European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton on Thursday met with Israeli President Shimon Peres who said that Israel’s policy towards construction in Jerusalem should not be changed.
“For 40 years there was a certain pattern which is that we build in the suburbs which are basically Jewish, and we didn’t build in the suburbs which are basically Arabs. That was done by all governments. It was accepted by everybody including, in fact, the Palestinians. It never disturbed the negotiations. I think that we have to continue the same policy,” said Peres.
During their private meeting in Peres’ residence in Jerusalem, Ashton — on a first visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories since she took office — said the aim of her trip is to support the peace process.

“I’ve come with two purposes in mind: the first is to support the peace process and to ensure that the European Union plays its part in support of that process, and to have the opportunity to discuss the issues of concern with the leadership here and also to have the opportunity to visit some of the projects that we’re supporting.

And my second purpose is to recognise the bilateral relationship, especially economically,” Ashton told Peres.
Ashton’s visit came as tensions between Palestinians and Israel peaked with violent incidents erupting in and around Jerusalem.

Israel angered the Palestinians and touched off a spat with US President Barack Obama’s administration after announcing plans, during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden last week, to build 1,600 homes for Jews near East Jerusalem, in West Bank territory it annexed after a 1967 war.

The apprehended employees of National Programme for Improvement of Watercourses (NPIW) were released after negotiations with Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah, however the workers continued staging protest and sit-in in front of Karachi Press Club after collapse of 17 hours at a stretch, protesting against Sindh government over delay in regularizing the services of employees. The advisor to CM Sindh Rashid Rabbani and Waqar Mehdi were also present during the negotiations.
The leader of PML-Q Marvi Memon addressed the protestors, calling upon government to make the services of workers NIPW permanent, she also demanded the suspension orders of the Policemen who baton charged on the protesters. Earlier, the workers of (NPIW) were baton charged and tear-gassed while they were moving towards the Chief Minister (CM) Sindh house.
The protest commenced at 11 am on Friday, which is still underway since then. The employees have been recalled for negotiations at 1:00 PM today.
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US, Russia Ink Deal to Slash Nukes: The United States and Russia have reached an agreement to cut their nuclear weapons stockpiles, the first such pact in nearly two decades, US Daily Wall Street Journal reported.
According to sources, the two sides agreed to lower the ceiling for deployed nuclear weapons from the 2,200 decided on in 1991 to between 1,500 and 1,675. As per the deal, in addition to reducing deployed nukes, both the nations would lower nuclear delivery systems more sharply to between 700 and 800. The breakthrough in the negotiations came two weeks ago when National Security Adviser James Jones and Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, went to Moscow to overcome stumbling blocks, it said.

Nawaz Sharif Demands Justice for Baloch People, PML-N Chief Mian Nawaz Sharif Monday said Baloch people should be given social and political justice if their wounds are to be healed. He said only verbal promises are not enough to take angry people on board.
Addressing the meeting of PML-N Organizing Committee at Sardar Yaqoob Khan Nasir’s residence, Nawaz Sharif said seeking pardon from Baloch people without resolving their issues will not help the cause. He demanded to bring perpetrators of Nawab Akbar Bugti’s murder to justice. “Assassination of Akbar Bugti on personal differences is not tolerable.” Nawaz refuted the allegations of friendly fire on restoration of judges and NRO issue. He also demanded to recover missing persons soon.

Abbas Sticks to Demand for Settlement Freeze, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Monday he was open to peace negotiations with Israel, but that as agreed with Egypt talks could only resume when Jewish settlement activity ends.
“There is no objection to returning to the negotiating table or holding any meetings in principle,” Abbas told reporters in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. “We have said, and we will continue to say, that when there is a halt of settlement activity and recognised terms of reference, we are ready to resume negotiations,” Abbas said.
He said Egypt agreed with his views, contradicting reports in Israel’s Maariv newspaper which said Mubarak was to press Abbas to accept a US peace plan to restart the talks immediately. “President Mubarak has stressed that (the status of) Jerusalem be included in the negotiations, that settlement activity must end and there must be clear terms of reference,” Abbas said.
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told members of his Likud party that the time was ripe for resuming the peace process. “Since the formation of this government, I have called for restarting negotiations with the Palestinians without preconditions,” he told the Likud members in parliament on Monday. “I believe the negotiations about entering negotiations have held us up long enough. In recent weeks I got the impression that there is something of a change in the air. I hope there is a ripening that will allow the peace process to start,” Netanyahu said.
Abbas arrived on Sunday and met with Egypt’s intelligence chief Omar Suleiman before heading to Sharm el-Sheikh. He will later travel to Qatar, Kuwait and Turkey. His visit to Egypt comes almost a week after Netanyahu met Mubarak in Cairo about the stalled peace process and as diplomats said Washington was drafting letters of guarantee for the peace talks. Meanwhile Jordan’s King Abdullah II also arrived Monday in Sharm el-Sheikh where he held talks with Mubarak, the Egyptian news agency MENA said.
According to a statement from the royal palace in Amman, the discussions will centre on “efforts to start serious and effective peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians.”
Earlier the Israeli paper Maariv said Washington is pushing a plan to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that foresees reaching a final deal in two years. Under the plan, the Israelis and Palestinians will immediately start final status talks that were suspended during the Gaza war a year ago and Mubarak would press Abbas to agree to the deal, Maariv said.
US President Barack Obama has repeatedly called on the two sides to resume peace talks, but the Palestinians have demanded Israel first freeze all settlement activity and commit to a framework for the talks, to include that the borders of a future Palestinian state encompass all of their land Israel occupied in 1967.
The Palestinians have insisted that mostly Arab east Jerusalem — occupied by Israel in 1967 and later annexed in a move not recognised by the international community — be the capital of their future state. Abbas suspended peace talks with Israel after it entered a 22-day war with Hamas, the Islamist rulers of Gaza, that killed more than 1,300 Palestinians and left swathes of Gaza devastated. Thirteen Israelis were killed.
Hamas’s takeover of Gaza in 2007, which shrank Abbas’s powerbase to the West Bank, left a deep rift between Palestinians that have also hampered peace talks with Israel. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and Suleiman are meanwhile planning to visit Washington on January 8 for talks with officials there.

Pacquiao Vs Mayweather March 13, Get ready for a fight Pacquiao vs Mayweather March 13? Reports of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. confirmed March 13, 2010 struggle today are misleading. March 13 as a night of Pacquiao vs Mayweather fight is not confirmed.

On November 23, 2009 Lalat reported that Golden Boy Promotions Richard Schaefer and Top Rank’s Bob Arum met for lunch to discuss the details of 2010 Pacquiao vs Mayweather fight. However, countless pages of this morning wrote that Schaefer and Arum began only this week’s meeting.

Wrong.

In fact, since November 23, have both confirmed they were in talks. Schaefer, Rafael toldDan after the meeting was going to begin negotiations, but both fields are not more talk.

“As part of the negotiations, both Bob and I had to agree to keep all conversations confidential. No comment, will continue to be until such time that either have an agreement or negotiations to collapse.”

Secondly, the websites today are reporting a March 13 fight has now been confirmed.

Also incorrect.

“The much anticipated fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao is all but set for March 13.”

The rest of the article states that 13 March is an option, but has not been agreed by Pacquiao. “Mayweather has accepted the terms and (Pacquiao) promoter Bob Arum is making a trip to Manila, Philippines, to finalize an agreement with Pacquiao.”

Bottom line – a) March 13 could happen b) the location of your site has not even been established Cowboys Stadium and the MGM in Las Vegas and talk about options.

PORT OF SPAIN: Ending months of complex negotiations, India and Canada on Saturday announced the conclusion of a civil nuclear deal that will enable New Delhi to access Canadian nuclear technology and uranium after a gap of 34 years.

The breakthrough was announced after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held talks with his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Port of Spain.

“We have now got an agreement which means this is a tremendous opportunity for both countries,” Harper said here while underlining that it was “a tremendous step forward” in bilateral relations.

“Canada is a supplier, obviously an integrated supplier in the nuclear energy field and India is an expanding economy that has great energy needs,” Harper said.

The nuclear agreement promises to transform bilateral relations that turned frosty when Ottawa cut off atomic trade after New Delhi’s 1974 nuclear test and accused the latter of misappropriating Canadian reactor designs in the test.

Harper, however, added that it will take “a little time to complete the normal legal text and the ratification process.”

Lauding Harper for giving a political push to the negotiations, Manmohan Singh said, “This is a tribute to the prime minister’s great leadership and the way the civil service functions in Canada.”

“It augurs extremely well for the development of our relations,” he added.

The deal is likely to be signed when Manmohan Singh goes to Canada to attend the G20 summit in June next year where he will also hold bilateral talks with the Canadian leader on the sidelines.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit said on Friday that India did not seem intent on composite dialogue with Pakistan, adding that it did not want to resolve core issues including water and Kashmir.
Abdul Basit maintained that Pakistan was a responsible state and answers Indian accusations through proper channel. He said India just look at terrorist incidents in its own territory and neglect terrorism in Pakistan. If Pakistan and India do not hold talks, it would be tantamount to the accomplishment of the terrorists’ agenda. Abdul Basit said US-India relations did not affect Pakistan unless they’re not against Pakistan’s interests.
The foreign office spokesman said India did not seem intent on initiating the composite talks with Pakistan. Pakistan wishes the commencement of the composite talks with India, not just a photo session, adding his country wants fruitful negotiations with its neighbor. The FO spokesman said if the negotiations were not jump-started, it would be a step forward towards the completion of terrorists’ agenda, adding it seemed India did not want peace in the region and was not serious in resolution of issues relating Kashmir and water. Abdul Basit said India wanted to dither the resolution of problems by abandoning the negotiations.