Obama warns of fresh tactical spats with Israel

WASHINGTON, June 21:: President Barack Obama warned that new “tactical” disagreements loomed between Israel and Washington, but vowed to leverage his administration’s “creative powers” in the cause of peace. Obama, who has had a testy relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke at length on the stalled peace process at a fundraiser for his 2012 reelection campaign grouping Democratic friends of Israel.
He said on Monday that as a difficult, challenging time loomed in the Middle East over the next few years, one inviolable principle was that the bond between the United States and Israel “isn’t breakable.”
“What is also going to be true is that both the United States and Israel are going to have to look at this new landscape with fresh eyes,” Obama said, arguing the Arab Spring had changed the context of regional diplomacy.
“It’s not going to be sufficient for us just to keep on doing the same things we’ve been doing and expect somehow that things are going to work themselves out.
“We’re going to have to be creative and we’re going to have to be engaged.  We’re going to have to look for opportunities where the best impulses in the Middle East come to the fore and the worst impulses are weakened.”
“There are going to be moments over the course of the next six months or the next 12 months or the next 24 months in which there may be tactical disagreements in terms of how we approach these difficult problems,” Obama said, vowing to bring to bear his administration’s “creative powers” for peace.
The president said that Israel and the United States were united on a broader vision for a secure Jewish state able to live in peace with its neighbours “where kids can get on the bus or go to bed at night and not have to worry about missiles landing on them.”

Darjeeling problem solved, says Mamata

NEW DELHI, JUNE 21: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the long-drawn Gorkhaland statehood problem in north Bengal has been "redused".
Whenever the cental government gives the time, we will sign the tripartite agreement," Banerjee told .Less than a month after coming to power, Banerjee's government took a major step towards restoring peace in the Darjeeling Hills by finalising a pact with the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha to creat a new hill council with wider powers.
She also said that she had asked the state's chief secretary Samar Ghosh to talk to the Centre so that the agreement could be finalised at Darjeeling.
"I will personally be there in Darjeeling during the tripartite talks," said Mamata.
Banerjee further said that plans to visit Darjeeling were being pushed back because of heavy rains in the region.
At the core of the agreement is the formation of a new autonomous elected Hill Council, which is armed with more powers compared to the earlier Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC).
The new council to be formed through enactment of a law would have administrative and financial powers and can frame rules related to the hills.
The council members will later be chosen through election but the body cannot enact any law.

Prince William'sbirthday

Prince William turns 29 on duty as RAF pilot

 LONDON (AFP) – Prince William is spending his 29th birthday at work as a Royal Air Force helicopter pilot on Tuesday, in a far cry from the pomp and ceremony that surrounded his marriage to Kate Middleton just weeks ago.

 The new Duke of Cambridge will be on duty at a RAF search and rescue base in Anglesey, north Wales, waiting for possible emergency call-outs, said Clarence House, his official residence.

"Today is part of a normal working week for him at RAF Valley in Anglesey," a spokesman for Clarence House told AFP, confirming that there are no plans for any formal celebrations in coming days.

"He's quite busy with the trip to Canada and California coming up."

On June 30 William and Kate -- now known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge since they tied the knot at Westminster Abbey on April 29 -- will embark on their first first foreign tour together.

He went back to work directly after the wedding for a week, before whisking Kate off to the Seychelles on a delayed honeymoon in an apparent attempt to avoid media attention.

The prince has taken part in around a dozen rescue missions since joining the squadron in September. They included rescuing someone who fell off a cliff and someone who suffered a suspected heart attack.

William's low-key birthday follows the example of his grandfather Prince Philip, who spent his 90th birthday earlier this month doing charity work.

Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha are hosting a birthday lunch for Philip and the Queen later on Tuesday, in what will be a rare visit by the monarch to 10 Downing Street.