European diplomats concede that the fighting has shifted the ground before the Palestinian request for recognition as a "non-member state".
Hours before President Mahmoud Abbas's address to the United Nations general assembly and his formal request for recognition of a Palestinian state, the man, identified as Issam Badran, 35, was shot in the neck, according to witnesses including an Associated Press reporter.
Eduard Kokoity, the Ossetian president, said Monday that the two breakaway regions would submit a request for recognition to the Russian Parliament by the end of the month, the Interfax news agency reported.
The council is also expected to consider a draft recommendation on Friday on their request for recognition, but its 15 members are deadlocked over the request, and the United States has vowed to veto it if necessary.
In January, the provincial government's labour board recognised the union at a second Wal-Mart store in Quebec, at St-Hyacinthe, east of Montreal; the board is considering a request for recognition at a third store.
The Palestinians not only dismissed strong American objections about the move at the United Nations, they have now followed this up with a request for recognition at Unesco, which has received preliminary approval from the body's executive board.
Obama made a bold speech last week asking for Israel to return to 1967 boundaries — only to be snubbed by Benjamin Netanyahu, who got a standing ovation in Congress, and also by Mahmoud Abbas, disappointed that the U.S. president would not support his request for recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations in September.
While Israeli and American officials routinely describe relations between the countries as unshakeable and strong, and Israel regards France as a friendly country, the comments clearly underscored frustration that has swirled from the failure to restart peace talks and avoid a confrontation at the United Nations and its agencies over the Palestinians' request for recognition as a state.
