Box office: 'No Strings Attached' grabs first place with $20.3 million
Girls ruled the weekend, as the new romantic comedy "No Strings Attached" attracted an audience that was 70% female while topping the box office with $20.3 million, according to studio estimates.
The R-rated Ivan Reitman movie, starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher as "friends with benefits," was Portman's first No. 1 picture since 2006's "V for Vendetta."
CinemaScore moviegoers handed it an overall "B" rating, with women giving the modest $25 million-budget film better marks than the men they dragged along.
With no upcoming romantic comedies until Adam Sandler's "Just Go with It" arrives three weeks from now, Paramount is hoping that "Strings" can hold on to its young female base and generate a nice little run for itself.
The rest of the top five consisted of holdovers that held up, for the most part, rather well.
The superhero comedy "The Green Hornet" fell a mild 46% for $18.1 million, bringing its two-week gross to $63.4 million.
In third was the Vince Vaughn-Kevin James comedy "The Dilemma," which followed "Hornet's" lead and dropped 45% for $9.7 million.
"The King's Speech," which halted "The Social Network" awards train by winning the Producers Guild of America's top prize Saturday night, slipped a microscopic 0.2 % this frame. Earning $9.2 million for the weekend, the $15 million historical drama has so far collected a regal $58.6 million.
And "True Grit" added $8 million to its box-office barbecue. The Coen brothers film has tallied $138.6 million. The only Western ahead of it remains 1990's "Dances With Wolves," which gathered $184.2 million.
In limited release, the Peter Weir drama "The Way Back," about seven World War II prisoners who escape from a Siberian labor camp, debuted to a disheartening $1.5 million from 650 theaters -- a mediocre per-site average of $2,254.
And the corporate-downsizing drama "The Company Men," starring Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones, made $767,000 at 106 theaters for a more potent per-location average of $7,236.
Check back next week as the 2012 Oscar race commences with the Jason Statham remake "The Mechanic" and the Anthony Hopkins horror thriller "The Rite."
Rebuilding Haiti's economy
A long-term, sustainable recovery in Haiti can't take place without job creation. Investing in reviving Haiti's garment manufacturing sector holds the promise of providing tens of thousands of Haitians with work.
Billions of dollars have been pledged to the recovery and reconstruction effort in Haiti.
It's the goal of the Haitian government and the international community to create an economy in Haiti that is self reliant and sustainable over the long run.
As part of that process, planners are looking at sectors of the Haitian economy that have had success in the past.
At one time, the Haitian garment industry employed more than 100,000 workers. Today, 28,000 Haitians have jobs manufacturing clothing according to the Association of Industries of Haiti. Most of the factories at the Port-au-Prince Industrial Park next to the country's international airport were not damaged in the earthquake and production was able to resume within weeks of the disaster.
Source:CNN-Money
Facebook raises $1.5 billion
Confirming reports that have swirled for weeks, Facebook said Friday that it has raised $1.5 billion from Goldman Sachs and Digital Sky Technologies. The investment gives the company a valuation of approximately $50 billion.
The company also confirmed that it plans to begin filing public financial reports by April 2012 -- a move likely to coincide with an IPO.
Regulatory rules are forcing Facebook's hand. When companies have more than 499 shareholders, they're required to publicly disclose their financial results and file quarterly reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Facebook said it expects to pass the 500 shareholder mark sometime this year.
The Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) deal has two parts. The first is a $500 million investment from Goldman Sachs directly, several of the funds it manages, and Digital Sky Technologies, a Russian investment group that already owned a chunk of Facebook.
The second is a $1 billion investment from Goldman Sachs' wealthy individual clients.
On Monday, Goldman Sachs moved to limit that opportunity to only its non-U.S. clients, a decision it attributed to the "intense media attention" the deal has attracted since it came to light earlier this month. Keeping American investors out of the pool limits the scrutiny U.S. regulators can apply to the deal.
Facebook took pains to make clear that it was approached about the investment deal -- not the other way around.
"DST and Goldman Sachs approached Facebook to express their interest in making an investment, and Facebook decided it was an attractive opportunity to bolster its cash reserves and increase its financial flexibility with limited dilution to existing shareholder," the company said in a press release.
It also didn't take as much cash as it could have.
"Facebook had the option to accept between $375 million and $1.5 billion from the Goldman Sachs overseas offering," the company said. "While the offering was oversubscribed, Facebook made a business decision to limit the offering to $1 billion."
Facebook now has over 500 million users, and according to a recent Hitwise study, surpassed Google as the most visited site in 2010.
A $50 billion valuation is a big step up for Facebook, which had a $15 billion valuation three years ago, when Microsoft paid $240 million for a 1.6% ownership stake.
But it could prove tricky to sustain once the company goes public and has its shares traded more broadly. At $50 billion, Facebook would be worth more than media and e-commerce companies like News Corp., CBS, Yahoo and eBay.
Packers advance to the Super Bowl
The Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears 21-14 to win the NFC Championship and advance to Super Bowl XLV.
There was one Monster of the Midway in the NFC championship game and his name was Aaron Rodgers .
He ran for a touchdown. He made a touchdown-saving tackle. And he was better than three Bears quarterbacks in leading the Green Bay Packers to the Super Bowl with an ugly-but-beautiful 21-14 victory Sunday over Chicago.
"It's a dream come true," Rodgers said. "It's an incredible feeling. I'm at a loss for words."
Rodgers kept the Bears' defense off balance all afternoon, Green Bay punter Tim Masthay kept Devin Hester under wraps and the Packers' superb defense took care of the rest in knocking the rival Bears out of the playoffs.
It was the 182nd meeting in the league's most historic rivalry, and the stakes had never been bigger.
Now the Packers (13-6) are headed to Dallas. And no matter what happens in the Super Bowl, the Packers and their fans hold ultimate bragging rights over their rivals to the South. The Packers will play the winner of Sunday night's AFC title game between the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers .
All Jay Cutler could do was watch, having left the game with a knee injury early in the third quarter. And with Cutler sitting, little-known backup Caleb Hanie actually made it a game.
Chicago's third-string quarterback rallied the Bears for a touchdown drive to cut the lead to 14-7 after Chester Taylor 's 1-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
Hanie and the Bears had a chance to tie the game after the Bears' defense finally got a few stops, but Hanie threw a ball straight to Packers defensive lineman B.J. Raji, who lumbered 18 yards into the end zone for a touchdown to give the Packers a 21-7 lead.
But Hanie wasn't finished, throwing a 35-yard touchdown pass to Earl Bennett to again cut the lead to seven points with 4:43 left.
The Bears (12-6) forced a punt and got the ball back with under 3 minutes left. Hanie drove the Bears to the Green Bay 29-yard line, then threw a fourth-down interception to Sam Shields - the rookie's second interception of the game.
Now all those Pro Bowl voters who didn't think Rodgers was worthy can relax. They're off the hook.
Rodgers will be busy getting ready for the Super Bowl instead.
Rodgers proved ready for the biggest day of his brief but impressive career as the successor to Brett Favre , even if his final stat line didn't look impressive after an ugly, hard-fought game.
He threw for 244 yards with two interceptions, but his play in the first half put the Bears in a hole as their defense that seemed to fall for every play-action fake.
"You have to give credit to their defense," Rodgers said. "I didn't play my best game. They had a good plan."
It was the latest in a series of big moments for Rodgers, who wasn't named to the Pro Bowl but has earned near-universal praise for the way he has played this season - especially since sitting out the Packers' Dec. 19 loss at New England because of a concussion.
Rodgers has been on a hot streak ever since, and doing it under pressure. The Packers would have been out of the playoffs with a loss in either of their last two regular-season games, including the regular season finale against Chicago.
With the Packers leading 14-0 at halftime, Green Bay's defense forced a three-and-out to begin the second half, and Rodgers went back to marching the Packers down the field.
Rodgers then threw an interception to Brian Urlacher on third-and-goal, ran him down near midfield, and just barely prevented him from running it back for a touchdown by throwing him off balance with his attempt at a tackle.
But the Bears couldn't make anything happen with primary backup Todd Collins in for Cutler, and appeared to be headed for a blowout until Hanie took over.
Packers players were surprised Cutler didn't come back.
"You know if he doesn't come back it had to be serious, not to come back and play in this game," Charles Woodson said.
Packers linebacker Clay Matthews wasn't sure when Cutler got hurt.
"Obviously you expect to get four quarters of play, but who knows what we did to him," Matthews said.
Rodgers was stellar on the Packers' first possession of the game, hitting Greg Jennings for long gains and later finding Jordy Nelson wide open after a play fake for a long completion to set up first-and-goal. Rodgers kept the ball on a bootleg two plays later, stretching the ball over the goal line to put the Packers on the scoreboard first.
But the Packers lost veteran left tackle Chad Clifton to a neck stinger when he collided with a teammate on the touchdown play. Clifton would return midway through the second quarter.
The Bears went with a heavy dose of running back Matt Forte early on, with very limited success.
Green Bay's defense forced the Bears to punt out of their own end zone late in the first quarter - and returner Tramon Williams bobbled the ball, then got it back to give the Packers' offense good field position. Brandon Jackson faked Urlacher out for a long gain on a screen pass, and Rodgers' pass to Nelson set up James Starks ' 4-yard touchdown run to give Green Bay a 14-0 lead.
The Bears were in a hole, and even Hanie's unlikely rallies couldn't bring them back.
"Just disappointment," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "We got into a hole but the guys fought back."
Source:AP
Kaymer topples Tiger as World No.2
Martin Kaymer has displaced Tiger Woods as the World No.2 after coasting to victory at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Sunday.
Kaymer only needed a top seven finish to be sure of deposing Woods but he never looked like surrendering the lead he first seized in the second round.
Back-to-back birdies at the second and third holes got his final round off to a flying start. Four more birdies on the back nine saw him finish on a tournament record 24-under par.
The 25-year-old's elevation to World No.2 behind England's Lee Westwood -- who finished the tournament down in 64th place -- means that Europe now hold the top two places in the rankings.
It's a feat which hasn't happened for 18 years when England's Nick Faldo and Germany's Bernhard Langer held the top two spots in July 1993.
"I think for Lee and me, it's a very nice position to be No.1 and No.2 in the world. You can see how strong European golf became the last few years, and not only through The Ryder Cup, just if you have a look at the Major winners last year," Kaymer said, EuropeanTour.com reported.
A flawless final round of 66 saw the German finish a massive eight shots clear of his nearest rival, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy.
Compatriot Graeme McDowell finished one place further back in a tie for third with South Africa's Retief Goosen, who jumped 12 places after a superb final round of 64.
Kaymer's emphatic win was his third in four years in Abu Dhabi, but the 2010 U.S.PGA champion believes there's still room for improvement in his game.
"I never expected my career to go this fast. There was not a lot to improve this week, but there's always something and I'll be working on my game before Qatar in two weeks," he said, EuropeanTour.com reported.
Nadal into 4th round at Australian Open
Rafael Nadal didn't let the much-hyped potential future star of Australian tennis stop him in his quest for a fourth consecutive major title.
Overcoming a mostly parochial crowd of 15,000 at Rod Laver Arena, the top-ranked Nadal had a 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 win over 18-year-old wild card Bernard Tomic in an Australian Open third-round match yesterday. Nadal advanced to a fourth-round match against Marin Cilic, and a continuing date with destiny.
A title at Melbourne Park would make the Spanish star the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam trophies at once, although Laver achieved the true Grand Slam by winning all four in a calendar year.
It wasn't always easy -- Nadal trailed 4-0 in the second set before giving Tomic a clinic in comeback tennis. At 5-5, he broke Tomic's service, then held in the next game to clinch the set.
Tomic, who upset Fernando Lopez in the second round and is being touted as a replacement for Lleyton Hewitt in the lean tennis fortunes Down Under, tried his best but ultimately was no match for the polished and experienced Nadal.
Earlier yesterday, it was the first game of Andy Murray's match against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, and the 2010 finalist was doing his best to get into the feel of the third-round match.
Hitting a high lob to the back of the court, he watched as Garcia-Lopez ran it down and, facing the back of the court, hit a between-the-legs shot that passed Murray for a winner.
Instead of marvelling too long at one of the more unusual shots in tennis -- like Roger Federer's similar crosscourt winner against Novak Djokovic at the 2009 US Open -- Murray broke the Spanish player's serve and went on to beat Garcia-Lopez, 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.
In other men's results, No 4 Robin Soderling advanced, as did Marin Cilic, who beat American John Isner in five sets.
US Open champion Kim Clijsters, meanwhile, beat Alize Cornet 7-6 (3), 6-3 of France, getting closer to win her second Grand Slam in a row.
Second-seeded Vera Zvonareva kept alive her bid for a third consecutive Grand Slam final with a 6-3, 7-6 (9) win over Lucie Safarova.
French Open finalist Sam Stosur lost, 7-6 (5), 6-3, to No 25 Petra Kvitova, ending Australia's hopes in the women's draw.
No 12 Agnieszka Radwanska beat Simona Halep, 6-1, 6-2, and will next play China's Peng Shuai, who had a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win over Japan's Ayumi Morita. Peng, who saved seven break points in the seventh game of the deciding set, will make her first appearance in the fourth round of a Grand Slam.
No 10 Shahar Peer was ousted, losing, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4, to No 22 Flavia Pennetta.
Cilic had a 4-6, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2), 9-7 win over No 20 Isner in 4 hours, 33 minutes. It was the first five-set match Isner had played since his epic encounter against Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon last year which finished 70-68 in the fifth and was the longest tennis match in history measured by games and elapsed time.
Two former finalists also went out. Marcos Baghdatis, the 2006 runner-up, retired from his third-round match due to a finger injury when he was trailing No 11 Jurgen Melzer, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-1, 4-3.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 2008 finalist, lost 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 to Alexandr Dolgopolov.
Source:AP
WICB announces league format for four-dayers
THE West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) yesterday announced the schedule for the February 4 to April 11 Regional Four-Day Tournament, which will feature a league format before the playing of the semi-finals and final.
During the preliminary phase each team will face each other once for a total of seven rounds of matches.
The competition will feature four-day kingpins Jamaica, along with Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Guyana, Windward Islands, Leeward Islands and the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC).
The formidable-looking England Lions outfit is the lone invited team for the tournament, but they are only scheduled to participate in the league phase, which means the top four Caribbean-based teams will progress to the semi-finals.
The first round of matches should see Jamaica hosting Guyana, CCC entertaining the Windwards, Leewards welcoming the England Lions and Trinidad & Tobago facing last season's runners-up Barbados.
The Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) is yet to name the venues where matches will be played, but the Sunday Observer understands that Sabina Park is being touted as a most likely ground to stage the marquee clash with the Lions on March 24.
The Chedwin Park ground in St Catherine and the ALPART Sports Club in St Elizabeth are two potential venues to host other matches.
Last season, the Jamaicans, led by captain Tamar Lambert, took their third consecutive title after ending on 60 points, while Barbados followed with 57. The Leewards finished a distant third on 34, while Trinidad & Tobago took fourth place with 33.
2010-2011 Regional Four-Day Schedule
* Fri Feb 4 - Mon Feb 7, Combined Campuses and Colleges v Windward Islands
* Fri Feb 4 - Mon Feb 7, Jamaica v Guyana
* Fri Feb 4 - Mon Feb 7, Leeward Islands v England Lions
* Fri Feb 4 - Mon Feb 7, Trinidad & Tobago v Barbados
* Fri Feb 11 - Mon Feb 14, Barbados v England Lions
* Fri Feb 11 - Mon Feb 14, Guyana v Leeward Islands
* Fri Feb 11 - Mon Feb 14, Trinidad & Tobago v Combined Campuses and Colleges
* Fri Feb 11 - Mon Feb 14, Windward Islands v Jamaica
* Fri Feb 18 - Mon Feb 21, Barbados v Jamaica
* Fri Feb 18 - Mon Feb 21, Leeward Islands v Combined Campuses and Colleges
* Fri Feb 18 - Mon Feb 21, Trinidad & Tobago v England Lions
* Fri Feb 18 - Mon Feb 21, Windward Islands v Guyana
* Fri Feb 25 - Mon Feb 28, Barbados v Guyana
* Fri Feb 25 - Mon Feb 28, Combined Campuses and Colleges v England Lions
* Fri Feb 25 - Mon Feb 28, Leeward Islands v Jamaica
Fri Feb 25 - Mon Feb 28, Windward Islands v Trinidad & Tobago
* Fri Mar 11 - Mon Mar 14, Barbados v Windward Islands
* Fri Mar 11 - Mon Mar 14, Guyana v England Lions
* Fri Mar 11 - Mon Mar 14, Jamaica v Combined Campuses and Colleges
* Fri Mar 11 - Mon Mar 14, Trinidad & Tobago v Leeward Islands
* Fri Mar 18 - Mon Mar 21, Combined Campuses and Colleges v Guyana
* Fri Mar 18 - Mon Mar 21, Jamaica v Trinidad & Tobago
* Fri Mar 18 - Mon Mar 21, Leeward Islands v Barbados
* Fri Mar 18 - Mon Mar 21, Windward Islands v England Lions
* Thu Mar 24 - Sun Mar 27, Jamaica v England Lions
* Fri Mar 25 - Mon Mar 28, Combined Campuses and Colleges v Barbados
* Fri Mar 25 - Mon Mar 28, Guyana v Trinidad & Tobago
* Fri Mar 25 - Mon Mar 28, Windward Islands v Leeward Islands
* Fri Apr 1 - Mon Apr 4, 1st Semi-final
* Fri Apr 1 - Mon Apr 4, 2nd Semi-final
* Fri Apr 8 - Mon Apr 11, Final
Ireland's Green Party quits government of Brian Cowen
The Republic of Ireland's Green Party is pulling out of the ruling coalition, a move expected to bring forward the general election due on 11 March.
The Greens' announcement wipes out the ruling coalition's two-seat majority and puts into question the passage of a vital finance bill.
It also follows the decision on Saturday by PM Brian Cowen to quit as leader of his Fianna Fail party but to stay on as prime minister.
Opponents said this was "farcical".
Fianna Fail had urged the Greens to stay in government to ensure the financial bill - which is needed as part of Ireland's international bail-out package - was passed before the election.
Ireland was forced to accept the 85bn euro ($113bn; £72bn) EU and IMF bail-out in November last year.
When asked whether he would now resign immediately, Mr Cowen said getting the finance bill through was the main issue.
'Persistent doubts'
The Green Party will join the opposition benches immediately.
But it said it would still support the finance bill and hoped Fianna Fail would fast-track the legislation so it could be approved speedily.
Green Party leader John Gormley, speaking after a meeting in a Dublin hotel, said: "For a very long time we have stood back in the hope that Fianna Fail could resolve persistent doubts about their party leadership.
"A definitive resolution of this has not yet been possible and our patience has reached an end. Because of these continuing doubts, the lack of communication and the breakdown in trust, we have decided that we can no longer continue in government.
"We will remain true to our promise to support the finance bill from the opposition benches."
After the Greens' announcement, Mr Cowen said: "The important thing now is to have an orderly completion of the finance bill in the interests of the country and then obviously we move to a dissolution of the [parliament] and a general election."
The loss of two Green Party cabinet ministers means Mr Cowen now only has seven of 15, the minimum constitutionally allowed.
The focus next week will fall on the finance bill and a no-confidence motion put forward by the opposition for Tuesday.
If Mr Cowen lost the motion he would be obliged to resign and call an election within four weeks.
Correspondents say he might try to persuade the opposition to hold off on that vote to allow for debate and passage of the finance bill, which is designed to cut the government's deficit.
The Greens want all-party talks on Monday to rush the bill through as soon as possible.
But the BBC's Ireland correspondent Mark Simpson says its passage is not assured, given the country's political system is in a state of chaos and filled with bitterness.
Mr Cowen's assertion on Sunday that it is "not possible to deal with it in a week" is unlikely to please the opposition.
Bungled reshuffle
Mr Cowen has been under increasing pressure over his handling of the economy and party disputes.
The criticism intensified this month following revelations he played golf with the former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank, Sean FitzPatrick, months before the bank was nationalised to prevent it from collapse. Mr Cowen has denied any wrongdoing.
Last Tuesday, Mr Cowen won a vote of confidence in his leadership of Fianna Fail. Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheal Martin, who had opposed Mr Cowen, resigned.
However on Thursday, Mr Cowen bungled a planned government reshuffle. The Greens were angered and blocked the reshuffle. Mr Cowen then called the general election.
His decision on Saturday to resign as Fianna Fail leader while remaining PM was met with an angry response by the opposition Fine Gael, Labour and Sinn Fein parties.
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said it was "simply not tenable" for Mr Cowen to remain PM.
Ex-PM Brown feared voice-mail hacking amid scandal, source says
Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote to the police last summer to ask if his voice mail had been hacked into, a source close to the situation told CNN Sunday.
The revelation comes amid an ever-widening scandal that has affected celebrities from model Elle MacPherson to members of the royal household, and forced the resignation of current Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman on Friday.
Andy Coulson, who stepped down, was the editor of the News of the World newspaper in 2007 when its royal correspondent was convicted of hacking into voice mails.
Cameron said Friday that Coulson was quitting because "continuing pressures on him and his family mean that he feels compelled to do so. Andy has told me that the focus on him was impeding his ability to do his job and was starting to prove a distraction for the Government."
"Who Wants to be a Millionaire" host Chris Tarrant is among celebrities suing the paper over the scandal, his lawyer Mark Lewis said.
Coulson, News of the World, and the Rupert Murdoch-owned media conglomerate that owns the paper have denied knowing of widespread phone hacking in search of dirt for stories.
The Metropolitan Police investigation into the scandal is now closed and results have been passed to prosecutors, police told CNN Sunday.
Police declined to say whether Brown had written to them or what action they took. A spokeswoman for Brown would not comment on the record. Brown was ousted as prime minister in May when his Labour Party was defeated at the polls.
News of the World royal reporter Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were sentenced to prison in 2007 for hacking into voice mails of members of the royal family's staff.
Mulcaire also admitted hacking into MacPherson's messages, among others.
The New York Times alleged in a detailed investigative story last year that -- far from Goodman and Mulcaire being lone culprits -- phone hacking was common practice at the newspaper.
The New York Times article in September prompted a furious response from a number of public figures, including former deputy prime minister John Prescott, who demanded that the police tell him if his phone had been hacked.
One of the few sources who went on the record in the Times article, former News of the World journalist Sean Hoare, said Coulson, then his boss at the tabloid, "actively encouraged me" to hack into the voice mails of public figures to get stories for the News of the World.
Coulson's allies have cast doubt on Hoare's credibility since the Times article came out September 1, pointing out that Hoare was fired from the paper over allegations of drug and alcohol abuse.
A British parliamentary committee twice investigated the tabloid.
Witnesses associated with the paper insisted there was no evidence that phone hacking extended beyond the two who were found guilty of it.
Palestinian 'offers' in peace process - papers leaked
Leaked documents released by al-Jazeera TV suggest Palestinian negotiators agreed to Israel keeping large parts of illegally occupied East Jerusalem.
The TV channel says it has thousands of confidential records covering the peace process between 2000 and 2010.
The papers also reportedly show Palestinian leaders proposing a joint committee to take over Jerusalem's holy sites of Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount.
The BBC has been unable to independently verify the documents.
Al-Jazeera says it has 16,076 confidential records of meetings, emails, communications between Palestinian, Israeli and US leaders.
The papers are believed to have leaked from the Palestinian side.
The alleged offers relating to East Jerusalem are the most controversial, as the issue has been a huge stumbling block in Mideast talks and both Israelis and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital.
Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967, settling close to 500,000 Jews in more than 100 settlements.
Increasing frustration
According to al-Jazeera, in May 2008, Ahmed Qureia, the lead Palestinian negotiator at the time, proposed that Israel annex all Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem except Har Homa (Jabal Abu Ghneim), in a bid to reach a final deal.
"This is the first time in history that we make such a proposition," he reportedly said, pointing out that this was a bigger concession than made at Camp David talks in 2000.
The Israelis apparently rejected the concession as inadequate and made no offer in return.
PLO leaders also privately suggested swapping part of the flashpoint East Jerusalem Arab neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah for land elsewhere, according to the leaked documents.
And Palestinian negotiators were reported to be willing to discuss limiting the number of Palestinian refugees returning to 100,000 over 10 years.
These are all highly sensitive issues and have previously been non-negotiable.
Current peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been suspended for months, ostensibly over Israel's refusal to stop building Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian land.
The BBC's Wyre Davies, in Jerusalem, says that for years, the same Palestinian leaders have been talking with Israeli and American negotiators - but getting nowhere.
Our correspondent says there has been increasing frustration and protest among many Palestinians over what they see as Israeli expansion and the weakness of their own leaders - a view that will be reinforced by the leak of these documents.
The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, who features in many of the leaked papers, appeared on Al Jazeera Arabic TV on Sunday to strenuously deny that he had made these sorts of offers.