechai, and Deputy Finance Minister Itzik Cohen, Xinhua reported.
The meeting was focused on security and financial issues, including the activity of Palestinian banks, building new industrial zones in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and creating new jobs in the unemployment-stricken area.
Kahlon urged the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table with the United States as a mediator.
"The Americans are the only honest broker in the region," he said, adding that the talks should be restarted through the involvement of US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Jason Greenblatt.
The Palestinians denounced the White House as a biased broker following Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on December 6.
The meeting marked a rare talk between Israeli and Palestinian officials, after the last round of peace talks reached an impasse in 2014.
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SC directs Centre to set up special POCSO courts on priority basis
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Centre to set up on "top priority basis" dedicated POCSO courts to exclusively deal with cases of sexual offences against children.
A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and P B Varale said due to the inadequacy of the number of exclusive courts for the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act cases, the timelines mandated under the law for completion of trials weren't adhered to.
"It is therefore expected that the union of India and the state governments shall take appropriate steps to sensitise the officials associated with the investigation of POCSO cases, and also to create dedicated courts to try POCSO cases on top priority basis," the bench said.
The top court further directed filing of chargesheets within the mandatory period stipulated in law besides completing trials within the prescribed time frame.
The apex court noted while majority states, with the funding from the Centre, complied with the directions for setting up exclusive courts for POCSO cases, in Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Maharashtra, and a few other states, more POCSO courts were required given the pendency of such cases.
The top court had previously directed senior advocate and amicus curiae V Giri and senior advocate Uttara Babbar to submit state-wise details on the status of POCSO courts.
The apex court was hearing a petition underlining the "alarming rise in the number of reported child rape incidents" in a suo motu case.
The top court asked states to set up two designated courts in districts where the number of pending cases of child abuse under the POCSO Act was more than 300.
It made it clear that its July 2019 direction to set up one court in each district with more than 100 FIRs under POCSO Act meant a designated court would only deal with such cases under the law.
