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Clinton urges Abbas to talk without settlement halt

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton turned U.S. pressure on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday when she endorsed Israel's view that its expansion of settlements on occupied land should not be a bar to resuming peace talks.

Reuters Sunday, November 01, 2009

Lord Ashcroft tipped for top Tory foreign job

Labour slams peer's role as he joins William Hague for high-level trip to USBillionaire Tory donor Lord Ashcroft was embroiled in fresh controversy last night after it emerged that he accompanied the shadow foreign secretary to key meetings overseas, amid rumours that he will be given a top foreign policy role in a future Conservative government.The Observer can reveal that the peer, who pumps millions of pounds into marginal seats but refuses to say whether he pays tax in Britain, is flying William Hague around the world and went with him on his recent trip to the US, during which Hague met Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, and other key US figures.The Tories last night confirmed that Ashcroft had been on the trip and attended some meetings, but refused to say who he had met, or whether he was being groomed for a high-level foreign policy position either in an advisory or a ministerial capacity in a future Tory government.As well as meeting Clinton, Hague was scheduled to se

Guardian Sunday, November 01, 2009

Blair makes last-ditch bid for EU top job

Former prime minister expected to drop out of race within days if he fails to obtain backing from Germany's Angela MerkelTony Blair is expected to bow out of the race to become the EU's first permanent president by the end of next week if he fails in a last-ditch effort to win public support from the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.Allies of the former prime minister insisted last night that his bid for the top EU job was still alive and that there remained a "decent chance" of success - despite Gordon Brown's failure to win any substantial backing for him during informal discussions at a Brussels summit last week.Hinting that Blair might now broaden his campaign and push for talks, in person, with Merkel and others in a final effort to turn things around, supporters said he had yet to lay out a "detailed case" to EU leaders about how he would approach the job and why his talents were needed.They claimed that media reports of mass opposition from EU heads of governments in Brussels we

Guardian Sunday, November 01, 2009

Universities must divulge drop-out rates

Students to be given better information about quality of courses before starting a degreeUniversity courses are to be tagged with their drop-out rates, graduates' future earnings and the number of contact hours students can expect with tutors. The move, which will be modelled on a food-labelling system, is part of a consumer revolution in higher education to be unveiled this week by Lord Mandelson, the universities secretary.Students should be treated more as paying customers and given better information about the quality of their courses before they embark on a degree, the new government framework for universities is expected to say on Tuesday.The plan aims to set out the future priorities for universities before a major shake-up of the student funding system. It is also expected to recommend greater business involvement in universities and new admissions systems to identify talented applicants from poorer backgrounds in an attempt to break middle-class domination of the top instituti

Guardian Sunday, November 01, 2009

Republican Scozzafava pulls out of House race in New York

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. -- The moderate republican nominee for a vacant U.S. House seat here unexpectedly withdrew from the race Saturday, bowing to a revolt led by conservative activists that badly split the national GOP leadership and is likely to influence the shape of the party heading into next...