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US Senate Votes to Normalize Trade With Russia

Posted December 6th, 2012 at 6:30 pm (UTC-5)
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The U.S. Senate has approved legislation that normalizes trade relations with Russia, but also imposes sanctions on Russian human rights violators. Lawmakers voted Thursday to lift trade restrictions on Russia that date back to the Cold War era. The bill would also normalize U.S. trade with Moldova. President Barack Obama has pledged to sign the […]

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Bosnian Islamist Gets 18 Years For US Embassy Attack

Posted December 6th, 2012 at 5:35 pm (UTC-5)
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A court in Bosnia-Herzegovina has sentenced an Islamist radical to 18 years in prison for last year’s gun attack on the U.S. embassy in Sarajevo. The state court in Sarajevo Thursday found Mevlid Jasarevic guilty of a terrorist attack by shooting at the U.S. embassy from an automatic weapon in October 2011. Jasarevic’s alleged accomplices […]

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Hundreds Light Up as Marijuana Becomes Legal in Washington State

Posted December 6th, 2012 at 4:45 pm (UTC-5)
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Pot smokers in Washington state celebrated Thursday by lighting up under the appropriately-named Space Needle in Seattle as a voter-approved referendum legalizing recreational marijuana took effect. Hundreds of smokers puffed joints and gleefully blew the smoke into the air as police stood by. Under the new state law, people over 21 years old can not […]

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Russian News Host Shot Dead in North Caucasus

Posted December 6th, 2012 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
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A television news host in Russia’s troubled North Caucasus region has been shot to death, in the latest deadly attack in an area where Islamic militants are active. Russian officials said Thursday that 28-year-old Kazbek Gekkiyev was shot to death late Wednesday by unknown assailants. His colleagues at a regional branch of the state channel […]

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Dutch Suspend Search for Victims of North Sea Ship Collision

Posted December 6th, 2012 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
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Rescuers have called off a search for six missing crewmembers after a ship collision that killed five in the North Sea off the Dutch coast. Dutch Coast Guard officials said Thursday that given the frigid water temperature and the time that has passed, it is unlikely more survivors will be found. Rescue efforts were hampered […]

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Afghan Spy Chief Wounded in ‘Terrorist Attack’

Posted December 6th, 2012 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
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Afghan officials say the country’s intelligence chief is in surgery after being wounded in an assassination attempt in Kabul. The National Directorate of Security (NDS) said Asadullah Khalid was wounded in what it called a “terrorist attack” Thursday, when a suicide bomber struck a guest house in the capital. NDS spokesman Shafiqullah Tahiri said the […]

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European Central Bank Sees More Eurozone Economic Decline

Posted December 6th, 2012 at 1:40 pm (UTC-5)
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The European Central Bank says the economic fortunes of the 17-nation euro currency bloc are likely to continue to decline next year and not advance again until late in 2013 and into 2014. Bank president Mario Draghi gave his assessment of the eurozone economy Thursday after the central bank kept its benchmark interest rate at […]

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Afghan Spy Chief Wounded in ‘Terrorist Attack’

Posted December 6th, 2012 at 12:55 pm (UTC-5)
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Afghan officials say the country’s intelligence chief is in surgery after being wounded in an assassination attempt in Kabul. The National Security Directorate said Asadullah Khalid was wounded in what it called a “terrorist attack” Thursday when an explosion hit a guest house in the capital. Khalid reportedly suffered injuries to the lower part of […]

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Clinton Warns of Backsliding in Eastern Europe, Central Asia

Posted December 6th, 2012 at 12:25 pm (UTC-5)
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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has issued sharp criticism for a number of Eastern European and Central Asian nations, saying they are backsliding on democratic reforms. In a meeting with human rights activists in Dublin Thursday, Clinton warned that Russia is trying to “re-Sovietize” Eastern Europe and Central Asia by creating a regional trade […]

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European Central Bank Sees More Eurozone Economic Decline

Posted December 6th, 2012 at 12:10 pm (UTC-5)
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The European Central Bank says the economic fortunes of the 17-nation euro currency bloc are likely to continue to decline next year and not advance again until late in 2013 and into 2014. Bank president Mario Draghi gave his assessment of the eurozone economy Thursday after the central bank kept its benchmark interest rate at […]

Tags: , , Posted in Economy