Word: gripped
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
China wanted Clinton's trip to improve the image of President Jiang in the eyes of the Chinese people and firm up his grip on power. This goal has apparently been achieved. But what did the U.S. gain? Not much. Now that the party is over, can we face the fact that China is a communist country? Is communism still a threat to the democratic world? To the Asian countries, Taiwan in particular, the answer is yes. The U.S., the leader of the free world, should have second thoughts about the way it treats communist China and democratic Taiwan. CHENG...
Despite all that, there is reason for optimism about Nigeria's future. Abubakar seems to mean what he says about restoring democracy. He has released a group of political prisoners and promises to free the rest. There is enormous pressure on the military to relinquish its grip so that new elections can be held before the end of the year. And, of course, miracles do happen. Nigerians need look no further than the transformation of Moshood Abiola from a fixer into their country's new symbol of democracy for indisputable proof of that...
DIED. GENERAL SANI ABACHA, 54, Nigerian dictator who wrested power in a 1993 coup and maintained his grip on Africa's most populous and oil-rich nation by canceling free elections and silencing critics through imprisonment or execution; from an apparent heart attack; in Abuja, Nigeria. Perhaps Abacha's most notorious act as President was hanging the playwright and environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight associates accused of treason...
...will take more than a soccer victory to break Khamenei's grip: The conservative-dominated legislature chose the day of the match to impeach the liberal interior minister Abdullah Nouri for allowing a demonstration against the conservative stranglehold. Khatami fired back by appointing Nouri as deputy president. The president's 70 percent majority in last year's election confirmed his overwhelming popular support, but conservatives still dominate the country's political and judicial institutions. So the battle for the soul of Iran is still in its first period, and the mullahs aren't exactly shy with the red card...
...Humbled by the first tangible evidence that the passing years do indeed have me in their grip, if only a gentle one, I am not made to feel better in dermatology. I tell Dr. Kenneth Tomecki, a dermatologist who is also in his 50s, that I am concerned about dry facial skin. He seems unfazed. "Young people are greasy, we're dry," he sums up. He checks me for moles with the potential for turning cancerous, and finds none. But he does discover a handful of tiny red dots on my torso, another sign of aging. "Hey, these things just...