Word: amid
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...Amid the current media frenzy about Somali pirates, it's hard not to imagine them as characters in some dystopian Horn of Africa version of Waterworld. We see wily corsairs in ragged clothing swarming out of their elusive mother ships, chewing narcotic khat while thumbing GPS phones and grappling hooks. They are not desperate bandits, experts say, rather savvy opportunists in the most lawless corner of the planet. But the pirates have never been the only ones exploiting the vulnerabilities of this troubled failed state - and are, in part, a product of the rest of the world's neglect. (Read...
...loser learns, "this is the hardest money to raise in politics," says former Federal Election Commission (FEC) chairman Robert Lenhard. Clinton's operation in particular relied heavily on traditional big donors, most of whom maxed out during the campaign on the amount they were legally allowed to give. Meanwhile, amid hard economic times - and absent the political intensity of a hard-fought campaign - it is more difficult to get small donors to open their checkbooks. Still, Clinton is determined to clear her balance sheet. "She feels a real moral obligation to pay off the debt," says Begala...
...once thriving Revolution Avenue that runs through this unwieldy border city, Oscar Rivera eyed a solemnly empty store of sombreros and ponchos. Amid a global recession and drug war that is terrifying American visitors, business has nose-dived, Rivera says, falling a staggering 85%, compared with last year. "I've made $2 today. That is one dollar for me and one for my assistant. How can we live on that?" he asks. "This is what President Barack Obama has got to look at when he comes to Mexico. We have got to work together with the United States...
Obama's visit has a little more security than that of most U.S. tourists. Amid almost 8,000 drug-related murders here since January 2008, more than 4,500 Mexican police are being sent out to protect Obama in the few central Mexico City locations he will visit. He is not scheduled to step onto the streets but to move in a helicopter and special bulletproof limousine known as "the Beast." (See pictures of the Great Wall of America...
...comprise nearly half the captives; a majority of the rest are from India, with smaller numbers from other South and Southeast Asian countries. In all these countries, sailing is seen as a tough but lucrative profession that fetches handsome dollar incomes relative to the amount of education required. Even amid the present economic gloom, officers' salaries have not plunged due to a shortage of qualified people. Indians and Filipinos are most in demand on international vessels because they speak English. But many Indian seafarers are now refusing to do the Gulf of Aden run. "Sailors are very apprehensive, very jerky...