Word: primed
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...Fernbrooke goes, so goes the nation. In April, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced a $31 billion plan to build a National Broadband Network (NBN) that will bring fast fiber-optic connections into 90% of the nation's homes, even to towns with as few as 1,000 residents. In doing so, Australia may leapfrog South Korea, which is widely acknowledged as the world's most wired country but where just 44% of residences currently have fiber connections. Less than 5% of U.S. households are wired with fiber-optic cables. (See the 50 best inventions...
...Then there's all that bad debt. We've now mostly worked through the subprime mortgage mess that started this whole debacle, but lots more losses - from prime mortgages, credit cards, commercial real estate, you name it - are still to come. Morgan Stanley economist Richard Berner estimated on Tuesday that even in the most bullish case, banks and other lenders have only recognized about half the $1.7 trillion in loan losses they're likely to suffer over the course of the downturn. In Berner's "bear" case, losses will top $4 trillion...
...overarching fear was for the hard-won peace. Pushpa Kamal Dahal, more popularly known by his nom de guerre Prachanda, had been Prime Minister for just eight months and, while popular, has had to weather several political and economic crises. The concern over a break with the military was whether the Maoist rebels would then return to armed conflict - or that the military would stage a coup to avoid having to absorb them. Supervised by the United Nations, the guerrillas are increasingly restive, residing in military bases for two-and-a-half years now while awaiting integration. (See pictures...
...decision and, on Sunday, the Communist Party of Nepal and the Sadbhavana Party withdrew support from the government. Prachanda had two choices then: to attempt to set up an autocracy or to follow democratic principles. Prachanda announced his decision the next day: "I have resigned from the post of prime minister from today for the protection of democracy and peace...
Analysts believe the Prime Minister's decision to resign actually strengthens democracy, showing his commitment to parliamentary procedures, a good sign for the fledgling democracy born after 10 years of violence and political floundering. "He has taken the democratic high road of parliamentary practice," says Dixit, "This is a very good harbinger of the democratization process." This is the reason why the crisis, while definitely a dark cloud, has a very bright silver lining. "It will affect the peace process obviously, the integration [of former rebels into the army] also. The constitution-making process will be delayed, and the country...