An Uneasy Inheritance of India’s Political Dynasty
By
NEW DELHI — On a visit to the rural constituency that has sent him or his relatives to Parliament for decades, Rahul Gandhi, the scion of India’s most powerful political dynasty, was asked a simple question: Can you name five party workers from the area?
The question, asked in a pre-election review meeting two years ago by a party worker unhappy with Mr. Gandhi’s attitude toward politics, led Mr. Gandhi to shrug and admit that he could not name anyone, said a flabbergasted Shakeel Ahmad, 60, a second-generation Indian National Congress party leader in the politically vital state of Uttar Pradesh who was at the meeting.
IOC vice-president backtracks on 'worst ever' Olympics comments
- John Coates says Rio can deliver 'excellent' Olympics
- 'Things are moving in the right direction'
Days after his dire warning about preparations for the 2016 Rio Games, International Olympic Committee vice-president John Coates has moved to defuse tensions with the event’s organisers.
Coates now says Rio can deliver an "excellent" Olympics after contacting IOC executive director Gilbert Felli, a senior troubleshooter sent to the host city last week to help tackle delays.
Coates on Tuesday described Rio's preparations for the Olympics as "the worst I have experienced", saying the IOC had "become very concerned" because the Brazilians were behind "in many, many ways".
Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370: Government to release plane investigation report
Preliminary report on plane's disappearance is expected to be released today, almost two months after the jetliner vanished
'Are we becoming a Titanic?': Korean ferry students' last words captured on video
May 1, 2014 - 8:52AM
Choe Sang-Hun
Seoul, South Korea: As a ferry with 476 passengers was badly listing off the south-western coast of South Korea two weeks ago, one of the students on board asked, "Are we becoming a Titanic?"
"This is fun!" another shouted, apparently not realising that the ferry would soon capsize and sink.
In the background of videos recovered from the mobile phones of passengers aboard the ferry Sewol, a voice can be heard over the ship's intercom urging students and their teachers to stay put, telling them they are safer where they are. But as the ship continued to tip and the voice over the intercom repeated the same instructions, panic spread. Some passengers apparently sensed the approaching doom, and sent farewells to their families.
Nigeria girls' abduction: Protest march in Abuja
Hundreds of mainly women protesters have marched through the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to press for the release of 230 schoolgirls abducted by militants two weeks ago.
The government should, if necessary, negotiate with their captors to secure their release, a protester said.
The Islamist group Boko Haram has been blamed for abducting the girls from their school in Chibok, Borno state.
Boko Haram has not yet made any response to the accusation.
The group, whose name means "Western education is forbidden" in the local Hausa language, has staged a wave of attacks in northern Nigeria in recent years, with an estimated 1,500 killed in the violence and subsequent security crackdown this year alone.
Why NATO is such a thorn in Russia's side
By Diana Magnay, CNN
Moscow (CNN) -- In a telephone call Monday between Russia's Defense Minister General Sergei Shoigu and the U.S. Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel, Shoigu described the activity of U.S. and NATO troops near Russia's border as "unprecedented."
According to the official Russian version of the call, his American counterpart assured him the alliance did not have "provocative or expansionist" intentions -- and that Russia should know this.
But it hardly seems to matter how often NATO makes these assurances. The Kremlin will never trust them. Fear of the Western military alliance's steady march east is deep-rooted. It strikes at the very heart of Russia's national sense of security, a relic of Cold War enmity which has seeped down to post-Soviet generations.
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