On Friday, German Chancellor was caught enjoying some down time in a pub in Brisbane, where she has come to attend the G20 summit. Over the past years, world leaders have often been snapped enjoying some time on their own at a pub, downing a drink or two. So, sit back, enjoy a glass of wine and a few of those moments.
Donald Trump has announced that he would skip the glitzy White House Correspondents' Association annual dinner, to become the first US President to miss the gala in decades amidst his raging tiff with the media.
It has been a half-century since Neil Armstrong stepped out of a lunar module and onto the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969 and declared, "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." The moment heralded a golden age of space exploration that was set in motion just eight years earlier in 1961, when United States President John F Kennedy promised before Congress to put a man on the moon before the decade was out. Here are some lesser-known facts about the historic first mission:
Although the US was among the first to formally recognise his government in 1959, it began working to oust him as Fidel moved into the Soviet bloc.
'And because she was very close to Indira Gandhi, she was close to me.' 'Sonia is a wonderful person'
The Year of the Rabbit, according to the Chinese calendar, began on Sunday, January 22.
Within a few hours of Nitish Kumar leaving the NDA, entirely reasonable people were speculating as to how the CBI or ED could be used against him or his party, notes Mihir S Sharma.
'It is not the country's interests alone that lead to all this secrecy.' 'More usually, the reason is the threat from political rivals: What will they do if they find out?', notes T C A Srinivasa Raghavan.
Trump paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years largely because he reported losing much more money than he made, the report said. The US president immediately dismissed the report as 'totally fake news'.
You aren't dealing with a normal, civilised, law. The NDPS Act, in its preconditions for bail, and insistence on evidence of innocence rather than guilt, is worse than UAPA. Imagine yourself or your child at the other end of this, observes Shekhar Gupta.
United States President Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump will be visiting India -- Ahmedabad and Delhi -- on February 24 and 25 on the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Let's assess earlier American presidential visits to India.
'The American electorate are forced to choose between a shop-soiled spokesperson of crony establishmentarianism and an outlandish boor of a showman, who should never have been where he is now.'
Jaishankar noted that it would be difficult to say what will happen in the future as there are a lot of "contradictions and frictions" out there today.
The two leaders had some firm convictions in defence matters and are idolised by their respective people because they salved the scarred collective psyches of their societies.
Donald Trump, on the verge of becoming the third United States president to be impeached, has attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and accused the Democrats of an "unprecedented and unconstitutional" abuse of power as he described himself as a victim of an "illegal, partisan attempted coup."
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins his historic visit of the United States of America, here's a look at some landmark visits by Indian prime ministers to the United States of America.
The revelation that he declared a USD 916 million threatened to put the 70-year-old tycoon's tax records at the centre of the presidential campaign.
The fact that the US dollar has become the world's preferred reserve currency is now the core of global financial crisis, says Mohan Guruswamy.
Such criticism by China of a foreign government official, particularly of a major power like the US, is very unusual. It is clear that China will come under increasing pressure certainly till the US presidential elections are held, observes former senior RA&W officer and China expert Jayadeva Ranade.
X-Men: Days Of Future Past crams so, so much plot into its two-hour running time that there isn't room to get bored, raves Raja Sen.
Opposition led by Congress on Thursday upped the ante against the government on the bugging issue demanding a judicial probe and a statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the matter which, they said, has put NDA's credibility at stake.
'There is no evidence of newspapers and television channels ganging up to wage a coordinated war to expose the BSP, destroy the AIADMK, malign Kejriwal, discredit Lalu or defame Mamata.' 'But it's of interest that none of these exposes threatens the 12 states the BJP controls,' says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
'The right wing has worked for 70-80 years at the grass roots before it burst onto social media.' 'Social media is an extension of its formidable work in society.' 'If you think you can fight them on social media, forget it. You can't.'
Fifty years ago on July 20, 1969 with these words American astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin "Buzz" E Aldrin made history by becoming the first human beings to set foot on another world -- the moon. It was an event that was watched by millions on television and one that remains etched in all our memories. Collected here are 17 images of that historic mission, a "giant leap for mankind".
In the mid-1980s, India and the US struggled to arrive at sufficient confidence for Washington to even sell a supercomputer to India for monsoon prospecting. Now, the most sensitive military technologies, data, and intelligence resources are being shared. This would not have happened without that one, big deal that changed the fundamentals of India-US relations, notes Shekhar Gupta.
'The real problem of joblessness and democratic politics is happening here in India. And it is happening now, right before us.'
President Trump reacted sharply to the lawsuit and asserted that he would 'not settle' the case, and accused the Opposition Democrats of continuing with their 'witch hunt' against him.
The trust some people in India had that the Biden-Harris administration would be friendly to India has been eroded already, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The external affairs ministry's files, as distinct from those of the ministry of defence or the agencies, at least from before 1974 should be declassified. And if select files that are more than 40 years old are not to be declassified, the ministry should follow explicit guidelines to justify taking such a view, says Jaimini Bhagwat.
'That Mad Men is currently the best-written show and quite unlike anything else out there is an understatement.'
However, Trump sought to dismiss the charges by saying that these "Washington elites" should look for answers on why the world has become a mess.
Amberish K Diwanji on Indian prime ministers and the seven-year itch.
The government should take steps to mandate that companies have at least two women board members, and at least one of them should be an independent director, in the next two years.
An aggressive Pyongyang is likely to force Seoul and Tokyo to build nuclear deterrents and thus thwart Beijing's ambitions.
'By demonetising higher denominations of currency notes, we have taken out the vehicle for corruption.' 'But the motive is still there.'
Modi should bluntly ask Chinese President Xi Jinping why he was willing to put his neck in the Pakistani noose, ignoring all that is known of Pakistan's perfidy, says B S Raghavan.
By buying The Washington Post in his personal capacity, the Amazon founder and internet pioneer may just be looking to save an American institution.
'The optimistic advice might be "fasten your seat belts" and the pessimistic one might just turn out to be "brace for impact",' says Claude Smadja.
Democracy is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for rooting out corruption
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