1.   The talks dealt with bilateral relations, the Arab-Israeli conflict and the situation in the Gulf.

2.   Other talks dealt with financial issues, communication and safety improvements in Brazil.

3.   Apart from Jerusalem, the talks must deal with final borders, Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza and the millions of Palestinian refugees still abroad.

4.   All the previous talks dealt with peripheral issues, not the core problems of Jerusalem, Palestinian statehood, refugees and Jewish settlers.

5.   The final talks deal with life-and-death issues like secure borders for Israel.

6.   The talks dealt with the toughest issues remaining between the two sides, including whether Israel will share control of Jerusalem and the fate of millions of Palestinian refugees.

7.   These talks would deal with such contentious issues as whether there will be a Palestinian state and the status of Jerusalem, which both Israelis and Palestinians claim.

8.   When talks deal with the nitty-gritty, however, Russian negotiators get huffy.

9.   Arafat said the United States had guaranteed that final status talks would deal with Palestinian statehood and Jerusalem.

10.   But the security talks will deal with that possibility.