Benjamin Netanyahu Rebuffs Hillary Clinton Demands
THE TELEGRAPH: Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has refused to buckle to US pressure to scrap a Jewish building project in East Jerusalem in a crucial telephone conversation with America's top diplomat.

Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: The Telegraph
Mr Netanyahu ceded little ground to Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, as he finally responded to a series of conditions she set out to end a 10-day standoff between Israel and its superpower patron.

The Israeli leader gambled that the Obama administration had lost its appetite for a prolonged diplomatic row by accepting just one of Mrs Clinton's demands in full as he agreed to make a "confidence-building" gesture to the Palestinians.

He refused to cancel construction of 1,600 settler homes which lie at the heart of the crisis, offering instead to delay their construction - a proposal understood already to have been made and rejected.

A freeze on further settlement building in East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, was also ruled out. Instead, he reportedly proposed to continue building, but in secret.

In keeping with a decision to soften the tone of US rhetoric, Mrs Clinton was guarded in her response, neither welcoming nor dismissing Mr Netanyahu's suggestions.

"What I heard from the prime minister in response to the requests we made was useful and productive," she said, speaking after a meeting of the Middle East Quartet negotiating group in Moscow.

The Quartet - which comprises the United States, the United Nations, Russia and the European Union - however joined Mrs Clinton in forcefully condemning Israel's construction plans. >>> Adrian Blomfield in Jerusalem and Andrew Osborn in Moscow | Friday, March 19, 2010

Prince Charles Rebuffed by Qatar Royal Family over Modern Flats
THE TELEGRAPH: The Prince of Wales has been rebuffed by the Qatar Royal Family in his battle to stop a £1 billion modern flats development in a historic part of London.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jaber Jasim al-Thani has been urged by the Prince to reconsider the Chelsea scheme . Photo of Prince Charles courtesy of The Telegraph
The Qataris, who had been reported to be on the verge of backing down in the face of the onslaught from the Prince, have instead reaffirmed their commitment to the luxury apartments development on the site of Chelsea Barracks.

The Prince had written to the Prime Minister of Qatar appealing to him to scrap the modern steel and glass development. He also asked to be involved in the discussions over the future of the site.

But the Prince's hopes that the scheme would be withdrawn are at an end after the Qatari Diar, the development arm of the country's royal family, issued a statement confirming it's commitment to the scheme.

The statement said: "The owner and developer of the Chelsea Barracks site is concerned that several recent reports in the media have either stated or implied that it is actively considering abandoning the scheme which it submitted for planning to Westminster City Council February 27, 2009. As a direct consequence of these reports, we have written to Westminster City Council confirming wholehearted commitment to the scheme." >>> By Andrew Pierce | Friday, May 1, 2009