Much at stake as Xi Jinping, Chinese leader, visits India
NEW DELHI — India’s new prime minister, Narendra Modi, celebrated his 64th birthday on Wednesday by hosting President Xi Jinping of China in his home state of Gujarat, as the leaders of Asia’s two giants lay the foundation for a long-term relationship that carries huge stakes for both.
Al-Qaida announces new branch in India
NEW DELHI — Al-Qaida has released a video announcing the establishment of a new branch on the Indian subcontinent, saying it is meant to revive jihadist activity in a region that was once “part of the land of Muslims, until the infidel enemy occupied it and fragmented it and split it.”
India sends security forces to north after deadly clashes
NEW DELHI — India deployed thousands of police officers and army troops to a region in the north of the country on Monday after weekend confrontations between Hindus and Muslims caused the death of at least 30 people and grave injuries of many more, according to the police.
Bomb suspect talked of jihad
KIZLYAR, Russia — It’s not every day that a well-dressed American shows up in this town, where shaggy cows meander over deeply rutted roads, so people remember Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Among the things that made the young visitor stand out, two acquaintances recalled Thursday, was his avid interest in waging jihad.
After Boston Marathon bombing, US ties with Russia improve
MOSCOW — After President Barack Obama and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia spoke by telephone Monday, a top Russian official said cooperation between the leaders’ intelligence services had “noticeably intensified in the past few days,” though he said Russia had not been able to provide valuable intelligence about the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Russia seeks arrest of Georgian politician Givi Targamadze
MOSCOW — Russian authorities issued an arrest warrant for a Georgian politician, Givi Targamadze, on Thursday, charging that he had incited riots in Russia, in particular by helping to organize an anti-government march in May that culminated in a confrontation between protesters and the riot police.
As Putin puts off meeting Obama, analysts consider future
WASHINGTON — The first meeting between President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir V. Putin as the leaders of their respective countries was supposed to be an ice-breaker, a moment for two outsize figures to put behind them some of the friction that surrounded the Russian elections two months ago.
Amid protests, Vladimir Putin returns to presidency in Russia
MOSCOW — In the lustrous, vaulted throne room of the czars who came before him, Vladimir Putin on Monday reclaimed the Russian presidency. A 30-gun salute cracked over the eerie quiet of the city, and Russia’s defense minister returned to Putin the black suitcase that contains the controls to a vast nuclear arsenal.
Leaving presidency, Russia’s Medvedev fights for relevance
MOSCOW — President Dmitry A. Medvedev spent last Friday trying to persuade the grandees of United Russia that he is a conservative who can lead the party to victory. But many looked at him and saw Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin’s liberal sidekick, who emboldened the opposition and supported the West in Libya.
United Russia’s losses may affect Putin’s presidential bid
MOSCOW — Vladimir V. Putin was not the subject of Sunday’s bruising vote in Russia, but you would not have known it from watching him when the early results came in. He looked like someone who has just received very bad news, and stumbled his way through a speech to his supporters, barely forcing a smile before stepping off the podium.
Report on Russia-Georgia War to Fault Both Sides
After a lengthy inquiry, investigators commissioned by the European Union are expected to conclude that Georgia ignited last year’s war with Russia by attacking separatists in South Ossetia, rejecting the Georgian government’s explanation that the attack was defensive, according to an official familiar with the investigators’ work.
Shorts (right)
An explosive device killed an Israeli soldier just outside Gaza on Tuesday, and Israel retaliated with incursions that killed one Palestinian and wounded another, in the first serious confrontations between Hamas and Israel since each declared a tentative cease-fire 10 days ago. With the new American envoy to the region, George J. Mitchell, set to arrive in Jerusalem on Wednesday, the fighting here underlined the urgency of his mission.
Accounts Undercut Georgia’s Claims of Russian Provocation
Newly available accounts by independent military observers of the beginning of the war between Georgia and Russia this summer call into question the long-standing Georgian assertion that it was acting defensively against separatist and Russian aggression.