Analysts looking ahead to the November 2010 election are sounding an alarm bell for Democrats looking to keep or add to their hold on Congress. With nationwide unemployment standing at 9.8 percent and likely to go higher, the notion that the recession has lifted may not sit well with voters as they weigh in on the party in power.
Afghanistan’s political drama hit another bump Sunday when Abdullah Abdullah, President Hamid Karzai’s main rival in the Nov. 7 runoff election, bowed out of the race. An aide said Abdullah dropped out because the “odds are illegally stacked against him.”
In what is being described as the biggest change to how the Internet works in 40 years, the ICANN Internet oversight organization has finally approved plans to allow Web addresses to include non-Latin letters, such as Arabic and Chinese, instead of just www.whatever.com.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan feels that “we’re lying to our children” when we accept low student achievement standards, a policy that sees many states promoting children to the next grade despite being inept at reading and math. Also, Santa isn’t real.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faced the unenviable task of trying to change U.S.-Pakistani relations for the better during her three-day diplomacy spree in the South Asian nation. However, it was unclear as her visit drew to a close whether she’d made any headway, as she herself acknowledged on Friday.
The White House sounded a triumphant note Friday about the success of the economic stimulus in salvaging and creating close to 650,000 jobs in recent months, but some Republicans, along with the AP, are questioning the accuracy of the government’s figures.
Fresh off a heady week in which he managed to supremely infuriate former colleagues and supporters in the Democratic Party with his filibuster talk, the ever-more-Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman gave ABC News a taste of his political plans for 2010.
It looks like the EU is anteing up for December’s Copenhagen conference on global warming, agreeing to a conditional deal that estimates climate change will need almost $150 billion every year until 2020, and that the EU is prepared to pay its “fair share”—though poorer countries say it’s still not enough.
A resolution to the Honduran coup d’etat may be near after the country’s interim government agreed to a deal that could lead to the return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya. International pressure has been immense against the coup leaders, with most countries supporting Zelaya’s return.
Despite protests by many Latin countries, the Obama administration and Colombia have signed a deal that gives the U.S. military access to seven Colombian bases. The U.S. and Colombia say the pact is aimed at countering drug trafficking, but some of Colombia’s neighbors see it as American interventionism.
The former British prime minister took a hit after France’s Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany’s Angela Merkel agreed over dinner at the Élysée Palace (oh to be a fly on that wall) that the first president of the European Council ought to be more of a right-winger. (continued)
During an interview with journalists in Lahore, Pakistan, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed her puzzlement over why certain al-Qaida leaders believed to be harbored within the country’s borders haven’t been caught. She did not address the issue of missile attacks from U.S. drones that had earlier fueled student protest.
California was the first to legalize medicinal marijuana and, if three ballot measures and a bill floating around the state legislature have anything to say about it, the Golden State could be the first to legalize and tax adult marijuana use across the board. (continued)
After months of squabbling and tussling with each other as well as their Republican opposition, House Democrats finally produced the latest comprehensive result of their efforts in health care reform in the form of a whopping 1,990-page measure—and then proceeded to congratulate themselves in a public rally outside at the Capitol.
An Argentine court has fined the country’s environmental secretary and two politicians for failing to clean up the polluted Riachuelo River that winds through Buenos Aires, a move unique and commendable for its accountability of politicians to citizens’ concerns.
The IAEA announced it has received Iran’s reply to a U.N.-backed proposal to send that country’s enriched uranium abroad to be turned into fuel rods—not weapons. The reply, which remains secret, is expected to agree to the overall framework of the proposal while demanding significant changes.
The recession may now be unofficially over, but the economy still stinks. New figures show the U.S. economy grew at a 3.5 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the first rise in more than a year. But homes are still getting foreclosed and unemployment remains high.
If the point of health care reform is to do something about skyrocketing medical costs, then the House reform bill just got a little more pointless. Although the speaker and other House liberals had hoped to hitch the public option’s negotiating power to Medicare’s wagon ... (continued)
In a move that some are praising as a major victory against the powerful weapons lobby, President Barack Obama was able to cut out several expensive programs, thus cutting down on defense spending, in the new $680 billion dollar military bill he signed Wednesday. However, before we get too excited, let’s be clear here: That’s still $680 billion, after all.
United Nations officials said Wednesday that at least five U.N. workers and three Afghans were killed and nine others wounded by three Taliban militants, who were themselves shot dead during the attack at a private residence in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Since last year’s presidential election, Sarah Palin has made unconventional moves for someone presumably planning to make a play for the White House in 2012. CNN’s Alexander Mooney takes a look at what she’s doing and whether it’s working to solidify her status in the GOP and boost her chances of running for president soon.
That Timothy Geithner must love the big banks he spends all day talking to. Back when he was in charge of things, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York forced AIG to pay off Wall Street tycoons for all those toxic bets, even though the mega-insurer was busy trying to negotiate a better deal.
The Blue Dog Coalition’s political action committee took in just $12,500 in September, from a total of three donations. The group raised $1.1 million between January and June. Could it be the steadfast opposition to health care reform, or perhaps the perception among donors that the conservative Democrats just won’t be able to deliver?
Now that serial opportunist Joe Lieberman is holding health care reform hostage in the Senate, we wonder whether the president regrets shielding the Connecticut independent from political retribution. (continued)
Two men from Chicago were arrested recently for allegedly plotting to attack overseas targets, including the Danish newspaper that sparked a huge controversy in 2006 by running the now-infamous cartoon of the prophet Mohammed sporting an explosive turban.
When a Time Bomb Is Ticking
