You are currently browsing the Current World News weblog archives for the day Thursday, December 4th, 2008.

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Cllinton, Obama Clash over National Security

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With the Democratic nomination on the line in Texas, Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign is raising the stakes on national security, emphasizing a theme she raised in a major foreign policy speech earlier this week that was stomped on by a farcical ruckus over a Drudge photo of Obama in an ill-fitting turban.
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Senior black, British official: An Obama victory would encourage racism in U.S.

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Trevor Phillips, the chairman of the British government’s Equality and Human Rights Commission, has been described as one of the United Kingdom’s “most influential black figures.” In an opinion piece he has penned that appears in the March issue of the British ideas-and-commentary magazine Prospect, Phillips “accuse[s] Barack Obama of cynically exploiting America’s racial divide […]

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“300 shits”

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In case you ever had any doubt about what to do with tissue paper then this piece of advice, spotted in Iraqi Kurdistan, should help you out.
Odd-sounding English-language signs, names and slogans in foreign countries always make me giggle – clearly I am never going to grow up.One company name caught my eye repeatedly […]

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Ministry of Mixed Metaphors

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From a British newspaper this morning:
The mantra that Japan is moving towards a two-party system may be a chimera.

Mmm . . . which amounts to saying  that this (click here to listen to the mantra)

may be this

How’s that then?

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What Gordon said to David

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When Tony Blair and David Cameron walked through Parliament together last year to listen to the Queen’s Speech, apparently they were having an animated chat about what the Prime Minister thought of the actor who played him in the film The Queen.
This year there wasn’t the same repartee between the party leaders, as the new […]

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Colombia’s Government Slow to Address Housing Crisis Caused by Violence

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CARTAGENA, Colombia — The day care center in El Pozon, a barrio on the outskirts of this coastal tourist city, is not exactly what one might expect from a neighborhood made up of some of Colombia’s most downtrodden — the thousands driven from their land every year by violence. Filled with the joy of children […]

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More Leaks, Please

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It’s too bad we won’t get to see the full National Intelligence Estimate on “Trends in Global Terrorism” selectively leaked to The Post and the New York Times last week. The Times headline read “Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terrorism Threat.” But there were no quotations from the NIE itself, so all we have […]

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A Gates-Style Thaw

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“We are going to do something terrible to you,” one Kremlin insider frequently told Americans in the 1980s as the Soviet Union was crumbling before the unbelieving eyes of U.S. intelligence. “We are going to deprive you of an enemy.”

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A Poet Who ‘Never Sold Her Pen or Soul’

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The voice of poet Simin Behbahani rises, soothing the wounds of Iranians betrayed by a revolution that has curtailed their rights and failed to deliver social justice.
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Prince Harry’s Seeing Combat, And British Media Kept Quiet

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LONDON, Feb. 28 — Prince Harry has been fighting on the front lines in Afghanistan for 10 weeks, his presence there kept secret until Thursday in a remarkable deal between the British military and news media.

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The Missing Man

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Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday about U.S. policy toward Pakistan.

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Immigrant Paperwork Backs Up At DHS

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The Department of Homeland Security failed to prepare for a massive influx of applications for U.S. citizenship and other immigration benefits this summer, prompting complaints from Hispanic leaders and voter-mobilization groups that several hundred thousand people likely will not be granted citizenship in time to cast ballots in the 2008 presidential election.

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An Elusive Justice

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CHENGUE, Colombia — The ceremony to remember Chengue’s dead included a puppet show for children, free groceries and bagpipes wailing “Amazing Grace,” all courtesy of Colombia’s military.

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Allies Feel Strain of Afghan War

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The U.S. plan to send an additional 3,200 Marines to troubled southern Afghanistan this spring reflects the Pentagon’s belief that if it can’t bully its recalcitrant NATO allies into sending more troops to the Afghan front, perhaps it can shame them into doing so, U.S. officials said.

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Pact Would Give Global AIDS Fight Triple the Money

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House leaders from both parties and the White House yesterday reached agreement on a bill that would more than triple funding for the Bush administration’s global AIDS program, already the largest foreign aid initiative aimed at fighting a single disease in U.S. history.

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Despite Problems, Iraqi Leader Boasts of Success

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BAGHDAD, Feb. 28 — Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki gazed out at a sea of chanting Shiite pilgrims Thursday and offered a brash appraisal of his administration’s 21-month tenure.

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Kenyan Rivals Sign Power-Sharing Agreement

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NAIROBI, Feb. 28 — Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga signed a power-sharing agreement Thursday to halt ethnic violence that has killed at least 1,000 people and displaced 600,000 in a post-election crisis that has ushered this nation to anarchy’s door.

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Iran U.N. sanctions vote seen likely Saturday

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UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Western envoys said the U.N. Security Council would probably vote on Saturday to impose a third round of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, which Tehran said would be an illegal gesture to be ignored.
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Bush raps Obama pledge to meet hostile leaders

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday sharply criticized foreign policies advocated by Democratic front-runner Barack Obama, saying it would be a mistake to meet the leaders of Iran and Cuba without preconditions or swiftly change course in Iraq.
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Kenya rivals agree to share power

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At a ceremony in Nairobi, the two men put their signatures to a power-sharing deal brokered by ex-UN head Kofi Annan.

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