Cairo, August 4
Palestinian groups, including envoys of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, held their first formal meeting in Cairo on Monday with Egyptian mediators hoping to secure a durable ceasefire with Israel after more than three weeks of fighting.

Talks focused on a joint list of demands agreed by the Palestinian factions on Sunday, including an appeal to lift the blockade on Gaza. It was not clear how far the talks would progress, however, after Israel declined to send its envoys.

Palestinian demands include a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the lifting of a blockade, the release of prisoners and the start of a reconstruction process, delegation members said on Sunday.

The talks began under the auspices of Egypt's powerful intelligence service and lasted about two hours. Reuters phone calls to Palestinian delegates after the meeting went unanswered.

An Egyptian diplomatic source said Egypt had asked the Palestinian delegation to minimise their public statements to allow the mediation the maximum chance of success.

"Egypt will now discuss the Palestinian demands with the United States and Israel," the source said.

Egyptian diplomatic sources said that while Cairo might contemplate easing the limited freedom of movement across its own border with Gaza, it was unlikely to accept Palestinian calls to allow a normal flow of trade.

Egypt insists that any discussion over the Rafah border crossing takes place bilaterally with the Palestinian Authority rather than as part of any overall deal between the Palestinians and Israel to ease the Israeli blockade, the sources said.

Egypt has positioned itself as a mediator in successive Gaza conflicts, although like Israel it opposes Hamas — a year after Cairo's elected Islamist president was toppled by the military - and has struggled to seal a deal to end the latest fighting.

Media speculation that U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns would fly to Egypt to participate in indirect truce talks had not been borne out by Monday. A US embassy official declined to say if or when Burns might arrive.

A US and UN-brokered ceasefire proposal broke down within two hours on Friday, with Israel and Hamas trading blame.

Qatar, a backer of Hamas, has stayed out of the Egypt truce talks. Doha has, however, continued parallel consultations with Turkey and US Secretary of State John Kerry aimed at finding an end to the crisis should Egypt fail, a Gulf source said.

In the absence of a mediated disengagement deal with Hamas, Israel has already begun to wind down its offensive. — Reuters

Dhaka, August 4
An overcrowded ferry with up to 250 passengers onboard today sank in the Padma river in central Bangladesh, officials said.

They said strong current in the turbulent river apparently upturned ferry which was carrying nearly double the number of passengers than its capacity this morning in Munshiganj area.

"Two bodies were retrieved so far while some 45 passengers were rescued alive by vessels and speedboats which were plying nearby rescued immediately after the accident," a police official told PTI from the scene by phone.

Munshiganj Police chief Tofazzal Hossain said some of the passengers could swim to safety but many were feared trapped or drowned.

The private Samoy and other TV channels said the navy and fire service divers joined the rescue campaign but the inclement weather made the situation difficult to search for more bodies or passengers as the river remained very rough.

The accident took place when the ferry was on its way to mawa terminal starting from Kewrakandi of southwestern Madaripur.

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority officials said a salvage vessel was directed to reach the site as soon as possible to retrieve the sunken boat Pinak-6.

The accident occurred nearly three months after a boat capsized in the same area killing 50 people. Ferry accidents are common in riverine Bangladesh criss- crossed by some 230 river especially in the southern and northeastern regions while faulty design of boats and ferries alongside poor safety standards are generally blamed for the disasters. — PTI

Liege (Belgium), August 4
Former enemies during World War I united for ceremonies surrounding the 100th anniversary of the start of the conflict, with Belgium, France, Germany and Britain standing together at an Allied memorial today to commemorate one of the great early battles.

In a spirit of reconciliation, Belgian King Philippe and Queen Mathilde welcomed German President Joachim Gauck under cloudy skies for the late-morning ceremony amid pomp and military honour. Germany invaded neutral Belgium on August 4, 1914, as part of a planned attack on France. By nightfall, Britain had joined the war.

The war wasn't expected to last long. Instead of weeks, the continent was plunged into unknown hardship and misery for more than four years. In Britain, there will be ceremonies in Glasgow, Scotland, and a candlelit vigil at London's Westminster Abbey.

Today's ceremony in Liege was significant since the battle for the forts around the city meant the first delay for Germany's enveloping move through Belgium, the so-called Schlieffen Plan strategy to defeat France in a matter of weeks.

Liege held much longer than expected and allowed the allied forces to gather strength and keep Germany at bay within dozens of kilometres of Paris.

By the end of autumn in 1914, both sides dug in, and from the early battles, the war quickly changed into trench warfare on the Western Front, with hundreds of thousands of casualties in a barren landscape where poison gas often wafted through the air. The US joined the allies against the German and Austro-Hungarian empires in 1917 and provided a decisive impetus to break the deadlock before the November 11, 1918 armistice. — AP