Word: took
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...while Russia's relations with the U.S. have been thawing since Barack Obama took over the White House, E.U.-Russia relations remain frosty. Talks about a new bilateral treaty on political and economic cooperation have made little headway. Hopes for a free trade agreement between Brussels and Moscow have withered after Russia last week put its application for membership in the World Trade Organization on ice. E.U.-Russia energy cooperation remains stuck, which increases the risk of yet another gas crisis this year. Europeans have responded to Moscow's ideas about constructing a "new European security architecture" with a distinct...
Then there is the discovery by the U.N. Panel of Experts on Liberia - the body that oversees the country's recovery - that a company headed by former Justice Minister Philip Banks took out copyright on the new national law code. The U.S. embassy in Monrovia found it had to pay Banks' company $5,000 for its 20 copies, says one Western diplomat; in theory, Liberian courts must do the same. The U.N. panel believes the firm's "grounds for claiming copyright are questionable and ethically dubious." Little wonder that Johnson Sirleaf struggles. "The President's default position...
...When you took over, you were starting from scratch. We had a country that was really in a state of total collapse. The institutions were no longer functional, all the major productive activity had come to a halt, except for Firestone. [But] the war provided an opportunity for reform. The total collapse of everything is a big challenge. But it does provide an opportunity to change things. That's the kind of tough transition that we're going through right now. Part of it has to do with a change in the culture, moving from dependency to self-reliance, mediocrity...
...Minnesota AT LONG LAST, A WINNER Nearly eight months, 2.4 million votes, a recount, two appeals and $50 million in election spending is all it took to get Al Franken elected U.S. Senator from Minnesota. The longest race in the state's history came to an end when the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled unanimously for the former comedian, giving him the win by 312 votes. In the end, GOP incumbent Norm Coleman conceded gracefully, saying, "The future today is ... Al Franken." The belated victory gives Democrats a filibuster-proof majority of 60 votes just as the Senate is expected...
...Turning a blind eye to the Iranian government's crackdown may strike some as a betrayal of the million of Iranians who took to the streets. But the reality is that without an agreement over Iran's nuclear program, a nuclear arms race in the Middle East will threaten far more lives than club-wielding Iranian policemen...