US, India Launch Economic Partnership

The U.S. treasury secretary and India's finance minister have kicked off what they are calling a new economic and financial partnership between the two countries.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was hosted by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee at the first meeting of the partnership.

During a brief news conference afterwards, Geithner spoke of the potential for cooperation between the two giant economies, but he was short on offering specifics.

"We're at a time of great optimism in the United States and around the world about the prospects for growth and reform in India," he said. "And I think we have a chance to demonstrate together that this economic relationship offers very promising growth and opportunities for American firms just as it does for Indian firms."

VOA Photo - S. Herman

Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee speaks to reporters in New Delhi, 06 Apr 2010

Mukherjee suggested opportunities for American investment in India's booming infrastructure expansion. "In a five-year period more than 600 billion U.S. dollars could be invested in ports, in roads, in communications," he said.

Both officials steered clear of mentioning China or its currency policy, which is under intense international scrutiny.

The U.S. Treasury Department has delayed a report it had been scheduled to release next week which will make a determination on whether Beijing is manipulating its currency, the yuan.

Geithner, who spent five years of his childhood living in the Indian capital, is on his first trip to the country as Treasury secretary. He is to meet with business leaders in the country's commercial capital, Mumbai, on Wednesday.

Geithner met with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after visiting a mobile banking site in New Delhi Tuesday morning.

Domestic media reports say the visiting U.S. official asked Indian leaders for greater access to financial services markets, such as insurance.

While relations have warmed between Washington and New Delhi in recent years, efforts to reach economic accords between the two democracies have always been difficult. Their disagreements, especially about the agricultural sector, are blamed for leading to the scuttling in 2008 of global trade negotiations.

Despite the differences, American investment in India has been expanding - increasing by ten times during the past decade while total two-way trade during that time frame has tripled.

Afghan Leader's Comments Puzzle Officials

Recent comments by Afghan President Hamid Karzai have set off alarm bells in Washington and other capitals. His comments trouble officials and puzzle analysts.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai's verbal broadsides against the West have sparked concern and genuine puzzlement. Why is Mr. Karzai, to use the old adage, biting the hand that feeds him?

Former U.N. Deputy Envoy to Afghanistan Peter Galbraith, who Mr. Karzai singled out in his accusations of vote fraud, offers the most commonly heard explanation. Galbraith, who dismisses as preposterous the notion that he engineered the vote fraud from which Mr. Karzai benefited, says the Afghan leader is simply fed up with Western pressure on him to clean up his government.

"Karzai's game is as it always has been. It is all about Hamid Karzai and staying in power," Galbraith said. "That is why his appointees, almost certainly with his knowledge and support, organized the fraudulent election results. He had a cozy relationship with the United Nations and the United States under President [George W.] Bush, because nobody asked anything of him. But now President Obama is asking things of him. He does not like it, and he is lashing out."

Hamid Karzai is the only leader post-Taliban Afghanistan has known. He won his second five-year term in last year's controversial election. Former E.U. Special Envoy to Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell, who knows the president well, says Mr. Karzai is a very different man now than he was when Western nations essentially installed him as leader of Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

"We have to remember that he is very isolated in his palace, that he is surrounded by lackeys who feed him what they think he would like to hear," Vendrell said. "And if he gets into a particular mood, then they all ensure that he keeps it up and offer reasons why he should be tough. I think in some ways he sounds to be crazy. But in some ways he also sounds to be very sane, trying to see how far he can push the envelope."

But other analysts think there may be something more at work than personal pique. The president is already negotiating with one insurgent faction led by former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and has said that reconciling with at least some of the Taliban is the way he wants to proceed.

Larry Goodson of the U.S. Army War College says Mr. Karzai is trying to put some distance between himself and the West in anticipation of the day when the United States and NATO are no longer around to prop him up.

"I think that in reality he is really trying to position himself between the opposition and between the West by using the West as a whipping boy, knowing that the West is already committed in the form of President Obama's speech at West Point to putting in all these forces for a period of time," Goodson said.

Goodson says Mr. Karzai may resent the pressure on him. But, he adds, the United States has little choice but to continue to push him to eliminate corruption if there is any chance to win Afghans' hearts and minds over to the government side, which is central to counterinsurgency.

"Therefore, we have to try to improve the legitimacy of the government, which means we have to press him on corruption, even though we have got no chance of getting him to really change that," Goodson said. "And even if we found him with his hand in the cookie jar, what could we do about it? I mean, imagine that for a moment: we catch Karzai himself personally corrupt. Then what?"

Former EU Envoy Vendrell acknowledges that bringing pressure to bear is difficult given that the Afghan leader knows full well that any threat of an immediate U.S. troop pullout would be an empty one. But he says there are other avenues of pressure, such as cutting subsidies to pay tribal leaders and funds to run the presidential office.

"There are a series of things that could be cut of the kind that he personally would hate, including, incidentally, being invited on official visits abroad, I mean, to the West," Vendrell said.

President Karzai is due to visit Washington next month.

NATO, Afghan Forces Kill 27 Taliban in Western Afghanistan

Photo: AP

A man inspects bloodied clothes in a compound in Nangarhar province's Khogyani district, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, 5 Apri 2010

Afghan military officials say NATO and Afghan forces killed at least 27 suspected Taliban insurgents in fighting and airstrikes Tuesday in western Afghanistan.

Afghan General Jalandar Shah Behnam says joint forces launched an operation against a militant stronghold in Badghis province early Tuesday.

Behnam says fighting continued into the afternoon. He says one Afghan soldier was also killed and at least six other soldiers were wounded.

Insurgents had been attacking a road project linking the region to Kabul.

Meanwhile, the NATO-led international security force says it is investigating the deaths of civilians in clashes with insurgents elsewhere in Afghanistan.

The force says an Afghan child was killed and three were wounded Tuesday during fighting in Kapisa province. The force says it is unclear which side caused the casualties.

The international security force also says that an airstrike Monday in Helmand province killed four suspected insurgents and four civilians, including two women, a child, and an elderly man. The airstrike targeted a compound being used by insurgents to fire at international troops.

In other developments, Afghan lawmakers say President Hamid Karzai used a closed meeting to lash out at Western critics of his government.

The Afghan leader is reported to have said the Taliban will become a "legitimate resistance movement" if outside meddling in Afghan affairs continues.

The lawmakers say Mr. Karzai also suggested he might join the Taliban if outside pressure does not stop.

More Afghan Civilians Dead; US, NATO Commander Addresses Elders

NATO officials in Afghanistan are investigating the latest deaths of civilians caused by an air strike and a clash with insurgents in the southern as well as eastern parts of the country. The probe comes as the U.S commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan has assured a traditional assembly of Afghan leaders his troops are making utmost efforts to avoid civilian casualties in what he described as "a difficult war".

NATO says its forces carried out an air strike Monday night on a compound in the district of Nahr-e-Saraj in southern Helmand province after coming under fire from insurgents hiding inside. NATO officials say four civilians, including two women and a child died in the airstrike.

It says the troops came to know about the presence of civilians, only after they entered the compound. NATO says that bodies of four suspected male insurgents were also found inside.

The second incident occurred in the eastern Kapisa province where a clash between NATO troops and Taliban insurgents wounded four children. One of the children died of wounds.

Both incidents are being investigated to determine whether NATO forces killed civilians.

Addressing a big gathering of tribal elders, religious scholars and political leaders from across Afghanistan in Kabul Tuesday, General Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in the country, acknowledged his forces sometimes make mistakes and bring harm to civilians.

AP

US and NATO Forces in Afghanistan Commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal (File)

"When such unfortunate events occur we quickly investigate what happened and we admit our mistakes. While we strive to never bring harm to any civilian this is a difficult war," said McChrystal. "But the insurgents who place improvised explosive devices on your roads, who fire rockets into your neighborhoods, who use your women and children as human shields, they demonstrate everyday their disrespect for human life and never take responsibility or apologize for their actions," he said.

Last year, General McChrystal issued strict guidelines to limit air strikes against militants to avoid civilian casualties. But in Tuesday's address to the political gathering in the Afghan capital, the American commander said that too many local and coalition forces have also lost their lives or have been badly wounded while defending Afghans against suicide and other terrorist attacks.

"We are humans like you. We struggle here with you far from our homes and our families sharing your concerns about the challenges facing your communities," he explained. "We are proud to have paid in our blood as you have paid in yours to protect you from those who threaten Afghan security and to rob your children of a better future. We share this responsibility with you and feel the pain it comes with any loss of innocent life," said McChrystal.

The issue of civilian casualties in the fight against Taliban insurgents has been a source of tension between the Afghan government and NATO-led international forces. The latest such incidents have taken place amid a war of words between President Hamid Karzai and U.S officials. Critics say that the political tension could undermine international efforts to defeat the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

The Afghan president in a recent speech to lawmakers is reported to have threatened to join the Taliban if foreigners do not stop meddling in Afghanistan.

Washington has described Mr. Karzai's comments as troubling and has urged him to carefully choose his words. The State Department spokesman has warned such comments could undercut U.S support for the Afghan mission.

President Karzai in his statement also accused the United Nations and international community of perpetrating election fraud in last year's presidential polls to try to tarnish his victory. U.N and U.S officials have rejected the charges, which many believe are meant to blame outsiders for Afghanistan's internal troubles, including growing corruption in the government departments.

7.7 Earthquake Shakes Indonesia

A 7.7 magnitude earthquake has jolted the Indonesian island of Sumatra, triggering a brief tsunami watch but no immediate reports of serious damage or casualties.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake struck before dawn Wednesday. It was centered about 205 kilometers northwest of the island, 31 kilometers under the Indian Ocean.

The USGS initially measured the quake at 7.8, but now says it was a 7.7 magnitude.

The quake triggered a local tsunami warning which was canceled two hours later.

There is no word yet on damage or casualties. But witnesses report power blackouts in several parts of Aceh province and on Simeulue Island, west of Aceh.

Sumatra is the largest Indonesian island. A 9.1 magnitude quake struck off Aceh in December, 2004, triggering a historic tsunami that killed 226,000 people.

Indonesia is located in the Pacific Ocean's so-called Ring of Fire, where the continental plates meet. This creates conditions for frequent earthquake and volcanoes from Asia to the American Pacific coasts.

79 Tewas Akibat Hujan Maha Deras

RIO DE JANEIRO, Hujan paling deras dalam beberapa dasawarsa telah menimbulkan banjir dan tanah longsor yang menewaskan sedikitnya 79 orang di negara bagian Rio de Janeiro, menghentikan transportasi dan perdagangan Selasa (6/4/2010) di kota kedua di Brazil itu.

Tanah longsor menghanyutkan gubug-gubug di daerah kumuh di sisi bukit Rio, mengubah danau penting kota itu dan laut menjadi berwarna coklat setelah 15 jam hujan deras.

Penerbangan dibatalkan atau ditangguhkan, dan banyak jaringan listrik dan transportasi putus. "Sebagian besar korban tewas akibat longsor yang ditimbulkan oleh hujan," kata pemerintah.

Menurut juru bicara dinas pemadam kebakaran Rio, sedikitnya 40 orang yang terluka telah dibawa ke rumah sakit dan bahwa mereka sedang mencari orang lainnya yang dilaporkan hilang.

"Situasinya kritis. Jalan-jalan kebanjiran dan penuh rintangan. Sebaiknya warga jangan keluar rumah," kata Walikota Eduardo Paes.

Paes menjelaskan, sedikitnya 26 orang tewas dan petugas pemadam kebakaran menyatakan jumlah korban tewas sementara 79 orang telah tewas.

Walikota itu menyatakan 10.000 rumah tetap berisiko, sebagian besar di daerah kumuh tempat sekitar seperlima dari penduduk Rio, tinggal di gubug yang sangat rentan pada hujan deras.

Perokok Punya IQ Lebih Rendah

Efek buruk rokok ternyata tidak hanya memengaruhi kualitas kesehatan, tetapi juga kecerdasan. Studi terbaru di Israel mengindikasikan, para perokok memiliki IQ lebih rendah ketimbang non-perokok. Intelegensia pun akan menurun seiring dengan semakin seringnya seseorang menghisap rokok.

Seperti dilaporkan jurnal Addiction edisi terbaru, suatu riset terhadap pria berusia 18-21 tahun menunjukkan bahwa perokok memiliki IQ rata-rata 94 – atau tujuh poin lebih rendah ketimbang non-perokok (101). Skor IQ pada populasi pria muda sehat tercatat antara 84 and 116. Tetapi pada mereka yang merokok lebih dari satu bungkus per hari, IQ-nya berkisar tak jauh dari 90.

Dalam penelitian ini, para ahli mengumpulkan data lebih dari 20.000 pria sehat pada masa sebelum, selama dan setelah mengikuti wajib militer. Sekitar 28 persen responden menghisap satu atau lebih rokok setiap hari, tiga persen lainnya adalah mantan pecandu rokok, sedangkan 68 persen sisanya mengaku tak pernah merokok.

"Dalam kesehatan, secara umum kami berpikir bahwa para perokok cenderung hidup di lingkungan yang sulit atau kurang mendapat pendidikan di sekolah yang baik. Tetapi, karena studi ini melibatkan subyek dengan latar belakang sisoial beragam, kami mencoret pertimbangan status sosial-ekonomi sebagai faktor utama," ungkap Professor Mark Weiser, dari Tel Aviv University's Department of Psychiatry.

Peneliti juga mengukur pengaruh rokok pada pasangan kembar. Pada kasus di mana salah satu dari pasangannya merokok, pasangan yang tidak merokok mencatat rata-rata IQ yang lebih tinggi. "Orang dengan rata-rata level IQ rendah cenderung memiliki skill pengambilan keputusan yang lebih buruk ketika dikaitkan dengan problem kesehatan mereka. Orang dengan IQ rendah juga bukan hanya rentan terhadap kecanduan. Orang-orang ini juga cenderung mudah mengalami obesitas, masalah nutrisi dan narkoba," tandas Prof Weiser.

How Gayus Finally Surrenders Himself

The tax official Gayus H Tambunan escorted by police leaves Soekarno-Hatta international airport, Jakarta, March 31, 2010

Soon after his arrival here on Wednesday afternoon, the independent police investigators questioned rogue tax official, Gayus Tambunan. Chief of the police detective unit Commissioner General Ito Sumardi said Tambunan, wanted for corruption and money laundering, was questioned at the office of the police operations deputy.

Along with members of the Judicial Corruption Task Force, Sumardi secured the safe return of Tambunan from Singapore by Garuda Indonesia plane on Wednesday. Tambunan had been a fugitive of the Indonesian police and task force since March 24 but surrendered voluntarily to police personnel while dining with members of his family at a restaurant in Singapore.

Speaking to journalists here, Sumardi said the independent police investigators set up by the police chief to uncover the judicial corruption case operate professionally. The success in bringing Tambunan back home was the result of sound coordination among the police, task force, and immigration authorities, he said.

The task force secretary, Denny Indrayana, said Tambunan’s return to Indonesia was expected to accelerate the law enforcers’ efforts to reveal the judicial mafia cases. "This case is expected to be revealed sooner because we have got all key witnesses, namely Andi Kosasih, Haposan Hutagalung, and Gayus Tambunan," he said.

Indrayana said he believed in the police investigators’ professionalism and integrity in handling the Gayus Tambunan case. For the suspect, he urged him to contribute to the revelation of his case by telling his investigators about all things needed for crushing the judicial mafia networks.

Earlier on the day, Denny told ANTARA about the chronology of Gayus Tambunan’s surrender. Tambunan surrendered to a joint team of the Indonesian police and the task force when he was dining at an Asian Food Court at Lucky Plaza, Singapore, on Tuesday evening.

During his hiding in the city state, he and his family reportedly moved from one hotel to another but the last hotel that he and his family stayed in was Meritus Mandarin Hotel. At that time, Indrayana said that he and Mas Ahmad Santosa, member of the task force, happened to have dinner at the same restaurant at 08.30 pm local time.

"Seeing Gayus Tambunan, we immediately call Chief of the Indonesian police detective unit Commissioner General Ito Sumardi to inform him on Tambunan’s whereabouts," he said. At the meeting with the suspect, the task force and other Indonesian police officers asked him to become cooperative and willing to return to Indonesia to stand trial, Indrayana said.

Tambunan’s case came under the spotlight after the police named him suspect in connection with a suspicious Rp25 billion bank account in his name. Following the discovery of the irregularity in the investigation of the case the police then set up a special team of investigators.

Tambunan left Indonesia the country for Singapore on March 24 after securing a passport with false data. It was former chief detective Commissioner General Susno Duadji who was the first person to disclose the case.

In connection with Tambunan’s case, the police had also arrested a lawyer and a police officer. Haposan Hutagalung, who was Tambunan’s lawyer from June 8 to September 1, 2009, and Police Commissioner Arafat are in police custody since Monday night.

To Scientists, Laughter is NO Joke - It's Serious

In this Nov. 9, 1967 file photo, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, munching on a cookie, and George Meany, president of AFL-CIO, laugh at a speakers remark during the first annual Jewish Labor Committee Human Rights Awards dinner at the Sheraton in New York. Laughter is a serious scientific subject, one that researchers are still trying to figure out.

So a scientist walks into a shopping mall to watch people laugh. There's no punchline. Laughter is a serious scientific subject, one that researchers are still trying to figure out.

Laughing is primal, our first way of communicating. Apes laugh. So do dogs and rats. Babies laugh long before they speak. No one teaches you how to laugh. You just do. And often you laugh involuntarily, in a specific rhythm and in certain spots in conversation.

You may laugh at a prank on April Fools' Day. But surprisingly, only 10 to 15 percent of laughter is the result of someone making a joke, said Baltimore neuroscientist Robert Provine, who has studied laughter for decades. Laughter is mostly about social responses rather than reaction to a joke.

"Laughter above all else is a social thing," Provine said. "The requirement for laughter is another person."

Over the years, Provine, a professor with the University of Maryland Baltimore County, has boiled laughter down to its basics.

"All language groups laugh `ha-ha-ha' basically the same way," he said. "Whether you speak Mandarin, French or English, everyone will understand laughter. ... There's a pattern generator in our brain that produces this sound."

Each "ha" is about one-15th of a second, repeated every fifth of a second, he said. Laugh faster or slower than that and it sounds more like panting or something else.

Deaf people laugh without hearing, and people on cell phones laugh without seeing, illustrating that laughter isn't dependent on a single sense but on social interactions, said Provine, author of the book "Laughter: A Scientific Investigation."

"It's joy, it's positive engagement with life," said Jaak Panksepp, a Bowling Green University psychology professor. "It's deeply social."

And it's not just a people thing either. Chimps tickle each other and even laugh when another chimp pretends to tickle them.

"That's my candidate for the most ancient joke," Provine said. "It's a feigned tickle. That's primal humor."

Panksepp studies rats that laugh when he tickles them. Sound silly? It's on YouTube and in scientific journals, a funny pairing of proofs when you think about.

It turns out rats love to be tickled. They return again and again to the hands of researchers tickling them, Panksepp's video shows.

By studying rats, Panksepp and other scientists can figure out what's going on in the brain during laughter. And it holds promise for human ills.

Northwestern University biomedical engineering professor Jeffrey Burgdorf has found that laughter in rats produces an insulin-like growth factor chemical that acts as an antidepressant and anxiety-reducer. He thinks the same thing probably happens in humans, too. This would give doctors a new chemical target in the brain in their effort to develop drugs that fight depression and anxiety in people.

Even so, laughter itself hasn't been proven to be the best medicine, experts said.

Dr. Margaret Stuber, a psychiatry professor at University of California Los Angeles Medical School, studied whether laughter helped patients. She found that distraction and mood improvement helped, but she could not find a benefit for laughter alone.

"No study has shown that laughter produces a direct health benefit," Provine said, largely because it's hard to separate laughter from just good feelings. But he thinks it doesn't really matter: "Isn't the fact that laughter feels good when you do it, isn't that enough?"

While studying laughter is serious work to researchers, it apparently sounds like a silly topic when they're seeking research grants. For that reason, Northwestern's Burgdorf avoids the word "laughter." He calls it "positive emotional response."

Panksepp understands, saying: "There's no funding in fun research."

Obama and Sarkozy's Batman and Robin Impression

Daily Mail

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Holy politics, Batman! Nicolas Sarkozy and Barack Obama leap from a White House press conference yesterday

The capes, masks, gadget belts and other superhero paraphernalia are not in evidence. But otherwise Nicolas Sarkozy and Barack Obama make a convincing dynamic duo.

Rushing to a joint news conference at the White House after their schedules overran, the two presidents evoked memories of the 1960s Batman TV series, starring Adam West as the Caped Crusader and Burt Ward as Robin, the Boy Wonder. At 6ft, Obama towers over his 5ft 5in French counterpart but appears shorter in the picture because he is behind Sarkozy.

The pair were snapped in motion as they arrived at a White House press conference, where they tried to defuse speculation of a chilly relationship.

Mr Obama repeatedly referred to Mr Sarkozy by his first name during the French President's first Washington visit and spoke fondly of his trip to Paris last year.

'We respect one another and understand one another,' Mr Obama said.

The Obamas also hosted the Sarkozys at a private White House dinner - a gesture rarely extended to foreign leaders.

Just a day earlier in New York, Mr Sarkozy spoke bluntly about the U.S. role in foreign affairs, saying the world needed an America that listens.

Yet when asked directly whether he thinks President Obama listens to him, President Sarkozy offered a long defence of their relationship, calling it candid and productive.

'President Obama, when he says something, keeps his word,' Mr Sarkozy said. 'His word is his bond. And that is so important.'

Although the leaders have met twice in Paris, yesterday marked Mr Sarkozy’s first Washington visit.

And the French were boasting yesterday that Mr Sarkozy’s welcome trumped that of other foreign leaders because he was invited with wife Carla Bruni to a private dinner with the Obamas in the White House.

It was, said the French presidential palace, a first-of-its-kind invitation and a sign of Mr Obama’s high esteem for America’s oldest ally.

And the timing proved auspicious for Mr Sarkozy, who was certainly making all the right noises to cozy up to his American counterpart before they sat down for talks.

The meeting followed just days after MPs called to jettison the term ‘special relationship’ coined more than 60 years ago by Winston Churchill to describe U.S.-British relations.

Under the watchful gaze of his supermodel wife in the front row, Mr Sarkozy spoke of his admiration for President Obama in a speech at Columbia University.

‘You are very loved in the world but we expect a lot from you,’ he said.

‘In Europe, we are your friends. In Europe, we admire you. You don’t have to worry about that,’ he added.

But Mr Obama’s view of France is likely to hinge on Mr Sarkozy’s stand on Afghanistan.

The U.S. president, fresh from his weekend trip to the front lines, was seking to persuade Mr Sarkozy to buck popular resistance at home and send more troops to the war zone.

A key aim of Mr Sarkozy’s trip was to underline that France is a firm U.S. ally in fighting terrorism.

‘We will remain by your side in Afghanistan. In the face of terrorism, we cannot be divided,’ he said.

But it remains to see whether he will commit any more than the 3,750 troops and trainers France has in Afghanistan.

Last year, the French resisted calls by Mr Obama to send reinforcements, even as the U.S. pledged the deployment of an extra 30,000 troops.

Mr Sarkozy may not risk an unpopular decision with his own popularity at record lows, and with his conservative party suffering from fractures and badly beaten in recent regional elections.

President Obama declared yesterday he hopes to have international sanctions against Iran in place 'within weeks,' not months, because of its continuing nuclear program.

He acknowledged he still lacks full support at the United Nations.

'Do we have unanimity in the international community? Not yet,' Mr Obama said. 'And that's something that we have to work on.'

Mr Obama said he and President Sarkozy are 'inseparable' in their thinking on the subject.

For his part, Mr Sarkozy told reporters, 'Iran cannot continue its mad race' toward acquiring nuclear weapons.

'The time has come to take decisions,' Mr Sarkozy said.

Iran insists its nuclear program is for civilian purposes, not nuclear weapons.

A senior French official said after the White House meeting that major Western players, including France, are ready to consider unilateral sanctions if they cannot get a strong enough U.N. resolution passed.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the French president's office rules.

Mr Obama said he and the French president discussed a wide range of global issues, including the financial regulatory overhaul and peace negotiations in the Middle East.

Mr Sarkozy also said he stands with the U.S. in condemning recent Israeli settlement activity in east Jerusalem.

While his own commitment to Israel's security is well known, Mr Sarkozy said, the settlement activity in lands claimed by the Palestinians 'contributes nothing.'

President Sarkozy praised President Obama for trying to engage the two sides in peace talks.

Mr Sarkozy said that the 'absence of peace' in the region 'is a problem for all of us' that feeds terrorism around the world.

Mr Obama hailed France as one of the United States' oldest and best allies, noting the two countries have fought together on battlefields from Yorktown in the U.S. Revolutionary War to Afghanistan now.

However, the two have had clear differences on Afghanistan, with the Obama administration pressing France as well as other European nations to send more troops, and Mr Sarkozy largely resisting such requests.

President Obama did not go into yesterday's meeting intending to urge President Sarkozy to send more troops, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said ahead of the meeting.

'There's no specific "ask" on the table,' Mr Gibbs said at his daily news briefing.

Instead of troops, France is ready to consider sending more military or police trainers to Afghanistan, according to the French official.

He would not elaborate on how many could go or when, saying only, 'There is no deadline. There is the certitude that there is a need for trainers.'

The two presidents discussed the possibility of training Afghan forces outside Afghanistan because infrastructure there is so poor, the official said.

Instead of troops, Mr Obama will seek more French military or police trainers, according to two Western diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity because the presidential discussions were private.

French trainers have been among those killed in Afghanistan this year, and polls show most French voters do not support the effort.

Maradona Forced to Have Face Surgery

Road to recovery: Maradona was left with 10 stitches after undergoing reconstructive surgery
Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona has been forced to undergo reconstructive surgery after being attacked by one of his pet dogs.

He needed 10 stitches in his lip and will have to rest for three days, a medical source at Los Arcos clinic In Buenos Aries said.

Maradona was playing with his Shar Pei, named Bela, when it bit him at his home.

An official at the clinic said Maradona, 49, who currently coaches the national team, was discharged yesterday and was in good condition following surgery on his upper lip.

Maradona did not speak to reporters but his personal press officer Fernando Molina said: 'He's already at home and he's in good spirits.'

Shar Pei are often used as a guard dog, though they are known to adjust well to family situations.

A clinic spokesman said: 'He was evaluated by plastic surgeons and taken to an operating room, where they carried out reconstructive surgery on his upper lip.'

He was given tetanus and rabies shots at the clinic.

Regarded as one of the world's greatest players, Maradona is worshipped in Argentina despite years of scandal involving drug addiction, overeating and alcoholism.

He retired from football in 1997 and almost died in 2000 from heart problems related to his cocaine use.

In 2005, he had a gastric bypass after his weight ballooned to about 250 pounds.

He has been involved recently in fresh controversy over the poor play of the Argentinian team, which scraped into the World Cup after poor qualification performances despite the presence of some of the world's top players, including Barcelona star Lionel Messi. It had to win its last game, away to Uruguay, to qualify.

He is as well known for his off-field exploits as he is for his at times controversial efforts on the field, which included the infamous Hand of God goal against England in the 1986 quarter final, which Argentina went on to win.

Argentina will play in Group B of the World Cup in South Africa with Nigeria, Greece and South Korea.

The Odd Things Found over Gayus Case

Attorney General Hendarman Supandji admitted that there have been some odd things in the handling of Gayus Tambunan's case. Gayus as reported previously has been charged for embezzling Rp. 395 million and there is also the suspicious Rp. 25 billion in his account. Gayus is now threatened with a one year probation sanction.

Hendarman mentioned the suspicious things in Gayus' case after the team he formed reviewed the case. "There are some odd things in the case. I wonder why that is. The examination result have been submitted to the Jamwas (Junior Prosecutor for Supervision), in order to see where the case was mishandled," stated Hendarman at Coffee Morning, AGO building, Jakarta, Wednesday.

According to Hendarman, in the review by the Junior Prosecutor for Special Crimes there were indications of corruption. "But why only embezzling and money laundering (that are highlighted)? Why isn't the corruption issue highlighted?"

Hendarman claimed that he has asked the Jamwas to see if the misconduct and oddities are due to carelessness of the attorney or whether there was an agenda going on. "The attorney can't be dumb, he's had plenty of experience. Carelessness, maybe. An agenda, that's also possible."

He stated that the oddities in the case are for the supervision division to explain in detail.

The examination team formed by the attorney general to look into Gayus' case has probed four examiner attorneys, the public prosecutor, and four structural government officials implicated in the case.

The four examiner attorneys are Cirus Sinaga, Fadil Regan, Eka Kurnia, and Ika Safitri. The others are the public prosecutor Nazrab Azis, Chief Public Prosecutor Suyono, assistant of general crime division Indra Gunawan, head on general crime division Irfan Jaya Azis, and former director for pre-litigation Poltak Manullang.

The Hurdle of Merging Wikimanias with Bloggers

Executive Secretary for Wikipedia Indonesia, Siska Doviana, stated that it's possible to expand the Wikipedia community, or the article writers of Wikipedia often dubbed Wikimanias, by merging them with bloggers, however the merge is rather hard.

"I can't say it's impossible, but the human resources is hard to manage. Even for us (Wikimanias) it's difficult to have a gathering," she stated, Jakarta, Wednesday.

Writers in Wikipedia aren't likely to become famous, she pointed out, because Wikipedia doesn't allow its writers to gain popularity like in blogging. "So the ideas and writing styles are different. Blogs have their own style. Wikipedia has a lot of rules."

But Siska still hopes that in the future the Wikipedia community can still grow in Indonesia. "One way is by doing this writing competition for university students. I hope the students will come up with brilliant ideas."

As reported, Wikipedia Indonesia is having a writing competition for students from 10 universities.

Indonesia's Rajawali Sells USD1.1B Cement Stake

Indonesia’s Rajawali Corp. has sold a 23.66 percent stake in cement maker PT Semen Gresik, a $1.08 billion deal that is believed to be one of the country’s largest equity transactions in years. The stakes were sold at 7,000 rupiah ($0.73 cents) a share and
raised 9.8 trillion rupiah ($1.08 billion), Rajawali managing director Darjoto Setyawan announced Wednesday.

He said Rajawali, an investment company owned by Peter Sondakh, one of Indonesia’s wealthiest businessmen, will use the net proceeds from the sale to develop its mining, agriculture, property and tourism concerns. This includes five-star hotels and integrated sugar plantations in Papua province that are expected to be in operation in 2013.

Rajawali purchased a 24.9 percent stake in Gresik for $336.7 million from Mexican cement company Cemex SAB in July 2006. The sale is thought to be Indonesia’s largest equity transaction since June 2008, when coal miner PT Adaro Energy raised $1.3 billion in an initial public offering.

Setyawan said the group’s remaining 1.24 percent stake in Gresik would be offered to the government within the next month, before be offered to other investors.

Wild Scenes as Indonesian Suspect Returns from Singapore

Indonesian tax official Gayus Tambunan is guarded by police at the Soekarno-Hatta airport in Tangerang. Pandemonium broke out at Jakartas international airport Wednesday as journalists and cameramen mobbed the young tax official who returned from Singapore for questioning over alleged corruption.

Pandemonium broke out at Jakarta’s international airport Wednesday as journalists and cameramen mobbed a young tax official who returned from Singapore for questioning over alleged corruption. Gayus Tambunan, 30, fled to the neighbouring city-state last week as police tried to question him in connection to suspicions over 25 billion rupiah (2.75 million dollars) he has amassed in a bank account.

He made no comment to dozens of reporters who shouted questions as police led him into a car outside Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta airport. Angry members of the public shouted “thief!” and “go and die!" A court on March 12 acquitted him of embezzlement in relation to his suspicious wealth but he is now suspected of bribing top police to escape jail.

His lawyer and a senior detective have also been named suspects. A tax official in his position would only earn about 200 dollars a month but Gayus lives with his wife and three children in an upscale mansion, drives luxury cars and has been unable to properly account for his wealth. He was apprehended in Singapore by Indonesian police on Tuesday near his hotel, the five-star Mandarin Orchard on Orchard Road, an up-market shopping strip.

Police are still searching for his wife, another low-ranking civil servant who has also gone missing and is believed to be in Singapore, Antara news agency reported. Attorney General Hendarman Supandji said that unlike other Indonesian corruption suspects hiding in Singapore, Gayus did not have powerful friends and therefore could not hold out for long.

“Businessmen have a wide reach to anywhere, they have no boundaries. Civil servants have limited reach,” he said. Indonesia and Singapore signed an extradition treaty in 2007 but it is in abeyance due to Singaporean attempts to link it with defence ties.

The Gayus case has exposed deep corruption in the tax office and stoked public anger at the failure of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to live up to his promises to stamp out rampant graft.