Word: currently
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...current mission was quite different. In addition to freedom for Ling and Lee, Clinton no doubt intended to explore ways to arrest the diplomatic downward spiral that's ensued since Obama entered the White House in January. The North has tested its second nuclear bomb (the first test was in October 2006) as well as a long-range missile and has said it has no intention of ever rejoining the so-called six-party talks - the Bush Administration's ultimately futile attempt to get the North to, in effect, re-enact the Agreed Framework of the Clinton era. (See pictures...
...message to the region. At a recent rally in the eastern province of Panshir, a historic mujahedin holdout during the time of the Soviet invasion, he extolled the virtues of the valley's martyrs but warned that the lives of thousands will have been sacrificed in vain if the current government is allowed to continue. "We came out of 30 years of war to build a new nation based on justice and equality for all people," he thundered before a crowd of some 4,000 gathered on the banks of one of Afghanistan's largest rivers. "No corruption...
...rally, Abdullah dismissed such skepticism: "Everybody else wants to bring more power to the presidency. What I am saying is that unless the people rule, this country cannot be ruled." More popular still, Abdullah has promised to establish direct elections for governors and district governors rather than continue the current policy of presidential appointment. Both systems can be abused, but analysts in Kabul argue that, in Afghanistan's young democracy, popularly elected governors would more than likely come from dominant ethnic and tribal groups, further alienating and abusing minorities...
...night, and carjackings and violent robbery are common. "In Kenya, [the death penalty] has not stopped murder - indeed, the rate has been going up by leaps and bounds - nor has it discouraged violent robbery," The Daily Nation said in an editorial after the decision was announced. There are no current figures for the crime rate in Kenya, but the U.S. State Department says there is a "high rate of crime in all regions of Kenya, particularly Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, and at coastal beach resorts...
Pakistan's blasphemy laws date back to the colonial era. The late military dictator General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq introduced a further, harsher clause as part of his sweeping "Islamization" program. Human-rights groups have long appealed to successive governments to repeal or amend the laws. The current ruling party, the Pakistan People's Party, vowed to do so in its election manifesto. As yet, nothing has been done. But presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar says the Gojra tragedy "has increased the urgency of revisiting these laws...