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US presses Israel on settler row

Hillary Clinton (file image)

The US has said it is awaiting a "formal" response from Israel amid a row over its decision to build 1,600 new homes in occupied East Jerusalem.

Israel angered the US by announcing the move during a visit by Vice-President Joe Biden aimed at backing peace talks.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week asked Israel to show it was committed to Middle East peace efforts.

But PM Benjamin Netanyahu rejected any limits on Jewish building in Jerusalem and has yet to respond to US concerns.

Speaking to Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, Mr Netanyahu said he wanted peace negotiations, and hoped the Palestinians would not present "new preconditions" for talks.

"No government in the past 40 years has limited construction in neighbourhoods of Jerusalem," he said.

"Building these Jewish neighbourhoods in Jerusalem does not hurt the Arabs of East Jerusalem or come at their expense."

Palestinian leaders say indirect peace talks with Israel that US mediators had worked to set up are now "doubtful".

"It seems the US wants to use this as an opportunity to test how serious the Israelis are about more talks"

Mark Mardell
BBC North America editor

Read Mark’s thoughts in full

Mark Mardell

US state department spokesman Philip Crowley said the plans for US Middle East envoy George Mitchell, who was due to fly to the region this week, were in flux.

He did not go into detail about the "specific concerns" Mrs Clinton had raised in a long phone call to Mr Netanyahu on Friday.

But he stressed that Israel was "a strategic ally of the US and will continue to be so".

Earlier on Monday, Israel’s ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, was quoted by Israeli media as saying ties between the two countries were at their lowest point for 35 years, since 1975.

He reportedly told a conference call with Israeli consuls general in the US at the weekend that "the crisis was very serious and we are facing a very difficult period in relations".

US-Israeli relations were strained in 1975 by a demand from then US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger that Israel’s Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin partially withdraw its troops from the Sinai Peninsula, where they had been since the 1967 Six-Day War.

Talks ‘endangered’

The EU, as part of the Middle East Quartet, has already condemned Israel’s decision to build new homes in East Jerusalem.

"It is widely seen as a political impossibility for any Israeli prime minister publicly to announce a suspension of building in East Jerusalem"

BBC’s Heather Sharp in Jerusalem

Israel and US: A bruised friendship

Speaking to Arab League members in Cairo on Monday, EU foreign policy head Baroness Ashton said the move had "endangered and undermined the tentative agreement to begin proximity talks".

She added: "The EU position on settlements is clear. Settlements are illegal, constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two state-solution impossible."

On Sunday, a top aide to US President Barack Obama said Israel’s announcement of plans to build new homes in East Jerusalem during Mr Biden’s visit was "destructive" to peace efforts and an "insult" to the US.

Just hours before the announcement, Mr Biden had emphasised how close relations were, saying there was "no space" between Israel and the US.

Under the Israeli plans, the new homes will be built in Ramat Shlomo in East Jerusalem.

The Palestinians are threatening to boycott newly agreed, indirect talks unless the Ramat Shlomo project is cancelled.

Close to 500,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel’s 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The settlements are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

POINTS OF TENSION IN JERUSALEM

1 Gilo: 850 homes approved for publication and planning objections in Nov 2009
2 Pisgat Zeev: 600 homes approved for publication and planning objections in Jan 2010
3 Sheikh Jarrah: Several Palestinian families evicted in past 18 months to make way for Jewish settlers after court ruled in ownership dispute
4 Ramat Shlomo: 1,600 homes approved for publication and planning objections in Mar 2010
5 Silwan: Demolition orders on 88 Palestinian homes built without difficult-to-get permits – Israel planning controversial renewal project
6. West Bank barrier: Making Palestinian movement between West Bank and Jerusalem harder – Israel says it’s for security

Map of Jerusalem

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FBI to investigate Mexico deaths

Crashed car of a US consulate employee and her husband in Ciudad Juarez on 14 March 2010

American FBI agents have been sent to the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez to investigate the deaths of three US citizens.

Three people connected to the consulate were killed in drive-by shootings on Saturday in two separate incidents.

The US state department said the killings underscored the "severe and significant danger" Mexico represents to the United States.

Mexico has blamed the killings on a gang linked to a drugs cartel.

But investigators have said it is too early to tell if those killed were deliberately targeted.

"It could be a mistaken identity, it could be that they were targeted; we don’t know at this point," special agent Andrea Simmons, a spokesman for the FBI’s El Paso, Texas, office told Agence France-Presse.

Some eight FBI agents will be working alongside Mexican authorities in the investigation, she added.

Flashpoint city

On Saturday, Lesley Enrique – a US citizen working at the Juarez consulate – her American husband, Arthur Redelf, and Jorge Alberto Sarcido – the Mexican husband of another consular employee – were shot dead in two separate incidents.

Both couples had just left a social event in the city when they were killed.

Enriquez, 35, and her 34-year-old husband were killed in a hail of bullets as they drove their car towards the US side of the border. Their one-year-old baby was found unharmed in the back seat.

In the second attack, gunmen opened fire on the car belonging to Jorge Alberto Sarcido, killing him and wounding his two children.

The state department said the killings were a "tragedy".

"We all share the determination that, ultimately, through a variety of means, we will take back these streets one community at a time," state spokesman PJ Crowley told a news briefing.

His comments come a day ahead of a visit to the city by Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who will make his third tour this year of the country’s most violent city to discuss the government’s efforts to tackle organised crime.

Mexico is battling a drug war that has killed some 18,000 people since 2006.

Ciudad Juarez is a major flashpoint in the battle between Mexican drug gangs over trafficking routes to the US. More than 2,600 people were murdered there in drug-related violence last year alone.</p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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Tributes to music venue founder

John Sicolo

Tributes have been paid to the owner of one of Wales’ best known rock venues, who has died at the age of 66.

John Sicolo opened TJ’s in Newport nearly 40 years ago and was a favourite of the late DJ John Peel.

Oasis, Echo and The Bunnymen, Manic Street Preachers and Primal Scream were among bands who appeared there.

Music promoter Julian Blake paid tribute to Mr Sicolo, saying: "He was a legend who brought many bands to Newport."

In recent years the venue has struggled financially, and Mr Sicolo had been planning to auction memorabilia from the club to keep it open. A benefit concert was also in the pipeline.

Mr Blake added: "He put Newport on the global music map to the extent that Newport was said to be the new Seattle."

Mr Sicolo had been in hospital this week for a replacement knee operation.

‘Rest in peace’

One of the TJ’s staff told BBC Wales that Mr Sicolo had died at 0600 GMT on Sunday at the Royal Gwent hospital, Newport.

"The cause of death is not yet known," he said, adding, "Rest in pace, mate."

He said Mr Sicolo’s family would be releasing a statement on Monday.

Mr Sicolo was a former merchant navy seaman, where he served as a cook. He founded the club in 1971, first christening it El Sieco’s before renaming it TJ’s Disco.

Among Welsh bands who performed at the Clarence Place venue were Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci and Catatonia.

Joe Strummer, who was an art student called Woody in Newport before finding fame with The Clash, played at the club a number of times in the years before his death in 2005.

Another late rock star with a link to TJ’s is Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain, who is said to have watched his wife-to-be Courtney Love perform there with her band, Hole.

The late BBC DJ and presenter John Peel dubbed the venue "the legendary TJs" on his radio shows.

Tributes to Mr Sicolo have been made on social network sites, Twitter and Facebook by fans of TJ’s.

"RIP John Sicolo. You were a legend, I just hope TJ’s might live on," said Paul Lloyd, from Cwmbran, on Twitter.

"Sad to hear about the passing of John Sicolo. He was a true gentleman, and helped me in many ways. He will be greatly missed," wrote Ian Hewett, from Cardiff. </p

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Liverpool 4-1 Portsmouth

Alberto Aquilani

By John Sinnott

Liverpool thumped struggling Portsmouth to stay in touch with the teams chasing fourth place in the Premier League.

Three goals in six first-half minutes virtually ended the game as a contest, with Fernando Torres slotting home the opener after Jamie Ashdown’s mistake.

Ryan Babel toe-poked home the second, with Alberto Aquilani sweeping in the third for his first Liverpool goal.

Ashdown kept the score down after the break, before Torres netted again, with Nadir Belhadj tapping in for Pompey.

The win moved Liverpool into fifth on 51 points from 30 games, a point behind Tottenham, who have played a game less than Rafa Benitez’s side.

Manchester City are in sixth on 50 points having played two games less than Liverpool, with Aston Villa on 46 points from 27 games.

This was one of Liverpool’s more fluid performances in a desperately disappointing season, with Aquilani playing a pivotal role in only his fifth start of the league campaign.

The former Roma midfielder did not make his debut until the end of October because of injury and has struggled to establish himself in the first team with Benitez seemingly reluctant to trust his big-money signing.

But Aquilani looked to have recovered some of the swagger that persuaded Liverpool to pay Roma £20m to bring him to Anfield in the summer, linking up the midfield and attack with some slick movement and passing – and a well-taken goal.

606: DEBATE

"All in all, a good performance, albeit against a poor Pompey side"

Early in the second half Aquilani was at the fulcrum of two sweeping Liverpool moves that ended with Ashdown denying Gerrard and then tipping over Babel’s shot.

Bottom-of the-table Portsmouth have won just five games this season – one of those victories coming against Liverpool at Fratton Park – and despite making a positive start, Avram Grant’s side all but waved the white flag once Torres put the home side ahead.

Portsmouth keeper Ashdown was playing for only the fourth time of the season and he was seriously at fault for the first goal.

Gerrard chased down Ricardo Rocha’s pass to Ashdown and managed to block the Pompey keeper’s clearance with the ball ricocheting to Maxi Rodriguez.

The Argentine quickly moved the ball across goal to Torres, who had the simplest job in sidefooting home.

That goal came on 26 minutes and by the 32nd minute Liverpool were 3-0 up.

Torres bamboozled former Liverpool defender Steve Finnan before teeing up Babel, who steered the ball into the corner of the net.

The Spaniard was also involved in Liverpool’s third, combining with Gerrard to create space for Aquilani to sweep the ball past Ashdown.

Liverpool were rampant with Torres tormenting Finnan again before curling the ball against the post.

Chances were few and far between for Portsmouth, though Frederic Piquionne was a willing runner in attack, while Michael Brown drew a fine save from Pepe Reina early in the second half.

With Liverpool in total control Rafa Benitez withdrew Glen Johnson and Gerrard, who came off after a spat with Brown.

The Portsmouth midfielder was furious after the Liverpool midfielder’s appeared to hit him on the back of the head with his forearm as the two players were running at full pelt.

On 77 minutes Torres bagged his second, slamming the ball into the corner of net as Rocha and Finnan failed to close the Spaniard down.

In the game’s closing stages Piquionne cut the ball for Belhadj to score for Portsmouth.

Liverpool will hope to replicate Monday’s goal glut in Thursday’s Europa second leg tie with Lille as they seek to reach the competition’s quarter-finals, while they are likely to face a stiffer challenge than that offered by Pompey when they face Manchester United in their next Premier League game on Sunday.

</p

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World Cup dream ends for Beckham

David Beckham has arrived in Finland for surgery on the Achilles tendon injury which looks set to rule him out of this summer’s World Cup.

The 34-year-old midfielder was aiming to play in a fourth World Cup but was injured in AC Milan’s win over Chievo.

Beckham arrived by private jet at 1400 GMT and hobbled off on crutches.

Beckham’s spokesman Simon Oliveira told the BBC: "David is understandably upset should he miss the World Cup but he is quite a positive individual."

He added: "David is a quick healer and we just have to wait for the scan and the surgery, if that goes ahead on Monday."

Beckham, who is on loan at Milan from Los Angeles Galaxy, was unchallenged when he suffered the injury and limped off before being carried away on a stretcher.

He left his hotel in Milan on Monday morning with his father Ted and flew to Turku in south western Finland to undergo surgery at the clinic of orthopaedic surgeon Dr Sakari Orava.

Beckham had hoped to be part of England’s World Cup squad but that now seems unlikely – and there has even been speculation that Beckham’s career could be over.

However, Oliveira insisted: "This is not the end of his playing career – as has been suggested.

"Even if David does miss the World Cup, he is aiming to play [with LA Galaxy] towards the end of the Major League Soccer season."

Beckham told his website he was upset but wanted to thank everyone for their messages of support. He added he hoped "to make a swift and full recovery".

England coach Fabio Capello seems resigned to being without Beckham for the World Cup finals, which start 11 June.

"We have to wait for the results of the scan but it looks like he is out of the World Cup," he said in a statement. "I spoke with him after the game on Sunday night to offer my support, as did Franco Baldini.

"David is a great professional and has worked very hard to be ready for the World Cup, so missing it will be a big blow."

Beckham, who is in his second loan stint with Milan from LA Galaxy, will almost certainly not be fit for the tournament in South Africa.

In 2006, Beckham suffered an Achilles injury during England’s World Cup quarter-final defeat by Portugal but recovered in time to play for Real Madrid in their first game of the Spanish season eight weeks later.

However, this time the injury is more serious and Dr Orava gave a bleak outlook of Beckham’s hopes of returning in time for the World Cup, explaining that it would likely to be the middle of June before he can resume training and at least another month before he can return to action.

FOOTBALL BLOG

"When understandable sentiment and sympathy is set on one side, we are actually left with the brutal reality that England have actually lost a fringe squad player"

Phil McNulty

"To start kicking and playing football will take about three months," stated Dr Orava. "For maximal performances and maximum kicks and jumps, maybe it takes one month more, three to four months before one is able to do light playing.

"We will have to see whether the tendon is completely severed, partly severed, or something in between. His recovery will depend on what kind of an injury this is, but it will likely take several months before it is completely healed."

"Today we allow patients to do motion earlier than before. In this case we try to get motion back as soon as possible. The operation takes less than one hour.

"After the first month, there can gradually be more and more motion and muscle contractions and very gradually shifting from light training to harder training in the second month.

"After that, one is usually able to walk and maybe start running lightly after two months if everything goes fine. All this depends on the type of tear."

Consultant sports physician Dr Tom Crisp felt the injury means Beckham has no chance of playing in the finals in South Africa and he told BBC Radio 5 live: "It’s remotely possible he may be running in three months. The chances of him being fit to play for England are non-existent."

And AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani said the Englishman will be out for "probably five or six months".

He added: "I saw him and he was suffering. In the dressing room, I took him in my arms and told him that if he wanted, he will be with us next year."

AC Milan coach Leonardo commented: "Beckham’s injury makes us feel terrible. He understood immediately that he had torn his Achilles tendon.

"He is an extraordinary guy and today’s game proves it yet again. I cannot enjoy this evening considering this serious injury."

AC Milan team-mate Ignazio Abate revealed the England star was inconsolable.

"He’s not doing well. He was in tears in the dressing room, he wasn’t saying a lot. This has affected us all," confirmed Abate.

Former Manchester United star Beckham, England’s most capped outfield player with 115 appearances, was bidding to become the first England player to feature in four successive World Cup finals. He shares the record of three with Bobby Moore and Peter Shilton.

And with Tottenham’s Aaron Lennon still suffering from a groin problem, Capello may now turn to both Theo Walcott and Shaun Wright-Phillips to cover the right side of midfield, with James Milner, Joe Cole, Stewart Downing and Adam Johnson also in the reckoning.

Former England defender Martin Keown told BBC Radio 5 live: "Capello’s not stupid, he knew there was a role for Beckham within the squad and this is a massive blow.

"He’s going to be out for six months, he needs to now look at rescuing his career and what’s left of it.

"He’ll be extremely upset, without doubt. I think tonight is a very sad day for the Beckham family."

Beckham’s loan spells at AC Milan were a deliberate attempt to convince Capello of his worth in an England squad but he was an unused substitute in the recent friendly win over Egypt and was quoted in several Sunday papers as saying he feared for his place.

"Am I banking on going to the World Cup No, not at all," he is reported to have said.

"I am not guaranteed to go to South Africa. I have to work hard and hopefully win my place.

"There are a good few months left and plenty of games to play but hopefully I can carry on playing well and get in the squad."

Sunday’s injury is the latest in a string of heartbreaking World Cup moments for Beckham.

BECKHAM’S ENGLAND FACTFILE

Debut: v Moldova (1/9/1996) – won 3-0
Last game: v Belarus (14/10/2009) – won 3-0
Caps: 115
Goals: 17
Won: 68
Drew: 26
Lost: 21

His sending off against Argentina in the second round was widely blamed for costing England their chance of glory in France in 1998.

Four years later he was not fully fit after suffering a broken metatarsal in his foot in the build-up as England went out to 10-man Brazil in the quarter-finals in Japan and South Korea.

In 2006, Beckham limped off midway through the last-eight game against Portugal after sustaining a tear in his right Achilles tendon and a lesion in the ligaments of his left knee.

England went on to lose on penalties and, after the game, Beckham tearfully announced he was relinquishing the captaincy.</p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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Vietnam releases dissident priest

Nguyen Van Ly (file image from 2006)

One of Vietnam’s high-profile human rights activists has been released from prison, five years before the end of his sentence.

Nguyen Van Ly, 63, suffered two strokes in 2009 that left him partly paralysed, and Western governments had demanded repeatedly that he be freed.

His nephew told the BBC he was now back at home in the central city of Hue.

Father Ly was sentenced to eight years of prison in 2007 for disseminating anti-government propaganda.

His trial made news headlines as he tried to read out a poem criticising Vietnam’s communist authorities and was muzzled by police.

He has spent more than 15 years in prison since 1977. In 2009 a group of 37 US senators wrote to Vietnam’s President Nguyen Minh Triet, calling for his release.

The Roman Catholic Father Ly was a founding member of Bloc 8406, a pro-democracy movement launched in 2006.

It is unclear if his release is final or merely for medical treatment. US embassy officials said they had seen reports indicating Father Ly was released in order to seek medical treatment.

It comes just a few days after the freeing of another key activist in Bloc 84-06, the lawyer Le Thi Cong Nhan, and has been welcomed by democracy campaigners.

Vietnam has jailed 16 democracy activists in recent months . </p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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