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Abbas, Netanyahu vow to meet every two weeks for peace
09/02 | 22:31 GMT
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Israeli and Palestinian leaders launched their first direct negotiations in 20 months here Thursday, agreeing to meet every two weeks in a bid to settle core differences within a year.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Israeli and Palestinian leaders launched their first direct negotiations in 20 months here Thursday, agreeing to meet every two weeks in a bid to settle core differences within a year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas vowed to hold a second round of talks on September 14-15 in the Middle East, possibly in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
In opening some four hours of talks in Washington, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she understood the "suspicion and skepticism" leading up to the meetings.
"I know the decision to sit at this table was not easy," Clinton told Abbas and Netanyahu in a chandeliered room at the State Department, joined by their delegations. "Thank you for your courage and commitment."
After Wednesday's weighty symbolism and lofty rhetoric, culminating in a White House dinner with President Barack Obama, Netanyahu and Abbas finally got down to the business end of proceedings, presenting their opening demands.
"We expect you to be prepared to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people," Netanyahu told Abbas, as the two sat on either side of Clinton with their national flags behind them.
Such a move would be politically difficult for Abbas as it could undermine the right-of-return claims of Palestinian refugees who left or fled Israel when it was created in 1948.
In the wake of two Palestinian militant attacks on settlers in the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu renewed references he had made at the White House on Wednesday to protecting Israel's security.
"A real peace must take into account the genuine security needs of Israel," he said.
Abbas appeared conciliatory, saying: "We consider security as essential and vital both for us and for you, and we will not accept that anyone commits any act that would harm your security or ours."
Focus: Real target of Hamas attacks is Palestinian negotiators
The Palestinian leader said investigations into the shootings that killed four Israeli settlers on Tuesday were progressing.
But he also stuck to his demands on settlements.
"We call on the Israeli government to move forward with its commitment to end all settlement activity and completely lift the embargo over the Gaza Strip," Abbas said.
Israel tightly controls access and egress from the Gaza Strip, which is run by the militant Hamas group, a rival of Abbas's Palestinian Authority and a fierce opponent of the peace talks.
Before going behind closed doors to begin tackling the core issues that have bedeviled past peace attempts, the two leaders poignantly shook hands, and Abbas appeared to give Netanyahu a thumbs up.
Focus: Netanyahu vows peace, but does he mean it?
US Middle East envoy George Mitchell described a first 90-minute meeting between him Clinton, Abbas and Netanyahu as "productive" and said the parties agreed the core issues could be settled within a year.
Netanyahu and Abbas then held a one-on-one meeting with no note-takers or translators which officials said lasted 93 minutes.
The Palestinians said Abbas had reiterated face-to-face with Netanyahu his demand that settlement construction must cease for the talks to continue.
A final meeting with both leaders, Clinton and Mitchell lasted another 18 minutes.
Abbas and Netanyahu agreed to resume talks in two weeks and planned to meet every two weeks thereafter. Mitchell and Clinton announced their intention to be present at the future talks.
A Palestinian official said the talks on September 14-15 would take place in Sharm el-Sheikh, where negotiations have taken place in the past.
Mitchell said: "Our goal is to resolve all of the... core issues within one year. And the parties themselves have suggested and agreed that the logical way to proceed to tackle them is to try to reach a framework agreement first."
Such an agreement is less detailed than a "full-fledged treaty" but more detailed than a declaration of principles.
Abbas had previously refused to enter direct negotiations without a full halt to Israeli settlement activity, but yielded under pressure from Obama.
The Palestinian leader is still warning that a renewal of settlement activities after September 26, when a 10-month partial moratorium expires, would end the negotiations.
The last direct peace negotiations ended in December 2008 when Israeli forces invaded Gaza to halt Hamas rocket fire on Israel.
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Cameron backs Hague over gay rumours
09/02 | 14:13 GMT
LONDON (AFP) - Prime Minister David Cameron backed his foreign secretary William Hague on Thursday after an aide resigned over "malicious" rumours that they had an inappropriate relationship.
LONDON (AFP) - Prime Minister David Cameron backed his foreign secretary William Hague on Thursday after an aide resigned over "malicious" rumours that they had an inappropriate relationship.
Hague on Wednesday issued a deeply personal statement about his wife's miscarriages and their difficulties in having children as he denied having a homosexual affair with his advisor Christopher Myers, 25.
"We have always given William our 100 percent support," said a spokeswoman for Cameron.
"The prime minister totally understands why William made the statement he did and he backs him 100 percent."
At a London press conference with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Thursday attended by a scrum of photographers, Hague brushed off repeated questions about the issue.
"I made a very personal statement, which was not an easy thing to do. I am not going to expand on that," he said.
"My wife and I really felt we had had enough of the circulation of untrue allegations, particularly on the Internet, and at some point you have to speak out about it and put the record straight."
Hague, 49, said Wednesday that the speculation stemmed from the fact that he and Myers, who had worked for him for 18 months, had shared hotel rooms.
They were also relaxed pictures of them casually dressed taking a stroll.
Myers has quit his post, with Hague saying Thursday the advisor was "rather fed up of the political world, and who can blame him?".
Hague insisted the work of his department had not "missed a beat" despite the furore.
Hague's judgement has been brought into question on the issue, including over their sharing of rooms, his appointment of an extra advisor in a time of government cutbacks, and the statement on his private life.
Public relations guru Max Clifford said Hague had got it completely wrong, having "taken a small problem and turned it into a huge problem".
In his memoirs released Wednesday, former prime minister Tony Blair said he defined Hague as "better at jokes than judgement".
On the domestic stage, Blair was regularly given the runaround by him between 1997 and 2001 when Hague was the opposition leader.
"He was a truly outstanding debater, he had a good mind and a high-grade intellect," he wrote.
"In different circumstances and at a different time, he could have been -- and very possibly may still be -- a great leader and even prime minister.
"He was formidable."
Britain's new governing Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition has been dogged by personal scandals since taking office in May.
Last week, prisons minister Crispin Blunt announced he had "decided to come to terms with his homosexuality" and had separated from his wife.
Meanwhile number two finance minister David Laws quit in May after admitting failing to disclose that he claimed back rent he paid to his boyfriend because he wanted to keep his homosexuality secret.
UK News
Cameron backs Hague over gay ...Breakthrough test gives fast diagnosis of drug-resistant TB
09/02 | 19:16 GMT
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A groundbreaking new test can accurately diagnose drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) in as little as two hours, researchers wrote in a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A groundbreaking new test can accurately diagnose drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) in as little as two hours, researchers wrote in a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The test -- remarkable not only for its ease-of-use and accuracy, but its cost-effectiveness -- works on the molecular level, identifying genetic markers for the illness in the saliva of test subjects.
Researchers said the result is a far quicker diagnosis than when using traditional testing methods.
"Early, rapid and accurate detection of TB, including identification of drug-resistant strains, is critical to effectively treating the disease, reducing secondary resistance, stopping further transmission and saving lives," said Giorgio Roscigno, chief executive officer of the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), one of the funders of the research.
The milestone, he said, can "help save the millions of lives needlessly lost to TB every year."
The test not only detects the presence of TB, but also identifies whether it is the strain of the disease that is resistant to rifampin -- a frontline medication used to treat the illness.
Of 1,730 patients suspected to have drug resistant TB, the test was able to correctly identify 98 percent.
"The need for accurate and rapid detection of tuberculosis for the growing at-risk populations in the developing world has been well-documented," said John Bishop, Cepheid, the company which developed the molecular diagnostic exam.
Experts say a speedy diagnosis of TB, particularly the drug-resistant variant, is especially vital in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia because of the close connection between HIV and TB.
Existing tests to diagnose TB generally take weeks before results are available -- a critically important window of time for patients with compromised immune systems who need may need immediate treatment.
The study's authors said that undetected and untreated, 90 percent of these patients die within months of first contracting tuberculosis, underscoring the need for quick detection and treatment.
TB remains one of the major causes of disability and death worldwide, with an estimated 1.8 million deaths in 2008 and an increasing incidence of drug-resistant disease.
Health/Medicine
Breakthrough test gives fast diagnosis of drug-resistant ...Spain eye Euro 2012 treble as football qualifiers kick off
09/03 | 03:56 GMT
PARIS (AFP) - Conquerors of Europe and then the world, Spain will be seeking to complete an unprecedented treble when they embark upon their qualifying campaign for the 2012 European Championship in Poland and Ukraine.
PARIS (AFP) - Conquerors of Europe and then the world, Spain will be seeking to complete an unprecedented treble when they embark upon their qualifying campaign for the 2012 European Championship in Poland and Ukraine.
Their World Cup triumph in South Africa enabled Vicente del Bosque's side to emulate West Germany (1974) and France (2000) as the only national teams to have held both European and world titles at the same time.
The challenge now confronting La Roja is to carry that dominance into uncharted terrain by successfully defending the European crown they won in Austria and Switzerland in 2008.
Worryingly for Spain's adversaries, the average age of the World Cup-winning squad was a sprightly 25.9 and Villarreal midfielder Santi Cazorla was the only new face in the group named to face Liechtenstein in their first qualifying match on Friday.
"We cannot afford to under-estimate anyone. We are playing away from home and everyone wants to beat us," said del Bosque, whose side's other Group I opponents are the Czech Republic, Scotland and Lithuania.
"We must all work hard to defend our status, and be conscious that we represent a country that is now the world champion."
The irresistible quality of Spain's passing game in South Africa illuminated an occasionally turgid tournament, but one of the other teams to capture the popular imagination was Joachim Loew’s Germany.
Loew's young charges fell to Spain in the semi-finals, but not before thrilling fans around the world with their daring football, and Loew has demonstrated his faith in the project by extending his contract until 2012.
"I had to recharge for two or three days after the World Cup, but now a new phase begins," said Loew.
"We have a tough qualifying group for the championship in Poland and Ukraine, but the working conditions at the DFB (German Football Federation) are perfect, so we are looking forward to it.
"We have a lot of ideas on how to further develop this young team."
Germany face Turkey, Austria, Belgium, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan in Group A and begin their qualifying campaign in Brussels.
While Loew has plenty of reasons to feel optimistic, the playing resources at his disposal -- including new Real Madrid recruits Sami Khedira and Mesut Oezil -- will attract envious glances from England, France and Italy.
All three countries arrived in South Africa with hopes of making a major impact, only for those hopes to turn to dust in embarrassingly abrupt fashion.
France and Italy, finalists in 2006, failed to even make it beyond the group phase and England were routed 4-1 by Germany in the last 16.
The experience was most harrowing for France, whose players attracted universal scorn for their infamous training boycott in protest at the exclusion of Nicolas Anelka for an outburst at coach Raymond Domenech.
The deeply unpopular Domenech has since given way to Laurent Blanc, whose unenviable brief is not only to guide France to Euro 2012 but to do so with a panache that wins over the country’s legions of disillusioned football followers.
"There's only one way to erase South Africa. It's results, winning spirit and victories," said Blanc in August.
Italy are also rebuilding, after finishing bottom of their World Cup group behind Paraguay, Slovakia and New Zealand, and former Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli is the man charged with the responsibility of restoring the Azzurri to former glories.
Prandelli's first game in charge was a 1-0 friendly loss to Ivory Coast in London but he declared himself enthused by the endeavours of debutant Mario Balotelli and recalled playmaker Antonio Cassano.
"Cassano played pretty well and for Balotelli it was his first game with the senior team, but I wanted him to be part of this squad and a couple of times he showed glimpses of his class," said Prandelli.
Unlike Domenech and Prandelli's predecessor, Marcello Lippi, Fabio Capello held onto his job despite overseeing England’s heaviest ever World Cup finals defeat at the hands of Germany.
England eked out a 2-1 win at home to Hungary in their first post-World Cup game and Capello lauded his players for the way they performed in front of an indifferent public.
"It was a game we had to play with pressure," said the Italian.
"People spoke about the fans booing and there was big pressure but the new players played with confidence."
England host Bulgaria in their first qualifying match, while beaten World Cup finalists the Netherlands will look to take out their frustrations on perennial whipping boys San Marino.
Concerns over Ukraine's infrastructure initially prompted doubts about their ability to co-host the tournament, but the events of the World Cup meant that restoring reputations and establishing legacies were already destined to be the pre-eminent themes of Euro 2012.
