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Russia prepares for possible visit by N.Korea's Kim Mon Jun 27, 2011 12:06pm GMT VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, June 27 (Reuters) - Russian authorities are preparing for a possible visit by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, a local official in Russia's Far East said on condition of anonymity on Monday. "We are making preparations," said the local official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation. The official declined to give any details about the trip other than that Kim was expected to travel to Russia's Far East, which borders North Korea, in an armoured train. When...

Kim Jong-il 'to Meet Medvedev' North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev may meet next week in Vladivostok, PrimaMedia, a news agency for Russia's Far East, said Thursday. Medvedev "will visit Vladivostok between June 29 and July 1 to inspect preparations for the APEC Summit there next year and there is the possibility of a summit with North Korean leader Kim during the visit," PrimaMedia reported. "This has been confirmed by several sources." If the summit takes place, it would be the first meeting between the leaders of the two countries in nine years. Kim and Putin...

The U.S. Department of Education refused to allow reporters into break-out sessions at its first Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Youth Summit, held at the Washington Court Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Monday and Tuesday. When CNSNews.com asked organizers why reporters could not attend the break-out sessions, Education Department public affairs specialist Jo Ann Webb said: “Every summit we’ve had has been this way. It’s to promote an open exchange and that’s just the rule, okay?” CNSNews.com followed-up, asking, “Even though this is sponsored by the Department of Education and paid by federal tax dollars?” and Webb replied: “It’s been...

The Tea Party movement will be two years old in February! We’ve stunned the establishment once, imagine what we can do with the next 40 years! Join us February 25-27, 2011 - the second anniversary of the Nationwide Tea Party Protests. Help write the first pages of a new chapter in American history at the American Policy Summit - Pathways to Liberty. We believe it is every citizen’s duty to defend America’s founding principles. That’s why one of the Tea Party Patriots’ goals is to gain the support of 60% of American citizens for the three core values of Fiscal...

January 16, 2011 China Leader’s Limits Come Into Focus as U.S. Visit Nears By DAVID E. SANGER and MICHAEL WINES BEIJING — With President Hu Jintao at the helm, China has become a $5 trillion industrial colossus, a growing military force, and, it sometimes appears, a model of authoritarian decisiveness, navigating out of the global financial crisis and sealing its position as the world’s fastest rising power. But as Mr. Hu prepares to visit Washington this week in an attempt to defuse tensions with the United States, Obama administration officials are grappling with what they describe as a more complex...

UPDATE 4-Many business deals seen during U.S.-China summit Fri Jan 14, 2011 4:56pm EST * Deal signings expected in Washington and Chicago * U.S. business also wants progress on long-term concerns * Group eyes Chinese action on beef, software (Adds reaction, details of U.S.-China business meeting) By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao will bring new business deals and possible commitments to buy U.S. beef and software when he visits Washington next week, a U.S. business group said on Friday. "He will come with gifts," Myron Brilliant, senior vice president at the U.S. Chamber of...

The Obama team on the ground at the NATO Summit in Portugal is flying home pleased. It has been, the president declared, "an extremely productive two days" in Lisbon. Indeed major goals for the future of Afghanistan and the relationship with Russia have been met. For the former, there will be an ongoing, integrated relationship, a continued flow of aid, assistance, and training. For the latter, Russia, there's been a "restart" of relations, on ice for the last two years. Europeans and Americans hope that the chilly period between the U.S. and Russia has ended and will be significantly warmer...

Obama's 'Slurpee summit' has convenience store salivating Washington, Nov 5 : Barack Obama seems to have a thing for naming summits after drinks. The makers of those beverages couldn't be happier. The US president jumped on a reporter's suggestion Wednesday that he call an upcoming meeting with top Democratic and Republican legislative leaders a "Slurpee summit" to hash out a way forward after Tuesday's elections, in which Obama's party suffered major losses in Congress. "They're delicious drinks," Obama quipped, joking that he might serve the popular slushed ice drinks at what is likely to be a frosty meeting between leaders...

/being my excerpts N. Korea Set up Special Unit to Disrupt G-20 Summit Kim Hyung-won N. Korea is drawing up 'emergency plans' to raise tension in Korean Peninsula during G-20 Summit period which is due to start on Nov. 11, and they include special force operation, according to Nov. 3 report of Radio Free Asia. Quoting sources in China, it said that Kim Jong-eun went to N. Korea's Reconnaissance Bureau and instructed Kim Yong-chol, the Bureau's head, to set up special force unit to carry out military provocation or terrorist attacks. The goal of N. Korea is said to convince...

Hu Jintao 'Declined Invitation to N.Korea' North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had hoped to see Chinese President Hu Jintao in Pyongyang for a summit rather than visit China again last week, a source claimed Thursday. Hu had accepted the invitation during Kim's last visit in May but decided such a visit would send the wrong signal amid international sanctions against the North after it sank the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan. A diplomatic source in Beijing familiar with North Korean affairs said Thursday, "Back in July, the North asked China if Hu could visit Pyongyang, but it seems China declined...

"What I'm interested in is taking action right now to help businesses create jobs right now, in the near term," the president said at the opening session of the White House jobs summit. ..."I'm confident that people like you -- who built thriving businesses or revolutionized industries or brought cities and communities together and changed the way we look at the world and innovated and created new products -- that you can come up with some additional good ideas on how to create jobs," he said. "I need everybody here to bring their 'A game' here today," Obama added, challenging...

RUSH: There is a most amazing story at Tina Brown's website called The Daily Beast. It's written by Lloyd Grove who used to write about Lindsay Lohan for the Washington Post, 'cause that's about all gossip is now. I don't care what magazine, what gossip column in the newspaper you read, it's all about Lindsay Lohan, and Lloyd Grove has made the transition now to hard news. A couple of days ago this week and late last week I shared with you the information from Jeffrey Immelt of General Electric who was in Rome at a private dinner and told...

Our allies are moving to cut spending and debt at the same time Obama urges them to party on! President Barack Obama, right, stands beside French President Nicolas Sarkozy and other G8 Leaders during a family photo with African Outreach Leaders during the G8 Summit at the Deerhurst Resort in Hunstville, Ontario, Canada, Friday, June 25, 2010.With U.S. Gross Domestic Product being revised significantly downward and our high unemployment rate well above that of our nearest neighbor Canada, you would think Obama might listen to how our friends and allies are responding to the global economic crisis. But it seems...

TORONTO — Police raided a university building and rounded up more protesters Sunday in an effort to quell further violence at the global economic summit after black-clad youths rampaged through the city, smashing windows and torching police cruisers. Police said they have arrested more than 500 demonstrators, many of whom were hauled away in plastic handcuffs and taken to a temporary holding center constructed for the summit.....

KATHMANDU (AFP) – More than 200 climbers reached the summit of Mount Everest at the weekend, taking advantage of good weather conditions in the final days of the climbing season, a Nepalese official said Monday. Dozens more are now in a race to conquer the world's highest peak before the brief season comes to an end later this week, Tilak Pandey told AFP by telephone from Everest Base Camp. "About 216 climbers have summited Everest over the weekend and at least 30 more are expected to climb tomorrow," said Pandey, an official with the Nepal mountaineering department. The figures do...

Government officials and business leaders from around the world will discuss the growing threat to cybersecurity, at a three-day meeting in Texas. The Worldwide Cybersecurity Summit, hosted by the EastWest Institute (EWI), opens in Dallas on Monday and will feature discussions on ways to protect the world's digital infrastructure from electronic threats. The summit is being held following sophisticated cyberattacks on Google which the internet giant said originated in China. US President Barack Obama's National Security Adviser James Jones and White House cybersecurity co-ordinator Howard Schmidt are expected to address the summit. The EWI, a non-partisan think tank, is bringing...

In years to come – assuming, for the purposes of argument, there are any years to come – scholars will look back at President Barack Obama's Nuclear Security Summit and marvel. For once, the cheap comparisons with 1930s appeasement barely suffice: To be sure, in 1933, the great powers were meeting in Geneva and holding utopian arms-control talks even as Hitler was taking office in Berlin. But it's difficult to imagine Neville Chamberlain in 1938 hosting a conference on the dangers of rearmament, and inviting America, France, Brazil, Liberia and Thailand ...but not even mentioning Germany.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: What was unprecedented this week was the unprecedented use of the word "unprecedented" by the president to describe a conference which was completely fatuous. What were the accomplishments? [Snip] Look, this was all a conference about changing the subject. The subject when it comes to proliferating nukes is Iran. If it requires nukes, it's the end of the NPT, it's the end of all effort to prevent a weapon from falling in the hands of terrorism. It's the biggest supporter of terrorism in the world. It will change the world. It will change the Middle East. Everybody...

I wonder. Is it just coincidence that the Nuclear Security Summit logo looks an awful lot like an Islamic crescent? Here's a couple of interesting images from the summit, along with an actual Islamic crest for your consideration. And by the way, do you remember the Islamic crest that's now the logo of our Missile Defense Agency?

Forty-seven world leaders are Barack Obama’s guests in Washington Tuesday at the nuclear security summit. Obama is holding bilateral meetings with just 12 of them. That’s led to some awkward exclusions -- and some unfortunate appearances, as well. One of those left out was Mikheil Saakashvili, president of Georgia, who got a phone call from Obama last week instead of a meeting in Washington. His exclusion must have prompted broad smiles in Moscow, where Saakashvili is considered public enemy no. 1 -- a leader whom Russia tried to topple by force in the summer of 2008. After all, Obama met...