Word: almost
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Phoebe is presented as a nonconformist, who balks at some of her school's rules. Since these rules seem to be nonsensical, we're on her side. Even when she spits at another child during recess, it's almost justifiable, because we've seen her being picked on. So when one of her teachers tells her mother Hillary (Felicity Huffman) and father, Peter (Bill Pullman), "Something's going on with Phoebe," we're initially as dubious as they are. It soon becomes apparent, though, that Phoebe is not a spirited child being oppressed, but either mentally ill or suffering from...
...This was transpacific yin and yang, and it all worked fine - until it stopped working almost entirely, late last year. Now both economies are flailing while leaders try to mitigate the worst effects of a frightening global recession. And the odd thing is, the two countries' salvage efforts are pretty much polar opposites as well. (See pictures of China's electronic-waste village...
...Consider: almost half of China's $585 billion economic-stimulus program, announced last November to much fanfare, is earmarked for infrastructure spending on railroads, highways and power grids. Another 25% will go to reconstruct entire towns in Sichuan province that were devastated by last year's earthquake. These are "shovel-ready" infrastructure projects, and financial markets rallied on March 4 partly due to expectations - unfounded, as it turned out - that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao would unveil a second round of stimulus measures on March 5 during the opening of China's annual National Party Congress in Beijing. (See pictures from...
...March 4, the ICC issued a warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity - the first time in the court's history it has charged a sitting head of state. There is almost no hope the warrant will be served. "As soon as al-Bashir flies outside Sudan, he could be arrested," ICC chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, told Al Jazeera on March 3. Which is to say, never...
...sure, the boom - years of 5% growth and soaring exports - is over. Industrial production has plunged. Even Embraer, the aircraft maker whose jets sell to scores of airlines, and which has become a symbol of Brazil's newfound confidence, recently announced plans to lay off 4,000 employees, almost one-fifth of its workforce. Commodity exports - soybeans, steel - are weak. The main stock market is down 25% since September. But Lula, a former shoe-shine boy who heads the leftist Workers Party (PT), has so far kept the good times from becoming a hellish bust. In Brazil, that's nothing...