Word: scupperful
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...Damascus under Syrian protection, is suspected by the Israelis of having ordered militants to kidnap Corporal Gilad Shalit and take him to the Gaza Strip, although Hamas and other Arab officials insist Mashaal was not directly involved. The Israelis believe he ordered the high-stakes hostage taking to scupper attempts by the Hamas-led government to join in unity talks with moderate Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas that would implicitly recognize Israel's right to exist...
...wish is clear: to defend our national interests," said French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin last week. Madrid is no different; late last month, Spain's Council of Ministers boosted its energy watchdog's veto powers over foreign takeovers. The regulator - stuffed full of government allies - might well scupper the German bid. Of course, some European governments dislike the idea of any familiar brand - from yogurt to automobiles - being swallowed up by foreigners, even if it's unusual for them to try to block such deals in the name of the national interest. With energy, though, the case for intervention...
...more than 730 players left jobless. In December, the National Hockey League Players' Association proposed a 24% rollback on all players' salaries; the league, which says it has lost some $500 million in the last two seasons, insists on capping players' salaries. The standoff seems likely to scupper the entire NHL season. But the NHL's loss is Europe's gain. Rather than sit out the dispute in North America, more than 300 NHL players have signed up with European teams and dozens more are expected. The new arrivals - many of them from Eastern Europe to begin with - have reinvigorated...
...victims of violence. He hasn't mentioned olive branches since this month's bombings. The Socialist government in Madrid has rejected Otegi's notion that negotiations can begin without a renunciation of violence from ETA. Yet Basques who condemn ETA don't believe these bombings were meant to scupper talks. Rather, they were a way of keeping the radical base loyal while inching toward negotiations. "I'm convinced that ETA and Batasuna are in agreement over the proposal made [by Otegi]," says Alberto Surio, a political commentator at El Diario Vasco, a San Sebastián-based daily...
...other shifts were afoot, to which Arafat appeared dangerously oblivious. Ariel Sharon was doing his utmost to scupper the deal; his grandstanding walkabout on the Temple Mount, the most sensitive piece of real estate in Jerusalem, was designed to challenge Barak's right to negotiate over its future. The action provoked young Palestinians into a series of riots that resulted in fatalities, and seven years of frustration among Arafat's base reached a boiling point. Numb to the dangers of a new round of confrontations, the Palestinian leader instead sensed an opportunity: Even though the new intifada was a rebellion...