Obama kickstarts India’s nuclear deal By MK Bhadrakumar The relationship between the United States and India, which lately showed signs of stress, was revamped on Monday with the announcement that the two countries have completed the “arrangements and procedures” for US-origin spent nuclear fuel to be reprocessed in India. A major stumbling block for the “operationalization” of the civil nuclear cooperation agreement signed in 2008 by the US and India has been removed. It took tough negotiations to reach the accord. The US had previously given such reprocessing rights only to the European Atomic Energy Community and Japan. The timing … Continue reading Obama kickstarts India’s nuclear deal

Pakistan roots to Moscow attack? By Syed Saleem Shahzad ISLAMABAD – Monday’s twin suicide attacks by female bombers in the Moscow metro system in which at least 38 people were killed and 64 injured were most likely planned and executed by people trained in Pakistan’s tribal areas. The head of the Federal Security Service (FSB – formerly the KGB), under whose headquarters the attacks took place, immediately pointed a finger at insurgents linked to the North Caucasus, saying the assumption was based partly on fragments of the suicide bombers’ bodies. “Our preliminary theory is that these terrorist attacks were carried … Continue reading Pakistan mullahs being blamed for Moscow attack?

West provokes China’s ‘hardened’ stance By Jian Junbo SHANGHAI – Outsiders believe that China is hardening its foreign policy, citing a number of recent events. But from China’s viewpoint, the United States and Europe have provoked it into taking a tougher position. Looking at China’s rejection of US demands at the Copenhagen climate change summit, the Google incident and Beijing’s strong opposition to US President Barack Obama’s meeting with the Dalai Lama, Western observers say China is clearly hardening its stance. They also point to China’s strong reaction to US arms sales to Taiwan, the trial of four former employees … Continue reading China’s ‘hardened’ stance provoked by West?

From Hollywood to Chollywood By Francesco Sisci BEIJING – In the next five to 10 years, the Chinese film market could well become the largest in the world. The calculations are simple: the market grew by almost 44% last year, and about 30% in 2008. Last year, it was worth US$908 million – about a tenth of the $9.79 billion of US revenues in the previous year. At the current rate, the Chinese film market will outgrow the American market in five to 10 years. Yet the story is not simply one of economics; above all, it’s about culture. Our … Continue reading Hollywood to Chollywood

Obama imposing a Palestinian state By Victor Kotsev “US President Barack Obama’s demands during his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last Tuesday point to an intention to impose a permanent settlement on Israel and the Palestinians in less than two years,” the Israeli daily, Ha’aretz, wrote on Monday. We may draw a similar conclusion from analyses such as the one by Tony Karon in Asia Times Online. [1] United States-Israel rifts have widened to the point where the BBC recently reported that the US would “seriously consider abstaining” if the United Nations Security Council were to vote on a … Continue reading Gutsy Obama imposing a Palestinian state?

The Black Widow riddle By Pepe Escobar They were two Chechen “Black Widows” with dark hair, Caucasus features, not older than 25. They were trained by al-Qaeda Arabs, led by Abu Hanifah, in the Pakistani tribal area of South Waziristan, alongside a bunch of Chechens and Uzbeks who came from Turkey – all part of a long-range al-Qaeda plan to wreak permanent havoc across Central Asia and the Caucasus. They crossed from the Pakistani tribal areas to Balochistan, and then to Sistan-Balochistan province in Iran – profiting from a deal between al-Qaeda and the anti-Tehran Sunni group Jundallah. From Iran … Continue reading Moscow Black Widow riddle

Birmingham City Council spells name of own city wrong Polling cards issued by Birmingham City Council spelt the name of the city wrong. telegraph.co.uk The grammatical gaffes were condemned by campaigners for better use of language Photo: NEWSTEAM The forms gave a return address for inquiries as ‘Great Charles Street, Birmingam.’ The error came a week after the council sent out 60,000 postal ballot cards with a return deadline of May 29 2009 – last year’s European Election date. A second set of polling cards later arrived on doormats with the correct deadline for this year’s local election of April … Continue reading Birmingham City Council – The City of Moronic Councillors?

France has begun another attempt to prevent the invasion of English words in its language by creating new words to replace common Anglicisms. By Alastair Jamieson telegraph.co.uk The suggestions were considered a by panel of members of the Académie Française as well as French politicians and a rap musician Photo: REUTERS A government agency announced the results of a competition among schoolchildren and students to identify French-sounding terms for 21st-century phenomena. A report in The Independent said the task was to come up with French replacements for “chat”, “talk” and “newsletter” as well as terms for “tuning” – where young … Continue reading French government picks new words to replace English

Will the Queen stop a second election? Brown could cling on as premier even if Tories win By James Chapman The Queen’s involvement is allowed under ancient conventions The Queen could step in and block a second General Election this year in the event of a hung Parliament, to prevent Britain spiralling into an economic crisis. Her action would force parties to work towards a coalition government rather than having to go to the polls again for a decisive result. It raises the possibility that Gordon Brown could remain as Prime Minister of a minority government. Mr Brown would stay … Continue reading HM The Queen and the possibility of a hung parliament!

Is the world ready for an Independence Day sequel? With Will Smith reportedly on board, do you want to see another round or two of alien invasion mayhem? guardian.co.uk Any sequel to 1996’s Independence Day will have to find a whole new range of monuments to destroy The only thing more miraculous than Earth’s victory over apparently indestructible alien forces in the 1996 Roland Emmerich blockbuster Independence Day is the fact that there has never been a sequel. Starring Will Smith as a fighter pilot heroically battling to take out extraterrestrial invaders, the film took $816m around the world and … Continue reading US President to declare Jihad on Aliens again?