The officials said that as a result of the changed thinking about Palestinian abilities, they had come to accept the cease-fire that the Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, negotiated last month with Hamas and other Palestinian groups.

The two foreign ministers, Anthony Eden and Vyacheslav Molotov, negotiated about the percentage shares on October 10 and 11.

The Department for Culture Media and Sport said ministers had "negotiated a remarkably good national settlement for the arts given the economic conditions, limiting the cut to the Arts Council's overall budget to around 11%".

"This is not the sort of meeting where the ministers negotiate and the leaders sashay in, shake hands and sign their names," said a senior Administration official.

The office has no standing in law, and does not carry any formal duties or tasks; that is, it is without a portfolio, though the prime minister may negotiate or assign specific tasks in conjunction with the title.

For the first time, an Israeli prime minister had negotiated with the Palestinians on the future of the city, which Israel has always claimed as its indivisible capital - and it was going over quietly.

In the meantime, Mexican minister of hacienda (treasury) Adolfo de la Huerta negotiated revolutionary debts in New York with international bankers under the leadership of the J. P. Morgan's chief negotiator, Thomas Lamont.

In mid-September, the Romanian parliament will be discussing the agreement which their foreign minister has negotiated with the USA in this matter, without - as you will perhaps be aware - keeping them informed about it.

In Thessaloniki it was said that the heads and the foreign ministers negotiate, not the sectoral councils, and I can only call on the Italian Presidency to resist these attempts.

This was the first time that a Canadian minister negotiated on foreign affairs without any assistance from Great Britain.