2010-03-23 BBC
BBC News, this is Mike Cooper.
The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has told Israel that it faces tough choices if it's to achieve peace with the Palestinians. Speaking after a public row with Israel over planned Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian territory, Mrs Clinton said the status quo was unsustainable, and negotiations on a two-state solution were the only way forward.
"It will take direct negotiations between the parties to work through all the issues and end the conflict. United States stands ready to play an active and sustained role in these talks and to support the parties as they work to resolve permanent status issues including security, borders, refugees and Jerusalem."
Meanwhile, an Israeli soldier has been shot dead by colleagues on the Gaza border. An army spokesman said one of the group of soldiers opened fire on another after mistaking them for Palestinians who'd illegally crossed the border into Israel.
President Hamid Karzai has held peace talks with a delegation from Afghanistan's second biggest militant group Hezb-e-Islami. Mr Karzai's spokesman said he had yet to respond to a tentative peace plan offered at the talks two days ago. Quentin Sommerville reports from Kabul.
The two sides have been in contact before, but this is the highest profile meeting yet significantly taking place in the capital city Kabul. There's a growing recognition both within Afghanistan and from its foreign partners that insurgents have to be a part of any peace settlement and that the ongoing military operation alone won't be enough to bring peace to the country. President Karzai is expected to hold a peace jirga, a gathering of tribal leaders sometime next month.
The Internet giant Google says it's making uncensored access to its search engine available to users in China despite opposition from the authorities. Google has been resisting official limitations on use of its site in China where the government accuses it of seeking to impose American values. Now Chinese users have been redirected to a Google site in Hong Kong with full search facilities. Maggie Shiels is in San Francisco.
Google says it had stopped censoring its search services on Google China as it had said it would back in January following the cyber attacks on the Gmail accounts of dozens of human rights activists connected with China. The search giant said attempts over the last year to further limit free speech on the web in China had led Google to conclude that it could no longer continue censoring results as required by Chinese law. In a blog post(n.) today, the company's chief legal officer David Drummond pointed out that the Chinese government had been crystal clear throughout discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement.
The former American presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush are in Haiti as part of efforts to raise funds for the earthquake-stricken nation. Mr Bush and Mr Clinton toured streets of the shattered capital Port-au-Prince and visited ten cities where tens of thousands of homeless survivors are living.
World News from the BBC
The French President Nicolas Sarkozy has reshuffled his cabinet following a humiliating defeat in regional elections. Mr Sarkozy sacked his Labour Minister Xavier Darcos and introduced some key right-wing figures into the government. The BBC's Paris correspondent says it's an attempt to appease the old conservative guard which has felt overlooked.
The British government says it may be necessary to delay publication of a long-awaited report into the killing of 14 demonstrators by British troops in Northern Ireland in 1972. The report which has been completed will now be vetted for security issues.The minister responsible for Northern Ireland Shaun Woodward acknowledged that the process might not be finished before the general election which is expected this May.
The international body that regulates trade in endangered species has rejected requests by Tanzania and Zambia to change the protected status of African elephants, so their ivory can be sold. The United Nations convention also refused Tanzania permission to sell a stockpile of 90 tons of ivory. From Doha, Adam Mynott reports.
In lengthy and occasionally spirited debates, moves by the two African countries to change the protected status of elephants were defeated. The two African countries wanted to use the proceeds of the sale to improve conservation, but opponents led by 23 other African countries and environmental groups argue that the legal sale of ivory serves mainly to encourage a market in elephant tasks, and this in turn leads to poaching which has been on the increase in Africa in the past five to ten years.
A United Nations report to mark World Water Day says dirty water is killing more people than all forms of violence including war. Two million tons of waste are discharged daily into rivers and seas, spreading disease and damaging eco-systems. The waste water is described as a cocktail of fertilizers, sewage and waste.
BBC News