The U.S. government on Tuesday condemned Israel's plans to build 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem settlements.

The news of the construction of new housing was known during the second day of the visit of U.S. vice president, Joe Biden, is making the Middle East.

Biden issued a statement which said the initiative announced by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu "is against the constructive discussions" that is keeping to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

"The substance and timing of the announcement, particularly with the launch of proximity talks, is precisely the kind of step that undermines the confidence we need right now," he said.

"We must create an atmosphere that supports negotiations, not that simple," he said.

For its part, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) reacted angrily to news of the construction of new Jewish homes.

ANP spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeina, said "Israel's decision to destroy the proximity talks, announced on Monday by U.S. mediator George Mitchell.

"The decision to build in East Jerusalem means that U.S. efforts have failed even before the start of negotiations," said Rudeina, reported AFP.

Palestinians on Sunday agreed to pursue for a limited period of four months indirect discussions with Israel brokered by George Mitchell.

Occupied Territory

The status of Jerusalem, home to some 450,000 Jews and 230,000 Palestinians, is one of the crucial aspects of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Israel considers Jerusalem as its capital "eternal and indivisible" and the Palestinians claim the eastern sector of the Arab-majority city, as the capital of their future state.

The international community includes East Jerusalem, annexed by Israel in 1967 after the Six Day War, as an occupied territory, as housing is illegal.

Prior to that time the Israeli government's decision to allow the expansion of the settlement of Ramat Shlomo, Joe Biden had met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Biden said after the meeting that a "real opportunity" for peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

The Vice President welcomed the fact that the two parties have agreed to conduct proximity talks and said his country will support those "who take risks for peace".

He said the proximity talks expected to lead to direct talks, through which one can "achieve a two state solution."

In a joint conference with Netanyahu, Biden also said Washington is absolutely committed to Israel's security and ready to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Bad timing

As noted by the editor of the News Middle East Jeremy Bowen, Joe Biden's visit comes at a time of apprehension and pessimism about the possibilities that could provide further peace negotiations in the region.

"The fact that the indirect negotiations are presented as an achievement, is a sign of how bad things are," said Bowen.

The Palestinians refuse to hold direct peace talks with Israel until Tel Aviv to halt the building of settlements.

Nearly half a million Jews live in more than 100 settlements built on occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Despite the end of last year, Israel announced its intention to freeze for 10 months to build settlements in the West Bank on Monday, coinciding with the arrival of Biden to the region, Israeli authorities gave the green light to the building of 112 new homes in the West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit.

Joe Biden will visit Ramallah on Wednesday for talks with PNA President Mahmoud Abbas, and also travel to Jordan for talks with King Abdullah.

Biden is the highest American authority who is visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories since Barack Obama became president in January 2009.

Additional info: At News Minute by Minute.

U.S. condemned Israeli plans to expand settlements

Mattresses Chinese, French seismographs, water purifiers, Russians, Americans canned foods. On the runway of the Air Force base on the outskirts of Santiago, consignments of humanitarian aid to shape a sort of outdoor bazaar, with goods "made worldwide".

In the Pudahuel, east of the capital, the seat of Group 10 of the Armed Forces (FACH) functions as a repository and distribution of international aid that arrived in Chile to mitigate the devastating earthquake of 8.8 degrees on the Richter scale which occurred ten days ago.

They are staples for the 2 million homeless, according to the authorities, left behind the earthquake and ensuing tsunami.

But there are also medical technology and equipment for rescue and relief groups such as hospitals, electricity generators, satellite phones or mechanical bridges to restore contact with areas that have been isolated.

"From abroad have come here about 200 tons of cargo," he told NoticieroGeneral Carlos Bertens, commander of the Second Air Brigade which is headquartered in Pudahuel.

The military base, installed next to the Santiago International Airport, no rest. And what is handled here is only part of all assistance that comes from outside.

"Chile has received most of 1,135 tons of aid on essential goods from different countries, therefore once again reiterate our infinite gratitude", said Chilean Foreign Minister Mariano Fernandez.

Study priorities) (

The receipt of international aid began just after the government of President Michelle Bachelet evaluate the order of needs.

"(The aid) corresponded fully with the priorities we set and the list of requests we have made," the minister added Fernandez.

However, many criticized these proceedings as the arrival of foreign assistance took longer than necessary.

Now, the loads are shipped mostly to the areas most affected, particularly the southern Maule and Bío Bío.

Ten days after the natural disaster, the entry of cargo aircraft is ongoing. The purr of the engines at the track stuns Pudahuel military and volunteers, but nobody seems to care.

In recent days, a thousand staff working in the base-joined 250 other civilians, police, volunteers and Scouts-Armed Forces working in "unbind" shipments, separating the boxes are grouped on palettes of wood.

Then classify merchandise, which will be released according to priorities established by the Ministries of Health and Interior.

"We brought about 300 rolls of plastic emergency shelters, for example, that are specially designed to replace damaged walls or ceilings and can last up to one year, which is important now that winter comes," he noted to a spokesman for BBC World U.S. embassy in Chile. The boxes marked "U.S. Aid, from the American People" (U.S. Aid, the American people) are stacked on the campus military aircraft downloaded from the north country and ready to be forwarded to the South.

But also collaborating countries provide vital transportation services. This has established an "air bridge" between Pudahuel and other military bases in central and southern, covered by planes of different flag.

Two U.S. C-130 Hercules, for instance, came loaded with water and satellite phones, and they were: fly to the pair of planes fetching and carrying Chilean people and goods.

Regional solidarity ()

According Bertens, the 70 flights that landed in recent days came mostly from countries in the region.

"We would highlight the impressive Latin American collaboration, commitment, including developing countries that have a lower than Chile, and Bolivia, which has provided three planes with drinking water," said the chancellor.

Neighboring Peru was among the first to get assistance, while Colombia and Ecuador have two separate aircraft parked in Pudahuel to serve in the airlift.

From Argentina reached a field hospital, one of the 12 that are in operation, with a staff of 50 professionals, and ten thousand doses of vaccine against hepatitis A. Noticiero has learned, Argentina's Foreign Ministry has planned 8 flights, including newly arrived 3.

Also Brazil, Cuba, Venezuela, Uruguay and other Latin Americans added their quota.

"Each country sends things by their means, because we could not take care of the logistics. And come even from distant places like Russia, China and Qatar, some of the armed forces and others as commercial flights," he noted Bertens.

Two or three weeks, at least, will bustle in Pudahuel: this is the time that the military authorities estimate will receive all that the world has to send to assist earthquake victims in Chile.

Additional info: @ Noticias Minuto a Minuto.

Brazil announced in Geneva investigation against dictatorship

She made history by becoming the first woman to win the Oscar for best director in the 82 years they have been giving these awards.

"It's the most important moment of my life," said Kathryn Bigelow, whose film "The Hurt Locker" ( "In Hostile Land") was raised with six statues of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Full list of winners click

The reporter (J) said that the success of Bigelow means a radical change of fortune since his previous films had gone completely unnoticed by the academy.

But Bigelow decided to gamble in style with "The Hurt Locker", a film partially funded convinced herself that no major studio would allow him the creative freedom she needed, adds Savage.

The result was that the film took awards for best editing, original screenplay, sound editing and sound mixing defeating the giant blockbuster "Avatar," director James Cameron, Bigelow's former husband, who left with just three: photography, visual effects and art direction.

click on "the best party of the city

Some have described the contest between Bigelow and Cameron as a clash of the titans as the tapes of both competing for nine awards, but the same director had said he only wanted the best picture and give him his ex-wife the best director .

Bigelow made the film, a war drama set in Iraq, with a cast of unknowns "for the audience not imagine which of the three main characters would die based on the reputation" of the actors.

And instead of deciding to shoot in the Arizona desert, the filmmaker chose to Jordan, despite having to work at temperatures up to 46 degrees Celsius.

The result won over the critics for the "sharpness convincing action sequences" and "deep study of heroism", but many criticized the decision of the director not to assume ideological point of view regarding the war Iraq, as noted by Mark Savage.

According to the filmmaker, one of his intentions was to recreate the drama of the soldiers in a war, something that in their opinion, the U.S. media fails to reflect.

Kathryn Bigelow was born in 1951 in San Carlos, California. His father ran a paint factory and his mother was a librarian.

The director is described as a shy girl who poured all their anxieties in artistic creation, especially in the arts. "Painting is a bit elitist, while the film crosses cultures and classes," he said.

In adolescence Bigelow attended the Art Institute of San Francisco and received classes on film critic Susan Sontag at Columbia University in New York.

And, says Savage, the composition of the scenes in his movies, you can see their training as a painter.

His films, full of action, reflect the life of a person who likes action, who has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and scuba diving.

He has made films about vampires Near dark (When darkness falls, 1987), the Cold War K-19 The Widowmaker (K-19, 2002) and thrillers like Strange Days (Strange Days, 1995).

Before Bigelow only three women were nominated for an Oscar for Best Director: Lina Wertmuller for "Pasqualino Seven Beauties" in 1977 and Jane Campion for "The Piano" in 1993, and Sofia Coppola for "Lost in Translation" in 2003.

But despite its current position in the history of the Oscars, Bigelow did not yield to the feminist label, says Mark Savage.

"I love strong women," she said in an interview. "However, just as men inspire me."

China slows military spending surge and...

Santiago de Chile, Mar 6 (Prensa Latina) Chilean live out its worst week after suffering the biggest earthquake in its history, and time-past the initial emergency-will face the enormous challenge of recovery and reconstruction.

From the nearby port of Valparaiso to Conception, the second largest city, located 500 kilometers south of Santiago, the quake triggered massive landslides, panic, injuries and a still-undetermined number of dead and missing.

The government set up the date, in 452 fatal victims identified by the earthquake and subsequent tsunamis. Physical damage to the country are estimated at 30 billion dollars.

Approximately 50 percent of Chileans live in the devastated areas, declared state of emergency and disaster by President Michelle Bachelet, a measure authorizing military presence-security tasks, including curfew and distribution of assistance.

Towards the end of the week, improved land connectivity of this long and narrow country, increased aid to more isolated places, consisting of clean water, food, blankets, tents and other items to those who had lost not only family but also their homes , goods, ie, everything.

In many areas still lack electricity, water and fuel. The telephone-including mobile-phone interruptions suffered and suffered. In Chile, all these basic services are run by private companies.

All television reporters deployed into the country to show the devastating effects of the earthquake, its aftershocks and many of the tsunamis that swept through fishing villages.

Perhaps unintentionally, in rare scenes also revealed the degree of insecurity in many Chileans living inside the country before the disaster.

A few days after the earthquake, many countries responded to the call for assistance from the government and sent and installed field hospitals, generators, water purification, satellite phones and money, support, culminating this weekend with the presence of Secretary General UN, Ban Ki-moon, who liberated 10 million dollars to Chile.

This first week, Chileans sought to resolve their most pressing needs, but also wondered how the national recovery face the future government of Sebastián Piñera, who will take the next March 11.

Bachelet spoke in the palace of La Moneda Pinera, in a meeting prompted by the need to transfer relevant information about the earthquake.

After two hours of conversation, said that political differences are now moving a second, third or fourth level, the challenge of rebuilding the country and added that "guaranteed the continuity of government action in areas hardest hit.

"My government will meet its obligations until the last day, but also do everything in their power to facilitate the installation of the new authorities, because I think all of Chile believes that time is unity, solidarity and generosity, "he added.

Additional info: At Noticias Minuto a Minuto.

The extreme right gaining ground in the Netherlands

Geneva, Brazil announced today before the Human Rights Council (HRC) United Nations the establishment of a National Truth Commission to investigate the military dictatorship that ruled the South American giant from 1964 to 1985.

The Brazilian Minister for Human Rights, Paulo de Tarso Vannuchi, said that the initiative under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva aims to debug the violations committed during the black period in the life of the nation.

He explained that this is a presidential decree last December entered into the National Human Rights Program, but acknowledged the resistance of certain military officers who threatened to resign when they perform the search.

One of the goals of President Lula before expiry of his mandate and for my part I must say I am ready to resign my office if not achieved the purposes outlined, emphasized Vannuchi.

He welcomed the explicit support to the idea of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navy Pillay, but admitted the ongoing controversy in Brazil for the launch of investigations.

On the second day of the 13th session of the HRC panel also took ownership of high-level segment of the Forum on Education and Training as part of the fundamental aspirations of the people.

Moreover, at the Conference on Disarmament of the UN that also occurs at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to resolve the mess made of its nuclear program directly with the United States.

The North Korean diplomat Jon Yong Ryong rejected the proposal of South Korea to resume six-party talks.

In this regard stated that the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula should be resolved between the Democratic People's Republic (of Korea) and the U.S. in every aspect, "as it is a product of U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK."

"It's an illusion to expect that the DPRK dismantle its nuclear program without the United States remove its hostile policy toward the DPRK," he said.

Additional info:
Curfew continues in Chile by massive looting after quake
Bachelet confirmed 708 dead and announces state of emergency in two regions

In the central square from Curico there are traces of past, present and future. A past that is only a few days ago when all of Chile felt the worst earthquake in 50 years. A present of tents and alert citizens, many of them waiting patiently in line for someone to tell them what their new morning.

About 90% of the adobe buildings of this town quiet and low ceilings in the center of the country has gone forever: some have collapsed to 8.8 degrees on the Richter scale registered the quake on Saturday, and on the left standing-fronts shelled, misshapen mud brick in the light-weight imminent demolition orders.

"They are preparing to overthrow the decrees what is left, we are the land and carry about 1,000 homes, but we have the survey of rural areas. For now we know that we've lost the old", says the secretary of the mayor, Manuel Castillo.

Additional info:
Earthquake in Chile: just beginning to see the extent of destruction
Curfew continues in Chile by massive looting after quake

Thousands of troops are being moved from Chile to the areas most devastated by the earthquake last Saturday following the looting that have been seen in several villages.

President Michelle Bachelet Todal indicated that an additional 7,000 troops could be coming to towns such as Conception, where a supermarket in flames on Monday allegedly by the action of the dozens of people who entered the shop to plunder.

Tempers there are very heated about the lack of water and electricity, so the police were overwhelmed by the chaos and came to throw tear gas against the assailants.

That city, the second most populous in India, was the closest to the epicenter of the earthquake of 8.8 degrees on the Richter scale.

Additional Resources:
Bachelet confirmed 708 dead and announces state of emergency in two regions
Curfew continues in Chile by massive looting after quake

Two days after the earthquake of 8.8 on the Richter scale that hit Chile, the magnitude of the destruction is only beginning to learn.

At least 800 people died, 300 of them in the fishing village of Constitution, which was ravaged by a tsunami triggered by the quake.

To get an idea of the strength of the Chilean earthquake was enough to say that at least 500 times stronger than that struck Haiti for nearly six weeks.

Click Read: Stronger than Haiti but less deadly

The national government in Chile announced emergency half, including a curfew in several towns in the Bio Bio region, including the capital, Concepción, and Maule, following the looting of shops that occurred on Sunday.

The Interior Ministry urged to "act responsibly" and to avoid actions of disorder during the curfew, which applies from 2100 to 0600 local time.

News Minute by Minute

Additional Resources:

The quake, on Saturday morning, killed at least 300 people
Earthquake in Chile leaves at least 300 dead.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, reported Sunday that the death toll from the powerful earthquake that shook his country is 708 and announced the declaration of a state of emergency, including a curfew in the departments of Maule and Biobío. In the latter in morning raids occurred.

"708 dead, 541 Maule, 64 Biobío, 103 in other regions and a growing number of missing persons. Probablemnete going to keep growing," said Arroyo in a press conference.

In a press conference held after a meeting with his cabinet to implement the measures to be applied in addressing the "major catastrophe," Bachelet announced a state of emergency in the departments of Biobío and Maule, for 30 days.

News minute by Minute.

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Earthquake in Chile leaves at least 300 dead.
The quake, on Saturday morning, killed at least 300 people

Earthquake in Chile leaves at least 300 dead.
The death toll from the earthquake in Chile rose to 300, said Carmen Fernandez, director of the National Emergency Office, Ministry of Interior (Onemi), adding that the number is "changing minute by minute."

"Chile is a disaster, we have many earthquakes, but this is the worst we've had in the past 30 years," said the president-elect Sebastian Pinera, who expressed much support the current government of Michelle Bachelet, said NEWS collaborator Rodrigo Santiago Bustamante.

President Michelle Bachelet declared a state of disaster in areas affected by an earthquake of 8.8 degrees on the Richter scale that struck on Saturday the center and south of the country.

The government declared "disaster area" five regions, including Santiago, the capital.

Bachelet said that the number of victims could be up to two million people.

News minute by Minute.

Additional Resources:

The quake, on Saturday morning, killed at least 300 people
Earthquake in Chile leaves at least 300 dead.