i will point out that benjamin netanyahu is very conscious of the political difficulties in washington, but she could see it in the united nations last week, he spent a full quarter of his address to the united nations talking about least these. should obama be facing gridlock next year, he could very well be spending most of his time on this conflict. obama, for no political benefits for himself, is determined to try to see this through, something that both parties are keeping in consideration. >> thank-you. let's take a look at some of the other stories making headlines from around the world. hugo chavez has retained power where electoral officials say that the opposition party has won more than one-third of the peace. our correspondent explains what the results will mean. >> there are 97 pro-ago shot as deputies in the new assembly, meaning that there will be over 55 opposition deputies. a enough for a key reform. large infrastructure projects, sweeping new laws, all with an opposition-based agenda and a large block in the national assembly, making life a lot more complicated for hu

israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and mahmoud abbas will be meeting. both the u.s. and the u.n. have urged benjamin netanyahu to extend the stock beyond the deadline. -- extend a stop. >> construction work on new homes is already underway. recent reports suggest benjamin netanyahu has no plans to freeze all settlement building over the long term. local media are anticipating a new construction boma. >> there is no need for a partial freeze. there is no need for a total freeze. there is enough room for everyone to live peacefully. >> but not all israelis agree. some are critical of the inconsistent stance of the government. >> the settlers can do without approval of the government, and this is an issue note -- is an issue. >> the palestinians are ordering a total freeze on construction. >> edd least 13 people and killed in a plane crash in venezuela. -- at least 13 people. it was going to a resort area. there were 51 passengers and crew on board the state-run airline. officials say 43 people survived the crash. fresh classes in kashmir have claimed at least 16 lives

the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has described the palestinian residents as his partner for peace and says he is seeking to end the conflict for once and for all. but leaders have had preliminary discussions with president obama in washington before talks on thursday. mr. obama says the peace initiative is making progress. there have not been direct israeli-palestinian talks for 20 months. barack obama also condemned the killing of four israelis who were killed on the west bank yesterday. >> there are going to be extremists to, rather than seeking peace, are going to be seeking destruction. and the tragedy that we saw yesterday where people were gunned down on the streets by terrorists who are purposefully trying to undermine peace talks is an example of what we are up against. >> benjamin netanyahu thanked the u.s. president for his efforts and described the talks says "open and productive." >> id president's statement is an expression of our -- i think the president's statement is an expression of our determination to fight and you have talks that are open, productive,

you have to palestinians who have their own doubts about benjamin netanyahu. i mean, they've tried it before 12 years ago and now they want to take the measure... the americans wanted to have... to create an atmosphere for netanyahu and abbas, the measure of each other. that's why they had a two and a half hour meeting today one on one, tete-a-tete. at last hour hillary clinton joined them. and the palestinians essentially are saying we came here with an open mind and an open heart to see if this man is serious about peace and everybody is becoming talmudic watching every word here and there. yesterday netanyahu referred as the west bank as the west bank, not judean sue mariya. so the administration is going to face a tough situation convincing them really to work seriously. >> woodruff: so are you picking up signals in what they're saying and what you're hearing privately that leads you to believe that the will is there, that the ground work is being laid for real progress? >> first of all, important to clarify. this... trying to get past the september 26 sett

israel prime minister benjamin netanyahu asked the palestinian side to take strict terror. measures. >> security is the foundation of peace. without it peace will unravel. >> reporter: but the palestinian president, mahmoud abbas demanded israeli government to freeze the settlement expansion and the future palestinian territory. >> reporter: meanwhile, in the series of incidents in the west bank, armed palestinians opened fire on jewish settlers. the attacks prompted israelis to voice their opposition to direct peace talks. the palestinian israeli group hamas has declared that it will continue attacks on jewish settlers in apparent attempt to block the peace process. on the first day of the direct talks, the two sides condemned the violence to civilians. they then agreed to meet every further details. in the past, u.s. administrations have failed in the attempt to mediate a middle east peace process. in addition to the different positions of the two sides, moves to disrupt the peace process have already come to light. the attention is focused on how determined the israelis

secretary clinton hosts the relaunch of direct negotiations between israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas. it is the beginning of the trilateral meeting, in what the state department calls the benjamin franklin room. we are waiting for events to get underway. >> real live in the benjamin franklin room of the department of state as secretary of state hillary clinton will bring together benjamin netanyahu and the palestinian president bad bad for their first face-to-face meeting since 2008. it will be the resumption of the middle east peace talks. the palestinian delegation has arrived and is seated on the right of your screen. the israeli delegation is not yet in the room. there are security concerns, and other salomon issues will be covered. the major objective of the obama administration is to broker an agreement on a palestinian state within one year. officials have to get the two regions to agree to additional talks in egypt and the two weeks, and possibly to continue during the u.n. assembly meeting at the end of the month. president o

no i don't think so in the recent jeffrey goldberg piece in the atlantic for trade benjamin netanyahu and barack both the prime minister and the defense minister of israel as not actually concerned that iran is an existential threat to israel not concerned that even if they did have nuclear weapons that they would launch some sort of first strike. netanyahu said that he was concerned that hezbollah might be emboldened worried that we remember so well from the bush years and and fretted that perhaps they were being a brain drain he called it of talented israelis to who might want to move to the united states to live instead of israel this is the existential threat to israel that american boys are supposed to die in another war for and your your other guest is absolutely correct that we have fifty thousand combat forces in iraq right now along with one hundred thousand or so contractors some of the mercenaries some not all of them within range of iranian retaliation and you know when it comes. to any israeli unilateral attack. the iranians i think correctly as well as probably anyone in

. >> benjamin netanyahu has begun serious discussions with their peoples. >> that accords to george mitchell. summing up a day of egyptian talks. >> shaman sheik or endless peace talks. with the tourists oblivious to the talks, hillary clinton was there in person to persuade and cajole as the united states fights to keep up the momentum. she's eager to talk up the propects and the american piece. george mitchell shared his thoughts. >> we share our goal of a just, lasting and secure peace. >> the sticking point is the issue of settlements. the palestinians are ready to walk away from the talks. israely netanyahu has been pressed to not give up ground. although he says there's progress >> the parties did sit together for 2 long sessions and return to jerusalem. no big announcements and the best anyone is claiming is that they're continuing. there will be many more long days of negotiations in this process is to bear fruit. >> john, "bbc world news," egypt. >> around 2 half thousand people were told to leave the eiffel tower. the city was also evacuted after a second call. >> i breech of press

this morning to lead a second round of middle east peace talks with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinianat president mahmoud abbas. although israel would not renew a partial building freeze in the west bank, it would not step up construction, either. >>> the u.s. government says it will not pay the prison bail for american hiker sarah shord. iran says it will release on health grounds in exchange for $500,000. earlier yesterday, shourd's family asked to have the bail reduced saying they couldn't afford it. >>> the cuban government says it's planning to lay off at least 500,000 workers in the next six months to help the country's struggling economy. analysts say it's the biggest private sector shift there since the 1959 revolution. >>> health officials are calling it a new global threat, a so-called super bug, thought to be resistant to every known antibiotic. three people who recently traveled to india. patients in massachusetts, indiana and illinois have been affected. >>> rescue workers in thailand are assessing the damage after a major flood caused roads to collapse. s

benjamin netanyahu meese to extend his partial freeze on settlement building. he has been to the west bank settlement. >> israel never froze settlements in occupied east jerusalem. this has gone on since march. construction can begin in the west bank. when israel captured the land in 1967, building settlements was about creating a new reality. the idea was that if issues were settled on the land, it would become politically impossible to return it to arab control. more than 40 years on, it is looking like a pretty successful strategy. history is against the american envoy, george mitchell. the palestinian president mahmoud abbas is deeply unhappy about israel not extending the partial settlement freeze. he is threatening to pull out. >> we are determined to continue. we are continuing our efforts to find common ground. >> on the way to his olive groves, a palestinian farmer said there would be nothing left to talk about if israel continue to build for the jews on the west bank. he lives just below a jewish settlement. he said that sewage from it is killing them

benjamin netanyahu and mahmoud abbas will now meet every two weeks in an effort to broker a mideast peace agreement. >>> dramatic video out of germany shows a hostage situation unfolding outside a gas station this week. police say the suspect threatened several people there before holding a knife to one hostage and trying to make his escape. the officer managed to subdue him with a taser. no one was seriously hurt. the spectacular's motive is still unclear. >>> a washington state woman was recovering after suffering severe burns when a stranger threw acid in her face. the 28-year-old held a press conference yesterday after undergoing the first of what are expected to be several surgeries. last night, police released a picture of a suspect described as an african-american woman with slicked back hair. >>> and a reminder to be careful about what you write on facebook. after posting the defendant was going to be found guilty before the verdict was read in court, a detroit woman was removed from a jury. she was also ordered to a pay a $250 fine and write a five-page essay about the constituti

israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu condemned the killings as a crime. it is an inauspicious start to peace talks, but many are already saying there is little hope for success. bbc news, jerusalem. >> trade unions representing public sector workers in south africa who have been on strike for three weeks say there has been annual wage offer. the government raised their offer after the president called for new tents at reconciliation. mexican federal police have captured one of the most wanted drug traffickers. he is thought to be involved in one of mexico's of major drug cartels. the former cuban president fidel castro has said eu was ultimately responsible for the persecution of gay men following the revolution of 1959. in a lengthy interview, he says he thought of the execution as a great injustice, but in the early years after the revolution, and he had "to many other problems to deal with." drilling has begun on the rescue shaft to free the miners trapped in chile. they have been underground longer than any other miners in history. as james reynolds r

this afternoon the president will host individual meetings with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinian leader mahmoud abbas. tomorrow negotiations will be formally relaunched at a ceremony at the state department, the first direct talks in nearly two years. >>> and the white house is appealing to both sides to not let yesterday's shooting of four israelis derail the talk. the militant group hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. >>> a senior swedish prosecutor is reopening a rape investigation against wikileaks founder julian assange. a case dropped by a different prosecutor saying there was no evidence suggesting assange had raped a swedish woman who reported him to police. assange has denied any wrongdoing and claims he had been warned by australian intelligence of plans to discredit the whistleblower website. >>> a full week after the alaska prime air, lisa murkowski has conceded to joe miller. murkowski, who was over 1600 votes behind after election officials counted absentee ballots told supporters last night, quote, i don't see a scenario where we could win.

as he is headed to washington, benjamin netanyahu condemn the killings as a heinous crime. many are already saying it has little hope for success. >> the memoirs of the former british prime minister tony blair were published on wednesday. in his book he also criticized his successor gordon brown for abandoning the labor party's core policy. our political editor gave us more details about what the memoirs revealed. >> absurd sarbanes give to the newspapers. our own interview will air tomorrow evening. what is clear is that tony blair's says labor should have won a fourth term, but it moved in mm away from labor and the pledges he had to deepen welfare reform and public service reform. what will become clear for the first time in the book and in that interview is how difficult their relationship with gordon brown was in the later years. very difficult is tony blair's phrase. he thought of sacking gordon brown as chancellor but feared he would be let loose or become a far more damaging flores. according to one version of the book, they say tony blair took to the bottle in his

during a meeting on wednesday with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, obama condemned wednesday's killings of four jewish settlers. >> united states will be unwavering in its support of israel's security. we will push back against these kinds of terrorist activities. >> oba said he would not allow extremists to derail the peace process through violence. in a separate talk with palestinian president mahmoud you abbas, obama praised him for condemning the incident. they will resume direct talks on thursday for the first time in 20 months. obama wants an agreement within 12 months. but difference its over on the construction of jewish settlements and other issues are likely to weigh heavily on the upcoming negotiations. >>> three scesse bombs have blasted a shia muslim procession in eastern pakistan, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 150. the explosions occurred in la hor on wednesday night as thousands of minority shias were marching through the city in memory of their historic leader. security authorities say they suspect suicide bombers in the crowd were to blame.

secretary clinton, benjamin netanyahu and palestinian president, mahmoud abbas, held a second scheduled meeting this afternoon but there's been no word of a breakthrough, abbass insistses that israel agree to extend a moratorium on new settlements that expire at the end of the month. clinton remains optimistic about the talks and says the time is ripe for an agreement on an independent palestinian state. >>> two suspects in the oakland killing of a virginia man here for a job interview have is pleaded not guilty. authorities say george huggins shot and killed 45-year-old gin hong kang after allegedly robbing him of just $17. investigators say the suspect's girlfriend,al thea house -- althea haasly, was not present. >>> this afternoon, the attorneys for the man accused of killing a bay area journalist will be in court to plead their case to move the trial to los angeles. yusef bey iv is accused of ordering a codefendant to gun dawn chancily bailey in oakland -- to gun down chancily bailey in oakland three years ago. they say the publicity prevent them from getting a fair trial. >>> a dra

benjamin netanyahu and mahmoud abbas will hold face-to-face talks on thursday. netanyahu will meet obama for preliminary talks on issues such as the status of jerusalem and jewish building of settlements on the west bank's. later, he met a palestinian leader. jordan's king and egypt ruler were also attending. the talks came after hamas gunmen shot dead four jewish settlers. funerals for the victims were held earlier wednesday. >>> the u.s. and israeli leaders condemned the killings but said they would not derail the talks in washington. >> the message should go out to hamas and everybody else who is taking credit for these heinous crimes that this is not going to stop us from not only ensuring that a secure israel but also securing a longer lasting peace in which people throughout the region can take a different course. >> i think that the president's statement as an expression of our desire to fight against this terror, and the talks we had, which were indeed open, productive, serious in the quest for peace, also centered around the need to have security arrang

benjamin netanyahu and mahmoud abbas will hold face-to-face talks on thursday. netanyahu will meet obama for preliminary talks on issues such as the status of jerusalem and jewish building of settlements on the west bank's. later, he met a palestinian leader. jordan's king and egypt ruler were also attending. the talks came after hamas gunmen shot dead four jewish settlers. funerals for the victims were held earlier wednesday. >>> the u.s. and israeli leaders condemned the killings but said they would not derail the talks in washington. >> the message should go out to hamas and everybody else who is taking credit for these heinous crimes that this is not going to stop us from not only ensuring that a secure israel but also securing a longer lasting peace in which people throughout the region can take a different course. >> i think that the president's statement as an expression of our desire to fight against this terror, and the talks we had, which werendeed open, oductive, serious in the quest for peace, also centered around the need to have security arrangemen

. >> reporter: israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, needs to placate the settler movement on which his government depends to remain in power. palestinian president mahmoud abbas put it starkly. "the israelis have a choice, he said. they can have peace or they can have settlements." >> we're at a critical juncture in the region. it's important for israel. it's important for the palestinians. we think it's essential that they keep on moving forward, keep on talking, keep on trying to work through these issues. >> reporter: the israeli government had urged the settlers to show restraint while the desperate last-minute negotiations continued, and in a concession to the palestinians, they hinted there would be limits to any new construction allowed, but restraint is a tough sell on both sides in the west bank. >> palestinians have to choose between sitting down and talking peace with us and turning their backs on us and not having, missing yet another historic opportunity to reach peace. >> reporter: israel's prime minister netanyahu may have called for peace talks to continue, bu

president obama met with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu . >> the message should go out to hamas and everybody else who is taking credit for these heinous crimes that this is not going to stop us from not only insuring a secure israel but also securing a longer lasting peace in which people throughout the region can take a different course. >> the president's statement is an expression of our desire to fight against this terror, and the talks that we had, kmrp, indeed, open, productive, serious in the quest for peace also centered around the need to have security arrangements that are able to roll back this kind of terror and other threats to israel's security. >> ifill: the president also met with abbas. >> benjamin netanyahu and president abbas are two people who i believe want piece. both believe these negotiation can be completed in one year. as i told each of them today, this moment of opportunity may not soon come again. they cannot afford to let it slip away. >> ifill: the formal talks begin at the state department tomorrow. also joining will be king abdullah of jord

israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinian president mahmoud abbas are expected to meet today and tomorrow. topping their agenda will likely be the soon to retire restraints on new construction in the west bank. >>> stocks are mixed in asia, ashley morrison is here in new york with more on that. good morning to you. >> good morning, terrell. well, japan's nikkei index fell nearly a quarter of a percent today while hong kong's hang seng was higher by more than a percent in early trading. this morning, wall street gets the latest on retail sales. on monday stocks jumped with big banks leading the way. the dow gained 81 points while the nasdaq tacked on 43. senate democrats appear to have the votes to pass a bill creating a $30 billion government fund to help small banks open up lending to small businesses. a procedural vote is expected later on today. the fund will be available to community banks with less than $10 billion in assets. >>> well the summer driving season may be over, but gas prices are on the rise. the price for a gallon of regular has jumped four cents in ju

-- benjamin netanyahu and mahmoud abbas met in washington. the two sides will meet again later this month. jeremy is in the washington. >> the motorcades brought them into the state department in washington for the latest installment in what has turned into a 20-year middle eastern saga of lost hope. in the public part of the meeting, they said negotiations to make peace one year from now would not be easy. plan was tons' always be in the room. the top diplomats said there was no time to lose. >> the core issue of the center of these negotiations, territory security, jerusalem, refugees settlements, and others, will get no easier if we wait. they will not resolve themselves. >> netanyahu said president abbas would have to recognize israel as the jewish homeland. he said the middle east was changing and so were the security guarantees israel would need. >> we have had the rise of i ran and it proxy's. a peace agreement must take into account security arrangements against these real threats. >> the prospect of new buildings for jews in the occu

she spoke twice by phone sunday to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. netanyahu imposed the moratorium last november to try to get palestinians back to the bargaining table. he says he wants to continue negotiations but rejecting calls by president obama and palestinian leaders to extend the ban. palestinians insist construction makes it impossible for them to create a viable, independent state. >> palestinians have to choose between sitting down and talking peace with us and turning their backs on us. and not having -- missing yet another historic opportunity to reach peace. >> reporter: abbas plans to take the issue to a meeting of arab states next week. and under netanyahu, the number of housing units put up in the west bank is at its lowest level since the 1970s. terrell? >> tara mergener in washington for us this morning, thank you. >>> rescue crews in chile still hope to begin pulling the 33 trapped miners to safety beginning in november. the first of three rescue capsules arrived there over the weekend. the miners will be pulled to the surface on

israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinian president mahmoud abbas are set to relaunch direct peace talks at the state department in washington today after a nearly two-year hiatus. following a day of individual meetings with both leaders, president obama said yesterday he was "cautiously hopeful" about achieving a positive outcome. >>> new video out of chile shows improvements in the living quarters for 33 trapped miners a half mile under ground there. in the footage, the men, some of whom are clean-shaven, are seen receiving supplies of bottled water. it may take anywhere from two to four months to get the miners out. >>> and as they do every year, young men in el salvador threw flaming balls of fire at each other this week. does not look fun. it's all part of a festival meant to commemorate a volcanic eruption in 1922. despite the apparent dangers, authorities say few serious injuries have been reported over the years. >>> and now here's an early look at how wall street will open the day. the dow opens at 10,269 after gaining 254 points yesterday. the s&p rose 30 poi

benjamin netanyahu and abbas are in washington for talks with president obama. secretary of state hillary clinton will also be involved in peace talks. she will meet with jordan's king abdullah, the president of england and former prime minister tony blair. all hope to reach an agreement within a year. >>> a south bay teenager filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against ab ercrombie & fitch claiming its score in milpitas discriminated against her. the manager allegedly refused to hire her because she wore a religious head scarf. the lawsuit is similar to one filed against the retailer last year by a muslim job applicant in oklahoma. >>> a bay area company found a way to save parents with time and money and help with the clutter in the closet. kris sanchez shows us a nationwide swap site that could help you. >> reporter: baby kiley is so big and getting bigger every day, so is her 5-year-old sister, and that means mom has a growing problem, too. >> it seems like with two kids you are always overflowing with clothes. >> reporter: piles and piles of clothes that d

the president is meeting separately today with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinianud abbas, all ahead of formal negotiations set for tomorrow. meanwhile there was an attack in the west bank yesterday, possibly designed to disrupt the talks. four israelis were killed when a palestinian gunman opened fire on a car. >>> federal investigators are now backing away from initial suspicions that two men now under arrest in the netherlands were practicing for a terror attack. the two men are from yemen but live here in the u.s. they abruptly changed flight plans in chicago on sunday, going to the netherlands, while sending their luggage to washington. investigators say the two men did not know each other and were not traveling together, and on top of that, they were not on any terror watch lists. >>> the obama administration has appealed a federal judge's order that undercuts federally funded embryonic stem-cell research. the justice department claims stopping such research would cause irreversible harm to millions of extremely sick patients. stem cells are master cells whic

his view on terrorism and response when asked would he meet with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu of the u.s. government. >> no, i'm not. i'm a journalist. independent object i journalist. >> translator: right now you said the u.s. government condemned iran and the u.s. security council has -- >> yes, that's fact. >> translator: do you represent them? >> no, i do not. ring ring. progresso. everyday i eat your soups, i save a lot of money. that's great. so, your rich and hearty soups have made me, rich and hearty. that's funny. i'm hearty because of your juicy steak, your potatoes... you're really, rich and happy. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. you know, if we had let fedex office pri our presentation, they could have shipped it too. saved ourselves the hassle. i'm not too sure about this. look at this. [ security agent ] right. you never kick off with sales figures. kicking off with sales figures! i'm yawning. i'm yawning some more. aaaaaaaand... [ snores ] i see your pnt. yeah. snores ] [ malannouncer ] we understand.® you need a partner who delivers con

apparently benjamin netanyahu served sushi. there is also agreement they will talk again in the coming weeks. we know that negotiators from both sides will meet next week to prepare for the next meeting at the leadership level. the talks continue. the protest continues, but there are very few details so far about the substance and what has already been discussed and what has already been agreed, if anything. >> pope benedict's state visit to britain is intended to improve strained links between catholics and anglicans, but just hours before rate of rise, one of its seniors has pulled out. cardinal kasper is pleading ill health, but it is difficult to not suspect a connection with an interview published in the german magazine. he compares atheism to a disease spreading and compares the u.k. to a third-world country. the mcconnell kasper is an insider, fellow german and senior aide to pope benedict for a decade -- >> cardinal kasper is an insider. he was part of the pope's entourage of britain, but just hours before pope benedict

renewed efforts to sausage stalled peace talks in the region on sunday's very prime minister benjamin netanyahu agreed to compromise over the controversial building of jewish settlements in the west bank. and. south korea has released its foreign reporter with the sinking of one of its ships insists it was sunk by north korean torpedo international investigators the same suggestion that officials who fought in the town ruminate further doubt north korea continues to deny that it attacked the ship last march which killed twenty six more. electoral campaigning in guinea for its first democratic vote has been suspended because of only growing violence supporters of the former prime minister crushed with supporters of the opposition of the road with no can't even at least one day dozens injured the presidential election is the first in the small west african state since it gained independence from france who fifty years ago. there with r.t. we're live twenty four seven and there's also a lot more on our website given that check that out dot com there's plenty more to discover here in just a few of

apparently benjamin netanyahu served sushi. there's also word they will talk again in the coming weeks. we know that negotiations from both sides will meet next week to prepare, so the talks continue. the process continues, but there are very few details so far about the substance and what exactly is being discussed and what may have already been agreed. >> you are pretty well experienced in this region. do you have a sense of where it may be going? george mitchell is in syria now. there is tension rising now in and around gaza. >> absolutely. on both sides of the divide, there are those that do not want these talks to continue. hamas has made clear what it thinks of these talks. that this is not the way to get palestinians their rights back. israeli settlers are also adamant that prime minister netanyahu shall not give in. they want him to continue building in the settlements. the tensions are there. the obstacles are there, but the american administration seems quite confident that it can move this process forward, and it is

israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinian president mahmoud abbas held talks in jerusalem on wednesday after a meeting in egypt on tuesday. the talks were mediated by u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton. the major point of contention is the construction of jewish settlements in israeli occupied territories. israel says it will not extend a freeze on building settlements and will resume construction later this month. but the palestinian side insists that it will walk out of the talks if construction is resumed. after the talks u.s. special envoy george mitchell said the two leaders discussed the issue frankly but that no deal has yet been reached. last-minute negotiations will continue among high-ranking officials next week as israel's settlement activities are expected to resume late this month. >>> former pakistani president pervez musharraf says he will form a new party next month in preparation for the national elections scheduled for 2013. >> i am going to declare a party and give my vision for pakistan on the 1st of october. >> musharraf became pakistan's presiden

israeli officials are refusing, worried it would damage prime minister benjamin netanyahu's credibility at home. >> ultimately only through ongoing intensive direct and serious negotiations can we hope to build a better future for israelis and palestinians. >> these are the first direct talks between israelis and palestinians in two years. american diplomats are schultzing between both sides to keep this latest round alive. rita nissan for cbs news. >> israeli settler groups are pledging to start construction on more than 2,000 homes next week. >>> southwest airlines made a big announcement this morning. the company says it is buying airtran in a daily wore $3.4 billion. today's news comes a weak after continental and united airlines joined forces. airtran's shares rose nearly 4% following the news. if approved, the alliance could sees nearly 70% of passengers flying out of bwi. >>> police hope a driver's side mirror left at it the scene of a hit-and-run will help them catch the driver. a woman remains hospitalized in critical condition following a hit-and-run crash in silver spring. it

she spoke twice by phone on sunday to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. netanyahu imposed the moratorium last november to try to get palestinians back to the bargaining table. he says he wants to continue negotiations but rejected calls by president obama and palestinian leaders to extend the ban. palestinians insist that construction makes it impossible for them to create a viable independent state. >> palestinians have to choose between sitting down and talking peace with us and turning their backs on us and missing another historic opportunity to reach peace. >> reporter: abbas plans to take the issue to a meeting of arab states next week. tara mergener, cbs news, washington. >>> some 300,000 israelis live in the west bank settlement scattered among .5 million palestinians. >>> a georgia pastor is vowing to fight accusations he lured four men in to sexual relationships. bishop eddie long spoke to the congregation for the first time since being accused of sexual misconduct. he stopped short of admitting to the allegations but said he was wrong about the

benjamin netanyahu gritted abbas at his official residence. first time abbas's here in two years. in the guest book, he wrote he hopes for eternal peace. the leaders sounded determined. no one is giving any details about the talks, but to keep the momentum the americans have been playing up the positive atmosphere. >> to me, it has been extremely impressive to see both leaders engaging in this fashion. they are serious. they mean business. they do have differences. we believe they can be overcome. >> it is not just their differences that stand in the wake of peace. the worst violence in months has erupted in gaza. militants launched rocket attacks against israel and israel metallic created. hamas opposes the peace talks. an israeli settlement on occupied territory -- settlers want to keep building. construction has halted for now but is expected to resume at the end of september. the palestinians have threatened to walk out if this happens, with no compromise in sight yet. after the meeting in jerusalem, the talks will continue, but so will attempts on both sides to derail the neg