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Condoleezza Rice in Iraqi Kurdistan after Baghdad ERBIL (Iraq) - the American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived Friday morning at Erbil, principal city of Iraqi Kurdistan, for discussions with the president of the autonomous area of Kurdistan Massoud Barzani, noted a journalist of AFP. Mrs. Rice had arrived Thursday to Iraq, in Baghdad, for a surprised visit intended to encourage the process of national reconciliation Iraqi, after visits in Israel and in the Palestinian territories. The American Secretary of State must go to London later in the course of the day to take part in the meeting of...

ASPEN, Colo. -- The idea of a woman president is not so abstract now that the 2008 election nears, Lynne Cheney, wife of vice president Dick Cheney said Wednesday. "If you're thinking of Condi Rice, I think she has good credentials," Cheney said. During an appearance sponsored by the Aspen Institute, Cheney talked mostly about education and history but did venture into current politics, including the possibility of women running for president. She did not mention New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, widely thought to be considering a presidential run in 2008. "(National security) is the driving issue," Cheney said. "The...

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has flunked her first foreign policy crisis in the Middle East . She went to the turbulent region last month in the early days of the war that began when Hezbollah forces in Lebanon crossed into Israel and kidnapped two Israeli soldiers. Rice had orders from President Bush to oppose any immediate ceasefire, which was hardly the proper policy by the United States if it wanted to end the suffering among Israelis and Lebanese. Rice apparently was dispatched to the Middle East to pass on to Israel the message that it has...

Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2006 1:09 p.m. EDTCondi Rice on Global Best Dressed List Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has received a new honor -- a place on Vanity Fair magazine's International Best Dressed List. The September issue calls Condi "immaculately groomed and formidably dignified "but with an audacious streak" in her choice of fashions. "The black dominatrix boots she wore in Germany kicked up an international controversy. Condi arrived at the Wiesbaden Army Airfield in Germany in February 2005 dressed all in black and wearing knee-high boots with a high, slender heel.

JERUSALEM, July 31 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday she believed a ceasefire can be reached this week to end fighting between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas in Lebanon. Here is an edited text of her comments: "This morning, as I head back to Washington, I take with me an emerging consensus on what is necessary for both an urgent ceasefire and a lasting settlement. I am convinced we can achieve both this week and I am convinced that only by achieving both will the Lebanese people finally be able to control their country and...

ALARM - Rice will not go to Beirut, not of negotiation without cease-fire BEIRUT - the Secretary of State American, Condoleezza Rice, is not waited any more Sunday in Beirut, and the Lebanese government is directed towards a suspension of the negotiations if a cease-fire is not declared, indicated to AFP an official source which required anonymity.

Excerpt - KUALA LUMPUR : US top diplomat Condoleezza Rice won rave reviews Thursday for her musical performance at Asian security talks, despite skipping the traditional rowdy skits in favour of a sombre piano recital. With North Korea firing off missiles, carnage in Lebanon, rockets raining on Israel and killings convulsing Iraq, Rice was in no mood for the kind of frivolity staged in previous years. In keeping with her "serious" mood the Secretary of State performed two pieces from the brooding repertoire of Johannes Brahms -- a solo Intermezzo number two, and Brahms Sonata for violin and piano, opus...

The international talks in Rome, which broke up without agreement on a ceasefire call, gave Israel "authorization" to press its offensive in Lebanon, Justice Minister Haim Ramon said Thursday. "Yesterday in Rome we have in effect obtained the authorization to continue our operations until Hezbollah is no longer present in southern Lebanon," Ramon told army radio. He was speaking ahead of a cabinet meeting that is due to decide whether to expand the offensive, now in its 16th day.

The role of the international force that will be sent to Lebanon following a cease-fire will be to assist the Lebanese army to deploy in the south, ensure that Hezbollah does not rebuild its positions there and ensure that quiet is maintained along the Israeli-Lebanese border, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed Tuesday. However, government sources said, this force will not be responsible for disarming Hezbollah nor will it be stationed at the border crossings between Lebanon and Syria in order to halt the flow of weapons from Syria to Hezbollah. Israel has...

North Korea has defended its missile launches ahead of an Asian security forum expected to focus on them, describing US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a "political imbecile" for criticising the tests. The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) accused Dr Rice, who called North Korea a "completely irresponsible" and "dangerous" state for test-firing seven ballistic missiles on July 5, of distorting the facts. However, the communist state also came in for criticism from a United Nations official who said the launches had prompted a cutback in food aid. Dr Rice and her North Korean counterpart Paek...

Excerpt - JERUSALEM - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday the time has come for a new Middle East and an urgent end to the violence hanging over the region. "I have no doubt there are those who wish to strangle a democratic and sovereign Lebanon in its crib," Rice said. "We, of course, also urgently want to end the violence." Standing beside Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as they prepared to meet in his office, Rice reiterated the United States position that a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon must come with conditions that make an enduring peace. "It...

WASHINGTON - the American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will announce Friday the first details of a "diplomatic plan" international for the Middle East, indicated to AFP a high person in charge for the State Department.Mrs. Rice, who prepares to go in the area, "will have something to say this afternoon", declared the person in charge American."We are working in a diplomatic plan which would tackle the violence to which we attend and the roots of this violence", it added. "It will be an international effort".According to the American chain NBC, Mrs. Rice tries to organize a meeting of...

<p>Scotland Sunday Herald is not to be excerpted. Title and link are ok.</p>

THE American secretary of state Condoleezza Rice has offered to sit down in person with Iranian officials if it will help Iran to suspend its nuclear enrichment work. Holding out the prospect of the highest level face-to-face contact since the 1979 Islamic revolution which overthrew the Shah, she said: “I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the ministers meet at some point.” Charles Kupchan, an expert on Iran at the Council on Foreign Relations, said: “It’s a big deal for the secretary of state to say we’ll talk to you. There has been a big changing of the guard in...

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, traded barbs during bad- tempered talks at a foreign ministers' summit in New York on Iran's nuclear program a week ago. The exchanges provided a candid introduction to diplomacy for Margaret Beckett, Britain's new foreign secretary, who attended the tetchy session at the end of her first full day in the job. The row, which further undermines hopes of a diplomatic solution to the Iran crisis, reflects deepening rifts between the United States and Russia. Tension surfaced at a private meeting hosted by Rice in the Waldorf Hotel...

(CBS/AP) Two London papers have speculated this weekend that complaints by President George W. Bush forced a British minister from his post because of his opposition to the use of nuclear force against Iran. The Independent suggests that a phone call from the U.S. president to British Prime Minister Tony Blair led to the removal of Foreign Secretary Jack Straw Friday. The newspaper reports that friends of Straw believe Mr. Bush was extremely upset when Straw pronounced any use of nuclear weapons against Iran "nuts." Both The Independent and the Guardian write that Straw's "fate was sealed" after a White...

REPUBLICANS are urging President George W Bush to dump Dick Cheney as vice-president and replace him with Condoleezza Rice if he is serious about presenting a new face to the jaded American public. They believe that only the sacrifice of one or more of the big beasts of the jungle, such as Cheney or Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, will convince voters that Bush understands the need for a fresh start. The jittery Republicans claim Bush’s mini-White House reshuffle last week will do nothing to forestall the threat of losing control of Congress in the November mid-term elections. Fred Barnes...

From the Iowa Caucus Poll at Krusty Konservative Blog in Iowa - If the Iowa Republican Caucus was held today who would you support? Current results -  George Allen  8%  68  Sam Brownback  2%  19  Bill Frist  1%  9  Newt Gingrich  3%  28  Rudy Giuliani  3%  28  Chuck Hagel  1%  12  Mike Huckabee  30%   262   John McCain  9%  76  George Pataki  13%  116  Condoleezza Rice   5%  41  Mitt Romney  25%  215 874 votes total