Word: agenda
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...Howard, who has ruled Australia for more than 11 years, seems to be having a change of heart - at least rhetorically. Australia is hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum this week, and Howard, with Bush's approval, has pushed climate change to the top of the agenda. He wants APEC - made up of 21 nations bordering the Pacific, including big carbon emitters like the U.S., China, Russia and Japan - to consider long-term "aspirational goals" on reducing carbon emissions, rather than the binding cuts called for in Kyoto. Such flexibility, he argues, would help bring major developing economies...
Howard has been cautious in the days leading up to the summit. "There's broad goodwill and there's a broad belief that this conference should provide a way forward on this issue," he told reporters on Sept. 4. Environmental groups like Greenpeace have dismissed the agenda as a vague distraction from the need for stronger action, but Howard's tamer goals might still prove difficult to implement. For one thing, even by the standards of most international groupings, where hot air outweighs actual action, APEC usually accomplishes little of substance, other than the traditional goofy closing photo of national...
...APEC exists to promote economic growth through freer trade, but for this summit Australia, using its prerogative as host, has put climate change at the top of the agenda. Some may connect this with the fact that there's a national election coming up, but Downer believes "APEC very much has the potential to launch a new approach on the issue." Last year Australia helped launch the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, five of whose six members belong to APEC. Rejecting Kyoto Protocol-style restrictions, the AP6 vowed a voluntary, collaborative effort to promote clean-energy technologies...
...Despite the allegations of some of its critics, there is nothing in the AKP's record to indicate it harbors a secret agenda to turn Turkey into a Shari'a state. Turkey's economy is too diversified to allow a theological clique to somehow seize power against the wishes of the people. Indeed, while the majority of Turks are Muslim, the number who think Shari'a is a good idea has fallen to below 10%. An overwhelming majority rank economic progress as their top priority...
Idaho Senator Larry Craig pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for his Minnesota men's-room encounter with the vice squad, but the real trial began when the arrest became public and everyone with an opinion or agenda had a chance to testify. Mitt Romney, finding himself without his Senate liaison and Idaho campaign chairman, declared, "It's disgusting," before reminding the jury that sin is bipartisan: "I think we've all heard the story about Bill Clinton and the fact that he let us down in his personal conduct with a White House intern." John McCain called Craig's conduct...