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The First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia described the reforms which resulted in the Prague Spring as “socialism with a human face.” The New York Times calls Madam Secretary, CBS’s extremely expensive prime time contribution to the Hillary campaign, “Hillary with a human face.” A network series can cost between $3 and $4 million an episode. Assuming that Madam Secretary runs even one season, instead of being canceled ignominiously like Commander in Chief, the 2005 attempt at giving Hillary a human face, it will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 million. That’s double the $46 million that...

The Langevin Block, the building across from Parliament Hill that houses the Prime Minister’s Office, was evacuated Wednesday morning amid reports of a suspicious person and package in the area. Prime Minister Stephen Harper was not in the building. Police also closed Wellington Street, the street in front of the Parliament Buildings, for two blocks, and taped off roads in the area. RCMP officers were questioning a man who was put into a police cruiser. A joint RCMP-Ottawa police team that deals with potentially hazardous materials was called to the scene. The Conservative government’s throne speech was to be delivered...

Malaysia's mainstream media, being entirely government owned, often encodes 'sensitive' matters like 'race' and 'racism' (in actuality religious apartheid and Islamic supremacism) in a curious kind of double-talk, language that seeks to obfuscate reality rather than clarify it. Doublespeak usually characterizes governments which actively discourage critical thought and an informed citizenry. Malaysia and its government are no different. Today's government broadsheet, as usual, prominently figures Prime Minister Najib's latest broadside. Najib's words is full of typically Malaysian double-talk. In the interests of clarification and the truth, it's time to translate Najib's words and see what he really means. From "PM:...

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister has called for the bombing Of Israel. Michael Rubin reports at Commentary Contentions After assuring both Libyans and Turks that Turkey was not involved in airstrikes on Libya, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, of Turkey, said, "We wish that the United Nations had made such resolutions and countries had taken action in the face of incidents in Gaza, Palestine and the other regions This is exactly the problem I thought might arise from President Obama's endorsement of the trendy principle of "Responsibility to Protect". In yesterday's blog, "The Rise of Samantha Power and the risks for...

Japan's parliament elected outspoken populist Naoto Kan as prime minister Friday, handing the political veteran the immediate task of rallying his party and reclaiming its mandate for change before elections next month. Kan succeeds Yukio Hatoyama, who stepped down Wednesday after squandering the public's high hopes with broken campaign promises, including moving a U.S. Marine base off Okinawa island, and financial scandals.

TOKYO, June 1 (UPI) -- Embattled Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama announced his decision to step down Wednesday after only eight months in office. The leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, which he helped come to power last September after the August elections, announced his decision at a general assembly of party lawmakers, Kyodo News reported. The prime minister's ruling coalition has seen its public approval ratings plunge in recent months. Things came to a head after the Social Democratic Party, a coalition partner, decided to leave over the government's accord allowing the U.S. Marine base's air station to...

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama may step down within the next 48 hours amid growing public and political resentment at his handling of the relocation of a US Marines Corps base in Okinawa. Japanese Prime MInister Yukio Hatoyama Mr Hatoyama is scheduled to have showdown talks with Ichiro Ozawa, the secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan, on Tuesday evening. Mr Ozawa is widely considered to be the party's kingmaker and the meeting may well determine the prime minister's political fate. Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Hatoyama said he was willing to stay on as prime minister, despite growing criticism...

TOKYO - Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama has said he intends to resign, a media report said Wednesday. Public broadcaster NHK said that Hatoyama told his party executives he intended to step down over his broken campaign promise to move a U.S. Marine base off the southern island of Okinawa.

In a recent study, Bartolo Luque and Lucas Lacasa of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid in Spain have discovered a new pattern in primes that has surprisingly gone unnoticed until now. They found that the distribution of the leading digit in the prime number sequence can be described by a generalization of Benford’s law. In addition, this same pattern also appears in another number sequence, that of the leading digits of nontrivial Riemann zeta zeros, which is known to be related to the distribution of primes. Besides providing insight into the nature of primes, the finding could also have applications...

France calls for new Iraq prime minister By Peter Allen in Paris Last Updated: 1:16am BST 27/08/2007 France's foreign minister risked fracturing his country's new relationship with America yesterday, by calling for Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, to be replaced. Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister In an interview published in the American magazine Newsweek, Bernard Kouchner, who visited Baghdad last week, said: "I just had (Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State) on the phone 10 or 15 minutes ago, and I told her, 'Listen, he's got to be replaced'. "Many people believe the prime minister ought to...

What with last year's Miss USA, Tara Reid, and all the hoopla around that winner's almost demise, I just had to tune in for this year's Miss USA pageant. I must say that Trump has overhauled the matronly concept of a beauty pageant without going into sleaze. It's hip, happening, and we've got lots of pics you'll see nowhere else on the Internet. Also, a review of the movie "PRIME" starring Meryl Streep. It's got a clever and laughable plot yet Streep brings an element of fine acting to this tale of a Psychologist whose patient is having an affair...

Extreme-right party gains shock prime minister Associated Press in Brussels Monday October 9, 2006 The Guardian (UK) The Belgian prime minister, Guy Verhofstadt, said he had work to do to lure voters back to his national coalition after local elections produced large gains for the extreme-right party Flemish Interest and dealt a blow to his re-election prospects next year. Mr Verhofstadt's Liberal Democrats lost votes mostly at the expense of Flemish Interest and the Christian Democrats. The extreme-right party, which ran on an anti-immigrant platform, has been kept in opposition in Antwerp by an unlikely rainbow coalition whose only common...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2006 – Senior U.S. officials in Iraq are calling a four-point plan released yesterday by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to halt sectarian violence “a significant step in the right direction.” Maliki’s plan, released yesterday, aims at uniting Shiite and Sunni parties to reduce and ultimately stop growing sectarian violence that threatens Iraq. “This … shows that the Iraqi leaders want their country to succeed and are responding to the wishes of their people for security,” said U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad and Army Gen. George W. Casey, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, in a statement...

Defence Secretary Des Browne chats to British troops during a visit to Iraq in May 2006. The Iraqis have passed yet another major milestone with the hand over of Dhi Qar province last week. It is the second province - Al Muthanna being the first - to be handed over to Iraqi control. UK Defence Secretary Des Browne congratulated the Iraqi people, saying, “I am pleased that Dhi Qar province in southern Iraq is today being handed over to Iraqi control. I congratulate the Iraqis on this achievement, along with our Italian and Romanian partners, whose hard work has...

UN sources report that in unofficial discussions Russia agrees to support US-French version of ceasefire in Lebanon. Resolution expected to pass Tuesday. Washington outraged at Siniora, who withdrew his support under pressure from Iranians and Syrians WASHINGTON - The French-American resolution for a cessation of hostile activities in Lebanon overcame a significant hurdle Monday. In unofficial discussions that were held between the ambassadors of the five Security Council members, each of whom has veto power, Russia agreed to support the proposal. The practical implication of this is that, together with the Chinese and the British, there will be no veto....

Israeli aircraft attacked the office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas in Gaza City early Sunday, witnesses said, setting the building on fire. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The Israeli army had no comment. Witnesses said two missiles hit the south side of the building, setting it ablaze. Because of the late hour - 1:45 a.m., the building was empty, they said. On Thursday, Israeli planes attacked the Interior Ministry, part of Israel's campaign to force release of a soldier abducted by Palestinian militants last Sunday.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has visited the home of his musical hero, Elvis Presley, as a guest of US President George W Bush. The Japanese PM showed off his Elvis impression Mr Koizumi burst into song with a few bars of "Love Me Tender" in the Jungle Room of Graceland on a private tour led by the singer's ex-wife. The tour is being widely seen as Mr Bush's thank-you to a loyal ally who is due to step down in September. The visit follows talks that focused on N Korea and beef imports on Thursday. Serenade To the strains...

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2006 – The national reconciliation and dialogue plan announced June 25 by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is the beginning of a healing process for the country of Iraq and its people, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman said today. "The prime minister launched a process by which all Iraqis can heal, the nation can mend, and the future can be written in the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people," Army Maj. Gen. Bill Caldwell said in a news conference from Iraq. Maliki's initiative includes all Iraqi citizens and is based in economic policies that foster opportunity...

"I hope that isn't the White House telling me they don't agree with that," quipped the Prime Minister when a mobile phone rang in the middle of the speech he gave at Georgetown University in Washington on Friday. "They act very quickly these guys… " His joke betrayed the nature of the "special relationship": the Bush administration tells Mr Blair what it wants, and Mr Blair does his best to provide it. That appears to extend even to changing the text of the Prime Minister's keynote speeches. In accordance with the usual protocol, the George-town address was discussed with members...

ITALY'S prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, finally handed in his resignation yesterday, ending weeks of political uncertainty and opening the way for centre-left leader Romano Prodi to form a new government. Mr Berlusconi had contested his rival's wafer-thin victory in the polls three weeks ago but was forced to concede after MPs elected centre-left speakers for parliament, allowing Mr Prodi to control the assembly with his slim majority. To rub salt into his wounds, Mr Berlusconi had to personally give notice of his resignation to the Communist who is the new leader of the lower house. "They'll miss us - we...