President Obama’s ‘Persistent’ Press Conference: Message Accomplished

The first rule of the political press conference: You don’t really have to answer the question, or at least you don’t have to dwell on it. You can simply say what you came to say. This is even more true when you are a popular President of the United States.

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Al Qaeda No. 2: Sudan’s president pandered to West

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, facing an international arrest warrant, is paying the price for pandering to the West, al Qaeda’s second-in-command said in an audio statement released Tuesday. “I am not defending Omar al-Bashir or his regime, nor am I defending what it has done in Darfur and elsewhere,” Ayman al-Zawahiri said in the statement released by al Qaeda’s production company, as-Sahab Media. But, he said, “the issue isn’t one of Darfur and solving its problems; the issue is one of making excuses for more foreign interference in the Muslims’ countries in the framework of the contemporary Zionist Crusade.” The warrant issued by the International Criminal Court earlier this month accuses al-Bashir of war crimes and crimes against humanity, charges he denies

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Yellin: Geithner faces a tough room

Slouching alone at the head table before a room of business reporters, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner looked like an overgrown prep school student facing the expulsion board after violating the honors code. It wasn’t what he said, but his demeanor as he said it. Cautious, gazing out, he seemed to be shrinking from the room

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‘Era of open government’ behind information policy reversal

To expand openness and transparency, the Obama administration has rescinded a Bush administration standard on withholding government documents, Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday. All Obama administration departments and agencies will release documents requested under the Freedom of Information Act unless doing so is forbidden by law or would harm a government interest, Holder said.

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Bush to write book on important decisions of presidency

Former President George W. Bush is writing a book focusing on defining decisions he’s made in his personal and political life, a publishing house announced Thursday. The book, tentatively titled “Decision Points,” is to be published in fall 2010, according to the Crown Publishing Group

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Despite U.S. Efforts, Tension Mounts in Pakistan

Despite a flurry of efforts to broker a truce, Pakistan’s government and leading opposition politicians continue to stagger toward a head-on collision. As Washington and its allies watch with mounting anxiety, the government has broadened its crackdown, requisitioning troops and silencing a leading TV news channel

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GAO: Fake passports easy to get

A congressional investigation has exposed gaping holes in security eight years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, a government report says. An investigator used a false identification to obtain a U.S. passport and then used the passport to get an airline boarding pass and go through an airport security checkpoint, according to the Government Accountability Office

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Pakistan TV station reportedly blocked in parts of country

Pakistani television station GEO-TV has been shut down in locations across the country, according to the station’s managing director. Government officials have instructed cable operators to remove the channel from the airwaves or push it farther down in the channel order, Azhar Abbas said Saturday. The channel signal has been blocked in certain areas, but other cable operators are still carrying it

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