Word: softener
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...first, and most optimistic, possibility is that under tremendous international pressure, Hamas will soften its platform and renounce terrorism in order to maintain the vital flow of almost a billion dollars in annual foreign aid. It may seem a stretch to assume that an organization committed to the annihilation of Israel and with a long history of brutally murdering innocent civilians is capable of such fundamental change. However, to draw an incomplete parallel, at the start of Ariel Sharon’s term as Prime Minister of Israel, no one would have ever predicted that he would advocate an Israeli...
...There are some signs that Jamaica may soften its approach. Jamaica's ruling party last month elected the nation's first female Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller, a progressive who gay-rights supporters hope will eventually move to decriminalize homosexuality. She hasn't yet said that, but Jamaica's beleaguered gays say they at least have reason now to hope their government will change its tune before their reggae stars ever...
...Olmert has refused to turn over $50 million in tax revenues Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinians and has ruled out negotiations with the government unless Hamas renounces terrorism and recognizes Israel. But the prospect of a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories may force Israel to soften its position on Hamas. Olmert told TIME he is meeting with aides "to see what we can do" to assist the Palestinians through nongovernmental organizations without giving money to Hamas. And Olmert might still face U.S. resistance to his plan to evacuate some West Bank settlements if it looks...
...compete for low-income students. The announcement that general need-based scholarship funding will increase by 6.2 percent this fall is also welcome news. The leap is a bigger one than that of previous years—in 2005, scholarship funding rose 5.8 percent—and will help soften the blow of higher tuition. We are heartened by the words of Dean of Admissions William R. Fitzsimmons ’67, who said last spring that his office is evaluating how to make attending Harvard more affordable for families of incomes between $100,000 and $200,000. Many...
...Soldiers are not supposed to be soft and cuddly." MICHAEL J. SMITH, U.S. Army dog handler who was sentenced last week to six months behind bars for using his Belgian shepherd to "soften up" prisoners at the Abu Ghraib facility in Iraq...