United States President Barack Obama kept his endorsement of India's bid for a permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council secret till minutes before he rose to address the Indian Parliament, as his move was splashed on front pages of American newspapers on Monday.

'The expectations on the two sides are so divergent that disappointment is inevitable for both.'

Surprised over reports that Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had invited him for tea at the Roosevelt Hotel, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has said that he never received any such invitation. "If he has invited me, then I don't know the mode of invitation through which it was conveyed to me, but let me be very honest that I have not received any invitation," Krishna told PTI.

Putting the onus of resumption of dialogue on India, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Wednesday said he was ready to meet his Indian counterpart S M Krishna anywhere at anytime and was even willing to fly back to New York on Thursday if he has time.

Amid talk over why the Indo-Pak bilateral meeting did not work out on sidelines on the UNGA, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi appeared to suggest that India had changed its mind on the meeting though he was willing to meet "anywhere, anytime".

On a day of dramatic twists and turns, US pastor Terry Jones announced that he has no plans to go ahead with his earlier decision to burn the holy Quran and said he still expects the planned mosque near Ground Zero to be moved as part of a "deal" with a Florida imam.

The administration's attempt to buy an unused prison in Thomson, Illinois to relocate the 180 remaining detainees in Guantanamo Bay, which also includes the five conspirators, has also been blocked by the Republicans, the New York Daily News reported.

India on Friday welcomed Pakistan's decision to accept its $5 million aid offer for flood relief in the country and said it was willing to provide more assistance. Pakistan's decision to accept the aid came nearly a week after the offer was made by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna to his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi last Friday. "We welcome the decision of Pakistan to accept the aid offer," external affairs ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said.

Asserting that there is no role for politics in disaster response, the Obama administration has said it expects Pakistan to accept the $ 5 million aid offer from India for its flood relief work.

The three judge panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld the the State Department intervention in 2009, which exempts taxes on property owned by foreign governments and UN missions that housed diplomatic staff.

The Sino-Pakistan nuclear pact highlights the growing assertiveness of China in global politics and its willingness to take on Washington. It also showcases China's penchant for viewing Pakistan as an important asset in countering India, writes Harsh V Pant.

Charging that Islamabad has not taken any concrete action against the group, Daniel Markey, Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan and South Asia, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), said US President Barack Obama should focus on LeT and other extremist organisation which are of enormous concern.

By staying engaged in the useless border talks, knowing fully well that Beijing has no intent to settle territorial issues, India gives greater space to China to mount strategic pressure and gain leverage, notes strategic expert Brahma Chellaney.

Some of the promoters who had reportedly paid anything between $500, 000 to $1 million for each show were upset that tickets were not moving fast enough.

There is little hope of any justice in the Bhopal gas leak case. If the tragedy and the shock its finale has created awaken us to work on newer laws on corporate responsibility and accountability, it would be a gain, writes Kandaswami Subramanian.

Environmental activist Gopal Krishna lists the five things the US should do to quell the global outrage after the recent verdict in the Bhopal gas leak case and provide some justice to the victims.

The film, in spite of its leading quartet's reliable charms, rambles on and on like those relentless servings of yam in Samantha's direction -- an ordeal not even the craziest fashionista would want to endure no matter how exciting the contents inside those numerous Dior and Louis Vuitton shopping bags.

With the June 7 Bhopal judgment, India has been reduced to a Fourth World country. This story of shame can only end if the government appeals against the judgment, gets proper criminal liability restored and seriously pursues the case against all the accused.

An old back problem is keeping world 100 metres silver medallist Tyson Gay off the track when he should be training and racing, the American said on Thursday.

US military is looking at options for a unilateral strike in Pakistan if a successful terrorist strike on US soil is traced back to the country, senior Pentagon officials were quoted as saying on Saturday.

Diplomatic observers and South Asia experts in the US do not believe that two of India's major concerns that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh brought up with President Obama on Afghanistan, during his state visit in November and again recently on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit have been alleviated during the summit between Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Toronto's Rahul Singh shares space on Time magazine's 2010 list of 100 most influential people, with the likes of United States President Barack Obama, former US president Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs, etc. Singh has been ranked 22nd in the heroes category.

But if tearjerkers aren't your first option it's best to stay away from this Miley Cyrus starrer!

'It is not the individuals, but the system of propaganda and inducement of hatred that is to blame. And that suits the Pakistani establishment just fine: It sustains their failing State.'

Behind the JumboTron faade of Times Square dwells a vibrant, quintessential America. Any attack plot on the Times Square is an assault on the liberalism the United States stands for. P Rajendran gets a bit nostalgic the day the 'Crossraods of the World' stood on the brink of danger.

Rahul Singh is "honored and touched" that he is on the Time Magazine's 2010 list of 100 people who have significantly influenced the world in the 20th century.

The damage when the dust settled was calculated at $65 billion.

In a setback to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), the California Supreme Court has ruled that the soliciting being done by the Hare Krishna members at the busy Los Angeles airport is illegal.The California Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a Los Angeles ordinance that makes it illegal to ask for money on the sidewalks and in the terminals of the Los Angeles International Airport, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

An influential lawmaker from New York congratulated Captain Tejdeep Singh Rattan for graduating from the Army Officer Course, making him the first turbaned Sikh officer to complete basic training in over two decades.

In an hour-long chat on rediff.com on Friday, financial planning expertTrideep Choudhary offered some valuable investment tips.

Pakistan has offered to play a central role in resolving the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan and hold talks with the Taliban. Pakistan's proposal is likely to be discussed when National Security Adviser General James L Jones visits Islamabad later this week, says the report. United States has reacted cautiously to Pakistan's renewed interest in seeking dialogue with the Taliban.

In My Name Is Khan, directed by Johar, SRK plays Rizwan Khan, a man with a form of autism that makes him a much misunderstood person. The 9/11 events indirectly affect millions of people across the globe, and Rizwan is one of them.

In January, university officials asked Seldon to contact Google because her Gmail account had been hacked. She contacted David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer, who informed her that her account was hacked by someone in China.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on friday that Taliban leader Mullah Omar is not interested in peace talks or the reconciliation efforts of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. "I do not expect Mullah Omar and those people to be at all interested in this. In fact, they've made it very clear that they're not," Clinton told CNN.

Google on Wednesday threatened to shut down its operations in China after uncovering hacking attempts into email accounts of Chinese human rights activists, terming it as "highly sophisticated".

The violations relate to transactions Credit Suisse illegally conducted on behalf of customers from Iran, Sudan, Myanmar and other countries, violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and New York state law.

In India, there is a perception that the current ecological disaster is a responsibility of the developed world. If we want to play in the big league we must stop seeing ecological solutions as impositions, say Vikram Sood and Nandita Sood-Perret.

'The dissemination of violence, of terrorism, has its origin in Pakistan,' says Christophe Jaffrelot.

Eight acclaimed professors tip you off, right from politics to picking the right teacher.

Confident that Jammu and Kashmir was 'turning the corner' and entering 'a new chapter' in the peace process, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday hoped that the government's offer of dialogue would be reciprocated in the spirit it has been made.