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The BJP Party wins 25 seats in the Kasmir legislative assembly, and the Kashmir People's Democratic Party led by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed wins 28 seats. Mr. Sayeed becomes the new chief minister in a coalition government formed with the BJP. Sayeed says about the election and the future- "History has given us a big opportunity, and we want to make this alliance the turning point for Kashmir." After years of conflict a new election provides an opportunity to turn the page for Kashmir and South Asia, and shift the focus to the economy and infrastructure.

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Average age of American cars increases to 11.3 in 2013, according to IHS Insight.

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China's new foreign policy team under the Jinping-Keqiang administration. Foreign minister Yang Jiechi, becomes state councilor, and senior official on the team. The new foreign minister Wang Yi, was China's ambassador to Japan 2004-2007. The new ambassador to the U.S. is Cui Tiankai, a diplomat who graduated from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in the U.S. Cui was ambassador to Japan 2007-2009. Managing the China-Japan and China-U.S. relationships is critical for China because China depends on U.S. and Japanese companies for investment and new technology, for continued economic progress. The relationship has been affected by the territorial disputes with Japan in the East China Sea. Germany as an advanced technology manufacturer and commodity exporters Australia, Canada, Argentina and Brazil depend on the Chinese market for exports, creating an interwoven economic dynamic that is likely to be the dominant factor in relations. This is also the perception of Li Keqiang who told a press conference in Beijing that the competition with the U.S. has been overemphasized, that he "does not believe conflicts between great powers are inevitable." Foreign affairs remains subordinate to domestic policy and priorities in China, as China tackles the problem of reorienting its economy to give an important place to the private sector and consumers. Itself not an easy task, as prime minister Keqiang pointed out at his first press conference: "Talking the talk is not as good as walking the walk." One of Keqiang's main allies in this effort is Robert Zoellick, former president of the World Bank, who helped put together with China's DRC, the report "China: 2030," outlining these priorities....

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Richard Cohen, Washington Post reporter, on the "no fly zone" option in Syria and how it could have prevented the loss of 300,000 lives, prevented millions of refugees, and moving politics in Europe in a direction that reverses the gains made in the post war period towards a more tolerant society.

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U.S. Defense Secretary Hagel launches the "Defense innovation initiative" at a defense forum held in the Reagan Presidential Library, Nov. 2014. The purpose is to get universities, government and the private sector to work together to put the U.S. ahead of its adversaries in its technological capabilities, similiar to the "New Looks" program in the Eisenhower years. During the Eisenhower period the effort was designed to match the Soviet conventional power in Europe with U.S. technological capabilities. The urgency of the effort comes from the U.S. budgetary cutbacks following 2 wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that have depleted U.S. capabilities and emboldened Russia and China in Europe and Asia.

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Nouriel Roubini on what the Fed needs to do in the closing months of 2009 and in 2010, especially for the exit strategy on the massive monetary easing of 2009, supervising banks and financial institutions and requiring adequate capital at banks to cover crisis needs. See the actions by the FSA in Britian to require larger capital cushions for banks.

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Justice Kennedy's Sacramento roots and how this may have given him tolerance and respect for gay people.

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Garry Wills doesn't like what he saw in the Bush Presidency with the elder Bush's advisor Dick Cheney having an influential role and almost independent powers within the Bush Presidency. What happens if the executive power has a former President and a newly elected President in the White House. He says that question was resolved in favor of not having this kind of plural Presidency when James Wilson of Pennsylvania's argument that executive power could best be checked with accountability in one individual as President was accepted by the framers of the Constitution. There appears to be a alienation from having a repeat of the Bushes Presidency in a Clintons Presidency among older white male voters, is this a trend that will hold true for the rest of the year?

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Hingh unemployment in important states including Florida, Pennsylvania, Colorado (8%). Unemployment has improved in Ohio (7%), Virginia and Iowa (6%).

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Osam Bin Laden is killed in a U.S. special forces attack on a compound 40 miles from Islamabad. The area known as Abbottabad is also the location of a Pakistani military academy. One Pakistani helicopter and 2 American helicopters were involved in the attack. Experts say this changes the dynamic of the war, with the U.S. keen on a disengagement in Afghanistan, and Pakistani concerns about the expanded U.S. footprint in the Pakistan-Afghanistan region working in the same direction. This also comes at a time when the Middle East is no longer what it looked like a decade ago. Democracy protests have changed the way ordinary Arabs look at the world. In recent months Pakistan's relationship with the U.S. has grown tense. Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that top civilian and military leaders of Pakistan met with the Afghan government leaders in Kabul recently. At the meeting Pakistan's leaders suggested that it would be better for Afghanistan to move closer to Pakistan and China, and distance itself from the U.S. The Pakistani leadership must be aware of domestic politics in the U.S., the changes in the Arab world, the desire of Americans and the U.S. government to wind down America's military involvement, and decided that the removal of Osama would give give America less reason to continue its military presence....

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Questions about the U.S. raid at Abottabad on May 1, 2011, that killed Osama Bin Laden. Was a Pakistani military helicopter involved in the raid as the Pakistanis say. President Obama said that the U.S. did not trust anyone, especially knowing where he was located. Abbottabad is 40 miles from Islamabad, and the location of a Pakistani military academy. Obama's statement that no intelligence was shared with the Pakistanis makes sense till the next question that comes up immediately.That question is how American helicopters took off close to the Osama compound- in an area with a large military presence- without the Pakistani military knowing.