When the September 11th attack happened on New York several years back, the then US President, George Bush, was given a red carpet option to handle the terrorist issue effectively. But Bush instead of using the local bully Pakistan to tackle the Afghanistan and Iraq issue, he chose to handle the hot issue himself, and ended up only with lot of negative points. He made the entire Muslim world, and even other world powers like China and Russia, see a weak US. The incapability of the US intelligence agencies in reading the terror network and their movement, lead to also loss of over 4000 US + NATO forces. The wrong assessment of the problem and the wrong military approach to the issue was supported by the then British PM Tony Blair, who eventually lost his job in a merciless manner.

Now Barack Obama is doing the scavenging job of clearing all the bad names created for US and its allies.

Again, North Korea is paving a neat and effective option for Barack Obama to correct all the past errors and make the entire world respect US as the supreme power in terms of military and also intelligence and also firm action.
By provoking US / Japan / South Korea blatantly in the last few weeks, North Korea is giving a plateful of lovely options for Barack Obama, which can be decisively met by US through various means. The first option of UN sanction has been already used and US needs to just get other countries in implementing the resolution aspects.
US needs to be totally alert with all the action plans for various scenarios ready for execution in minutes of any eventual action from North Korea.
For example, if there is an unprovoked long range missile launch from North Korea, then US must be ready with all the options including strong and decisive military retaliation , which must be short but very powerful. That means using the right kind of aerial routes and tools, and selecting all the important targets inside North Korea.
By doing that, US will be able to convince the world (excluding certain power centers in China and Russia who are tacitly supporting North Korea), that it has only acted in self-defense, and also keep the options open for North Korea to voluntarily come to the negotiation table, on US terms.
And it will be prudent for Barack Obama to see the North Korean issue as a Korean regional issue, and provide strong and quick fire support to South Korea in handling the issue. By using the local expert in handling the issue, US will be able to pull the string on North Korea the way it wants.
By making North Korea kneeling down, US will also be able to send strong message to Russia and China, more particularly China, which is using indirect means to gain global military status.
If you take history, US has been failing in its direct military intervention , right from Vietnam, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. So Barack Obama has to find a better and quicker way to regain global supremacy.

The election results in Iran have been announced yesterday by the government, which declared the current incumbent Ahmadinejad as the winner with over 63% of the polled votes.
The opposition candidate Mousavi who declared himself as victorious when the counting was on, has polled only 34% of the votes, as per the election authorities.
Since the announcement of the results, there have been instances of violence across Tehran , the Iranian capital city. Three police bikes and a jeep have been set on fire in various parts of the city. Supporters of Mousavi were also seen fighting with the police in some parts of the capital, where police retaliated with plastic bullets.
Ahmadinejad is expected to pursue his anti-western policies more vociferously that in the last four years, since he has a strong mandate. Failure of the US policy in the neighboring Iraq over the last six years, seem to be encouraging Iran to pursue anti-US and anti-West policies more aggressively.

Iran has gone for Presidential polls today with current President Ahmedinajed fighting with former PM Mousavi.  While Ahmedinajed is expecting good support from rural poor and the fundamentalists, Mousavi is seen as being popular amongst the educated and urban population.

As per Iranian rules, one of the candidate must get 50% or more votes, failing which a run-off voting will be held.  The election is being watched closely by Israel , US and Western World, which are looking for better relationship with Iran, if there is a change in the government.

But the supreme command of Iran will continue to be with Ayatollah Kohmeni, who is the supreme leader of Iranians.

North korea held a rare dialogue with the south korea. This happened even as the UN sanction against North korea loomed larger. But, there is no joy on such news. North Korea has demanded a four-fold increase in pay for its workers at a South Korean-funded industrial park on the border, South Korean officials say.The North also wants $500m (£305m) in rent for the Kaesong facility, just north of the border, a spokesman for the South’s Unification Ministry said. The demand came during rare talks between North and South Korea to discuss the industrial zone’s future.

Russia’s strategic Nuclear Forces commander has said that Russia needs at least 1500 Nuclear war heads in order to ensure global power balance. That would mean that the new round of Nuclear Talks between US and Russia may not be all that valuable, because there could be only few hundred war heads reduction.
The US government is still hopeful of a higher reduction by Russia, which might lead to similar number of nuclear war heads reduction by US.

France carried out 17 tests in the Sahara and 193 in French Polynesia starting in 1960. But the test programme it launched also exposed participants and local populations to potentially lethal radiation. Both groups claim that they have been plagued by health problems, from aggressive cancers to minor cardio-vascular complaints. However, they never got any compensation for all the suffering since then. Nearly 40 years after the first of its 210 nuclear tests, France is preparing to compensate people affected by the fallout. The move leaves the UK isolated in its policy of rejecting liability for illnesses suffered by test participants.

Gordon Brown is to announce plans to look at a new system of electing MPs, as he seeks to regain the political initiative after a week of turmoil. He wants a debate on whether the vote system should change but will pledge a referendum on any move to do so. Ministers are thought to have discussed an alternative vote system to replace the current first-past-the-post method.

Mr Brown’s statement to MPs, expected at 1230 BST, comes as he seeks to reassert his authority following the departure of six cabinet ministers, disastrous election results and direct challenges to his leadership.

CIA Director Leon Panetta has warned that releasing certain documents on the interrogation of al-Qaeda suspects would gravely damage US security. Mr Panetta made the submission in court papers presented to a US federal judge on Monday. The CIA chief argued that releasing CIA information describing the tough interrogation methods used would reveal too much to America’s enemies. Civil liberties activists have brought a lawsuit seeking the details. Legal action has already led to the unveiling of memos issued by the former Bush administration which authorised harsh interrogation methods such as simulated drowning - known as water-boarding.

North Korea has now jailed two US journalists, on charges of spying against the nation, and crossing into the country from China, illegally. Euna Lee, a Korean-American and Laura Ling, a Chinese-American, both women journalists have been sentenced for 12 years of reform through labor, which means they will have to work hard jobs under jailed conditions in North Korea.
We need to see how US reacts to this grave act from North Korea. North Korea had the option of hanging these two journalists, but has chosen to sentence them for jail , probably for using this as a negotiation element with US in the near future. Whichever way it goes, the Obama administration has a tough task on hand when dealing with North Korea, and China’s role is totally suspicious on the issue. There are enough reasons for US to not believe China when it comes to dealing with North Korea, though China is the linking factor.

China has boosted security in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, ahead of Thursday’s anniversary of the killings in 1989. Many dissidents say they have been told to leave Beijing or are confined to their homes. During that massacre, Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people died in the Tiananmen crackdown, and open discussion of the events of 20 years ago remains taboo in China. Even in Hong Kong, where freedom of expression is guaranteed, some dissidents have been denied entry. Xiang Xiaoji, now a US citizen, was trying to come to Hong Kong on Wednesday to join commemorative events being held to mark the anniversary. But he was refused entry and returned to New York. This is the experience of many such people who have been marked as dissidents by the chinese government.