RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called yesterday for presidential and parliamentary elections on January 24, in a move seen as pressuring Hamas into signing a unity deal.

The Islamist rulers of Gaza Strip immediately rejected the election call and suggested they could hold their own ballot in Gaza, creating two rival presidents, two parliaments and two prime ministers. “This is an illegal and unconstitutional step because Abu Mazen’s (Abbas’s) tenure is over and he has no right to issue any decree concerning this” election, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said.

Nearly 5,000 have died of swine flu

GENEVA: Nearly 5,000 people have died from swine flu infections since the A(H1N1) virus was uncovered in April, the World Health Organisation said yesterday.

The latest death toll of at least 4,999 marked an increase of about 265 over the 4,735 deaths reported to the WHO a week ago. Most of the fatal cases — 3,539 — have been recorded in North and South America, the UN health agency said in its latest update on the flu pandemic. However, A(H1N1) influenza was declining in tropical areas of the world, with the exception of Cuba and Colombia.

Pakistan attacks kill at least 24

ISLAMABAD: A mine killed 16 wedding guests in Pakistan’s tribal belt yesterday while a suicide bomber targeted an air force base, inflicting another reverse on the military in its war on the Taliban.

A car bomb exploded outside a restaurant in the northwestern city of Peshawar, wounding 15. The explosion ripped through the wedding party minibus in the Sorandara area of Mohmand, killing 16 people including two men, five women and nine children. Earlier, a bomber blew himself up during morning rush hour in the town of Kamra, near the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex. Eight people were killed. District police chief Fakhar Sultan said the attack killed six civilians and two Pakistan Air Force personnel.