Indian Gold

The secretary of State is displaying an affinity for quick action and a dislike for nuanced talk...Two weeks later, Rice called off her trip to Cairo because of Nour and what the Bush administration views as the Egyptian government's sluggish efforts to push for democratic reform in the region. Under international pressure, the Egyptians released Nour on bail Saturday.
http://www.latimes.com/

UN, Richard Holbrooke, who offered Annan some job-saving tips at a secret meeting in December. "The UN," he was quoted as saying, "cannot succeed if it is in open dispute and constant friction with its founding nation, its host nation and its largest contributor."
http://service.spiegel.de/

The historic heart of Paris could be closed to all except residents' cars within seven years, the town hall said yesterday
http://www.guardian.co.uk/

The construction of cellular relay stations last fall along the Chinese side of the border has allowed some North Koreans in border towns to use prepaid Chinese cellphones to call relatives and reporters in South Korea, defectors from North Korea say...To crack down on home viewing of imported videotapes, the North Korean police developed the strategy of encircling a neighborhood in the evening, cutting off electricity, then inspecting players to find videotapes stuck inside...
http://www.nytimes.com/

The world's major oil companies are dusting off their Baghdad Rolodexes as Iraq's political factions move closer to forming a new government.
http://washingtontimes.com/

Indians are the world's biggest gold consumers, with more than half the country's savings tied up in physical assets. Particularly among the very poorest, Indians are prone to spending much of their income to acquire the metal, locking up their assets in the resulting hoards. Economists say such a high rate of hoarding constrains the Indian economy, which is short of capital.
http://www.iht.com/