Olmert, Rice, Abbas to meet

Condoleezza Rice will oversee an Israeli-Palestinian peace summit Feb. 19. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced the date Tuesday, saying he hoped for “significant” progress with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. A spokesman for the U.S. secretary of state said Rice “firmly believes that there are the underpinnings in the region that exist to make some progress, to exploit an opening and try to bring the sides closer together.” No venue for the talks was announced, but Israeli political sources said they would probably take place in Jerusalem.