Word: strengthing
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...rises again as a kind of godfather figure whose silence can be interpreted as tacit support, particularly when leaders such as Maliki are seen as consulting him. Sistani maintained his usual silence as Crocker wrapped up his visit to Najaf Saturday. But there is little doubt about the renewed strength of his hand in Iraq...
...FARC's overwhelming strength sprang from sources as mafioso as they were military. After the demise of Colombian drug cartel bosses like Pedro Escobar, the FARC stepped into the vacuum and earned hundreds of millions of dollars each year protecting traffickers as well as the growers of coca, cocaine's raw material. The guerrillas earned just as much via ransom kidnapping - they're estimated to hold more than 700 Colombian army, police and civilian hostages today, including three U.S. defense contractors whom the FARC abducted...
...other words, Puerto Rico's June 1 Democratic primary is the kind of contest that Hillary Clinton's campaign would dismiss as meaningless if Barack Obama were favored to win it. But Clinton is favored to win it easily, so she's casting it as an important test of strength among Hispanic voters, and she campaigned there this past holiday weekend. There will actually be 55 delegates at stake, more than in most state primaries, so it won't be meaningless. And it will be unique, because Puerto Rican politics always are. "Politics is our national pastime," says Miguel Lausell...
...month stalemate punctuated by recent violence, Lebanon's political factions reached a power-sharing deal that will install army General Michel Suleiman as President. The pact also grants significant new powers to militant group Hizballah, which drew criticism from Osama bin Laden in a recent audiotape for lacking the strength to battle Israel...
...Israelis aren't negotiating from a position of strength. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is deeply unpopular, buffeted by scandals and just barely clinging to power. This leaves him in no position to make important concessions to Syria's Bashar Assad. Nor does it help that the majority of Israelis oppose returning the Golan Heights, and few regard Assad as trustworthy...