Six In The Morning

Colombia’s Santos believes peace is possible

　President remains cautious about FARC but tells Al Jazeera peace deal is possible if there is “goodwill” on both sides.

Al Jazeera

Colombia’s president says he will not lower his guard against the country’s main rebel group, but he believes a peace deal is possible if there is “goodwill” on both sides.

“If there is goodwill from both parts, we will reach an agreement much sooner than people expect,” Juan Manuel Santos told Al Jazeera on Saturday, as peace talks between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), aimed at ending half a century of war between the two sides, is set to kick off next month.

“I think the fundamental issues that are on the table, that we agreed to discuss and agree on in order to finalise the conflict, are not that difficult,” the president said in his first extensive interview with an international network.

Santos said he remained sceptical about FARC’s motives, and that the Colombian military and police had been instructed to intensify their offensive against the rebels as they entered the “last track of this conflict” and could not afford to lower their guard.

Controversial plan to split up Afghanistan

A Tory MP proposes dividing the country into zones, some of which could involve the Taliban

BRIAN BRADY   , JONATHAN OWEN   SUNDAY 09 SEPTEMBER 2012

Afghanistan could be carved into eight separate “kingdoms” – with some of them potentially ruled by the Taliban – according to a controversial plan under discussion in London and Washington.

Code-named “Plan C”, the radical blueprint for the future of Afghanistan sets out reforms that would relegate President Hamid Karzai to a figurehead role.

Devised by the Conservative MP and Foreign Office aide Tobias Ellwood, it warns that the country faces a “bleak” future when it is left to fend for itself.

 Tensions simmer after axe murderer’s pardon

Hungary’s recent extradition of a convicted axe murderer to Azerbaijan has caused a scandal. At home, the killer was pardoned and celebrated. It’s rumored that Hungary and Azerbaijan brokered a deal for the extradition.

The last time a diplomatic gesture made by Hungary had geopolitical consequences was in June 1989, when Hungary’s then-foreign minister, Gyula Horn, and his Austrian counterpart Alois Mock cut through the border fence between the two countries. The gesture marked the beginning of the end of the Iron Curtain between East and West.

Potentially grave consequences

This time around, 23 years on, a diplomatic gesture made by Hungary could have far less positive – some even say disastrous – geopolitical implications.

DRC opposition figure seeks asylum from SA in Burundi

A top opposition figure in the DRC wanted by the government on treason charges is seeking asylum in the South African embassy in neighbouring Burundi.

09 SEP 2012 08:21 – AGENCIES AND STAFF REPORTER

The DRC government accuses Roger Lumbala, a Congolese MP and former rebel, of helping Rwanda support a rebellion in eastern DRC that has deepened political divisions in the capital Kinshasa, where the government and the opposition accuse each other of fanning the flames of the distant war.

The worsening political chaos threatens to undermine President Joseph Kabila’s ability to push through reforms in the country-a potential mining and oil giant-after his reelection in flawed polls last year.

 Following protests, Hong Kong backs down on Chinese patriotism classes

 Hong Kong officials will not require students to take pro-Beijing Chinese patriotism classes. Public anger over the classes and a fear of brainwashing led to mass protests this week.

By Kelvin Chan, Associated Press

Hong Kong officials backed down Saturday on plans to make students take Chinese patriotism classes following a week of protests in the former British colony sparked by fears of pro-Beijing “brainwashing.”

The semiautonomous Chinese city’s leader, Leung Chun-ying, said it would be up to schools to decide whether to hold the classes. They were to have become a mandatory subject in 2015 after a three-year voluntary period.

Public anger over the classes has been growing for months. Many feared they were a ploy by Beijing authorities to indoctrinate the city’s young into unquestioning support of China’s Communist Party, though Leung and other senior officials denied it.

The Africa Express rolls into London

The Africa Express, the train that carried 80 musicians from Africa, Europe and other parts of the world around the UK for a week, has reached its final destination, London’s King’s Cross, for its last concert.

 By Manuel Toledo

BBC Africa

For everyone involved, including the BBC Africa team who were on board for the whole journey, it has been an extraordinary adventure.

The tour was part of the London 2012 festival to celebrate the Olympic and Paralympic games. Some of the biggest stars from Africa, including Baaba Maal, Rokia Traore, Amadou Bagayoko and Tony Allen, took part.

They played alongside rock stars like Damon Albarn, John Paul Jones, Carl Barat and Nick Zinner, and a group of talented younger artists, including US rappers M1 (Dead Prez) and Kano, M.anifest from Ghana, and South Africans Thandiswa and Spoek Mathembo.