Israelis storm West Bank after bombing
Israeli tanks stormed into the West Bank and surrounded Yasser
Arafat’s office early Thursday, hours after a Palestinian
blew up a huge car bomb next to a bus and killed 17 Israeli
passengers.
Tanks and armored personnel carriers took positions outside the
Palestinian leader’s Ramallah office but did not enter,
witnesses and Palestinian officials said. Israeli military sources,
speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Israeli forces
had surrounded Arafat’s headquarters, and there were
exchanges of fire between soldiers and Palestinians. Arafat was
believed to be inside his office.
The suicide bombing near the northern city of Megido was carried
out by an attacker in an explosives-laden car moving in tandem with
the bus ““ the first such attack in 20 months of
bloodshed.
The Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility and said the
attack was timed to mark the 35th anniversary of the 1967 Mideast
War, when Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip and east
Jerusalem, claimed by the Palestinians.
The Palestinian Authority condemned the bombing in a statement
that for the first time underscored it had no advance knowledge of
the attack.
U.S. envoy aims to quell Kashmir crisis
An envoy dispatched by U.S. President Bush to help defuse the
latest crisis between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan began
his mission Thursday as the guns in disputed Kashmir fell
silent.
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who has a reputation
for blunt talk, immediately went into a meeting with Pakistani
foreign secretary Inam Ul Haque amid extremely tight security.
“˜”˜Hopefully we’re going to have a good
discussion,” said Armitage, who was to meet later with
foreign minister Abdul Sattar.
He arrived a day after India made a conciliatory gesture to
Pakistan, calling for joint monitoring of the Kashmir frontier
““ a proposal that Pakistan played down as old and unlikely to
work.
In phone calls to Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and
Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Bush appealed to
leaders of both nations Wednesday to “˜”˜choose the path
of diplomacy.”
Transfers to UCLA rise for fifth year
UCLA continued to receive transfer applications from quality
students with diverse backgrounds for its fall 2002 class,
resulting in an outstanding group of transfer juniors.
“UCLA remains extremely attractive to transfer students
because we offer excellent academic programs in various majors at
extremely reasonable fees,” said Vu T. Tran, director of
Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with Schools.
The number of transfer applicants has grown at a steady rate in
the past five years.
“UCLA has a beautiful campus, a world-class faculty, and
has worked diligently to provide access to outstanding achievers
from all walks of life,” Tran said. “Students also have
many choices for extracurricular activities such as research,
part-time employment and community services.”
The university, which was the most popular in California, has
admitted 3,746 transfer students out of the 12,000 who applied. The
average grade-point average of admitted transfer students is 3.56,
and they completed an average of 102 units at either a community
college or four-year institution.
Reports from Daily Bruin Staff and wire services.