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20081030
Corporate - Government - Politics - US - Britain - Germany
"Banks to Continue Paying Dividends: Bailout Money Is for Lending, Critics Say." ... "U.S. [United States] banks getting more than $163 billion from the Treasury Department for new lending are on pace to pay more than half of that sum to their shareholders, with government permission, over the next three years." ... "The government said it was giving banks more money so they could make more loans. Dollars paid to shareholders don't serve that purpose, but Treasury officials say that suspending quarterly dividend payments would have deterred banks from participating in the voluntary program." ... "Critics, including economists and members of Congress, question why banks should get government money if they already have enough money to pay dividends -- or conversely, why banks that need government money are still spending so much on dividends." ... ""The whole purpose of the program is to increase lending and inject capital into Main Street. If the money is used for dividends, it defeats the purpose of the program," said [New York Democratic Senator] Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y. [Democratic-New York]), who has called for the government to require a suspension of dividend payments." ... "The 33 banks signed up so far plan to pay shareholders about $7 billion this quarter. Companies generally try to pay consistent dividends and, at the present pace, those dividends will consume 52 percent of the Treasury's investment over the initial three-year term." ... "The Treasury's approach contrasts with decisions by foreign governments, including Britain and Germany, to require banks that accept public investments to suspend dividend payments until the government is repaid. The U.S. government similarly required Chrysler to suspend its dividend payments as a condition of the government's 1979 bailout." (1, 2) -By Binyamin Appelbaum -WashingtonPost

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20080804
US_Debt - Government - Money - Countrywide Financial Corporation - Real Estate - North Carolina - New York - US - United Kingdom
"Fewest Treasury Traders Since 1960 Hit Taxpayers (Update4)." ... "For the first time since 1960, when it created the network of securities firms obligated to buy and sell Treasury bonds, the U.S. government has the fewest bond traders making markets in its debt and a bigger burden for American taxpayers financing record federal deficits." ... "The number of so-called primary government securities dealers declined to 19 last month when Bank of America Corp., based in Charlotte, North Carolina, acquired the troubled Countrywide Financial Corp. The sale was the climax of dozens of bank failures, triggered by the biggest decline in residential real estate since the Great Depression and the seizing up of credit markets from New York to London [United Kingdom's capital]. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the agent of the U.S. Treasury, plans to shrink the dealers again when JPMorgan Chase & Co. completes its takeover of Bear Stearns Cos." ... "The paucity of primary dealers coincides with the largest borrowing requirement in American history and the acknowledgment by the administration of [Republican] President George W. Bush that the U.S. will finance a budget deficit totaling a record $482 billion next year. When the dealer system began 48 years ago with 18 firms, the U.S. had a $300 million surplus. The group has shrunk from a peak of 46 in 1988. " -By Sandra Hernandez -Bloomberg

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20080727
Barack Obama - John McCain - Media - Politics - Iraq - Pakistan - Afghanistan - Iran - Kuwait - Britain - US - Nuclear - Military - Terrorism - Gas - Money - 2008 Election
"How Obama Became Acting President." ... "The growing [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama clout derives not from national polls, where his lead is modest. Nor is it a gift from the press, which still gives free passes to its old bus mate [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain. It was laughable to watch journalists stamp their feet last week to try to push Mr. Obama into saying he was “wrong” about the surge. More than five years and 4,100 American fatalities later, they’re still not demanding that Mr. McCain admit he was wrong when he assured us that our adventure in Iraq would be fast, produce little American “bloodletting” and “be paid for by the Iraqis.”" ... "Never mind. This election remains about the present and the future, where Iraq’s $10 billion a month drain on American pocketbooks and military readiness is just one moving part in a matrix of national crises stretching from the gas pump to Pakistan." ... "First, on July 7, the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, dissed [Republican President] Bush dogma by raising the prospect of a withdrawal timetable for our troops. Then, on July 15, Mr. McCain suddenly noticed that more Americans are dying in Afghanistan than Iraq and called for more American forces to be sent there. It was a long-overdue recognition of the obvious that he could no longer avoid: both Robert Gates, the defense secretary [of Republican President Bush], and [Admiral] Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had already called for_more American troops to battle the resurgent Taliban, echoing the policy proposed by Mr. Obama a year ago." ... "On July 17 we learned that [Republican] President Bush, who had labeled direct talks with Iran “appeasement,” would send the No. 3 official in the State Department to multilateral nuclear talks with Iran. Lest anyone doubt that the White House had moved away from the rigid stand endorsed by Mr. McCain and toward Mr. Obama’s, a former Rumsfeld apparatchik weighed in on The Wall Street Journal’s op-ed page: “Now Bush Is Appeasing Iran.”" ... "Within 24 hours, the White House did another U-turn, endorsing an Iraq withdrawal timetable as long as it was labeled a “general time horizon.” In a flash, as Mr. Obama touched down in Kuwait, Mr. Maliki approvingly cited the Democratic candidate by name while laying out a troop-withdrawal calendar of his own that, like Mr. Obama’s, would wind down in 2010. On Tuesday, the British prime minister, Gordon Brown, announced a major drawdown of his nation’s troops by early 2009." -By Frank Rich -NYTimes

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20080630
John McCain - Barack Obama -US - Military - 2008 Election - World - Iraq - Afghanistan - Israel - Jordan - Germany - France - Britain - Ireland
"Former Nato commander questions value of McCain's military experience." ... "A top supporter of [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama has questioned the value of Republican [2008 Election Presidential Candidate] John McCain's military experience, suggesting it did not qualify him to be president." ... "Former Nato [NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization] commander Wesley Clark described Mr McCain as "untested and untried", lacking the executive experience needed to lead the country." ... ""He [McCain] has been a voice on the Senate armed services committee. And he has travelled all over the world. But he hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the navy that he commanded - that wasn't a wartime squadron," Mr Clark said. "I don't think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president."" ... "Mr Obama hopes to beef up his foreign-policy credentials with a visit to Iraq and Afghanistan later this year. His campaign announced at the weekend that the Democratic candidate would go to the Middle East and Europe next month. Mr Obama will visit Israel, Jordan, Germany, France and Britain, but does not apparently plan to stop in Ireland, where he has ancestral roots in Co Offaly [Ireland, Irish county in the Province of Leinster]." ... ""This trip will be an important opportunity for me to assess the situation in countries that are critical to American national security and to consult with some of our closest friends and allies about the common challenges we face," Mr Obama said." -By Denis Staunton -IrishTimes.com

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20080421
• Corporate - Hackers - Manufacture - Electronics - Technology - California - Texas - US - Global - TV - Telecom - Media - Copyright - Enforcement - German - Canada - UK - Israeli - Intelligence - Spying - "Rupert Murdoch Firm Goes on Trial for Alleged Tech Sabotage." ... "Did a Rupert Murdoch company go too far and hire hackers to sabotage rivals and gain the top spot in the global pay-TV war?" ... "This is the question a jury will be facing in a spectacular five-year-old civil lawsuit that is finally being tried this month in California but which has, oddly, received little notice from U.S. [United States] media." ... "The case involves a colorful cast of characters that includes former intelligence agents, Canadian TV pirates, Bulgarian and German hackers, stolen e-mails and the mysterious suicide of a Berlin [Germany's capital] hacker who had been courted by the Murdoch company not long before his death." ... "On the hot spot is NDS Group, a UK-Israeli firm that makes smartcards for pay-TV systems like DirecTV. The company is a majority-owned subsidiary of Murdoch's News Corporation. The charges stem from 1997 when NDS is accused of cracking the encryption of rival NagraStar, which makes access cards and systems for EchoStar's Dish Network and other pay-TV services. Further, it’s alleged NDS then hired hackers to manufacture and distribute counterfeit NagraStar cards to pirates to steal Dish Network's programming for free." ... "NagraStar and one of its parent companies, EchoStar, are seeking about $101 million for damages for piracy, copyright infringement, misconduct and unfair competition. The list of witnesses in the case includes EchoStar's founder and CEO Charlie Ergen; several hackers and pirates; and Reuven Hazak, an Israeli who heads security for NDS and is a former deputy head of Shabak, or Shin Bet, Israel's domestic security agency (the equivalent of Britain's MI5)." ... "According to court documents, the scheme began to unravel in 2000 when law-enforcement agents in Texas seized suspicious packages containing CD and DVD players stuffed with more than $40,000 in cash. Parcels similar to this were being sent almost daily from Canada, via Texas, to a hacker in California named Christopher Tarnovsky, who was working for NDS as an engineer. The money was allegedly part of the conspiracy between Tarnovsky and NDS Group to sabotage NagraStar's cards." -By Kim Zetter -Wired

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20080325
• Iraq - British - Police - Oil - Politics - "Iraqi forces battle Mahdi militia in southern Iraq, Baghdad." ... "With Iraq's top leaders directing the battle, Iraq's army and national police pressed a major operation Tuesday to wrest control of the southern port city of Basra from the Shiite Mahdi Army militia. Fighting between government forces and the militia quickly spread through Iraq's south and into Baghdad [Iraq's capital]." ... "Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki and his defense and interior ministers took charge of the 15,000 Iraqi army troops and police units, which were deployed for what aides said was to be a three-day operation against militias in the city." ... "The battle at the oil-rich port began before dawn Tuesday and lasted into the early evening before subsiding slightly as the Mahdi Army, headed by firebrand cleric Muqtada al Sadr, defended positions in several neighborhoods." ... "Maliki is taking a major political risk in attempting to recover Basra, which was virtually handed over to militias when the British military withdrew late last year." ... "Formally, Sadr is still observing a cease-fire he announced last August and renewed in February. But in fact his Mahdi Army has dominated several critical parts of Iraq, including in Basra, the heart of a major oil-producing region." ... "But a lawmaker close to Maliki said Sadr's cease-fire and freeze on operations were something of a fiction. "If you talk to Muqtada, they say we are freezing Jaysh al Mahdi (the Mahdi Army), but the bombing and the kidnapping and even hitting the Green Zone continues," said Sami al Askari, the lawmaker. "How can we believe the cease-fire when we continue to see this?"" -By Leila Fadel and Ali al Basri with contributions by Mohammed al Dulaimy -McClatchyDC.com

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20080314
• John McCain - France - Israel - Britain - US - Arizona - 2008 Election - Politics - "McCain Invites Fundraisers to London." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain and his staff have been adamant for days that his upcoming overseas trip to Britain, France and Israel is not political." ... "Apparently, though, there will still be room for fundraising." ... "McCain's campaign has sent out an invitation for a March 20 luncheon at Spencer House -- the neo-classical home built for an ancestor of Diana, the late Princess of Wales -- "by kind permission of Lord Rothschild OM GBE and the [Honorable] Hon. Nathaniel Rothschild."" ... "The price to attend is $1000 to $2,300. And the dress code for the event? "Lounge suits" -- British for business attire." -By Matthew Mosk -WashingtonPost 

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20080307
Gordon Smith - Abramoff - John Roberts - Ore - Ariz - Nev - Georgia - US - UK Scotland - Sports - History - Politics
"Gordon Smith says he is missing the links." ... "He [Oregon Republican Senator Gordon Smith] once paid $1.25 million for four really vintage golf clubs - including a putter owned by King James IV in 1504 - and can speak at passionate length about golfing in Scotland [UK], having done so several times." ... "Golf Digest says it ran into a lot of this reticence in [Washington Top 200 golf list] its survey this year."

"In the wake of the [Jack] Abramoff scandal, there's a greater-than-ever hesitancy among golfers to admit they play. [Republican lobbyist Jack] Abramoff is the former high-powered lobbyist who pleaded guilty in 2006 to charges involving fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials. Luxury golf junkets to Scotland were among the things that got him in trouble." ... "For now, mum's the word among many D.C. golfers. Even Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, a longtime player whose 14.5 Index hasn't been updated since 2000, declined to approximate his handicap, saying he hasn't been playing enough to have one. Same for [Oregon Republican Senator] Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore. [Republican-Oregon]) and [Arizona Democratic Representative] Rep. Ed Pastor (D-Ariz. [Democratic-Arizona]). Freshman [Nevada Republican Representative] Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev. [Republican-Nevada]), a member of the Republican "Ryder Cup" team, also declined to reveal a handicap. [former Georgia Republican Representative] Newt Gingrich, a proud 47-handicapper as a new golfer in 2005, doesn't admit to playing, either."

" -By Jeff Mapes -Oregonian

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20080229
• British - Afghanistan - US - Military - Safety - Secrecy - Politics - "Prince's cover in Afghanistan blown by Drudge Report." ... "An American website, the Drudge Report, broke a news blackout yesterday by revealing that Prince Harry has been serving in Afghanistan for more than two months." ... "To the fury of the Ministry of Defence and condemnation from the head of the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, the website announced a "world exclusive" and proclaimed: "They're calling him 'Harry the Hero!"." ... "The article brought to an end an agreement with the media that the Prince's deployment to Helmand be kept quiet in the interests of his safety and that of the soldiers with him." ... "The decision to send Prince Harry, 23, to Afghanistan under a cloak of secrecy came after the furore that followed the revelation of his proposed deployment to Iraq. Much to the Prince's frustration, General Dannatt announced in May last year that it would be too risky, fearing the Prince and his comrades in the Household Cavalry would become top priority targets for insurgents." ... "Immediately, officers decided the only way the third-in-line to the throne could continue to do his duty without creating an additional security risk was to send him secretly, calling on the media to co-operate in a news blackout." -By Terri Judd -Independent.co.uk

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20080227
• US- EU - Swiss - UK - New York - Oil - "Dollar slides to new lows after Fed warning." ... "There were records for the euro, which climbed as high as $1.5143 by midday in New York, and the Swiss franc, which hit SFr1.0624. Sterling, which had earlier fallen against the dollar due to weak UK [United Kingdom] growth data, Came back up to $1.9921." ... "The dollar index, a measure of the US [United States] unit’s strength against a basket of currencies, fell to a record low of 74.181. " ... "Oil prices also hit records. Nymex West Texas intermediate soared to $102.08, before edging back to $101.25. Brent crude rose to $100.53 as investors hedged against the weaker dollar." ... "Gold, which is often used as a hedge against inflation when oil prices rise, hit a fresh peak of $964.70 a troy ounce, and helped lift other precious metals. Silver rose to $19.43 its highest level since November 1980." -By Neil Dennis and Krishna Guha -FT.com

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20080212
• Antonin Scalia - Torture - Terrorism - Intelligence - Politics - Los Angeles - California - US - Britain - "US Judge Scalia on 'So-Called Torture'." ... "[Republican President Ronald Reagan appointed] Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said that aggressive interrogation could be appropriate to learn where a bomb was hidden shortly before it was set to explode or to discover the plans or whereabouts of a terrorist group." ... ""It seems to me you have to say, as unlikely as that is, it would be absurd to say you couldn't, I don't know, stick something under the fingernail, smack him in the face. It would be absurd to say you couldn't do that," Scalia told British Broadcasting Radio Corp." ... ""I suppose it's the same thing about so-called torture," he said in the interview. "Is it really so easy to determine that smacking someone in the face to find out where he has hidden the bomb that is about to blow up Los Angeles [California] is prohibited by the Constitution?"" ... ""Is it obvious, that what can't be done for punishment can't be done to exact information that is crucial to the society? I think it's not at all an easy question, to tell you the truth."" ... "Scalia, a judicial icon among American conservatives, an acerbic wit and often abrasive personality, said Europeans had no business "smugly" decrying those techniques as torture." -By Raphael G. Satter -AP via -ChicagoTribune 

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20080129
• Kenya - Terrorism - Radio - Agricultural - Land - Wealth - British - History - "How Kenya came undone: Long-simmering ethnic tensions threaten to tear apart East Africa's most stable, prosperous country." ... "While the most recent spark for the violence was the deeply flawed elections in which Mr. [Mwai] Kibaki was declared president, the underlying source of the country's tension is a perception that one ethnic group – Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe – has unfairly benefited from the nation's wealth solely because of its proximity to people in power. Resentment between Kenya's ethnic communities is chronic, observers say, but mistrust of Kikuyus has been building ever since Kenya's first president, Jomo Kenyatta, took power after independence from Britain in 1963." ... "Under Mr. Kenyatta – himself a Kikuyu – Kikuyus rose to high positions in government, took over major firms, and bought much of the farm land sold off by departing white settlers in the fertile Rift Valley. But it took a sense of betrayal to produce the violence of today, experts say. In 2002, a remarkably broad coalition of opposition leaders from different ethnic groups overthrew the 24-year dictatorship of President Daniel arap Moi. The new government signed a memorandum of understanding to share power." ... "But in 2003, Kibaki revoked that agreement and went back to the old habit of filling government positions – including, crucially, the Electoral Commission of Kenya – with personal allies and members of his own ethnic group, the Kikuyus. Furious at what they considered a betrayal, and cut off from access to power, former allies such as populist opposition leader Raila Odinga – a member of the Luo ethnic group who claims that he won the Dec. 27 vote – broke from the government and started a campaign for "majimbo," Swahili for self-rule, and resistance to Kikuyu domination." ... "For most Kenyans, this tribal fight is not just about the presidency, but land – the ultimate source of wealth in a mainly agricultural society. And the Rift Valley – Kenya's bread basket – is the main battlefield, as small "indigenous" armies with bows, arrows, and machetes march to expel the Kikuyu "newcomers."" ... "Some politicians used radio broadcasts to spread hatred against Kikuyus, and proclaimed that the time had come to remove the "weeds" from their lands." ... "Stoked with hate, the ethnic clashes began in earnest, particularly in the areas where Kikuyus had settled in the Rift Valley. Between the elections of 1992 and 1997, more than 2,000 Kenyans were killed and more than 300,000 Kenyans were displaced, most of them Kikuyus." ... "Politicians have used the belief that Kikuyus control the economy as a battle cry, pitting Kikuyus as the perpetual "haves" against the Luos, Kalenjins, and other tribes as the perpetual "have-nots."" (1, 2, 3, 4) -By Scott Baldauf -CSMonitor 

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20080125
• John McCain - Rick Davis - Russian - Crime - Money - Politics - Switzerland - Ukraine - Canada - Britain - Lawsuits - Ga - NH - Virginia - Arizona - 2008 Election - US - International - "Aide Helped Controversial Russian Meet McCain: Davis, Then a Lobbyist, Has Spurred Debate in Reform-Focused Campaign." ... "A top political adviser in [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator]  Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign helped arrange an introduction in 2006 between McCain and a Russian billionaire whose suspected links to anti-democratic and organized-crime figures are so controversial that the U.S. [United States] government revoked his visa." ... "Rick Davis, who is now McCain's campaign manager, helped set up the encounter between McCain and Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska in [World Economic Summit at Davos] Switzerland during an international economic conference. At the time, Davis was working for a lobbying firm and seeking to do business with the billionaire." ... "With a net worth of more than $13 billion, Deripaska is one of the richest men in Russia and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin." ... "When Deripaska met McCain, Davis was part of Davis Manafort, a lobbying firm that was being paid to provide political advice to pro-Russian and oligarch-funded candidates in Ukraine, according to interviews and news accounts." ... "Davis, who has been a political adviser to McCain on and off since 1999, was part of a lobbying firm that worked not only for Ukrainian politicians but also for telecommunications firms, a lottery services provider and freight companies." ... "Davis's firm provided political advice to a pro-Russian party in Ukraine during the parliamentary elections of 2006." ... "He [Oleg Deripaska] has been accused of shady business practices in lawsuits in the United States and Britain, and his multiple-entry U.S. visa was yanked by the State Department in the summer of 2006." ... "The first gathering that brought McCain and Deripaska together occurred in January 2006, when McCain was part of a congressional delegation trip. He and a small group of senators, including [Georgia Republican Senator] Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.[Republican-Georgia]) and [New Hampshire Republican Senator] John E. Sununu (R-N.H.[Republican-New Hampshire]), met for a drink near Davos, Switzerland, at an apartment where they were greeted by Davis and Deripaska. The group then went to a dinner at the ski chalet of Peter Munk, founder of Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold-mining company, based in Toronto [Canada]. Participants at the buffet dinner said Munk complimented his sometime business partner Deripaska during his brief remarks to the 40 or so guests." ... "Later that month, Deripaska wrote to Davis and his partner, GOP political consultant Paul J. Manafort, to thank them for arranging the meeting. "Thank you so much for setting up everything in Klosters so spectacularly," he wrote. "It was very interesting to meet Senators McCain, Chambliss and Sununu in such an intimate setting."" ... "The letter was sent to Davis at the Reform Institute, a Virginia-based nonprofit group that McCain helped start to promote many of his trademark reform efforts, including increasing the transparency of lobbying and campaign financing." ... "Davis was the institute's president from January 2003 until December 2005. During that time, he was also a registered lobbyist at Davis Manafort. The institute was located at the Davis Manafort offices until January 2006." ... "Seven months later, in August 2006, Davis was present again at a social gathering that was also attended by McCain and Deripaska, this time in Montenegro, another Eastern European country in which Davis's firm was working." (1, 2, 3) -By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and John Solomon with contributions by Peter Baker -WashingtonPost

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20080121
• Worldwide - US - Britain - France - Germany - Canada - Brazil - Argentina - "Stock Markets Plunge Worldwide." ... "Stocks fell sharply worldwide Monday following declines on Wall Street last week amid investor pessimism over the U.S. [United States] government's stimulus plan to prevent a recession." ... "U.S. markets were closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but the downbeat mood from last week's market declines there circled through Europe, Asia and the Americas. Britain's benchmark FTSE-100 slumped 5.5 percent to 5,578.20, France's CAC-40 Index tumbled 6.8 percent to 4,744.15, and Germany's blue-chip DAX 30 plunged 7.2 percent to 6,790.19." ... "In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index on the Toronto Stock Exchange fell 4.8 percent. Brazilian stocks plunged 6.6 percent on the main index of Sao Paulo's Bovespa exchange, and Argentina's benchmark Merval index fell 6.3 percent to close under 1,900 for the first time since August 2006." -By Toby Anderson with contributions by Cassie Biggs, Ramola Talwar Badam, Elaine Kurtenbach, and Carl Freire -AP via -Yahoo 

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20080117
• UK - Russia - European Union - "U.K. Slams Russian `Cold War' Tactics, Shuts Offices (Correct)." ... "The U.K. [United Kingdom] accused Russia of ``reprehensible'' Cold War tactics that forced Britain's cultural promotion body to close its last two offices outside Moscow after ``blatant intimidation'' of staff." ... "Russia's actions are ``not worthy of a great country,'' U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband told Parliament in London [United Kingdom's capital] today. ``We saw similar actions during the Cold War, but frankly thought they had been put behind us.''" ... "The British Council shut its branches in St. [Saint] Petersburg [Russia] and Yekaterinburg [Russia], saying the Russian government had made it ``impossible'' for the U.K. cultural promotion body to operate." ... "The dispute inflamed tensions between Russia and the U.K., whose ties were already at a post-Cold War low since the 2006 murder in London of dissident ex-Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko. Russia also found itself at odds with the 27-nation European Union, which criticized the ``harassment'' of the British Council. " -By Henry Meyer and Sebastian Alison -Bloomberg 

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