Clinton Pledges to 'De-Escalate' Gaza Conflict

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met for more than two hours today behind closed doors with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, saying she sought to "de-escalate the situation in Gaza."Clinton, who flew to Israel today, appeared with Netanyahu ahead of their 4 p.m. ET meeting to discuss a possible ceasefire to the fighting between Israel...

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Israeli-Hamas conflict creates wedge in U.S. relations with Turkey and Egypt, two key partners in Middle East

The Israeli-Hamas conflict is putting the Obama administration at odds with two of its most important partners in the Middle East, threatening to undermine other U.S. objectives in the region at a time of political upheaval. On Monday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, which has frequently served as a moderate voice in the region, described Israel as a “terrorist state” and...

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Colombia's FARC rebels declare ceasefire as talks begin

HAVANA: Colombia's leftist FARC rebels declared a unilateral two-month ceasefire Monday as they began talks in Cuba with the Bogota government on ending Latin America's longest-running insurgency.But the government of President Juan Manuel Santos immediately made clear it would not be bound by the ceasefire and military operations against the FARC would continue.The Colombian military...

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Gujarat Parsis being cremated as vultures dwindle

VADODARA: When Dara Hakim, 89, a former Indian Navy deep-sea diver and prominent member of Vadodara's Parsi community passed away recently, his family chose cremation for his last rites. Though he did not leave any specific instructions, his wife Roda Hakim arranged for a cremation instead of the traditional Tower of Silence.According to Zoroastrian beliefs, the best way to dispose of a body is to...

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In Gaza, a Warning Call, Then Missiles

Anger boiled over in Gaza on Monday as the death toll passed 100 and the civilian casualties mounted. Volleys of Palestinian militant rockets flew into Israel as Israeli drones buzzed endlessly overhead and warplanes streaked through the air to unleash missile strikes.As Israel comes under fierce criticism for the bombing of a home on Sunday that killed 11, including nine from...

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Forget creativity: Can lobbying be taught?

It’s been almost 30 years since Steve Billet, at the time a newly minted lobbyist for AT&T, pulled up behind a car at a red light in Washington and noticed the bumper sticker: “Don’t tell my mother I’m a lobbyist. She thinks I play piano in a whorehouse.” Since then, things have only gotten worse, at least reputationally, for what may be the most remunerative of the world’s more beleaguered...

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Household Expenditure Survey moves into third month

SINGAPORE: The Department of Statistics (DOS) is conducting the tenth Household Expenditure Survey (HES) from October 2012 to September 2013. The survey covers 11,000 households, which are divided into 26 groups with each group being surveyed for a period of two weeks. DOS says it is now moving into the third month of the year-long survey. The forthcoming 5th and 6th groups of households...

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Badal justifies meddling in DSGMC affairs

JALANDHAR: The showdown between Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and her Punjab counterpart over the affairs of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) continues to rage and got shriller on Sunday. On Friday, Badal had sought putting a "leash" on Dikshit-led Delhi government and action against those who had attacked the SAD(B) leaders at Rakabganj gurdwara. A day later, Dikshit asked...

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Lonesome George Not the Last of His Kind, After All?

The tide may be turning for the rare subspecies of giant tortoise thought to have gone extinct when its last known member, the beloved Lonesome George, died in June.A new study by Yale University researchers reveals that DNA from George's ancestors lives on—and that more of his kind may still be alive in a remote area of Ecuador's Galápagos Islands. This isn't the first time Chelonoidis...

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Officials: Israeli Strike Kills 11 Civilians in Gaza

An Israeli missile ripped through a two-story home in a residential area of Gaza City on Sunday, killing at least 11 civilians, including four young children and an 81-year-old woman, in the single deadliest attack of Israel's offensive against Islamic militants.A similar scene unfolded elsewhere in the city early Monday, when an airstrike leveled two houses belonging to a single...

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