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Martin returns, says UNSC will endorse secretary-general’s proposal this week NepalNews
US welcomes interim constitution
Over two dozen MPRF activists arrested in the capital The MPRF activists including MP Amresh Kumar Singh and MPRF chairman Upendra Yadav were apprehended after they started burning the copies of interim constitution at Maitighar Mandala, Kathmandu. The protesters said the interim constitution failed to address the demands of Madhesi people.
Terai bandh affects normal life
UN arms monitors completing final logistics preparations
Citizenship distribution begins
MPRF protest interim constitution; calls Madhesh bandh
Nepal's Rebels Say Interim Constitution Means End of Monarchy Bloomberg Nepal's peace settlement will allow the government to cut defense spending and economic growth in 2007 may reach 5 percent, Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat said in July. .... About 42 percent of Nepalese live below the poverty line and 80 percent of them rely on agriculture for a livelihood. More than 13,000 people were killed during the insurgency.
Obama Forms Committee to Weigh 2008 Presidential Bid (Update1) Bloomberg
Obama begins possible run for president Toronto Star, Canada
Obama Takes 1st Step in Presidential Bid San Francisco Chronicle, CA
Obama Takes 1st Step In Presidential Bid Guardian Unlimited, UK
Democrat Obama enters 2008 White House race Reuters India, India
Barack Obama joins White House race MSNBC
Obama takes first step in White House bid Los Angeles Times, CA
Obama takes first step in White House bid Newsday, NY
Obama takes first step in White House bid Los Angeles Times, CA
Democrat Obama enters 2008 White House race Boston Globe, MA
Obama takes first step in presidential bid Baltimore Sun, MD
Toward Presidential Bid Wall Street Journal (subscription), NY
Obama to enter 2008 White House race Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia
Barack Obama joins White House race Financial Times, UK
Obama steps into White House race BBC Bulgaria, Bulgaria
Obama Takes First White House Step TIME -
Obama takes 1st step in presidential bid MLive.com, MI
Senator Barack Obama Takes First Step Towards Presidential Bid FOX News
INSIDE OBAMA'S INNER CIRCLE Chicago Tribune, IL The gravitational pull around Sen. Barack Obama grows stronger day by day, as he and his advisers seek commitments from political operatives and donors ....... encompasses the world of ideas of his Harvard Law School classmates. ...... The political professionals who are Obama's closest formal advisers are careful, deliberate counselors, wary of unnecessary risks and no strangers to campaign street fights. ...... David Axelrod, the strategist at Obama's right hand, perhaps the best-known Democratic consultant working outside of Washington, D.C., equally adept at sensing the right metaphor for high-minded aspirations and at finding the vulnerable spot to savage an opponent. ........ Robert Gibbs, communications director, ... "Northern ruthlessness and Southern charm combined." ....... Valerie Jarrett ..... most influential is his wife, Michelle, a formidable daughter of the South Side who is an alumna of the Ivy League and Chicago's rough-and-tumble City Hall. ...... "He really wants to know all the points of view in the room. He doesn't want to shut people down or force a consensus" ..... Michael Froman, an informal Obama adviser who was a Harvard Law classmate and chief of staff to former Treasury Secretary Bob Rubin. ....... The senator periodically assembles informal advisers and his senior Senate staff for freewheeling evening sessions to set strategy and appraise his performance. In November, it was a four-hour gathering with stacks of takeout pizza boxes on a conference room table to talk over the senator's future. ........ Obama and Axelrod speak almost every day. But Obama also often reaches out directly to friends for advice, by e-mail or telephone. ........ he and his advisers are working so intently to put the pieces in place that operatives are starting to tell Obama's likely rivals they are unable to work for those candidates because they are otherwise engaged. ...... Donors and fundraisers are being asked to make commitments, and the nascent operation is pulling in staffers and consultants from throughout the nation. ........ David Plouffe, an Axelrod partner who worked on Obama's 2004 Senate campaign, is the likely campaign manager. ....... Bill Burton, national press secretary for the House Democrats' midterm campaign, is likely to join up ...... Peter Giangreco, a Chicago-based media consultant and veteran of the Iowa caucuses, is on board to do the direct mail as is his West Coast partner Larry Grisolano. At least one pollster is lined up: Paul Harstad, another Iowa veteran, who also worked on Obama's Senate campaign. Julianna Smoot, finance director for John Edwards' 2004 campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2006, will fill the same role for Obama. ......... But the group most tightly circled around Obama is a longstanding one, made up of old friends who share an understanding of how he works. ........... the speech that would propel Obama onto the national stage. ..... practice several times. ...... Obama never asked him for a set of "talking points," which might have been the first order of business for others. Instead, he asked for audio and video of previous convention speeches to make his own assessment. ...... Obama then holed up in a hotel in Springfield, where the legislature was in session, and wrote the speech ....... Chief of staff Peter Rouse, who previously headed the office of Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle ....... Rouse's role would be to remain behind to watch Obama's back in the Senate, where rivals and their allies will have plenty of opportunities to lay political traps. ....... the way Obama relies on his advisers is as conversationalists who explore issues in depth. ......... "He rarely accepts anyone's initial position without any push back," Jarrett said. "He consistently probes deeper and deeper to make sure that you and he both have really thoroughly analyzed any given issue." ....... John Rogers, head of Ariel Capital Management, is a friend drawn into the family circle by Michelle Obama's brother Craig Robinson, with whom Rogers played basketball at Princeton University. ........ Obama deals with his friends much the same way he relates to everyone who crosses his path ...... "He has this ability to connect and bring people together," he said. "I've seen him wow people at the Commercial Club of Chicago, and then I go to New York to watch him with the Wall Street Project, a mostly minority crowd, and they're hanging on his every word." ....... Cassandra Butts, who first met Obama at the financial aid office, said the friends sometimes would spend time "just sitting around and talking about how we were going to change the world. ... How do you take this thing we're learning in law school and make a difference on the issues that we care about?" ..... "With Barack it's much more collegial than paternal" ...... Michelle Obama doesn't play a day-to-day role in her husband's work.. Instead.. she is the "true north" on his compass. ....... "She always asks Barack, `What do you think is the right thing to do?'" said Jarrett. "`Forget about what polls say. Do your homework. After you've done all the due diligence, what's the right thing to do?'"
Barack Obama officially enters White House race AlaskaReport, AK
Obama aims to be first black US president BreakingNews.ie, Ireland Obama announced his intentions to file a presidential exploratory committee on his Web site, www.barackobama.com. He said he would announce more about his plans February 10 in his hometown, Chicago, Illinois.... Another potential 2008 presidential candidate, Republican congressman Tom Tancredo, an outspoken opponent of illegal immigration, said he also is forming an exploratory committee for a possible campaign..... After making a weekend trip to Iowa, home to the first nominating caucuses in January 2008, Tancredo said voters told him other presidential candidates do not share their views. ..... “They believe that there is a void in this race that none of the other candidates are willing or able to fill,” Tancredo said.
