BREAKING NEWS

UN chief hopes Israel, Palestinians to heed Quartet

UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he hoped members of the Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators would end months of deadlock on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and issue a statement on Friday.
"I hope that we will issue a Quartet statement right after this meeting, and I sincerely hope that the parties will respond constructively to our statement," Ban told reporters before meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton.