us secretary of state hillary clinton on friday urged palestinians and israelis
to resume peace talks without preconditions backing palestinian aims for
state along the boundaries
however trying to revive obama administration diplomacy that stalled last year
clinton said the lines would be modified through land swaps between the
parties presumably to account for some israeli settlements that will remain
flanked by jordanian foreign minister nasser judeh clinton told reporters that
palestinians who have conditioned resumption of talks on total halt to
settlements construction could tackle the problem through negotiations
we are working with the israelis the palestinian authority and the arab
states to take the steps needed to relaunch the negotiations as soon as possible
and without preconditions the chief us diplomat said
the parties can reach solution that reconciles the palestinian goal of an
independent and viable state based on the lines with agreed swaps and the
israeli goal of jewish state with secure and recognized borders she said
she was referring to the boundaries at the end of the arab israeli war in
moving toward palestinian demands for state in the west bank gaza strip with
east jerusalem as its capital
the united states says the status of jerusalem all of which israel claims as
its capital must be determined through negotiations
in her opening remarks the chief us diplomat also said both washington and
amman were concerned about recent activities in jerusalem repeating
opposition to new jewish settlement building in annexed arab east jerusalem
though clinton did not say so explicitly nasser alluded to two year timeline
for negotiations that us envoy george mitchell whom he met here friday
mentioned in television interview
warning that time is not on our side he noted that open ended negotiations
in the past led to festering of frustrations that boiled over into violence
we agreed on the need to relaunch serious negotiations between palestinians
and israelis negotiations that are bound by timeline and clear plan judeh
said
the plan must have benchmarks and establish an independent sovereign and
contiguous palestinian state along the june lines in the west bank including
east jerusalem and gaza
the new state should live side by side with safe and secure state of israel
he said
clinton and mitchell were later to meet with egyptian foreign minister ahmed
abul gheit and intelligence chief omar suleiman egypt and jordan are the key
arab brokers as the only arab countries to have made peace with israel
mitchell will then leave late sunday for paris and brussels for consultations
with allies including meeting of the quartet of the united states the
european union the united nations and russia they added
the meeting of the middle east quartet which launched roadmap for peace in
calling for the creation of palestinian state living alongside secure
israel will take place in brussels
mitchell is due to return to the united states before heading to the middle east
by the end of the month
days after entering the white house in january last year president barack obama
signaled that arab israeli peace was top priority
but the effort stalled as arab nations accused the administration of reneging on
its demand that hawkish israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu government
completely freeze jewish settlement construction
on monday israel maariv newspaper said washington was pushing plan to
restart peace talks that foresees reaching final deal in two years and
agreeing on permanent borders in nine months
golf fisher wakes up to grab africa open lead
east london south africa jan afp
johannesburg golfer trevor fisher almost overslept before taking sole ownership
of the africa open lead with second round friday
the metre fisher stands on at the links cum parkland east london golf
club and confessed he did not sleep well in the eastern cape coastal city and
came close to being late for his tee off time
he is one stroke ahead of swede patrick sjoland who fired on the par
layout and two in front of compatriots thomas aiken and keith horne who
returned each
fisher and sjoland were among five first round leaders and the other three
slipped back as the chase hotted up for first prize in the one million euro
event co sanctioned by the south african and european tours
south african richard sterne is five shots behind fisher compatriot titch
moore six behind and dane mark haastrup stumbled to and is strokes
off the pace
crowd favourite darren clarke from northern ireland seeking road to dubai and
ryder cup points could manage only two under and lies on while
englishman nick dougherty had total and missed the cut
fisher gave display as hot as his dazzling red pants with two eagles and five
birdies on the metre course overlooking the indian ocean
he eagled the par five first by holing foot putt after hitting his five
iron second over the green and the other came at the th with two iron
approach setting up single putt
fisher four time winner on the south african sunshine circuit since turning
professional seven years ago is seeking his first european tour success
eu must be demanding with cuba spain
madrid jan afp
spanish prime minister jose luis rodriguez zapatero called friday on the
european union to be demanding with cuba even while pushing for dialogue with
the island communist regime
spain which assumed the rotating eu presidency for six months on january is
at the forefront of efforts to boost relations with cuba former spanish
colony
we must be demanding with cuba but always keep the door open to dialogue
zapatero said at press conference with european commission president jose
manuel barroso and the eu new president herman van rompuy
spanish media have reported that madrid wants to establish new agreement on
eu cuba ties in the first half of but has lowered its ambitions to avoid
objects from other eu nations
asked about the reports zapatero said that for the entire eu cuba is not
priority even if for spain it is very important
today we had long meeting and among the foreign policy topics which we
discussed we did not touch on cuba said zapatero referring to his talks with
van rompuy and barroso
van rompuy said he has had little time to think about cuba since he assumed
office on december
spain wants to see an end to the european union position on cuba adopted in
which calls for improvements in human rights and democracy on the island
as condition for normal relations with the nation european bloc
but this is opposed by other eu nations including the two previous holders of
the bloc presidency sweden and the czech republic as well cuban human
rights groups
spain policy on cuba shifted in after zapatero socialist came to
power the previous year his conservative predecessor jose maria aznar had
adopted policy of isolating the communist island
in spain and cuba renewed ties damaged by havana jailing of dissidents
in
us jobs numbers disappointing white house
washington jan afp
the white house on friday described news that the us economy lost jobs in
december as disappointing
today jobs report is obviously disappointing said spokesman robert gibbs
adding we are in very tough economic environment
since this recession officially began more than two years ago seven million
jobs have been lost
tq arb jkb
corrected gm puts saab into liquidation despite new bids
stockholm jan afp
general motors loss making unit saab was put into liquidation friday despite
last ditch bids for the iconic swedish brand by formula one boss bernie
ecclestone and dutch sportscar maker spyker among others
the us auto giant confirmed the swedish brand closure friday saying it had
selected consulting firm alixpartners to supervise the orderly wind down of
saab
the wind down process is expected to take several months and will ensure that
employees dealers and suppliers are adequately protected the company said
gm also said it had received several proposals for saab and is continuing to
evaluate these proposals this evaluation is not affected by the appointment of
alixpartners
the head of sweden influential if metall union stefan loefven blasted gm for
moving to close the company at the same time as it is evaluating bids for the
loss making brand
it is irresponsible of gm as an owner to go in two directions both pursuing
the sale of saab and the winding up loefven said
several groups including dutch sportscar maker spyker and one comprised of
formula one boss bernie ecclestone and luxembourg investment firm said they
presented gm with last ditch bids to rescue saab
swedish media also reported friday swedish group was interested in acquiring
saab and scaling down its operations to build to cars year
in the last year for which figures are available saab sold cars
worldwide
it is unintelligible and irresponsible to start the wind down now without
reviewing the serious bids that have been placed for saab loefven said
gm decision is not in line with the signals we have received from the company
about its sincere intentions of wanting to sell saab and seriously reviewing
incoming bids he added
gm europe spokesman stefan weinmann explained to afp on friday that his
company was going ahead with the closure of saab but at the same time
considering any new bids
essentially the two processes will continue in parallel we will look at
the proposals and analyse them and see whether we can find good solution for
everybody he said
gm actions regarding the saab sale which it put on the block year ago have
been repeatedly criticised by the swedish government and saab unions with
questions arising over whether the us giant really intended to sell the unit
we will see what we can do in order to if possible contribute to positive
sale of saab joeran haegglund swedish enterprise ministry state secretary
told swedish news agency tt on friday
he will be heading swedish delegation travelling to detroit on saturday to
hold talks early next week with officials from gm and ford which is in the
process of selling its swedish unit volvo to chinese carmaker geely
saab employs people in sweden and is one of four storied brands being shed
by gm as part of massive restructuring effort that began in and
accelerated last year when the largest us automaker went bankrupt
analysts have warned that some jobs could be lost with saab closure
the swedish brand which has been owned by gm for two decades has been on the
verge of extinction since gm said on december it would wind down saab citing
failed talks with spyker
military still controls zimbabwe diamond field rights group
johannesburg jan afp
zimbabwe military still appears to controls large swaths of major diamond
field where soldiers are accused of forcing civilians to mine the gems
rights group said friday
global witness british based group that monitors the exploitation of natural
resources welcomed zimbabwe decision to halt diamond auction thursday
saying the sale would have violated international rules meant to stem the trade
in blood diamonds
elly harrowell campaigner on conflict diamonds said that global witness did
not believe statements by zimbabwe mines minister obert mpofu who said that
soldiers and police had withdrawn from the fields in november
we would not take as credible as the statement made by minister mpofu she
told afp
our information shows that that is not true what we think is likely is that
the military has withdrawn from two small areas she said
the eastern marange diamond fields cover some hectares acres
but the gems were only discovered there in
given its past history it very likely that the military is still there
harrowell said it very likely that they re still forcing local people into
mining syndicates
global witness had pushed for ban on zimbabwe international sales over the
abuses at marange after kimberley investigation documented unacceptable and
horrific violence against civilians by authorities including forced labour
torture and beatings by soldiers against villagers
instead zimbabwe was given until june to comply with kimberley regulations
the government says two south african firms now run marange the companies had
tried to begin auctioning the diamonds on thursday until the government
suspended the sale
urgent us jobs numbers disappointing white house
washington jan afp
the white house on friday described news that the us economy lost jobs in
december as disappointing
tq arb jkb
tennis atp chennai open results nd update
chennai india jan afp
results from the fifth day of the dollar atp chennai open tennis
tournament on friday denotes seeding
quarter finals
stanislas wawrinka sui bt michael berrer ger
janko tipsarevic srb bt thiemo de bakker ned
dudi sela isr bt lukas lacko svk
cocaine smuggler killed by burst drugs packet
lisbon jan afp
romanian man smuggling capsules of cocaine inside his body on flight from
brazil to portugal died when one burst portuguese police said on friday
the year old swallowed the packages to take the drug through customs
controls police said and suffered cardiac arrest when one burst inside him as
he flew from belo horizonte around km miles north of rio de janeiro
to lisbon
an autopsy found the man who lived in spain had grams pounds of
cocaine inside his body
alert
us jobs numbers disappointing white house
dollar slips after us jobs report
london jan afp
the dollar slipped against major currencies after weaker than expected us jobs
report friday dented hopes for an improvement in the labour market and the wider
economy dealers said
they said there had been some speculation the figures would show return to job
creation after nearly two years of losses meaning the us federal reserve could
hike interest rates sooner than expected giving the dollar boost
in the event however the us economy lost jobs in december much worse
than the consensus estimate for sending the dollar sharply lower before
it recovered some lost ground
the december employment report will temper any rate tightening concerns for
the time being which in turn should weigh on the dollar in the near term said
patrick hare at briefing com
in late london deals the european single currency rose to dollars
having spiked above dollars on the jobs figures and compared with
in late new york trade on thursday
the dollar fell to yen from yen as the data more than offset the
impact of further comments on the desirability of weaker japanese currency by
the country new finance minister naoto kan
the us december payroll employment figures were weaker than the consensus
estimate said calyon analyst michael carey bond prices moved sharply higher
and the dollar weakened versus the euro
dealers said that as the markets settled down in the afternoon players were
left with little new to go on the key issue remains the strength of the us
recovery and the timing of any us interest rate rise
david jones of ig index in london noted that the negative aspect of the data
does highlight how unemployment still has the potential to hamper any ongoing
recovery
rob carnell at ing bank noted that there was at least news that jobs had been
created in november not lost as first reported
on the back of revisions we now have our first positive payrolls figure for
two years though it turns out to have been for november not for december
as we had thought he said
in late london friday trade the euro was changing hands at dollars
against dollars late on thursday at yen pounds
and swiss francs
the dollar stood at yen and swiss francs
the pound was at dollars
on the london bullion market the price of gold closed at dollars an
ounce unchanged from thursday
urgent gunmen wound four on togo bus at african championship
luanda jan afp
gunmen shot at bus carrying togo football squad to the african nations cup
in angola on friday wounding two players and two others and prompting call
for the tournament to be called off
tennis atp chennai open results st update
chennai india jan afp
results from the fifth day of the dollar atp chennai open tennis
tournament here on friday denotes seeding
quarter finals
stanislas wawrinka swi bt michael berrer ger
janko tipsarevic srb bt thiemo de bakker ned
afptv special advisory for african nations cup
paris jan afp
we plan to offer the following coverage of the african nations cup in the week
ahead as with all afptv forward coverage plans please check the daily
advisories for any changes
saturday january
african nations cup leaves nice football club depleted
nice france
european football clubs face tough three weeks as they have to release their
african players for the african nations cup about players will be
temporarily leaving french league one clubs for angola nice is the worst hit
with players heading to angola to play for their home team
voiced report
sunday january
egypt look for african title to ease world cup woes
cairo
egypt are one of the favourites for this year african nations cup but despite
winning the past two tournaments football fans are turning their back on the
national team after they failed to qualify for the world cup so will third
title in row help ease the agony
voiced report
cameroon indomitable lions in roaring form
paris
the indomitable lions of cameroon are in roaring form ahead of the african
nations cup with its players looking for fifth title andre bikey defender
for the team says they are all very motivated and very eager to prove their
fans right interviews with cameroon players
images and soundbites
monday january
nigeria aims for nations cup hat trick
lagos
even though nigeria have won the african nations cup twice they are regarded as
underachievers considering the huge pool of talent at their disposal angola
will be their th appearance at this tournament where they have lost in
the finals four times and finished third on five other occasions their first
match is against egypt on tuesday and fans in nigeria will be watching closely
for signs of what the fortnight holds in store
tuesday january
cameroons lions ready to spring
douala cameroon
cameroon meet gabon in their first test at the african nations cup the four
time champions are now coached by frenchman paul le guen and punters are
pegging them as potential repeat champions afptv visits with fans at home
voiced report
thursday january
tiny togo looks to get past group stage
manchester england
manchester city striker emmanule adebayor leads togo hawks and it is his
skills that will be critical in helping the tiny nation reach its goal of
pushing past the group stage for the first time and on to the quarter finals
interview with adebayor
images and soundbites
friday january
carthage eagles look to soar over gabon
tunis
after maiden match against zambia tunisia will be seeking victory from gabon
with goal of making it past the nations cup first round to fans at home it
may brunt the disappointment of not having made the cut for the world cup finals
later this year
voiced report
saturday january
cameroon looks to new generation of football talent
douala cameroon
cameroon which meets zambia in its second nations cup match on sunday is
grooming new set of young players to take the team to future glory afptv goes
to visit their training schools at home
voiced report
sunday january
algeria takes to field in angola eyes world cup
algiers
algeria snatched place in the world cup finals last year in high drama
rivallry with egypt and it will have this tournament in mind even while on the
field in angola after matches with malawi and mali the north africans meet
host team angola on monday and are counting on their home fans for support
voiced report
we have also recently moved the following nations cup related reports
monday january
angolans prepare for african nations cup
luanda
angola is racing against the clock to get everything ready for the african
nations cup after almost three decades of civil war angolans view the
tournament as symbol of peace but it is also huge challenge to modernise the
country dilapidated infrastructure in time
voiced report
wednesday january
angola minibus unavoidable for visiting football fans
luanda
angola is hosting the african nations cup for the first time in the event
year history the oil rich nation has built brand new stadiums for the
occasion but improving the transport infrastructure has proved more
troublesome task massive traffic jams and lack of public transport force city
dwellers to use private minibuses to get around
voiced report
thursday january
chelsea biggest challenge may just be around the corner
london
four of chelsea best players have left the club for the whole of january to
play in the african nations cup so how will the west londoners cope without the
likes of didier drogba
voiced report
friday january
cameroon has high ambitions heading into football cup
paris
cameroon made it to the finals in but coach paul le guen says the squad
has its sights set on crowning glory in this year african nations cup afptv
met up with the frenchman ahead of his departure for kenya where the cameroon
team was preparing for the competition
images and soundbites
the losers in luanda housing boom
luanda
african cup host luanda is booming with oil money and reconstruction projects
eight years after the end of angola civil war but across the city bulldozers
are razing shantytowns to make way for upmarket housing compounds leaving
thousands homeless
voiced report
two former government ministers arrested in cameroon
yaounde jan afp
cameroon police on friday arrested two former members of the government and
about of their ex colleagues during crackdown on corruption judicial
source told afp
the two were named as former budget minister henri engolou and the
former junior minister for secondary education catherine abena
said the source who asked not to be named
arrested for embezzlement the two former ministers and their aides were placed
in custody at police headquarters in yaounde the source said
the reported arrests followed inquiries that the police have already completed
in operation epervier sparrowhawk major crackdown on corruption in the
central african country ordered by president paul biya
on wednesday police arrested haman adama ex minister of primary education and
nine other people including the former director general of the cameroon
airports authority roger ntongo onguene
these people were on thursday night placed in preventive detention at the
central prison in yaounde another judicial source told afp without saying
whether they had been charged
operation sparrowhawk launched at the end of under pressure from
international donors has led to the arrests and stiff prison sentences for
several people including former ministers
however many local non governmental organisations ngos and diplomats consider
that the level of corruption remains very high in cameroon and that there is
little political will to stamp it out
we will go through to the end whatever some people say biya said in an
address to the nation at the end of december
afptv special advisory for african nations cup
paris jan afp
we plan to offer the following coverage of the african nations cup in the week
ahead as with all afptv forward coverage plans please check the daily
advisories for any changes
saturday january
african nations cup leaves nice football club depleted
nice france
european football clubs face tough three weeks as they have to release their
african players for the african nations cup about players will be
temporarily leaving french league one clubs for angola nice is the worst hit
with players heading to angola to play for their home team
voiced report
sunday january
egypt look for african title to ease world cup woes
cairo
egypt are one of the favourites for this year african nations cup but despite
winning the past two tournaments football fans are turning their back on the
national team after they failed to qualify for the world cup so will third
title in row help ease the agony
voiced report
cameroon indomitable lions in roaring form
paris
the indomitable lions of cameroon are in roaring form ahead of the african
nations cup with its players looking for fifth title andre bikey defender
for the team says they are all very motivated and very eager to prove their
fans right interviews with cameroon players
images and soundbites
monday january
nigeria aims for nations cup hat trick
lagos
even though nigeria have won the african nations cup twice they are regarded as
underachievers considering the huge pool of talent at their disposal angola
will be their th appearance at this tournament where they have lost in
the finals four times and finished third on five other occasions their first
match is against egypt on tuesday and fans in nigeria will be watching closely
for signs of what the fortnight holds in store
tuesday january
cameroons lions ready to spring
douala cameroon
cameroon meet gabon in their first test at the african nations cup the four
time champions are now coached by frenchman paul le guen and punters are
pegging them as potential repeat champions afptv visits with fans at home
voiced report
thursday january
tiny togo looks to get past group stage
manchester england
manchester city striker emmanule adebayor leads togo hawks and it is his
skills that will be critical in helping the tiny nation reach its goal of
pushing past the group stage for the first time and on to the quarter finals
interview with adebayor
images and soundbites
friday january
carthage eagles look to soar over gabon
tunis
after maiden match against zambia tunisia will be seeking victory from gabon
with goal of making it past the nations cup first round to fans at home it
may brunt the disappointment of not having made the cut for the world cup finals
later this year
voiced report
saturday january
cameroon looks to new generation of football talent
douala cameroon
cameroon which meets zambia in its second nations cup match on sunday is
grooming new set of young players to take the team to future glory afptv goes
to visit their training schools at home
voiced report
sunday january
algeria takes to field in angola eyes world cup
algiers
algeria snatched place in the world cup finals last year in high drama
rivallry with egypt and it will have this tournament in mind even while on the
field in angola after matches with malawi and mali the north africans meet
host team angola on monday and are counting on their home fans for support
voiced report
we have also recently moved the following nations cup related reports
monday january
