Ahmadinejad assures Assad Iran is taking nuclear talks seriously

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday told visiting Syrian President and staunch regional ally BasharAssad that Tehran was serious about finding a practical solution to the nuclear crisis.

"We are serious in talks and we want the talks to be based on the law so it will bear practical results. We hope that other sides are serious too," Ahmadinejad told Assad in remarks broadcast live on staterun television.

On Saturday evening Ahmadinejad was quoted as telling his Syrian counterpart that Tehran "will not give up an inch on its nuclear rights."

His comments coincide with this weekend's US deadline for Iran to respond to an international package of incentives for it to freeze its drive to enrich uranium amid warnings of new sanctions if it does not.

After meeting Iran's nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili on July 19 in Geneva, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana asked for a response in two weeks, but "if it's in 16 days instead of 14 it's not a problem. We are not obsessed with a date," an EU diplomat said earlier on condition of anonymity.

The Syrian leader's visit fol lows a trip to Paris a month ago during which French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged Syria to "persuade Iran" to prove that it is not seeking nuclear weapons.

"When we were in France we told them about the Syrian position on Iran's nuclear issue but they asked us if we have details of the Iranian program," Assad said on Sunday in Arabic through a translator.

"On this trip we got details, so in the future if we are asked again we know Iran's position." Iran has so far been slapped by three sets of Security Council resolutions demanding that it halt uranium enrichment. This process to produce fuel for nu clear power plants can also be used to make the fissile core of an atomic bomb if refined to significantly higher levels.

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Lebanon's Antonine Sisters open new school in Canada

Lebanese-Canadians made history in July by consecrating a full-time educational institution in the heart of Canada's capital, which is a ma jor milestone for the community.The school is called the Providence Academy and is run by the Antonine Sisters, a Maronite Catholic order that originates in Lebanon.

The head of the school, Sister Félicité Daou,called it a "blessed and remarkable leap for the mission and a graceful moment in our dedication to the service of the people of Ottawa." The Antonine Congregation has operated in Ottawa for 20 years and the opening of the school was a turning point and a great accom plishment for hard work. Sister Daou stressed the role of this new school "in a society, where respect for individuals inherently implies respect for diverse cultures and religious beliefs."

The new school will be added to the kindergarten that was opened five years ago.Alongside the provision of "an exceptional pedagogic program," the school pamphlet says, "the school nurtures students spiritually, culturally and morally, so they may grow up to become living testimonies to the biblical word while meeting with their parents pedagogical and moral expectations from our mission." It also instills in students a sense of national commitment,"to become responsible citizens well aware of their role in the community and capable of successfully functioning in a multicultural environment."

The school accepts girls and boys, offering classes from kindergarten to grade 8 and progressing over the years to add classes up to the secondary level (grade 13). The academic program is trilingual: French and English are taught as a first language and Arabic (or another international language) as a second language. The academy offers a trilingual program devel oped in accordance with the Ministry of Education in the province of Ontario.

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