Ambassador of India Lalit Mansingh
Fighting Terrorism, Avoiding War
 by Larry Luxner
As ambassador of the world’s largest democracy, as India likes to call itself, Lalit Mansingh says that he’s “publicity shy but media friendly.”
Given recent events, it has become increasingly hard for Mansingh to avoid the limelight.
Over the past six months alone, the 61-year-old diplomat has had to confront one crisis after another. In December, gunmen allegedly linked to Pakistan stormed the Indian Parliament, killing 14 people. Then in March of this year, simmering unrest between Hindus and Muslims boiled into bloodshed that claimed more than 750 lives. And on May 14, an attack by Islamic militants left more than 30 people, mostly women and children, dead in Kashmir, an area claimed by both India and Pakistan—leaving the rest of the world wondering whether this latest incident would push the two nuclear powers to the brink of full-scale war....more...
Wayne S. Smith
Former U.S. Diplomat Lashes Out Against Washington’s Cuba Policy
by Larry Luxner
Between former President Jimmy Carter’s mid-May visit to Cuba and President George W. Bush’s speech to hard-line Cuban exiles in Miami barely a week later, this Caribbean island 90 miles from Florida’s shores seems to be generating more than its usual share of headlines.
And that’s not going to let up now that opponents of Washington’s anti-Cuba policy in Congress—both Democrats and Republicans—are becoming increasingly vocal about ending the 40-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Fidel Castro’s communist regime....more...
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Culture Section
Al-Jazeera Says It Tries to Cover Both Sides in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
by Shaazka Beyerle
Covering a protracted and deadly conflict—in which each side has grievances against the other and is suffering at the hands of the other—can be a journalistic minefield. What and how much is presented is examined closely by governments, partisan organizations and the public. Such is the case with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict....more...
Golf War
Many Harried Diplomats Seek Solace at Area Greens
by Mark Hilpert
President Harry Truman once said that “if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.” Indeed, it is a city largely defined by adversarial relationships: conservatives versus liberals, hawks versus doves, lobbyists versus crusading campaign finance reformers. But even for the most dogged partisans, eventually the thrill of the fight gives way to weariness of the constant political warfare....more...
Diplomat’s Guide to Golf Courses
Doctors Seek New ‘Gold Standard’ For Prostate Cancer Detection
by Gina Shaw
For years, the “gold standard” for prostate cancer screening has been a test for something called prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a marker that doctors have long used as an indicator of prostate cancer risk. Elevated levels of PSA, a substance produced by normal prostate glands, are thought to point to an increased risk of prostate cancer, the most common cancer in men. About one in every six men will develop prostate cancer over the course of a lifetime..
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Receiving Line
• Pacific Island Party
• Honoring Lebanon
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