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Israel wants immediate peace talks

JERUSALEM, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Israel is willing to engage in peace talks with the Palestinians immediately but with no preconditions, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Saturday night.

Speaking at a joint news conference with U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said the Palestinian demand to impose preconditions for negotiations to resume, does not help to advance peace negotiations.

"The Palestinian demand of preconditions is a change in policy never seen in 16 years," Netanyahu said in remarks broadcast live on Israel's Channel One television station. "The only way to reach an agreement is to start negotiating peace immediately."

Netanyahu referred to remarks made by Mahmoud Abbas earlier in the day, in which the Palestinian Authority president rejected the resumption of peace talks with Israel until a total West Bank settlement freeze is imposed.

"It is a fact the government under my leadership has agreed not to build new settlements and is prepared to adopt a policy of restraint on existing settlements that will allow for normal life to continue," the Israeli leader said.

Netanyahu said since he has taken office, hundreds of West Bank checkpoints have been dismantled and steps have been taken to boost Palestinian economy.

Netanyahu also repeated his willingness to accept a two-state solution -- a demilitarized Palestinian state side by side with the state of Israel.

Clinton, for her part, backed Netanyahu, saying his comments concerning preconditions were "historically accurate." The secretary of state said she believed when Netanyahu has the chance to present his government's proposal in full, Israel's stand will be viewed as unprecedented.

She described her meeting with Abbas in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, as "effective and constructive,"

Earlier in the evening, Clinton met with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. She concluded her whirlwind visit to Israel by meeting with Netanyahu and then departed for Morocco.

College band members hurt in Ga. crash

MCDONOUGH, Ga., Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Thirteen members of the Morehouse College marching band were hurt Saturday when their bus overturned on an interstate in Georgia, authorities said.

Capt. Jason Bolton with the Henry County Police Department said the 13 students suffered non-life-threatening injuries when their bus hydroplaned and overturned while traveling on I-75 toward Albany, Ga., for a football game, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The injured students were taken to various hospitals. The bus's 29 other occupants were also checked for injuries at an area hospital.

The identities and ages of those hurt were not reported.

The accident on I-75 South prompted the temporary closure of all lanes near Hudson Bridge Road, Bolton said.

After going out of control, the bus came to rest nearly 30 feet off the roadway, the Journal-Constitution said.

Afghans say six arrested for U.N. bombing

KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Afghanistan has arrested six men on charges of planning a bombing that killed five United Nations staffers, the national security chief said Saturday.

One of those in custody, Mullah Qari Aminullah, was a religious teacher at a Kabul mosque and concealed the three suicide bombers in his home, Sayed Ansari alleged. Aminullah was arrested Thursday in Medina, Saudi Arabia.

Ansari said the alleged bombers were from Pakistan.

The bombing at a guest house used by U.N. staff also wounded five people Wednesday. At a meeting Friday with U.N. employees in New York, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said two of the staffers who were killed were working on the Afghan elections and two were security personnel. The fifth had not been identified, he said.

Typhoon Mirinae kills 12 in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- The Philippines' fourth typhoon in weeks killed 12 Saturday before moving into the South China Sea toward Vietnam, authorities said.

Most of the victims were killed by trees and debris falling on their homes after Typhoon Mirinae made landfall east of Manila, The Philippine Star reported Saturday.

The typhoon soaked the island nation with as much as 5.8 inches of rain and destroyed unstable houses near the coast, authorities said.

"We saw many shanty-type houses that had been washed away and residents frantically try to get hold of their household material," videographer James Reynolds told CNN by phone from Manila.

Mirinae, known locally as "Santi," was downgraded to a tropical storm as it moved into the South China Sea. It was expected to hit Vietnam in about 48 hours.

The typhoon was the fourth in a month. Since late September, typhoons Ketsana, Parma and Lupit combined killed more than 850 people, with Ketsana delivering the Philippines heaviest rainfall in 40 years. Thousands of people are still living in evacuation centers, officials said.