Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Ban Ki-moon on settlements freeze The international Quartet of Middle East peace mediators has urged Israel to freeze all settlement activity.Speaking for the Quartet, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned Israel's announcement of plans to build new homes in disputed East Jerusalem. That move undermined efforts to restart indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks. Speaking to the BBC, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicated that hardening the tone with Israel had paid off, with talks now back in prospect. Mr Ban met Mrs Clinton and the other Quartet foreign ministers - new EU foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton and Russia's Sergei Lavrov - in Moscow. [The Quartet] condemns the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem Ban Ki-moonUN Secretary General Jerusalem's tinder-box Israel-US: Bruised friendship Borders and settlements In a strongly worded statement, the Quartet condemned Israel's announcement last week of planning permission for 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem, occupied by Israel since 1967.[Read more...]