Word: westernizes
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...fireworks exploded over Tripoli - almost all Western leaders stayed away - the controversy over al-Megrahi's release continued in the U.S. and Britain, where some victims' families and politicians say they suspect that Britain secretly traded al-Megrahi's freedom for big oil deals in energy-rich Libya. (See pictures of Lockerbie 20 years...
...Still, the fireworks blasted off in Tripoli on Sept. 1 with many world leaders - including Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy - absent. While many African and Arab leaders as well as Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez were there, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was the only Western European leader to attend. Britain's Prince Andrew, who is scheduled to hold trade talks with Gaddafi this week, also canceled. (See the top 10 Berlusconi-isms...
Monday marks the end of August, a month with both good and bad news out of Afghanistan - and the approach of a key turning point. Civilian casualties caused by Western attacks have fallen dramatically under a new edict from General Stanley McChrystal barring air strikes that risk innocent deaths (19 killed since July 1, down from 151 in the same period of 2008). That's designed to show the Afghan people that the U.S. military is a force for good in their country. But at the same time, U.S. troop deaths reached 45 in August, making it the deadliest month...
...Blood ties may explain why China, which has been one of the Burmese regime's biggest supporters - it has shielded the country from U.N. criticism and poured in foreign investment while Western countries have strengthened economic sanctions - took the unusual step last week of castigating the junta for the Kokang situation. The Chinese Foreign Ministry warned Burma that it should "properly handle domestic problems and maintain stability in the ... border region." The stability-obsessed Chinese government presumably isn't pleased with gun battles on its southern flank, including stray fire that claimed the life of a Chinese citizen in Yunnan...
...border region is a valuable conduit for Burmese natural resources, which China has become increasingly dependent on. For instance, the planned route for a Chinese-financed natural-gas pipeline from western Burma to China runs near the Kokang region. That project is slated to become the biggest-ever foreign-investment commitment in Burma. As Beijing sends People's Liberation Army reinforcements to its land across from the conflict zone, it can only hope that the Burmese regime keeps a fragile peace with the various ethnic groups in other border areas. "This area has always been like a bomb waiting...