WASHINGTON — Seizing the momentum from recent meetings with Latin
American leaders, the Obama administration is quietly pushing forward
with efforts to reopen channels of communication with Cuba, according to White House and State Department officials.
The officials said informal meetings were being planned between the
State Department and Cuban diplomats in the United States to determine
whether the two governments could open formal talks on a variety of
issues, including migration, drug trafficking and other regional
security matters.
And the administration is also looking for
ways to open channels for more cultural and academic exchanges between
Cuba and the United States, the officials said.
The next steps,
said a senior administration official, would be meant to “test the
waters,” to see whethe
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The rate of decline in circulation at the nation’s newspapers has
accelerated since last fall, as industry figures released Monday show a
more than 7 percent drop compared with the previous year.
Of
the top 25 newspapers in the United States, all posted declines in
circulation except for The Wall Street Journal, which eked out a 0.6
percent gain, according to the figures released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
For the others, the declines ranged from 20.6 percent for The New York
Post, to a slight 0.4 percent drop for The Chicago Sun-Times.
The number of killer swine flu cases identified in Queens jumped from eight to 28 overnight, but no one is gravely ill, officials said today.
Mayor Bloomberg
said another 17 possible victims are being monitored but added all the
cases are associated with the St. Francis Prep school in Fresh Meadows.
"We have one reported cluster of swine flu at one school," Bloomberg said.
He said calls to every intensive care unit in the city turned up no one who is sick with the flu.
Traditionally,
in order to justify US militarism and intervention, certain countries
and leaders have served the role of countries American pundits love to
hate, says Stephen Zunes.
[An interview with Stephen Zunes by Kourosh Ziabari]
In September 2007, Stephen
Zunes fell under the spotlight of the mass media following his meeting
with the controversial Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New
York during his third trip to the US to attend the 62nd session of the
United Nations General Assembly.
Dr. Stephen Zunes is a
Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of
San Francisco, where he serves as the chairman of Middle Eastern
Studies pro
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The number of killer swine flu cases identified in