Word: ironical
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...weeks, the East Germans had been trying to figure out a way to prevent Jackson's moonwalk through West Berlin from becoming political dynamite for East German youth. These were the days of Perestroika, when the Soviet Union's iron grip on Eastern Europe was slipping and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was becoming a source of hope for reformers in the East and the West. The Stasi was determined not to repeat the events of the year before, when East Germans amassed at the Wall to listen to a concert by Genesis, David Bowie and Eurythmics in West Berlin...
...employees on suspicion of stealing state secrets. While China's murky criminal-justice system makes it difficult to unearth any specifics of the charges, the state-run China Daily reported on July 15 that the Rio Tinto representatives allegedly bribed officials from 16 Chinese steel mills during negotiations over iron-ore prices. Chinese media also reported that at least five Chinese steelmakers and the China Iron & Steel Association are also under investigation. Rio Tinto has denied any wrongdoing by its employees...
...legitimacy of the government in a very big way," he notes. Foreign mining companies--very much including Australian ones--have profited greatly by feeding China's ravenous appetite for raw materials. But recently, wild fluctuations in commodity prices and friction over trade deals have increased tension between overseas iron-ore suppliers and China's steel producers. The arrests came weeks after the collapse of a bid by state-owned aluminum company Chinalco to invest $19.5 billion in Rio Tinto; the timing has prompted some observers to suggest that the charges are retaliatory...
Meanwhile, negotiations over iron-ore contracts, an annual ritual that has been particularly heated this year, may be another factor. Chinese steel producers have been pushing for a discount of up to 50% on the price agreed on last year with Rio Tinto. But with the negotiations stretching long past their original June 30 deadline, steadily climbing prices for iron ore have steelmakers sweating. "Clearly the Chinese insistence that the price be cut further no longer can be sustained," says Jim Lennon, a Macquarie Bank analyst, who notes that talks "have gotten increasingly acrimonious...
...tide of tattoos, leather and thousands of thundering Harleys will surge into South Dakota this week for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, one of the largest biker gatherings in the world. The small town's population will grow more than sixtyfold as crowds of iron-horse lovers take in a week of open roads, flowing booze and hard living. The rally attracts more than its share of weekend warriors eager for a brief interlude of escapist revelry. But for thousands of members of the Hells Angels, the nation's most notorious motorcycle gang, it's not vacation...