The (Ex) Washington Realist

So maybe the PLA and Kazakh officers were discussing this? Kazakhstan's Senate yesterday approved a bill, now awaiting President Nursultan Nazarbayev's signature, on Kazakhstan's participation in joint military exercises with other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Yu Bin addresses the Kober challenge, writing: "Russia may have to realize that China is no longer willing to purchase from Russia a large quantity of air and naval armaments based on Soviet research and development unless Moscow is willing to elevate China to the level of India in military sales and technology transfer."

The Indian-Chinese tango continues: China, an observer in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), wants to play a bigger role at this year's summit in Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, China's assistant foreign minister He Yafei signaled that China "would like to see India as a member" of the SCO.

The SCO is also a sponsor of this year's Harbin Trade Fair, which opened this past weekend.

But breaking headline: Britney Spears won't be prosecuted on charges of running over a papparazo's foot! That makes me feel much more secure. Hat tip: the BBC.