Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, a socialist former guerrilla leader, has registered a landslide victory and has started his third term as a President. Ortega had 62.7 percent of the vote, his closest rival, conservative radio personality Fabio Gadea got 30 per cent followed by discredited former president, Arnoldo Alemán with 6 per cent, in November 2011. This majority in the unicameral legislature had given his party Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) to bring about changes in the Constitution. Ortega was a leader of the Sandinista revolution that toppled the Somoza family's brutal dictatorship in 1979. Ortega was elected president in 1984 but voted out in 1990 and then spent 16 years in opposition and came back as President in 2006 with just 38 percent support.

In a significant move the Palestinians asked the United Nations (on September 23, 2011) to accept them as a member state. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas submitted the application to UN chief Ban Ki-moon as planned. In his letter to Ban accompanying the application, Abbas asked the UN chief to immediately forward the request for full UN membership to the Security Council and the General Assembly. This development comes even as the United States made an appeal to stop such a bid and instead restart direct negotiation between Israel and the Palestinians. We need to understand the fact that the establishment of the state of Palestine is not an option, to choose or not to choose. It should be seen as a valid expression of democratic and human right. Everyone in the world is born with a basic right to equal treatment regardless of ethnicity, religion, education, hobby and domicile. The Palestinian nation

The Lisbon Summit concluded on 20 November 2010 with decisions that will mean profound changes for the way NATO does business,  making the Alliance more effective, more efficient and more engaged with the wider world. NATO has regarded Lisbon Summit as one of the most important summits in NATO's history. The summit has widened its scope by becoming more effective, more engaged and more efficient than ever before. The Secretary

A collective failure at Horn of Africa

"There is a new economic growth story emerging from Africa. Africa possesses all the prerequisites to become a major growth pole of the world. The India-Africa partner- ship is unique and owes its origins to history and our common struggle against colonialism, apartheid, poverty, disease, illiteracy and hunger." Indian PM