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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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This week’s story of the five Americans nabbed in Pakistan for allegedly trying to participate in terror attacks shows us a few things: 1) If you get all extremist your family may end up calling the FBI on you, and 2) that despite welcoming the notoriously loopy Adam Gadahn with open arms, al-Qaida is apparently [...]
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In one of my frequent fits of pedantry I was explaining to the kids  “hearse” — a word that came up in their reading for school — is a vehicle used for transporting caskets containing human remains from place to place before burial, and that they resemble large station wagons. Read more
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7:35pm UK, Saturday December 12, 2009 Andy Jack, Sky News Online Police say between 600 and 700 people have been arrested during a climate change protest in the Danish capital Copenhagen. [...]
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Rachel Weisz has revealed that she feels sexier now being a mother. Read more
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Air Force spokesman Capt. Montol Suchookorn said the chartered cargo plane originated in North Korea’s capital Pyongyang and requested to land at Bangkok’s Don Muang airport to refuel. Read more
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PARIS — A French court yesterday ordered a photographer accused of bilking France’s richest woman out of cash and art worth $1.5 billion to stand trial for exploitation. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers has waged a two-year legal campaign against the man she accuses of taking advantage of Liliane Bettencourt, her 87-year-old mother and the [...]
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Health care polls keep getting uglier, and Republicans are salivating over the 2010 elections. For those doubting this month’s Quinnipiac poll showing 53 – 38 disapproval of the health care legislation, a… Read more
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It is jokingly dubbed ‘the most expensive B&B in the world’. Then again the trailer camp is the only ‘bed and breakfast’ that also provides lunch, dinner, a gym, 24-hour Internet access and a relatively secure place to stay in Basra.Situated within the newly-acquired American military base in this southern-Iraqi province, the B&B provides private [...]
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With his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Barack Obama signaled that the world had better get ready for a tougher, less forgiving, more quintessentially American approach from a man who certainly gave the soft touch a try. Read more
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In the streets of Tehran, young Iranians shout “Death to the Dictator” instead of “Death to America.” Across the border, Iraqis worry that new violence after months of relative calm will undermine the political process they adopted under U.S. pressure. But they also voice renewed determination to repel the sadists and killers who once dominated [...]
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MOSCOW — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev fired 20 senior prison officials, including the capital’s prisons chief, after an investigation into the death of a jailed lawyer, officials said Friday. Read more
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A spike in terrorism cases involving U.S. citizens is challenging long-held assumptions that Muslims in Europe are more susceptible to radicalization than their better-assimilated counterparts in the United States. Read more
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CARACAS, Venezuela — Every day, Pascual Cicenia plays golf on an emerald course that is 18 holes of tropical heaven in the middle of this chaotic city. He doesn’t take it for granted, he said, especially now that President Hugo Chávez has disparaged the sport as an elitist endeavor with few friends in his populist [...]
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TIMBUKTU, MALI — The glittering slabs of white salt had been brought here across more than 400 miles of Sahara, as they always have. Al-Hussein Boubakar, their purveyor, was haggling with a customer, as he always does. Read more
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LONDON — The Greek government on Friday scrambled to put together an emergency plan to rein in its runaway finances amid fears that a debt crisis could reignite turmoil in world markets. Read more
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LONDON (Reuters) – Former British prime minister Tony Blair believes it was right to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein from power even though no weapons of mass destruction were ever found. Read more
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The House of Representatives approved the biggest changes in financial regulation since the Great Depression on Friday, marking a win for the Obama administration and top Democrats in Congress. Read more
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US golfer Tiger Woods is taking indefinite leave from professional golf to try to work on “healing” his family. Read more
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RETAIL SURPRISE: Retail spending rose 1.3 percent in November, more than twice the expected gain. Read more