Word: voting
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...Brazil's time," President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva insisted in his pitch before Friday's International Olympic Committee vote. "It is time to light the Olympic torch in a tropical country." The IOC agreed - and that lit up a frenzied carnival in Rio de Janeiro, a city that knows how to party perhaps better than any other. As the decision was announced, the world forgot Rio's problems for a moment, especially its frightening murder rate, and watched tens of thousands of its residents, known as Cariocas, exult on Copacabana Beach, dancing to deafening music in tanga...
Last year, Ireland cast a shadow over the future of the European Union in a referendum vote that rejected a treaty to reform the Union's decision making, but on Saturday, Irish voters reversed that decision. To the delight of Ireland's business and political establishment, results from a new referendum saw 67% of Irish voters approve the Lisbon treaty...
...Prime Minister Brian Cowen said he was delighted by the "decisive" vote. "Today we have done the right thing for our own future and the future of our children," he said. Cowen's relief was echoed across the whole of the E.U., where leaders had been watching the result as closely as the Irish. (The Union operates by consensus, meaning major policy questions have to be approved by all 27 member states.) "I am really glad with the result," said European Commission President José Manuel Barroso. "The Irish people have spoken. They have said a resounding yes to Europe...
...country as traditionally pro-European as Ireland, which has received an estimated $87 billion in E.U. funds since joining the union in 1973. Ireland represents less than 1% of the Union's half-billion total population, but it is the only member state to have asked its electorate to vote on the treaty. In June of last year, voters had rejected the document by a margin...
...Still, the treaty is not yet cleared for adoption. Poland's President Lech Kaczynski has refused to sign it until the Irish vote, but is now expected to do so over the next few days. But the biggest potential obstacle is the Czech Republic. Last week, a group of senators there filed a challenge at the country's constitutional court claiming the Lisbon Treaty would violate the Czech constitution by paving the way for a European superstate. Previous complaints to the court have been thrown out, but some fear it could take up to six months before the court rules...