Tag Archives: office

Gil Kerlikowske: Obama’s New Drug Czar

President Obama’s choice to head the Office of National Drug Control Policy — otherwise known as the country’s “Drug Czar” — is Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske. Having served in law enforcement for more than 30 years, Kerlikowske is known as an innovator and fierce defender of community policing principles that emphasize relationships with citizens over force. He’s clashed with city councils over his leadership style, but he’s also built a national reputation while working as a police chief all over the country

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Lawyers in Pakistan begin four-day march to capital

Hundreds of lawyers and their supporters boarded buses in Karachi that will carry them to the capital, Islamabad, where they will demand that the government immediately restore judges that the previous president ousted. The group, numbering from 300 to 500, will join thousands of other demonstrators who are also headed to the capital as part of a four-day “Long March.” The demonstrators plan a massive sit-in at the parliament building on Monday. “Our movement is a peaceful movement,” said organizer Rasheed Razvi, president of the Sindh High Court Bar Association.

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Chris Brown withdraws Kids’ Choice nominations

Singer Chris Brown, facing charges of domestic violence against his girlfriend, singer Rihanna, has withdrawn his nominations for two Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, a spokesman said. Brown, 19, had been nominated for “Favorite Song” and “Favorite Male Singer.” “Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding the incident last month has shifted the focus from the music to whether he should be allowed to be among those nominated,” the spokesman said in a written statement. The Los Angeles County District Attorney filed two felony counts against Brown last week relating to a February 8 incident in which police said he assaulted Rihanna, 21

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Sudanese ambassador: Ousted aid groups were ‘spoiling’ country

Sudan’s ambassador to the United Nations on Friday defended his nation’s decision to expel 16 nongovernment aid organizations, charging they were "messing up everything," "spoiling," and "destabilizing" his country. Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad said the government took action because the North African nation has evidence the suspended nongovernment organizations repeatedly acted outside their humanitarian mandate and were working with the International Criminal Court in its investigation into the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan

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Britain’s Clown Shortage: Visa Rules Hit the Circus

Circus performers can twist themselves into pretzels and somersault through rings of fire, but even they are struggling to jump through new hoops set up by the U.K. immigration authorities. In November, the British Home Office introduced a points-based system to crack down on illegal immigration and create what its web site describes as “a significantly more straightforward and transparent structure.” It’s easy enough for foreign trapeze artists and acrobats to secure the requisite points for entry into Britain based on their unique skills.

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CIA Veterans Blast Senate Probe of Operations Under Bush

For a handful of CIA operatives who were on the frontlines of the war on terror in the early months and years after 9/11, it’s the stuff of nightmares. After all, they did their job as their political masters defined it, using tools and techniques approved by their lawyers

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Castro and Chavez: The Evil Twins for Florida’s GOP

Thousands of Venezuelans residing in Florida cast ballots at their Miami consulate last month in a referendum on whether to abolish presidential term limits back home. Most voted “no,” because the last thing they want is to see left-wing President Hugo Chávez run again when his second term expires in 2012

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