Word: dec
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Those who can't wait to see 2008 come to a close will have to endure an extra second - literally. On Dec. 31, just before 7 p.m. Eastern time, a leap second will be added to atomic clocks around the world to realign Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the international standard for atomic clocks, with Earth's rotational period. The reason for the intermittent mismatch between these two measurements lies not with the clocks but with the movement of the planet, which is decelerating at an average rate of two milliseconds...
...Marie-Gabriel himself hastens to admit. Indeed, anticipating that Fonacon's efforts will yet again fail to prevent the New Year from arriving, Marie-Gabriel and his peers already have plans for Dec. 31, 2009. "We're going to stop messing around and take the fight against 2010 directly to the top," he pledges. "Everyone meet us at United Nations headquarters in New York City...
...months ago, Bangladeshis were worried that their fragile democracy was heading the way of Pakistan, where much of the political power resides with the military or the mullahs. By turning out in massive numbers on Dec. 29 to hand a decisive victory to the Awami League, which campaigned on its secular, reformist credentials, Bangladeshis hope they have steered their nation past those twin shoals...
Twelve months later, Kenya's roads are clear but people like Kung'u fear that their leaders have no desire to confront the problems that led to the clashes, which saw ethnic groups turn on each other and forced more than 300,000 people to flee their homes. (The Dec. 27, 2007 vote saw President Mwai Kibaki edge out his rival, Raila Odinga, in balloting that was seen as rigged by both sides.) Damning evidence has emerged that Kenyan politicians plotted much of the violence that killed 1,200 people last January. This was done by offering cash to poor...
...reins on the freedom of speech for Vietnam's growing political blogosphere just got tighter. On Dec. 18, Hanoi passed a new law prohibiting bloggers from creating posts the government says incite violence or crime, undermine national security, include inaccurate information that could damage the reputation of individuals and organizations, or disclose state secrets. It also requires global internet companies with blogging platforms operating in Vietnam to report to the Vietnamese government every six months - and to provide information about individual bloggers if requested...