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WASHINGTON: The United States on Monday repeated its call on Israel to put an end to Jewish settlements in the West Bank. "The policy of the United States government for many decades has been: no more settlements, that's not something that is new with this administration," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. Gibbs made the remarks hours before US President Barack Obama meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. The US-Israeli summit meeting comes as the Obama administration is pressing the Israeli government and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to re-launch their long-stalled peace talks. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to step down because of the Netanyahu-led government's refusal to fully freeze Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank. Some 450,000 Israelis live in more than 100 settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. 　

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 WASHINGTON: An unsettled political situation in Iran may be complicating efforts to seal a nuclear fuel deal between Tehran and major world powers, President Barack Obama said on Monday.Obama in an interview said that the United States had made more progress toward global nuclear non-proliferation in the last several months than in the past several years."But it is going to take time, and part of the challenge that we face is that neither North Korea nor Iran seem to be settled enough politically to make quick decisions on these issues," he said at the White House.Obama said the United States, along with Russia, China, Germany, Britain and France, had made a "fair" offer to Iran that would allow it to have a legitimate civilian nuclear program while allaying suspicions that it was seeking to build atomic weapons. Iran maintains its nuclear program is for purely civilian purposes.The proposal by the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency ...

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 NEW DELHI: India is launching a joint maritime security exercise this week to prevent future Mumbai-style terror attacks and test various measures taken during the past one year to secure the 7,500-kilometre coastline. The exercise, involving the Indian Navy and Coast Guards, state police of the nine coastal states and several other agencies, would be carried out on both east and west coasts. It would test how and at what pace various agencies shared intelligence and acted on it to prevent terrorists and smugglers from infiltrating. Sources said the exercise, to check coordination among the agencies at various stages of an operation, would be launched formally by the end of November to avoid any possible terrorist attack on the Mumbai attacks’ first anniversary on November 26. This exercise would be bigger than the state-wise tests being carried out by the navy and other agencies to determine the response to any attacks from the sea. It would include simulate...

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 BERLIN: World leaders and partying Germans are descending on Berlin Nov. 9 to mark the 20th anniversary of the day the Berlin Wall was breachedIt is a day for celebrations and commemorations, for festivities and sober reflection. Berlin is marking 20 years since the fall of the Wall on Monday with a series of events, big and small. Leaders from around the world are descending on the German capital to help celebrate the momentous events of Nov. 9, 1989, a date that has come to symbolize the end of communism in Eastern Europe. The main focus of events will be the historic Brandenburg Gate, where 20 years ago, joyful East and West Berliners gathered together to dance on top of the wall and celebrate the sudden opening up of the Iron Curtain. The iconic gateway had once stood in the midst of no man's land, surrounded by barbed wire and machine guns. Now 20 years on, a concert and fireworks display will recall those heady moments. A line of 1,000 foam dominoe...

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 SINGAPORE: From nurses to welders, Asia-Pacific economies including the United States and Japan face critical labour shortages if they fail to allow easier movement of temporary workers, a study has warned.The research, commissioned by the APEC Business Advisory Council urged governments to address the problem or risk hampering business competitiveness and economic growth.The report, expected to be circulated at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Singapore this week, said most free-trade deals within the grouping looked at easing travel for businessmen. 'They ignore the movement of the actual skilled and lower-skilled workers that are needed in large numbers to fill these labour shortages and skill gaps,' it said.The study, by the University of Southern California Mashall School of Business, raised the need for a 'policy framework' among APEC members to facilitate the movement of temporary labourers.'Real shortages of ...

Monday, November 09, 2009 BEIRUT: Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri formed a national unity government on Monday after more than four months of tough negotiations with his Hezbollah-led rivals, the cabinet secretary announced.The new 30-member cabinet was made public in a decree signed by Hariri and President Michel Sleiman.The line-up includes 15 ministers from Hariri's bloc, 10 from the opposition alliance which is supported by Syria and Iran, and five nominated by Sleiman.The share-out means that no party will have veto power in the new government and that Sleiman will play the role of arbiter.Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which fought a devastating 2006 war with Hezbollah, has two ministers in the new cabinet.The key interior and defence portfolios, nominated by the president, remained unchanged.Hariri, the son of murdered former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, was asked to form a cabinet after his US- and Saudi-backed alliance won a parliamentary election in June.But his eff...

Monday, November 09, 2009 NEW DELHI: Israel has signed a $1.1 billion contract to supply an upgraded tactical air defence system to India, with delivery expected by 2017, an Israeli official said on Monday.The sale of the Barak-8 systems came as India's army chief, General Deepak Kapoor, held high-level talks in Israel, India's biggest defence supplier.Made by state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd., the Barak-8 is designed for use aboard ships and can shoot down incoming missiles, planes and drones. The most advanced version can be also deployed on land, the Israeli official said.India has already acquired an earlier generation of the Barak system, the official said.The Barak-8 contract was signed in April, and delivery of the systems will take place "over the next six to eight years".The Indian embassy in Tel Aviv had no immediate comment.

Monday, November 09, 2009 MUMBAI: Pakistan, who were wary of playing in India due to political tensions between the two nations, will play its six league matches of the World Cup 2011 in Sri Lanka.India will clash with Bangladesh in the opening match of the 2011 World Cup in Dhaka on February 19, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Monday.The first match takes place two days after the opening ceremony of the 14-nation showpiece at the same venue in Dhaka on February 17, according to the schedule released by the ICC here.The final of the 43-day tournament, being co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, will take place at the renovated Wankhede stadium in India's financial capital of Mumbai on April 2.The teams have been divided into two groups of seven each for the preliminary league, with the top four from each group advancing to the quarter-finals.Defending champions Australia head group A which includes Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and two qualifier...