United States

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Despite Reforms, Russian Firms Most Likely to Bribe

Survey names Belgium, Canada most graft-free nations

(Newser) - Russian and Chinese companies are most likely to mix business with bribes when traveling abroad, a corruption watchdog found, despite promises from their governments to root out graft. Transparency International, which said the kickback trend points to firms from emerging economic powers, cited the practice’s “damaging impact on...

9/11 Suspects Withdraw Plea Offers in Fight for Death

Confessions could block death penalty for suspects seeking 'martrydom'

(Newser) - Five  9/11 suspects yesterday withdrew offers to plead guilty when a military judge warned them that confessions could foil their plans to get the death penalty. A death order may require a military jury conviction, he said. The men want the death penalty so they can die as martyrs. "...

9/11 Suspects Ask to Confess
 9/11 Suspects Ask to Confess 
Dec 8, 2008 11:08 AM CST

9/11 Suspects Ask to Confess

Alleged plotters drop attempts at legal defense, face execution

(Newser) - Five men charged with plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks told a military judge today they want to immediately confess at their war-crimes tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, setting up likely guilty pleas and their possible executions. The five said they decided to abandon all efforts to defend themselves against the...

Putin Sees Warmer Relations With US

(Newser) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the "positive signals" coming from Barack Obama's camp could lead to warmer relations between the two countries, Reuters reports. “If these are not just words, if they get transformed into a practical policy, then of course our reaction will be adequate and...

Pakistan Pressures West to Rein in India

Vows to end Afghan operations if India builds troops along border after Mumbai

(Newser) - In a thinly veiled message to the US, Pakistan officials have threatened to withdraw troops fighting Islamists along Afghanistan if India builds up forces along the border it shares with Pakistan. Furious Indian officials have linked the deadly Mumbai terror operation to Pakistan. "If something happens on that front,...

Fisticuffs Over Security Deal End Session of Iraqi Parliament

Sadr ally allegedly shoves speaker

(Newser) - Discussion of the security deal between the US and Iraq deteriorated into a shouting match between members of the Iraqi parliament today, the New York Times reports. Parliament is scheduled to vote on the measure next week, but could not get through a reading of the agreement today before an...

Global Economic Crisis Threatens US Security

(Newser) - The global economic crisis is raising the threat to national security, the Washington Post reports. Experts and intelligence officials worry that mounting inflation and unemployment in Third World countries could spark radical movements and destabilize friendly governments. What’s more, strained budgets in the West mean less money to spend...

Please Kill Our Hopes 'Gently,' Obama
 Please Kill Our 
 Hopes 'Gently,' Obama 
OPINION
Nov 8, 2008 7:40 PM CST

Please Kill Our Hopes 'Gently,' Obama

(Newser) - People the world over are investing their hopes in Barack Obama's warm, intelligent persona, but the president-elect is destined to disappoint, Matthew Parris writes in the London Times. Like any pop star or religious icon, he represents more myth than reality. The turning point will come when "Yes we...

Russia Will Move Missiles Near Poland

Installation would 'neutralize' US shield in Central Europe

(Newser) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev delivered an aggressive speech against the US today, threatening to deploy short-range missiles and perhaps its navy to “neutralize” US plans for an anti-missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. Moscow perceives the American defense system—which Washington says is intended to deter “...

US, Russian Commanders Hold First Post-Georgia Talks

Secret meeting is first between chiefs since Georgian conflict

(Newser) - Ranking US and Russian military commanders met face to face for the first time since the Georgian crisis, the AFP reports. Few details emerged from the Helsinki meeting, but it appeared to be a first step toward a mending of relations. Michael Mullen, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,...

Mexico Will Deport Cuban Migrants Headed for US

Crackdown aimed at drug, human trafficking

(Newser) - Mexico agreed yesterday to deport Cubans passing through the country to reach the US, the Los Angeles Times reports. Increased US patrols in the waters between Cuba and Florida have smugglers using land routes through Mexico to transport would-be immigrants. Mexican authorities have arrested 2,000 undocumented Cubans this year,...

Men Tend to Bail on Election Day
Men Tend
to Bail on
Election Day
ANALYSIS
Oct 19, 2008 6:27 AM CDT

Men Tend to Bail on Election Day

Jail, work, apathy behind 40-year voting dip

(Newser) - The percentage of men who vote has been falling for 40 years, and will likely continue to drop this year, Newsweek reports. Total voter turnout has been dropping since a record high in 1964, but men appear particularly hamstrung by gender-specific factors. More go to prison, fewer attend college, and...

US Kills al-Qaeda in Iraq's No. 2

Insurgent leader specialized in recruiting

(Newser) - American troops acting on a tip killed the No. 2 leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq—a Moroccan known for his ability to recruit and motivate foreign fighters—in a raid in the northern city of Mosul, the US military said today. The man, known as Abu Qaswarah, was a charismatic...

Cuban Players Ditch US Hotel, May Plan to Defect

Cuba's soccer prez denies the 2 men ever left for United States

(Newser) - Two Cuban soccer players fled a US hotel in Virginia yesterday and may plan to defect, the Washington Post reports. Pedro Faife, 24, and Reynier Alcantara, 26, are slated to play in a World Cup qualifier tonight and have not turned themselves in to Customs—but Cuba's coach doesn't expect...

Hitchens: We're Now a Banana Republic

Accountability is nil, the president useless

(Newser) - The credit crisis has laid bare the failings of US government, writes Christopher Hitchens in Vanity Fair, putting us on par with other banana republics such as Zimbabwe and Venezuela. How else to describe this "collusion between the overweening state and certain favored monopolistic concerns, whereby the profits can...

N. Korea Readies Test Launch Missiles

UN monitoring halted, disarmament pact nearing collapse

(Newser) - North Korea sent 10 missiles to test-launch sites off the Yellow Sea today and halted UN monitoring of its nuclear complex, Reuters reports, in the latest hardline signal from the Communist regime as it flirts with scrapping a nuclear disarmament deal. Meanwhile, Pyongyang tested two ship-to-ship missiles in the West...

Euros See the End of American Dominance
 Euros See
 the End of American
 Dominance 
GLOSSIES
Oct 1, 2008 1:06 PM CDT

Euros See the End of American Dominance

After Bush, the arrogance of the United States is no more

(Newser) - When President Bush delivered his final address to the UN last week—harping on terrorism but barely bothering to mention the crisis in the global economy—world leaders in attendance buzzed about the disconnect, along with the disheveled hair and ill-fitting suit that seemed to mark him as a finished...

Once-Nurtured Militants Have Pakistan Teetering on Brink

Paradoxically, insurgents strengthen after US-inspired strikes

(Newser) - Pakistan’s government is caught between two overbearing powers: the Taliban fighters who want to destroy it, and the American officials who inflame tensions between the government and its people. “The Pakistanis are truly concerned about their whole country unraveling,” a Western military official tells Dexter Filkins, who...

US Dominance Is Dead
 US Dominance Is Dead 
OPINION
Sep 28, 2008 11:38 AM CDT

US Dominance Is Dead

'Power is leaking from the US at an accelerating rate,' Guardian says

(Newser) - After decades of a scolding countries for irresponsible behavior, Uncle Sam has finally had his comeuppance, John Gray opines in the Guardian, concluding that “The era of American global leadership is over." Unable to silence Hugo Chavez, thwart Russian aggression in Georgia, appreciate Chinese fiscal practices, and halt...

China Tops US With More High-Speed Lines

Nation's rise in broadband technology 'a major milestone'

(Newser) - China's broadband network is now bigger than America's, InformationWeek reports. In fact the Asian nation has the planet's biggest high-speed network—which "means a lot more for building a modern, hi-tech economy" than China's spacewalk yesterday, one expert said. "This is a major milestone for China."

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