The United States named William Burns, the designated assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, as a special assistant to assess the possibility of resuming Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. The appointment came amid reports that the United States is working on a new Middle East peace initiative incorporating some of the recommendations of a commission that looked into the past eight months of Israeli-Palestinian violence.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.