Free Republic

One way to get around the whole bowing problem? Don’t let in the reporters until you’re already sitting down. President Obama played host to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at the White House on Tuesday but avoided the diplomatic trapdoor he fell through a year ago by greeting the monarch without cameras around to record whether he bowed first. The president raised eyebrows and stirred criticism in April 2009 when he encountered King Abdullah at a summit meeting of the Group of 20 nations in London. As Mr. Obama approached, he appeared to bow before the king. The White House...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says he hopes a series of arrests over an alleged spy ring in the US will not harm US-Russian relations. Mr Putin told former US President Bill Clinton in Moscow that US police had "let themselves go" and were putting people in prison. The FBI claims the spy ring had been operating for more than a decade Ten people have been arrested in the US and one in Cyprus after an FBI inquiry. The Russian foreign ministry has said the US allegations are baseless and a throwback to the Cold War. The 10 people arrested...