Word: stand-off
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...Despite the happy ending to the Bulgarians' ordeal, however, there has been criticism of the high-profile way Sarkozy snatched up the E.U.'s previous, discreet efforts to resolve the stand-off. Similar grumbling was heard in France and around Europe over the deployment of Sarkozy's wife, Cécilia, as an emissary to Libya twice in the last ten days of negotiations, as well as her presence on the presidential plane and on the Sofia tarmac with the returning Bulgarians. Critics have claimed the move was an attempt to cast France's First Lady into a quasi-official...
...Iran cut ties with the United States after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iranians celebrated with a measure of irony, pleased to find the government had decreed the metro system free for the day, but anxious over what Tehran's latest nuclear strides would mean for their country's tense stand-off with the West. "I'm very sorry I forgot to congratulate you," a customer joked to the owner of a bookshop in central Tehran. "Where's my yellow cake?" replied the owner, punning on the term for a byproduct of refined uranium...
While speculation continues in the West over the fate of the 15 British sailors and marines being held in Iran, in Tehran the stand-off is nearly a wrap. On Monday, the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, said Iran wanted to "solve the problem using diplomatic channels." The softened tone was echoed throughout Tehran's media and policy circles, and within two days, newspapers, blogs, and analysts began tallying scores and discussing the controversy as though it were over. Former officials who last week spoke in tones of high anxiety over the prospect of military...
...details were puzzling. Why would Sunni insurgents, who generally favor stand-off tactics like suicide bombings, mortar attacks and roadside bombs, make a target of themselves by massing hundreds of fighters deep in the Shi'a heartland? Why would Shi'a militias, which thrive on the support of the towns and neighborhoods from which they spring, stake a claim to a patch of farmland outside Najaf...
...real world must intrude and the stand-off must end eventually, and when it does, the reader is left feeling bittersweet, wishing that the group could have lived happily in their sealed world for years to come. The harmony that develops between hostages and captors is only possible in Patchett’s world, but we are nonetheless left hoping for its reality...