politics / Top Stories
Speaker Bercow in public money rowThe Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, has ordered a £20,000 refurbishment of his grace-and-favour residence - including spending £7,524.30 on a sofa suite and window seat cushions for the drawing room, it emerged last night.When he was appointed in June, Bercow pledged to forego the £24,000-a-year second home allowance as part of moves to restore trust in the wake of the expenses scandal.However, details of the expenditure on improvements at the Palace of Westminster's Speaker's house were revealed in a confidential document seen by the Daily Telegraph.The improvements include a series of alterations, redecoration and new furnishings for the rent-free home. One of the two studies is to become a playroom for Bercow's three young children, with a £1,087 bill for redecorating it.Some £3,600 is being spent on fitting locks to the windows and paying workmen to check that access ducts in the wall panelling are lockable or childproof. A further £3,880 has been spent on planters to
Guardian Wednesday, August 05, 2009Perry agrees to 2 primary debates, but Hutchison is set for 1The invitations came from the Belo Corp. and the Collin County Republican Party.
Houston Chronicle Wednesday, August 05, 2009Leadership Vacancy Raises Fears About USAID's FutureNAIROBI, Aug. 4 -- As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton begins a seven-country African trip with a visit to Kenya, the main U.S.
foreign aid agency is in limbo, entering its seventh month without a permanent director despite pledges by the Obama administration to expand development...
Washington Post Wednesday, August 05, 2009$52 Million Has Been Spent So Far on Health-Care Reform Ads in What Could Be Record-Shattering BattleThe increasingly heated fight over health-care legislation is saturating the summer airwaves, with groups on all sides of the debate pouring tens of millions of dollars into advertising campaigns designed to push the cause of reform forward, slow it down or stop it in its tracks.
Washington Post Wednesday, August 05, 2009During Visit by Bill Clinton, North Korea Releases American JournalistsNorth Korea pardoned and released two detained American journalists after former
president bill Clinton met in Pyongyang on Tuesday with the country's ailing dictator, a transaction that gives Kim Jong Il a thin slice of the international legitimacy that has long eluded him.
Washington Post Wednesday, August 05, 2009Obama's Domestic Policies Are Having Immediate Effects on Race for Va. GovernorThe coffee was still brewing when Chris Ann Cleland got her first reminder of the day that voting for Barack Obama might have been a mistake.
Washington Post Wednesday, August 05, 2009GOP Senators Seem Unconcerned About Hispanic Backlash Over Sotomayor OppositionSenate Republicans have lined up in staunch opposition to the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, rejecting concerns about alienating the growing Hispanic vote.
Washington Post Wednesday, August 05, 2009Residents of Michigan Town Want Prison to Stay Open, Even If That Means Housing Guantanamo Bay DetaineesSTANDISH, Mich., Aug. 4 -- From the road, the Standish Maximum Correctional Facility looks like it could be a country resort, lush wooded grounds surrounded by corn fields and flower beds.
Washington Post Wednesday, August 05, 2009Coal Group Reveals 6 More Forged Lobbying LettersA total of 12 forged letters -- all appearing to come from local groups unhappy with a climate-change bill -- were sent to three congressional offices this summer by a Washington lobbying firm, according to the pro-coal group for which the firm was working.
Washington Post Wednesday, August 05, 2009Clinton, U.S. journalists leave North Korea after pardonSEOUL (Reuters) - Former U.S.
president bill Clinton left North Korea on Wednesday with two American journalists, having secured their release in a meeting with the hermit state's leader who a U.S. official said was not promised any rewards.
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