Peace Talks: Palestinians Visit Israeli Knesset

Palestinian officials have visited Israel's parliament for the first time as the two sides move towards further peace negotiations following talks in Washington.

The unprecedented meeting saw the Knesset raise the Palestinian flag during a meeting between MPs, officials and businessmen from both sides.

The head of the Palestinian delegation, Mohammed al Madani, a member of President Mahmoud Abass's Fatah party, said: "We talked about how to make the peace process succeed and about the Arab initiative and the dangers of the process collapsing."

Israeli Labour Party member Hilik Bar said: "This meeting is to support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Abbas, and the negotiators in Washington."

The highly significant move is likely to be interpreted as a clear sign that both sides are serious about continuing with meaningful peace talks  – three years after direct discussions stalled.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators shake hands in Washington

It comes after successful discussions in Washington where Israeli and Palestinian negotiators agreed to set a nine-month target for an agreement.

Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Wednesday that he was "hopeful" that peace talks with Palestinians would lead to a two-state solution and bring prosperity to the Middle East.

"As an Israeli I am now very hopeful because the peace process was renewed between the Palestinians and ourselves."

He said the talks had "a clear purpose" to have "a Jewish state by the name of Israel and an Arab state by the name of Palestine not fighting each other but living together in friendship and co-operation".

"There is no alternative to peace, there is no sense to go to war," he said.

Negotiators from both sides have agreed to meet again within two weeks to start substantive talks.

Negotiators with Barack Obama during the two-day talks

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who brokered the Washington discussions, said Israel and the Palestinians were committed to sustained and serious negotiations on the "core issues" that divide them.

Mr Kerry acknowledged doubts surrounding the new peace effort but said, "While I understand the scepticism, I don't share it. And I don't think we have time for it."

He said that Israel, which agreed on Sunday to release 104 Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture to enable talks, would take steps in the coming days to ease harsh living conditions in the West Bank and Gaza.

The broad outlines of any two-state agreement are well known.

The Palestinians want a state based on the borders that existed before the 1967 war in which Israel seized east Jerusalem and occupied the West Bank and Gaza.

Israel wants security assurances and a recognition that it is and will remain a Jewish state.

A construction site for Jewish settler homes in occupied Palestine

Late last year, the UN General Assembly recognised the State of Palestine within those 1967 borders.

On Tuesday the lead negotiators - Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat – welcomed the developments.

Mr Erekat said:  "It's time for the Palestinian people to have an independent sovereign state of their own. It's time for the Palestinians to live in peace, freedom and dignity within their own independent, sovereign state."

Ms Livni said to her counterpart: "We all spent some time in the negotiations room ... but we didn't complete our mission. And this is something that we need to do now, in these negotiations that we will launch today. And the opportunity has been created for us, for all of us, and we cannot afford to waste it."

"I believe that history is not made by cynics; it is made by realists who are not afraid to dream," Livni added. "Let us be these people."

Direct Middle East peace talks stalled in September 2010 after Israel approved plans for 1,300 Jewish settler homes to be built on the predominately Arab East Jerusalem.

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Zimbabwe Crunch Election 'Passes Smoothly'

By Emma Hurd, Sky News Correspondent

The African Union's top poll observer has said Zimbabwe's crunch presidential election appears, according to initial reports, to have passed off smoothly.

"The conduct of the election ... has been peaceful, orderly, free and fair," said former Nigerian leader Olusegun Obasanjo, who leads the 69-member observation team, as counting was set to begin.

Before the polls closed opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai claimed he was heading for a "resounding" victory against president Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe's presidential election.

Casting his vote in the capital, Harare, Mr Tsvangirai said he believed he had the support to oust his old rival.

"It's not if but when," he said.

Zimbabweans began queuing outside polling stations before dawn on Wednesday with African observers reporting no major problems in the process from the outset, despite allegations of vote rigging and fraud.

Mr Mugabe has repeatedly pledged that the election will be free and fair. 

Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai cast their votes

"There is no pressure being exerted on anyone," he told reporters as he voted.

The 89-year-old is seeking to extend his 33-year grip on power in the country, but has promised to "surrender" if the result goes against him.

But many have dismissed the president's words and Mr Tsvangirai himself has said he takes the promise "with a pinch of salt".

Suspicions of vote rigging were sparked by a Research and Advocacy Unit study, which said the electoral roll includes one million dead voters or people who have emigrated.

Voters appear keen to have their say though, with some queuing up wrapped in blankets fours hours before polling stations opened.

Several hundred people waited to vote in green tents in Mbare, the oldest township in Harare.

Queues formed as Zimbabweans waited for the polls to open

"I am happy to have cast my vote," said Ellen Zhakata, 66.

"I just want an end to the problems in our country.

"All my children are outside the country because of the economic troubles here. I am so lonely. How I wish they could be working here."

Zimbabwe's economic problems have seen millions leave the country to find work in recent years.

Hyperinflation reached 231,000,000% five years ago but a scarcity of US dollars - now the country's main currency - means the economy has stabilised and inflation is back in single digits.

Violence marred the last election in 2008, with Mr Tsvangirai pulling out of a second round run-off against Mr Mugabe after 200 of his supporters were killed.

The African Union and the the Southern African Development Community have both sent observers to monitor this year's elections.

However, there are still worries that violence and intimidation could be used.

"We are very worried that if the result does not go Robert Mugabe's way we could see a return to the violence that marred the 2008 election," said Tiseke Kasambala, Southern Africa Director for Human Rights Watch.

She told Sky News: "The heads of his security forces have made clear that they are not going to accept a victory by the opposition or by Morgan Tsvangirai."

The opposition leader has based his latest campaign on a plan to lure back foreign investors, create one million jobs in five years and improve public services.

Mr Mugabe has focused his promises on expanding the redistribution of wealth to poor black Zimbabweans, as well as making threats of violence against homosexuals.

Final results are expected in about five days.

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Israeli-Palestinian Talks Set Nine-Month Goal

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have set a nine-month deadline goal for reaching a so-far elusive peace deal.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden met with the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators

US Secretary of State John Kerry said the sides agreed to meet again within two weeks to continue negotiations on reaching a pact.

Speaking as the two sides wrapped up an initial round of talks on Tuesday, Mr Kerry said they were committed to "sustained, continuous and substantive negotiations on the core issues" that divided them.

Mr Kerry opposite Tzipi Livni and her Palestinian counterpart Saeb Erekat

He said the next round of negotiations would take place in either Israel or the Palestinian territories.

"The parties have agreed here today that all of the final status issues, all of the core issues and all other issues are all on the table for negotiation," Mr Kerry said.

"And they are on the table with one simple goal: a view to ending the conflict. Our objective will be to achieve a final status agreement over the course of the next nine months," he added.

Shuafat refugee camp is seen behind the Israeli barrier in the West Bank

Earlier Tuesday, President Barack Obama invited the negotiators to the White House to give a boost to his administration's third bid to relaunch stalled Middle East peace talks.

Mr Kerry said he was aware of the deep scepticism surrounding the new push for peace and acknowledged that the road ahead would be difficult.

Yet, he said he was hopeful an agreement could be reached.

Refugee camps are a key area of contention - this one is in the Gaza Strip

"While I understand the scepticism, I don't share it. And I don't think we have time for it," he said.

Mr Kerry said the negotiations, to be mediated on a day-to-day basis by his new Mideast peace envoy, Martin Indyk, would be cloaked in secrecy and that the parties had agreed that he would be the only person to comment on them.

Israel and the Palestinians remain deeply divided over so-called "final status issues" - such as the fate of Jerusalem, claimed by both as a capital, the right of return for Palestinian refugees, and the borders of a future Palestinian state complicated by dozens of Jewish settlements scattered across the occupied West Bank.

At the State Department ceremony, Mr Kerry was flanked Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat, who each spoke briefly about the need to resolve the long-standing conflict.

"It's time for the Palestinian people to have an independent sovereign state of their own," said Mr Erekat, who spoke first.

"It's time for the Palestinians to live in peace, freedom and dignity within their own independent, sovereign state."

Ms Livni allowed that she and Mr Erekat had been involved in failed negotiations before, notably the Annapolis Process that former President George W Bush initiated in 2008, but she said this time could be different.

"You know, Saeb," she said to Mr Erekat, "we all spent some time in the negotiations room ... but we didn't complete our mission.

"And this is something that we need to do now, in these negotiations that we will launch today. And the opportunity has been created for us, for all of us, and we cannot afford to waste it."

"I believe that history is not made by cynics; it is made by realists who are not afraid to dream," Ms Livni added. "Let us be these people."

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Spain Train Crash Hearing: 'Driver On Phone'

The driver of the train that crashed in Spain killing 79 people was on a phone talking to railway officials just before it derailed, investigators say.

The train was travelling at 119mph (190kph) in the moments before it came off the tracks outside of Santiago de Compostela last Wednesday, a preliminary hearing has been told.

The court, sitting in Spain's capital city Madrid, was told the conductor activated the brakes "seconds before the crash".

But investigators working with the Court of Justice in Galicia said this only managed to slow it to 95mph (153kph) at the point when it came off the rails on a bend.

The speed limit at the spot where the train derailed was set at 50mph (80kph).

The train derailed as it entered a bend in the track

Crash investigators have been opening the black boxes which record details about the train's speed and conversations between drivers and other controllers.

Under Spanish law, the contents of the black boxes were revealed within a court environment.

The train was carrying 218 passengers when it hurtled off the tracks last Wednesday evening. It slammed into a concrete wall, causing some carriages to flip over and catch fire.

So far, 79 people have died, and at least 130 were taken to hospital. Two Americans were among the dead, while four US citizens and one Briton were among the injured.

Train driver Francisco Jose Garzon is under investigation

Dozens of passengers are still being treated for injuries.

The driver Francisco Jose Garzon Amo has been identified as the person most likely to be responsible for multiple cases of negligent homicide but is still under investigation.

He was questioned and then released on Sunday and is under court supervision.

A statement released by the court said that the conductor was talking on the phone to an official of national rail company Renfe while apparently consulting a paper document at the time of the crash.

The crash killed 79 people and dozens of injured remain in hospital

"Minutes before the train came off the tracks he received a call on his work phone to get indications on the route he had to take to get to Ferrol," it said.

"From the content of the conversation and background noise it seems that the driver consulted a map or paper document."

Investigators from the Santiago de Compostela court, forensic police experts, the Ministry of Transport and Renfe examined the contents of the two black boxes.

The Spanish railway agency has already said the brakes should have been applied 2.5 miles (4km) before the train hit the curve.

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Milan Tornado: 12 Hurt After Twister Strikes

A tornado has ripped through a suburb of Milan, injuring 12 people and damaging buildings and vehicles.

Video shot by witnesses on their mobile phones captured the twister tearing through an industrial region in Grezzago, leaving a trail of devastation as it destroyed cars, overturned trucks and uprooted telegraph poles.

"We were inside there and a lorry crashed into the wall and came through it. Then all the windows broke and we couldn't understand what was happening," said Stefano Grimoldi who was caught up the carnage.

"Look there is no more roof, no more doors, there's nothing left," he added.

"It came from over there - the next little town along in Pozzo D'Ada," explained witness Luca Mariani. "Then it came through here, Grezzago, then it went towards Trezzo," added his friend Anthony Farchica.

"It lasted, I'm not sure, the time it took, ten minutes or a quarter of an hour," they added.

Firemen, civil protection and other rescue services rushed to the scene. Although no deaths have been reported there are reports of a dozen injuries.

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Driver's Body Recovered From Swiss Train Crash

A driver's body has been recovered following a train crash in Switzerland that left at least 35 passengers injured.

The Swiss accident investigation authority has launched an investigation

Five of the injured are in a serious condition following the head-on collision just outside a station in Vaud canton, western Switzerland.

Pictures of the scene showed the two trains still on the tracks with the cabs crumpled into each other and broken glass on the floor of the carriages.

The injured are taken away from the crash site

Ambulances, fire engines and a helicopter are on the scene of the crash at Granges-pres-Marnand, around 31 miles southwest of the capital, Bern.

The helicopter and ambulances rushed the five seriously injured to a hospital in the nearby town of Payerne and south to the city of Lausanne. Their injuries were not life-threatening however, police said.

The collision happened at Granges-pres-Marnand

Rescue teams deployed a heavy-lifting crane to remove the rest of the wreckage and clear the line.

As night fell on Monday they set up arc-lights to help operations continue.

The collision happened around 100m from a station at 7pm (local time) when one train bound for Lausanne left the station as another, travelling from Lausanne, arrived.

Rescue teams work into the night

Police said the northbound train was from the faster regional service, which in general stops at fewer destinations than the slower service that covers more local communities along the line.

Police experts, along with members of the Swiss accident investigation authority SESA, have launched an investigation into the likely cause of the crash, officials said.

Heavy lifting equipment was used to clear the tracks

A CFF spokeswoman said that the two trains should have crossed at the station, thanks to a track system that allows them to pass one another.

It was not clear whether the collision could have been sparked by a delay to one of the trains, or one of them setting off too soon.

Switzerland's rail system is considered among the safest in the world

Switzerland's rail system is considered among the safest in the world, but three years ago the Glacier Express tourist train derailed in the Alps, killing one person and injuring 42.

Seventy-nine people were killed in a train crash in Spain last Thursday, one of the worst in decades.

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Thirty-Seven Dead In Italy Tour Bus Plunge

At least 37 people have been killed after a coach plunged 100ft down a motorway embankment and split in half in Italy.

The tour bus, carrying many children, hit several cars before plunging down the slope near Naples.

Many of the dead were discovered lying outside of the bus, while others were found inside the mangled wreckage.

Rescuers with electric saws cut through the twisted metal to explore the inside of the bus, stopping occasionally in silence to listen for any cries for help.

It is not known if anyone in the cars has been injured

At least 11 people - including four children - were taken to hospital and two are in a critical condition.

The bodies were laid out on the roadside, covered in white sheets as emergency crews attended to the injured. A number of wooden coffins were also brought to the scene.

It is understood the driver of the coach is among the dead, a fire service spokesman said.

The coach had been warned of heavy traffic ahead near Avellino, outside Naples, along a stretch of the A116 motorway, before the crash, highway officials said.

Coffins are lined up at the scene of the crash

The officials said the bus driver, for reasons not yet determined, appeared to have lost control of his vehicle.

Witnesses described hearing a noise as if the vehicle had blown a tyre, shortly before the accident.

Reports said as many as 49 people had been aboard the bus when it ripped through a guardrail into a ravine near a wooded area.

Occupants of cars which were hit by the bus stood on the highway near their vehicles after the crash.

At least 11 people - including four children - were taken to hospital

One car's rear was completely crumpled, while another was smashed on its side. It was not immediately known if anyone in those cars had been injured.

The highway links western and eastern Italy across the south.

First reports said the passengers had spent the day in Puglia, an area near the Adriatic on the east coast famed for religious shrines.

But later it was reported that the bus had been bringing the passengers home after an outing to a thermal spa near the town of Benevento, not far from Avellino.

The coach crashed in a rural area near Naples

Most of the passengers were from the Campania area around Naples, the Italian news agency ANSA said.

The bus drove off the highway near the town of Monteforte Irpino in Irpinia, a largely agricultural area about 40 miles inland from Naples and 160 miles south of Rome.

A reporter for Naples daily Il Mattino said witnesses told him the bus had been going at a "normal" speed on the downhill stretch when it suddenly veered and started hitting cars.

He said some witnesses thought they heard a noise as if the bus had blown a tyre.

A local prosecutor arrived at the crash scene to begin an investigation into the cause of the crash.

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Egypt Under Pressure After Weekend Violence

Negotiations are continuing in Egypt today after defiant pro-Morsi supporters vowed to sacrifice their "blood and souls" for the ousted president.

Several thousand Morsi supporters marched towards Cairo's military intelliegence HQ last night despite army warnings to stay away.

They chanted "Our blood and souls we sacrifice for Morsi" as they made their way towards the military HQ from the site of a peaceful vigil outside a mosque in northern Cairo.

Eventually the group turned back, but the march raises fears over what will happen next in the stand-off between the army and members of the Brotherhood.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has flown into Egypt for talks as international pressure increases on the new regime over the weekend's violence, which claimed more than 80 lives.

The country's new rulers warned they would take "decisive and firm" action against protesters if they went beyond their right to peaceful demonstration.

Egypt's vice presidency said Ashton would meet with interim president Adly Mansour and Mohamed ElBaradei, who is vice president for international affairs. ElBaradei on Saturday night denounced the "excessive use of force" against protesters.

State news agency MENA said Ashton would also hold talks with members of the deposed president's Muslim Brotherhood and the Tamarod group that organised the huge protests that led up to his overthrow by the army.

"I deeply deplore the loss of life," said Ashton in a statement, adding that she would be pressing the need for all sides to be included in the return to democracy, "including the Muslim Brotherhood".

UN leader Ban Ki-moon warned Egypt's interim leadership on Sunday that every death made it harder to drag the country out of its crisis, a spokeswoman said.

Ban "expressed his profound concern about the direction in which the transition in Egypt is moving" and condemned the heightened violence, UN spokeswoman Morana Song said.

He called on the authorities to protect "all Egyptians, regardless of party affiliation", Song added.

But tensions remained high after Saturday's killings, the bloodiest incident since Morsi's overthrow on July 3.

Egypt's presidency reacted on Sunday to the bloodshed a day earlier.

"We are saddened by the spilling of blood on the 27th," Mansour adviser Moustafa Hegazy told reporters.

But he dubbed the protest area where the deaths occurred a "terror-originating spot" and said "we cannot decouple this from context of terrorism".

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Egypt: US Bloodshed Fears As Scores Killed

At least 120 people have been killed after security forces attacked a protest by supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo, according to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Doctors at a field hospital said another 1,000 people had been wounded in clashes on the road to Cairo's international airport, while the Muslim Brotherhood was claiming that a total of 4,500 had been wounded.

The latest violence in Egypt has prompted condemnation from the international community.

The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, said Washington had "deep concern" about the "bloodshed and violence" in the country and added that Egyptian authorities had "a moral and legal obligation to respect the right of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression."

Protesters set off flares in a mass protest in support of the army in Cairo

The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, condemned the violence and said: "In Egypt, democracy was massacred, national aspirations were massacred, and now the nation is being massacred."

Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement that he was "deeply concerned" by the violence.

He said: "I am deeply concerned by recent events in Egypt, and condemn the use of force against protesters which has led to the loss of lives."

Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad said: "They are not shooting to wound, they are shooting to kill," adding that demonstrators had been hit by gunshot in the head and chest.

He said the shooting started just before pre-dawn prayers at a round-the-clock sit-in staged by Morsi supporters at Rabaa al-Adawiya in east Cairo.

An Apache helicopter flies over Tahrir Square during the protests

Activists rushed blood-spattered casualties to the makeshift hospital, some carried on planks or blankets. Many had fatal head wounds.

However, the Egypt Health Ministry claimed that the number of deaths reached 65, the number of wounded 750.

Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei on Saturday strongly condemned the "excessive use of force" in Egypt after deadly clashes between supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and security forces.

"I strongly condemn the excessive use of force and the deaths, and I am working hard and in every direction to end the confrontation in a peaceful way, God protect Egypt and have mercy on the victims," he said on his Twitter account. 

However, amid claims that rooftop snipers had opened fire on the vigil, Egypt's interior minister blamed the Brotherhood for the violence.

Speaking at a news conference, Mohamed Ibrahim said the security forces would act "in a legal fashion" to disperse the protesters "as soon as possible".

Protesters stand on power lines near Cairo's presidential palace

He accused the Brotherhood of exaggerating the death toll for political ends and denied that police had opened fire.

The violence broke out as rival rallies were held across Egypt for and against the overthrow of Mr Morsi, who is under investigation for murder.

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians heeded a call by army chief General Abdel Fattah al Sisi to take to the streets, while the Muslim Brotherhood mounted counter-demonstrations in Cairo.

A spokeswoman for the pro-Morsi camp said eight Brotherhood supporters had died in a clash near the Cairo vigil alone, and another said rooftop snipers had opened fire.

At least 10 people have also been killed in Egypt's second city of Alexandria, where hundreds of people fought pitched battles, with birdshot fired and men on rooftops throwing stones at crowds below.

Lasers are pointed at an army helicopter near the palace

Several of those killed were stabbed, hospital officials said, and at least one was shot in the head.

The investigation into Mr Morsi over his 2011 escape from jail has signalled a clear escalation in the military's confrontation with the deposed leader and his Islamist movement.

MENA said Mr Morsi, who has been held at an undisclosed military facility since his overthrow, had been ordered detained for 15 days pending the inquiry.

Egypt's army-installed interior minister, Mohamed Ibrahim, said month-old Cairo vigils by Mr Morsi's supporters would be "brought to an end, soon and in a legal manner".

An army official said the military had given the party a Saturday deadline to end its resistance and join a military-set roadmap to fresh elections.

But the Brotherhood says it wants nothing to do with the army's transition plan and called its own crowds out for counter-demonstrations in a "day to remove the coup".

Mr Morsi has been in military detention at an undisclosed location since he was overthrown.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon has called on the military to free Mr Morsi and other Islamic Brotherhood leaders, said deputy UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey.

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

One Thousand Inmates Escape From Libya Prison

Inmates have staged a major jailbreak at a prison in the east Libyan city of Benghazi as the facility was also attacked from the outside.

Security official Mohammed Hejazi said the prisoners staged a riot inside Koyfiya prison as an attack took place outside the facility.

Gunmen fired into the air outside the prison as inmates began setting fires inside, suggesting the escape was pre-planned.

Special forces later arrested 18 of those who escaped, while other returned on their own, according to security officials.

It was unclear if the jailbreak was part of protests taking place at the offices of Islamist-allied parties in Libya's main cities.

Those who escaped either face or had been convicted of serious charges.

Protesters have massed across the country angry over the killing of an activist critical of the country's Muslim Brotherhood group.

Hundreds gathered in the capital Tripoli to denounce the shooting of Abdul Salam al Musmari, setting fire to tyres and demanding the dissolution of Islamist parties.

Al Musmari, who publicly criticised the Brotherhood, was killed by unknown attackers in a drive-by shooting in Benghazi.

Benghazi's security situation is among the most precarious in post-revolution Libya.

Last year, the US ambassador and three other Americans were killed in an attack there.

Libyan prime minister Ali Zeidan said he would reshuffle the cabinet and reorganise the government to cope with the "urgent" situation.

He added: "What is happening is an attempt to obstruct the state's progression."

The country's government is struggling to assert its authority over armed groups that helped topple Colonel Gaddafi in 2011 during the Arab Spring uprisings.

It comes after Iraq's prime minister Nouri al Maliki ordered the detention of several senior security officials in connection with a major jailbreak that saw hundreds of inmates escape from the notorious Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad.

A statement from his office said those detained included the chief of staff of the federal police's fourth division.

Al Qaeda's Iraq branch claimed responsibility for the attack and a simultaneous raid on Taji prison. Members of the terror organisation were among the prisoners thought to have escaped.

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More