A South Korean delegation crossed the land border with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Tuesday morning to participate in an inter-Korean governmental talks amid mounting tensions on the Korean Peninsula. "The delegation has crossed the border," a spokesman of South Korea's Unification Ministry told Xinhua through telephone at 9:00 am local time (0000 GMT). Kim Young-tak, director general of the Kaesong Industrial Complex Project Bureau under the South Korean Unification Ministry, didn't made any remarks upon his departure for DPRK's border city of Kaesong. According to local news channel YTN, the talks will begin at 10:00 am local time (0100 GMT) at Kaesong. It will be the first time that South Korea and the DPRK hold governmental talks since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in February last year. The DPRK side last Thursday offered to hold the talks with South Korea. Earlier on Monday, South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said that Seoul will try to ensure the inter-Korean talks is "helpful for the safety of our citizens and the stable development of the Kaesong industrial complex." The inter-Korean governmental talks came amid mounting tensions on the Korean Peninsula after the DPRK launched a rocket earlier this month despite warnings by the United States, South Korea and Japan. Following the UN Security Council adopted a presidential statement over DPRK's rocket launch earlier this week, the DPRK vowed to quit the six-party talks on the nuclear issues on the Korean Peninsula and ordered all international nuclear monitors to leave the country. Another focus of the dialogue is South Korea's participation into the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) as Seoul plans to fully join the PSI while DPRK warned to take stern countermeasures. The South Korean government said last weekend that it will announce whether to join the PSI after Tuesday's inter-Korean talks.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert proposed to return 93 percent of the West Bank to the Palestinians and to handle the Jerusalem question under an international framework as his "final offer," local news service Ynet reported Thursday. Olmert made the promises to Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas during a meeting in September, said the report, quoting senior officials as saying that the pledges marked Olmert's "final offer to end the conflict." "There was one point when I put things on the table and offered Abbas something that had never been offered and dealt with the crux of the problem, with the most sensitive issues that touch the most exposed nerves and historical obstacles," Olmert was quoted as telling a political conference held near Tel Aviv on Thursday. In the offer, Israel would return 93 percent of the West Bank and evict over 60,000 settlers, while retaining large settlements in the Palestinian territories, according to the report, which added that the deal would also see the Jewish state cede control over some peripheral neighborhoods and refugee camps on the outskirts of Jerusalem. As for the sovereignty of Jerusalem, which is regarded by Israel as its permanent and inalienable capital, and the east part of which is termed by Palestinians as the capital of their future state, Olmert proposed to tackle it under an international framework, revealed the report. The plan was also presented to the United States, an influential player in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and Olmert's office said that the staunch ally of Israel supported it, added the report. "I told him (Abbas) 'let's sign.' It was half a year ago and I'm still waiting," said Olmert on Thursday, who is set to be replaced by hawkish Benjamin Netanyahu as early as next week. Olmert and Abbas resumed the long-stalled peace talks at a U.S.-hosted international conference in Annapolis on Nov. 27, 2007, and pledged to reach a comprehensive peace deal in 2008. Yet the ambitious goal proved to be out of reach as both sides were largely paralyzed, respectively by an internal feud between Abbas' Fatah in the West Bank and the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip and by a political turmoil that forced scandal- enveloped Olmert to leave office and Israel to hold a general election. Now that Netanyahu is set to present a new Israeli government dominated by right wingers, who traditionally hold hardline stances toward the peace process with the Palestinians, the peace prospect of the two neighbors seems increasingly blurry. Although the premier-designate has recently repeated his readiness to advance the Israeli- Palestinian peace process, Netanyahu stopped short of committing himself to the two-state solution, which both the United States and the PNA are backing. Meanwhile, his argument that Israel should first help develop the Palestinian economy before the two sides settle the core issues has also run into closed doors, triggering Palestinian criticism that he intends to obscure political issues with economic topics.

Around 100 soldiers backed by tanks stormed the Madagascan presidency on Monday in a show of force by the military which is pressuring President Marc Ravalomanana to leave office. The Indian Ocean state's 59-year-old leader, most of whose family left the island last week, was not inside the compound. He was hunkered down in his palace outside the city centre with the last loyaOpposition leader Andry Rajoelina earlier rejected Ravalomanana's offer of a referendum to decide their three-month-old feud and urged the country's security forces to arrest him for "high treason". Soldiers wearing red berets and armed with rocket- propelled grenades (RPGs) surrounded the presidential compound after dusk and moved in after a military official using a loudspeaker ordered all remaining guards and staff to leave. "We seized the presidency to hasten Ravalomanana's departure," Madagascan army chief of staff Colonel Andre Andriarijaona told AFP. Two armoured vehicles smashed the compound's gates open and two large explosions and heavy automatic gunfire were heard inside the presidency soon after, an AFP correspondent said. Andriarijaona said there was no immediate plan to assault the presidential palace in Iavoloha where the embattled president has taken refuge. As the military upped the pressure, Rajoelina told thousands of supporters gathered in Antananarivo's May 13 square earlier that his three-month-old bid to unseat his rival would soon bear fruit. "I order the security forces to execute, without delay, the measures by the minister," the firebrand 34-year-old opposition leader said, referring to an arrest warrant. "I repeat that victory is near." The warrant for high treason was announced minutes earlier on the capital's May 13 square by Christine Razanamahasoa, who was named justice minister in a parallel administration set up by Rajoelina last month.

Joining a wave of public anger, President Barack Obama blistered insurance giant AIG for "recklessness and greed" Monday and pledged to try to block it from handing its executives $165 million in bonuses after taking billions in federal bailout money. "How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?" Obama asked. "This isn't just a matter of dollars and cents. It's about our fundamental values." Obama aggressively joined other officials in criticizing American International Group, the company that is fast becoming the poster boy for Americans' bailout blues. The bonuses could contribute to a backlash against Washington that would make it tougher for Obama to ask Congress for more bailout help -- and jeopardize other parts of the recovery agenda that is dominating the start of his presidency. Thus, the president and his top aides were working hard to distance themselves from the insurer's conduct, to contain possible political damage and to try to bolster public confidence in his administration's handling of the broader economic rescue effort. Obama had scheduled a speech Monday to announce new help for recession-pounded small businesses. But first, he said, he had a few words to say about AIG. He lost his voice at one point and ad- libbed, "Excuse me, I'm choked up with anger here." It was just a light aside, but he meant the sternness of his remarks to come through. "This is a corporation that finds itself in financial distress due to recklessness and greed," Obama declared. He said he had directed Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to "pursue every legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayer whole." Later, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the administration would modify the terms of a pending $30 billion bailout installment for AIG to at least recoup the $165 million the bonuses represent. That wouldn't rescind the bonuses, just require AIG to account for them differently. Gibbs said the tough talk from Obama and other administration officials was aimed in part at pressuring bonus recipients to turn them down. Anyone accepting the money should "think long and hard" about whether keeping it was appropriate "given the performance of the company," he said. On a separate track, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Monday he would issue subpoenas for information on the bonuses after AIG missed his deadline for providing details. Cuomo said his office would investigate whether the employees were involved in AIG's near-collapse and whether the $165 million in bonus payments were fraudulent under state law.

That's right! I want learning Chinese. Chinese is the new language of today's world. I look around and I can see where all this is going. Our world is growing at such a alarming rate and the world economy is merging at an unforgiving speed, I think we will all be speaking Chinese and Spanish right along with English.

Furthermore, if you check out the curriculum being offered in primary and secondary schools, you will see the Chinese language offered as a course. Looking up ahead in to the future, it is estimated that a command of the Chinese language will be ahead of the demand for Spanish. Half of Asia already speaks some form of Chinese, or incorporates styles of Chinese into their native language.

For many, learning Chinese is not an option but a necessary means to higher objective. And equally, for many there is limited budget available in which to acquire the skill of Chinese. Thank god for the online resources abundant and available in which to learning Chinese online free.

With a little effort, one can easily access the classes online, or download software to begin the learning experience. Shareware exists at little or no cost.

Learning Chinese can be seen as a difficult task to embark upon. Many people have quit before they even began due to the overwhelming complexities distinctive and unique to Chinese. Now as demand grows for the language, online sites have supplied variations on tools to learn Chinese. To keep it light and fun, many programs let you play games for free or indulge in interactive animation to keep your attention and desire strong. Some programs offer flash cards, as well as teach you how to make your own flash cards.

Why learn Chinese? Because you truly want to. You have the focus and goal to integrate the cultural know how for goals of your own. Perhaps for an upcoming trip to China, or a hobby, or maybe just for simple understanding of a new friend, whatever the reason behind the spark, know it will be more than beneficial for you to acquire this knowledge and skill. And exhilarating to learn.

If I learn Chinese, I could actively volunteer in Asian countries and become an important liaison between the eastern and western worlds. I would do great works in missionary arenas where so little help exists now. I know I could make the world a better place.

Learn Chinese to have an experience culturally. Learn Chinese for application in your job. Learn Chinese for knowledge, for wisdom and balance in your life. Learn Chinese to be ahead of everyone else in business and careers. Learn Chinese to step into the future now. Learn Chinese for your upcoming vacation to china. But mostly, learn Chinese for yourself. Because it is something you always wanted to do. The impact of eastern culture is growing everyday, and will continue as our ways and cultures merge.