‘Clinton’s ‘charm offensive’ failed to address Pak’s major grouses, including India’

October 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - While Pakistan has been accusing India of fanning Baloch insurgency through Afghanistan, a new report by the US Congressional Research Service (CRS) has clarified that New Delhi is only involved in 'constructive' work in the war torn country. The CRS, which works exclusively for the US Congress, in its report, highlighted that India is the fifth largest single donor country for Afghan reconstruction, funding projects worth over 1.2 billion dollars.

October 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The deadly suicide attack that shook a Swat market killing 41, has nullified the Pakistan Government's repeated claims of it having cleared the Swat Valley of Taliban insurgents. The Shangla district market bombing was the fourth major attack in Swat this week, and came two days after a stunning attack on the armed forces' headquarters in Rawalpindi, which killed 23.

July 31st, 2009 WASHINGTON - A former American expert believes that the US has attained little success in changing Pakistan's attitude towards India. Former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Teresita Schaffer said while Washington has repeatedly asked Pakistan to focus more on the internal threat posed by the Taliban rather than considering India as a major threat to its interests, it has failed to redirect Islamabad's concern towards the real danger.

July 28th, 2009 GILGIT - The Legislative Assembly in Pakistan's Northern Areas has not been able to present its budget for fiscal 2009-10 because there is no one to present it. With the seven-member cabinet of the region dissolved two days before the presentation of the budget, the Speaker of the Assembly, Malik Mohammad Miskeen said that no budget could be presented in the absence of treasury members.

July 15th, 2009 Sharm-el-SHEIKH - Pakistan's dilly dallying attitude over prosecuting Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD) chief Hafeez Mohammad Saeed, the prime accused in the 26/11 Mumbai carnage, has served a heavy blow to the much awaited dialogue between India and Pakistan on the margins of the NAM summit here, as the Foreign Secretary level talk between both the nations have failed to produce any substantial results. Despite some initial positive signals, the talks which were expected to set the tone of the meeting between Indian Prime Minister Dr.

July 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - For their summer vacation, the Obamas are reportedly headed to Martha's Vineyard. The trip, however, could come with some complications for the first family, reports Politico.

June 24th, 2009 WASHIGNTON - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in talks with one of her familys "staunchest loyalists", former White House aide Sidney Blumenthal, to serve as a consultant to the State Department, the New York Times reported said Wednesday. Blumenthal, who worked as an aide to president Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001, would work with Hillary Clintons speechwriting team, an administration official told the Times on condition of anonymity because the appointment was not yet public and could still fall through.

June 15th, 2009 KLANG - A former PKR top leader is accusing Anwar Ibrahim of not being sincere in wanting to help grassroots Indians. PKR former deputy secretary-general P.

June 8th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has no intensions to curtail its India-specific defence budget, military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas has said. Major General Abbas rejected some international appeals that suggested that Pakistan should cut down its India specific defence expenditures, and focus more on the 'war on terror'.

May 27th, 2009 KATHMANDU - The Unified CPN (Maoist) has refused Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal's call to join the government. Talking to reporters here on Tuesday, Maoist spokesperson Dina Nath Sharma said there is no possibility of them joining the government or working together until 'civil supremacy' is maintained.

May 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A Washington-area Democratic donor and onetime adviser to Sarah Palin, urged the conservative Alaska governor to use her political action committee to help retire the presidential campaign debt of Hillary Clinton, who is now the US Secretary of State. According to the web site Politico, John Coale , a wealthy trial attorney, reportedly made an attempt to forge an alliance between two of the most prominent families in American politics - the Palins and the Clintons.

May 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - With Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari leaving no stone unturned in assuring the United States that Islamabad is concerned by the Taliban's expanding writ and that the country's Army is pledged to flush out the extremists, top US officials have raised questions over the Pakistan military offensive. Senior Obama aides are speculative about the success of the military offensive in Pakistan, as the army is ill suited to carry out the kind of counterinsurgency operations needed to end the Taliban fighters' control of Swat, in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).

April 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The United States, while welcoming the Pakistan military's offensive against the Taliban, has expressed hope that the operation would be sustained till the extremists are rooted out from the region. "The test of all of these Pakistani military operations, because we've seen them from time to time in the past, is always their sustainability," Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said.

April 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias has revealed that he learnt how to charm fans from his famous father Julio. Iglesias, 33, said that he learnt how to keep his fans happy after watching and studying his father's suave moves as a schoolboy.

January 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Friday charged that Hamas is holding the people of Gaza hostage and warned that a ceasefire, to be acceptable, must be 'durable'. She said a 'durable and sustainable' ceasefire would be one that would not allow Hamas to 'continue to launch rockets out of Gaza'.