Obama will skip APEC in Russia
15TH May 2012
President Obama will not travel to Russia this year to attend the APEC summit, according to White House spokesman Jay Carney. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit is scheduled for Sept. 1-8 in Vladivostok. Obama is scheduled to accept the Democratic presidential nomination at the party's convention in Charlotte on Sept. 6. "The fact of the matter is we have a comprehensive relationship with Russia that's built on working together in areas where we agree, and that has borne significant successes, that approach, and then be very clear about where we disagree but not letting those disagreements undermine the overall relationship," Carney said. "And that was true under President [Dmitry] Medvedev when Vladimir Putin was prime minister, and it will continue to be true now that Mr. Putin has returned to the presidency and Mr. Medvedev is now prime minister.Obama made clear during his meeting with Medvedev on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul in March that he wouldn't visit Russia until after November."I wish him all the best," Obama said during his meeting with Medvedev. "And I would love to visit St. Petersburg. He is absolutely right that my next visit to Russia will undoubtedly be after my election."
Pakistan signals end to blockade of Nato supplies
15th-May-2012 - 03:15 PM
Islamabad shut its Afghan border to Nato supplies after US air strikes killed 24 soldiers in November, provoking a new crisis in relations on top of the outcry from the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden the previous May.But Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said on Monday that it was time to “move on”, conceding a key demand from the West in time for Pakistan to attend the Nato summit in Chicago on Sunday and Monday.Pakistan has called in vain for an end to US drone strikes targeting Taliban and al Qaeda militants on its soil, and a formal apology for the November killings.But analysts say Pakistan has no choice but to reopen the border when US cash is needed to help boost its meagre state coffers, at a time when major Nato discussions are underway affecting its own strategic future.“It was important to make a point, Pakistan has made a point and we now need to move on and go into a positive zone and try to conduct our relations,” Khar told a news conference.“We are trying to put this relationship, you know, in a positive zone and I am quite sure that we will be successful in doing so,” she said.The Pakistani cabinet’s defence committee, which groups senior civilian and military figures including the prime minister, army chief of staff and intelligence chief, will convene from 1430 GMT on Tuesday.A meeting of the full cabinet is expected to follow on Wednesday, officials have said.Pakistan’s involvement in the Chicago summit could boost the country’s leverage over the future of Afghanistan, as Nato countries pull out their combat forces by 2014 after a decade of increasingly unpopular war.Asked whether Islamabad would allow a resumption of Nato supplies, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Monday that a decision would be made within days but refused to go into detail, citing “sensitivities”.The US State Department said both countries had made “considerable progress” on ending the blockade, which has held up lengthy convoys of fuel and supply trucks all the way to the Pakistani port city of Karachi in the south.Pakistani and US officials spent the weekend locked in talks in Islamabad on reaching an understanding to govern fees, logistics and other obligations should trucks again carry Nato supplies through Pakistan.The supply line negotiating team arrived in the country with US special envoy Marc Grossman, who visited in April, and stayed on after he left, officials said.“They are not yet finished with the Pakistanis,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.“But we’re having a full review with the government of Pakistan on how this transit system works and all of the issues are on the table in that context.”Islamabad reiterated Monday that it would still like an apology for the November air strikes, with the foreign minister saying it was “on the table”.The United States has expressed regret for the deaths, which an American and Nato investigation said stemmed from mistakes made on both sides during fighting on the Afghan border with Pakistan.In a further sign that tensions are easing, Pakistan on Sunday hosted the most senior talks with Nato and the Afghan military in nearly a year, focused on improving border coordination.
India says it will cut Iran oil purchases by 11 per cent
15th-May-2012 - 2:20 PM
NEW DELHI: India said Tuesday it would cut purchases of Iranian oil by 11 per cent following pressure from the United States to join a drive to isolate the Islamic republic over its disputed nuclear programme.
Indian refiners expect to import 15.5 million metric tons of crude from Iran in the fiscal year that began April 1, the country’s junior oil minister told parliament in a written reply, down from 17.44 million tons last ear.
The move comes after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week urged India to reduce its imports of Iranian oil as Washington readies a law to go into effect next month to slap sanctions on nations that buy oil from Tehran.
“To reduce its dependence on any particular region of the world, India has been consciously trying to diversify its sources of crude oil imports to strengthen the country’s energy security,” junior oil minister R.P.N. Singh said.
The size of imports from various sources depends on technical, commercial and other considerations, Singh added.
The US embassy in New Delhi said it could not immediately comment on whether the reduction in Iranian imports would be enough avert US sanctions.
The sanctions, from which the European Union and Japan have already been exempted, will affect banks from countries that keep buying Iranian oil.
But during her visit to India, Clinton praised New Delhi for its efforts towards cutting imports, while India’s foreign minister S.M. Krishna said “this issue is not a source of discord between our two countries.”Energy-scarce India, which imports four-fifths of its crude, says it shares the US goal of preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon.
But New Delhi also says the Islamic republic remains an “important source of oil” and it it cannot take any drastic action to slash imports as Iran is key in meeting India’s growing energy needs.
India and Iran have a long shared history and culture and New Delhi sees the Islamic Republic as a vital counterweight to rival Pakistan in the troubled geographic region.
As part of its drive to reduce its reliance on Iranian oil, India, which depended on Iran for 12 per cent of its imports last year, has already asked its top state-run importers to reduce shipments from Tehran.
India’s announcement comes as US Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs Carlos Pascual is in India for three days of follow-up oil talks in the wake of Clinton’s visit.
Indian officials had initially said India might reduce Iranian oil imports by 15 to 20 per cent.
15TH May 2012
President Obama will not travel to Russia this year to attend the APEC summit, according to White House spokesman Jay Carney. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit is scheduled for Sept. 1-8 in Vladivostok. Obama is scheduled to accept the Democratic presidential nomination at the party's convention in Charlotte on Sept. 6. "The fact of the matter is we have a comprehensive relationship with Russia that's built on working together in areas where we agree, and that has borne significant successes, that approach, and then be very clear about where we disagree but not letting those disagreements undermine the overall relationship," Carney said. "And that was true under President [Dmitry] Medvedev when Vladimir Putin was prime minister, and it will continue to be true now that Mr. Putin has returned to the presidency and Mr. Medvedev is now prime minister.Obama made clear during his meeting with Medvedev on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul in March that he wouldn't visit Russia until after November."I wish him all the best," Obama said during his meeting with Medvedev. "And I would love to visit St. Petersburg. He is absolutely right that my next visit to Russia will undoubtedly be after my election."
Pakistan signals end to blockade of Nato supplies
15th-May-2012 - 03:15 PM
Islamabad shut its Afghan border to Nato supplies after US air strikes killed 24 soldiers in November, provoking a new crisis in relations on top of the outcry from the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden the previous May.But Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said on Monday that it was time to “move on”, conceding a key demand from the West in time for Pakistan to attend the Nato summit in Chicago on Sunday and Monday.Pakistan has called in vain for an end to US drone strikes targeting Taliban and al Qaeda militants on its soil, and a formal apology for the November killings.But analysts say Pakistan has no choice but to reopen the border when US cash is needed to help boost its meagre state coffers, at a time when major Nato discussions are underway affecting its own strategic future.“It was important to make a point, Pakistan has made a point and we now need to move on and go into a positive zone and try to conduct our relations,” Khar told a news conference.“We are trying to put this relationship, you know, in a positive zone and I am quite sure that we will be successful in doing so,” she said.The Pakistani cabinet’s defence committee, which groups senior civilian and military figures including the prime minister, army chief of staff and intelligence chief, will convene from 1430 GMT on Tuesday.A meeting of the full cabinet is expected to follow on Wednesday, officials have said.Pakistan’s involvement in the Chicago summit could boost the country’s leverage over the future of Afghanistan, as Nato countries pull out their combat forces by 2014 after a decade of increasingly unpopular war.Asked whether Islamabad would allow a resumption of Nato supplies, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Monday that a decision would be made within days but refused to go into detail, citing “sensitivities”.The US State Department said both countries had made “considerable progress” on ending the blockade, which has held up lengthy convoys of fuel and supply trucks all the way to the Pakistani port city of Karachi in the south.Pakistani and US officials spent the weekend locked in talks in Islamabad on reaching an understanding to govern fees, logistics and other obligations should trucks again carry Nato supplies through Pakistan.The supply line negotiating team arrived in the country with US special envoy Marc Grossman, who visited in April, and stayed on after he left, officials said.“They are not yet finished with the Pakistanis,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.“But we’re having a full review with the government of Pakistan on how this transit system works and all of the issues are on the table in that context.”Islamabad reiterated Monday that it would still like an apology for the November air strikes, with the foreign minister saying it was “on the table”.The United States has expressed regret for the deaths, which an American and Nato investigation said stemmed from mistakes made on both sides during fighting on the Afghan border with Pakistan.In a further sign that tensions are easing, Pakistan on Sunday hosted the most senior talks with Nato and the Afghan military in nearly a year, focused on improving border coordination.
India says it will cut Iran oil purchases by 11 per cent
15th-May-2012 - 2:20 PM
NEW DELHI: India said Tuesday it would cut purchases of Iranian oil by 11 per cent following pressure from the United States to join a drive to isolate the Islamic republic over its disputed nuclear programme.
Indian refiners expect to import 15.5 million metric tons of crude from Iran in the fiscal year that began April 1, the country’s junior oil minister told parliament in a written reply, down from 17.44 million tons last ear.
The move comes after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week urged India to reduce its imports of Iranian oil as Washington readies a law to go into effect next month to slap sanctions on nations that buy oil from Tehran.
“To reduce its dependence on any particular region of the world, India has been consciously trying to diversify its sources of crude oil imports to strengthen the country’s energy security,” junior oil minister R.P.N. Singh said.
The size of imports from various sources depends on technical, commercial and other considerations, Singh added.
The US embassy in New Delhi said it could not immediately comment on whether the reduction in Iranian imports would be enough avert US sanctions.
The sanctions, from which the European Union and Japan have already been exempted, will affect banks from countries that keep buying Iranian oil.
But during her visit to India, Clinton praised New Delhi for its efforts towards cutting imports, while India’s foreign minister S.M. Krishna said “this issue is not a source of discord between our two countries.”Energy-scarce India, which imports four-fifths of its crude, says it shares the US goal of preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon.
But New Delhi also says the Islamic republic remains an “important source of oil” and it it cannot take any drastic action to slash imports as Iran is key in meeting India’s growing energy needs.
India and Iran have a long shared history and culture and New Delhi sees the Islamic Republic as a vital counterweight to rival Pakistan in the troubled geographic region.
As part of its drive to reduce its reliance on Iranian oil, India, which depended on Iran for 12 per cent of its imports last year, has already asked its top state-run importers to reduce shipments from Tehran.
India’s announcement comes as US Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs Carlos Pascual is in India for three days of follow-up oil talks in the wake of Clinton’s visit.
Indian officials had initially said India might reduce Iranian oil imports by 15 to 20 per cent.
Himalayas plane crash leaves 15 dead in Nepal
14th-May-2012 - 5:00PM
Such a horrifying news I heard yesterday I could post due to sadness-15 people dead.A plane crashed into a mountain in the Himalayas while trying to land at an airport in northern Nepal on Monday, killing 15 people and critically injuring six.
It was carrying two pilots and a flight attendant — all Nepalese — along with 16 Indians and two Danish citizens, both of whom survived, officials said.Television footage showed the Danes being taken inside a hospital in the nearby city of Pokhara, the man being led on foot and the woman crying in pain as she was carried on a stretcher.The plane was turning around to land at Jomsom Airport when it crashed, said Laxmi Raj Sharma, chief government administrator in the area.The wrecked aircraft was in pieces but did not catch fire. Sharma said the initial investigation indicated it might have had technical problems.Rescue was swift because the plane crashed just few metres from an army camp at Jomsom.The Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet said it spoke to the Danish passengers by phone at the hospital and identified them as Emilie Joergensen and Andreas Rasch."We were thrown around. The seats were unfastened and we were squeezed between seats and bodies," it quoted Joergensen as saying.She said they had to climb over "hands and arms" to get out of the plane. "I think it was easy for us to get out because we sat in the back and were closest to the exit," Joergensen said.he said they were on their way to Jomsom where they planned to go trekking.Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai issued a statement expressing condolences at the deaths of the 15 people.Such a bad news For 15 families.God bless them and rest their souls in peace
It was carrying two pilots and a flight attendant — all Nepalese — along with 16 Indians and two Danish citizens, both of whom survived, officials said.Television footage showed the Danes being taken inside a hospital in the nearby city of Pokhara, the man being led on foot and the woman crying in pain as she was carried on a stretcher.The plane was turning around to land at Jomsom Airport when it crashed, said Laxmi Raj Sharma, chief government administrator in the area.The wrecked aircraft was in pieces but did not catch fire. Sharma said the initial investigation indicated it might have had technical problems.Rescue was swift because the plane crashed just few metres from an army camp at Jomsom.The Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet said it spoke to the Danish passengers by phone at the hospital and identified them as Emilie Joergensen and Andreas Rasch."We were thrown around. The seats were unfastened and we were squeezed between seats and bodies," it quoted Joergensen as saying.She said they had to climb over "hands and arms" to get out of the plane. "I think it was easy for us to get out because we sat in the back and were closest to the exit," Joergensen said.he said they were on their way to Jomsom where they planned to go trekking.Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai issued a statement expressing condolences at the deaths of the 15 people.Such a bad news For 15 families.God bless them and rest their souls in peace
No comments:
Post a Comment