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...After almost four years and 15 rounds of what Wellington's ambassador to China Tony Browne calls "a very detailed, very complicated, very elaborate negotiation," New Zealand is on track to become, on April 7, the first developed nation to sign a free-trade pact with the market the whole world is courting. "It's a bit like getting the first date with the best-looking girl on the block," says Stuart Ferguson, chairman of the New Zealand-China Trade Association: in this case, ahead of suitors Australia, Norway and India. Details are a closely held secret, but the deal...
...economy," says David Skilling, head of think tank The New Zealand Institute. China and New Zealand are both members of the World Trade Organization, but bilateral trade deals are seen as a way to further open export markets. New Zealand would like to follow Australia's lead and sign one with the U.S., but a deal with China is just as pressing. Lopsided tariff barriers - China's go as high as 38%, while New Zealand has almost none - and agrarian Kiwis' growing dependence on Chinese machinery, electronics, clothing and furniture are tilting the scales ever more steeply in Beijing...
...first sign of change comes when I board the Royal Jordanian Airlines flight from Amman. It's an Airbus A320, and that is good news. It means the flight will not end with the heart-stopping corkscrew landing that characterized all my previous arrivals in smaller, more nimble aircraft. If Royal Jordanian is willing to use a large jetliner, it can only mean that the likelihood of a missile attack has greatly diminished...
...State Department. Anthony Lake, a Wasp from Connecticut, and Richard Holbrooke, the son of European-Jewish immigrants, arrived in Washington that summer, destined to become two of the best diplomats of their generation. They became close friends and were posted together to Vietnam one year later. Lake would later sign Holbrooke's wedding certificate, and Holbrooke eventually became the godfather of one of Lake's daughters. They also became competitors, rising together in a tight orbit and shining as young stars in the Carter Administration State Department...
House Republicans are hoping otherwise. So far, 174 of them have signed a petition demanding a vote on the SAVE (Secure America Through Verification and Enforcement) Act, which would crack down on illegal immigration without enacting other reforms. Democratic leaders do not want to hold a vote on the legislation, which is opposed by Hispanic, liberal and business groups. But if the bill's 49 Democratic co-sponsors sign the petition, the leadership will have to allow a vote. Congressional Republicans are trying to force conservative and moderate Democrats to choose between bucking Nancy Pelosi and breaking their pledges...