Abbas appoints new PM

The Palestinian president on Sunday picked a little-known academic as his new prime minister, according to the official government news agency, following the resignation of his chief rival.
Mahmoud Abbas appointed Rami Hamdallah to replace Salam Fayyad, a respected U.S.-educated economist. Fayyad frequently clashed with Abbas and was seen as being too independent.
Appointing Hamdallah is likely to shore up the president's power, because he is seen as being more pliant. The new prime minister was tasked with forming a new government of technocrats, not politicians.
Hamdallah is a member of the Fatah Party led by Abbas. He has no prior political or government experience.
Like Fayyad, Hamdallah is widely respected.
He is a British-educated English professor and has been dean of the Palestinian al-Najah University in the West Bank for the past 15 years. He has served as the secretary general of the Palestinian central elections commission since 2002. He has also held a series of prominent roles in university associations, according to his curriculum vitae, published on the al-Najah University website.
It was not clear how the move would affect the international standing of Abbas. Fayyad enjoyed wide support of the international community, particularly the United States, for moving to clean up the Palestinians' unwieldy bureaucracy and clamping down on corruption during his six years in power.
The move comes as the U.S. tries to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry congratulated Hamdallah in a statement Sunday night and said that his appointment comes at a challenging time but that it created an opportunity.