News in Brief

‘Boycott marathon’: The PLO has called for runners and sponsors to boycott the 2013 Jerusalem marathon, saying involvement implies acceptance of Israel’s illegal annexation of the city’s eastern sector.

In a statement, the Palestine Liberation Organisation appealed to “all participants and sponsors of the International Jerusalem Winner Marathon to withdraw their sponsorship and participation or else become complicit in covering up Israel’s grave human rights abuses in its occupation of the State of Palestine.”

The race which takes place on Friday, will see thousands of runners participating in either the full 42-kilometre marathon, the half marathon or a 10-km dash. (AFP) Canadian missing: Canada was investigating Tuesday after an Israeli newspaper reported that a UN staffer who went missing in the Golan Heights was Canadian, the foreign ministry said.

On Tuesday the Times of Israel said the missing person was a Canadian lawyer working for the UN Disengagement Force (UNDOF) patrolling the Israel-Syria ceasefire reached after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

Canada was searching for more information from all sources and was in contact with the United Nations, a foreign ministry spokesman told AFP. (AFP) ‘Destroy tunnels’: A Cairo court ruled on Tuesday the government must destroy all tunnels between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, removing a route for smuggled weapons but also a lifeline for Palestinians.

Egypt’s ruling Muslim Brotherhood has close ties with the Hamas Islamists that run Gaza, but many Egyptians fear the enclave is a security risk for Egypt. Leftist lawyers said they brought the case with activists to force the government’s hand. (RTRS)