BREAKING NEWS

US says resumption of Mideast peace talks closer

The US State Department said on Monday that its Mideast peace envoy was getting closer to winning agreement by the Israelis and Palestinians to resume peace talks. Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters that scheduled talks Wednesday in London between peace envoy George Mitchell and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will not necessarily produce a breakthrough. But Kelly said the process of laying the groundwork for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks was moving closer to fruition. Pressed to explain what has moved the process forward, Kelly declined to offer any details.