A、Israelis hope to hold direct peace negotiations with Syrians. B、Israel wants Syria to be peaceful to the neighbors otherwise t

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Wednesday said that Israel wants peace but not war with Syria, expressing the hope of having direct talks with Damascus.
    "I’m willing to negotiate directly with the Syrians, but without preconditions," he was quoted by local daily Yedioth Ahronoth as saying, adding that the government is acting on various diplomatic channels in order to deliver this message to Damascus.
    Olmert made the remarks during Wednesday’s Security Cabinet meeting focusing on the situation on the northern border, which was partially connected with Syria.
    The prime minister also stressed that Israel must avoid miscalculations that are liable to lead to a security deterioration, a statement released from the Olmert’s Media Adviser said.
    The summit of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations started Wednesday evening near the German Baltic resort of Heiligendamm, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosting an informal dinner for the leaders of the world’s major economic powers.
    The dinner was held in a 14th-century palace on the Hohen Luckow estate, some 25 km southeast of the summit venue in Heiligendamm.
    Most of the leaders arrived in Heiligendamm on Wednesday. US President George W. Bush flew into Heiligendamm on Tuesday. He is on a European tour.
    The three-day G8 summit is expected to focus on climate change, the development in Africa, the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization, the US plan of deploying a missile defense shield in Central Europe.
    A bombing attack killed four Nepalese and one Afghan staff working for a UN organization in Kandahar province of southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, while another one killed four Afghan pupils in the western Herat province, officials said.
    The explosion killed four Nepalese security guards and one Afghan driver in a UN vehicle in Kandahar city, the provincial capital, provincial police chief Asmatullah Alizai said. It was a remote-controlled bombing, Alizai said, adding the vehicle was totally damaged.
    Meanwhile, Aleem Siddique, spokesman for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said the vehicle belonged to the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), which focuses on helping clients implement their projects and programs.
    The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea have resumed ministerial meetings. It is the first high-level reconciliation talks in more than half a year, since the DPRK nuclear test in October.
    The talks are expected to pave the way for a resumption of aid to Pyongyang which made its commitment to a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.
    Headed by South Korean Unification Minister, Lee Jae-joung, the South Korean delegation arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday afternoon.
    Kwon Ho-ung, the DPRK’s chief delegate, greeted the South Korean envoy in the hotel lobby. The two delegation chiefs held a brief meeting before the high-level talks began.
    Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal on Tuesday called on the United States to change its policy toward the Palestinians and lift the aid embargo on them.
    "We call on the United States to change its policy and correct its bias in the region," Meshaal told a news conference in Moscow after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the Interfax news agency reported.
    "Should the US government insist on continuing the blockade on Palestine, it will engender even more hatred of the United States in the region and not only in Palestine, but also in other Arab and Islamic countries," he said.
    Meshaal said Lavrov assured him of Russia’s support for the formation of a national unity government based on the Mecca agreement.
6. What did Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert suggest?
7. The three-day G8 summit is expected to focus on several issues. Which of the following issues is NOT one of them?
8. How many Afghans were killed in the bombing attacks on Tuesday?
9. Why did the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea resume their ministerial meetings?
10. What did Hamas urge the US to do?