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Answer: In Persian, the suffix “stan” means “place of.” In Russian — remembering that Kazakhstan borders Russia, and five ‘stans used to be part of the Soviet Union — the word “stan” means “settlement.” So we have seven countries in Central Asia that share the “stan” suffix: Afghanistan Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Pakistan Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan The [...]
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I’ve covered a lot of protests over the years, gotten hit with pepper spray, bruised, bumped and jostled, and even interviewed naked protesters (who were taking the occasion of China’s occupation of Tibet to demand that the Olympic Games return to their glorious in-the-buff past). And protests for world gatherings ranging from G-8 to IMF [...]
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Expired credit cards seem to be a chronic problem for I-Pass customers. Their on-board devices automatically deduct tolls from their I-Pass accounts as they pass under the sensors. But then, by and by, the credit card that funds their I-Pass account expires and they neglect to update the information. The system then begins branding them [...]
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Andy – Your sentiments are correct, but I don’t think that we are in too much danger of the militants controlling the entire state. All ideological revolutions throughout history, have required the majority support of the nation. Pakistan has one tiny Sharia law area and a few mountainous areas that are sympathetic [...]
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Rex Features Former Stereophonics drummer Stuart Cable has revealed that he broke a golden rule from the Rolling Stones when his band supported them on tour. Stones singer Mick Jagger reportedly told the group that they must “never, ever, take the shepherd’s pie unless Keith Richards’ broken the crust first”, The Sun reports. In his [...]
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At first glance, one might think that killing thousands of toads, and being gleeful about it, might be a bad thing. But in fact these are poisonous cane toads, which were introduced into Australia in 1935, and threaten many native species. Read full story from snafu-ed.blogspot.com Read more
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LILONGWE, Malawi — A Malawian judge held a closed-door hearing Monday on Madonna’s application to adopt a second child from this southern African nation but delayed ruling on the matter until Friday, a court official said. Read more
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We were talking with Rachel Maddow the other day (excerpts of our Q&A will appear in Saturday’s Datebook section). Now that we know President Obama’s plan for Afghanistan and Pakistan , here’s what Rachel… Read more
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The Iraqi service station, like motorway stops in Britain, offers refreshments, fuel and toilets for the weary traveller. The one we picked, halfway between Baghdad and Basra, however, also provided a welcome break for two truck-loads of policemen carting about five or six blindfolded prisoners.Picture the scene: a gravel car park filled with dusty cars [...]
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So just what were those two X-rated movies watched by Richard Timney at his wife’s second home in Redditch? Presumably, given Jacqui Smith’s crusades against the sex industry over the past couple of years, the Home Secretary’s husband is not into the really hardcore porn, the sort of stuff we couldn’t mention by [...]
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BELFAST, March 26 — A man reported to be prominent republican Colin Duffy was charged Thursday with killing two British soldiers outside their barracks in Northern Ireland, police in Belfast said. Read more
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President Obama said yesterday that his predecessor’s administration had lost its “focus” on the war in Afghanistan, forcing the creation of a new strategy that is aimed narrowly at defeating the terrorists who run their operations from there and Pakistan. Read more
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Roughly a year after Fidel Castro stepped aside and handed much of the responsibility for leading Cuba to his brother Raúl, there is new momentum in Washington for eliminating the ban on most U.S. travel to the island nation and for reexamining the severe limitations on U.S.-Cuban economic exchanges. Read more
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DOHA, Qatar, March 29 — Qatar’s leader embraced Sudan’s president in a red-carpet welcome Sunday as he arrived to attend an Arab summit in his most brazen act of defiance against an international arrest warrant on charges of war crimes in Darfur. Read more
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BERLIN, March 29 — President Obama’s chief climate-change negotiator said Sunday that the United States would be “powerfully, fervently engaged” in global talks to reduce carbon emissions but warned that a difficult path lay ahead. Read more
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SEOUL (Reuters) – The United States plans to deploy two missile-interceptor ships from South Korea on Monday, a military spokesman said, days ahead of a North Korean rocket launch seen by many as a test of its longest-range missile. Read more
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – General Motors Corp Chief Executive Rick Wagoner resigned under pressure from the Obama administration on Sunday as the government prepared to announce a second bailout for the company and its smaller rival Chrysler LLC. Read more
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The chief executive of struggling US car company General Motors – Rick Wagoner – has agreed to step down. Read more
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DUBAI (AFP) – The unthinkable is happening in once-booming Dubai where credit not many months ago was as easy as the lifestyle — the world financial crisis is spawning a rising number of loan defaulters. Read more