Watch Archbishop Desmond Tutu end public career at 79

Archbishop Desmond Tutu end public career at 79


A look back at Archbishop Desmond Tutu's career
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is stepping down from public life, as he celebrates his 79th birthday.

The man described as the "conscience" of South Africa was a prominent voice during the country's struggle against white minority rule.

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Archbishop Tutu in his own words
Profile: Archbishop Desmond Tutu
He has since been the voice of reconciliation in a number of regional conflicts.

But the Nobel Peace prize winner says he wants to spend more time with his family and watching cricket.

He also says he wants to make way for a new generation of leaders.

BBC Southern Africa correspondent Karen Allen says Archbishop Tutu is a man widely considered as a moral compass in South Africa, admired for his integrity and adored for his infectious laugh.

Resentment and digestion
As a young cleric back in the 1970s, he was a vocal critic of the apartheid regime.

In the mid-1980s, when South Africa was still under white minority rule, he campaigned in the townships - on one occasion famously wading into the frontline to call for calm when a mob tried to lynch a suspected undercover policeman.

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The story so far: Tutu timeline

Born 1931
1970s: Became prominent as apartheid critic
1984: Awarded Nobel Peace Prize
1986: First black Archbishop of Cape Town
1995: Appointed head of Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Strong critic of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, Israel's policy against Palestinians and US-led war in Iraq
What is Archbishop Tutu's legacy?
He became the first black archbishop of Cape Town in 1986.
Coppied by http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11489794

Watches Afghan leaders, Taliban reportedly in high-level talks to end war

Afghan leaders, Taliban reportedly in high-level talks to end war


WASHINGTON — Taliban representatives and the government of President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan have begun secret, high-level talks over a negotiated end to the war, according to Afghan and Arab sources.


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The talks follow inconclusive meetings, hosted by Saudi Arabia, that ended more than a year ago. While emphasizing the preliminary nature of the current discussions, the sources said that for the first time they believe that Taliban representatives are fully authorized to speak for the Quetta Shura, the Afghan Taliban organization based in Pakistan, and its leader, Mohammad Omar.

“They are very, very serious about finding a way out,’’ one source close to the talks said of the Taliban.

Although Omar’s representatives have long publicly insisted that negotiations were impossible until all foreign troops withdraw, a position seemingly buoyed by the Taliban’s resilience on the battlefield, sources said the Quetta Shura has begun to talk about a comprehensive agreement that would include participation of some Taliban figures in the government and the withdrawal of US and NATO troops on an agreed timeline.

The leadership knows “that they are going to be sidelined,’’ the source said. “They know that more radical elements are being promoted within their rank and file outside their control. . . . All these things are making them absolutely sure that, regardless of [their success in] the war, they are not in a winning position.’’

A half-dozen sources directly involved in or on the margins of the talks agreed to discuss them on the condition of anonymity. All emphasized the preliminary nature of the talks.

The United States’ European partners in Afghanistan, with different histories and under far stronger domestic pressure to withdraw their troops, have always been more amenable to a negotiated settlement.

“What it really boils down to is the Americans both supporting and in some cases maybe even participating in talking with the enemy,’’ a European official said.

“If you strip everything away, that’s the deal here. For so long, politically, it’s been a deal breaker in the United States, and with some people it still is.’
Coppied by http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2010/10/06/afghan_leaders_taliban_reportedly_in_high_level_talks_to_end_war/

Australian vote set to end in hung parliament

Watch Australian vote set to end in hung parliament

Australia appears to be heading for its first hung parliament for 70 years, following yesterday's election, with neither the ruling Labor Party nor the opposition Liberal-National Coalition sure of securing a majority.

A minority government, supported by up to four independent MPs and one Green, seems the most likely scenario. However, it could take several days – possibly a fortnight – for postal and early votes to be counted, determining the outcome in the most closely fought seats. What was clear last night was that voters had turned on Labor, punishing it for its mistakes in government and for dumping its own leader, Kevin Rudd, in favour of Julia Gillard, the country's first female Prime Minister. A national swing against the party of more than 5 per cent benefited not only the conservative Coalition but the Greens; many voters were infuriated by the government's ditching of an emissions trading scheme (ETS).

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The Greens won Melbourne, their first seat in the House of Representatives, and are set to hold the balance of power in the Senate, or upper house. In other history-making events, Australia's first indigenous MP, Ken Wyatt, was elected in Western Australia, while the country's youngest politician, 20-year-old Wyatt Roy, triumphed in Longman, north of Brisbane. The Greens' MP, Adam Bandt, has indicated that he will give his support to Labor. However, he will be courted in days to come by both main parties, as will the independents.

In a speech to the party faithful in Melbourne, Welsh-born Ms Gillard made a point of congratulating Mr Bandt and the three independents whose seats are assured (a fourth remained in the balance last night). She said Labor had "a good track record of working positively and productively with independents in the lower house and with Greens in the Senate".

Tony Abbott, of the Coalition, who has barely slept in recent days such was his determination to capture every last vote, warned his supporters against "premature triumphalism". But he told the crowd gathered in a Sydney hotel: "What's clear tonight is that the Labor Party has definitely lost its majority, and what that means is that the government has lost its legitimacy."

Coppied by http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australian-vote-set-to-end-in-hung-parliament-2058860.html