US and Russia are likely to conclude a new nuclear disarmament treaty to replace the last one which expired last December. Both the presidents had a good conversation about the negotiations. And both the sides have agreed to reduce the number of nuclear warheads from the present over 2000 (US) and 3000 (Russia) to 1500/1675 warheads.
Not a great reduction, but heh, at least it is a START.
Cue the cheney twins/karl rover/faux newz start their routine of fear mongering, come monday.
US and Russia 'near' nuclear deal
Russia and the US have both said it should soon be possible to conclude a new nuclear disarmament treaty.
Officials in Moscow and Washington said US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had a "good conversation" reviewing negotiations.
The two countries are trying to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expired last December.
The US says it has more than 2,000 nuclear weapons, while Russia is believed to have nearly 3,000.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to discuss nuclear disarmament with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later this week in Moscow.
In a telephone conversation on Saturday, the two presidents "expressed satisfaction with the high level of consensus on the basic lines" of the treaty negotiations, the Kremlin said in a statement.
The pair "stressed that it is already possible to set firm dates to submit the draft agreement to the heads of state for their signatures," the statement added, without setting the timeframe.
A spokesman for the White House National Security Council said: "Both leaders are committed to concluding an agreement soon."
The two presidents launched talks to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start) last April with an original deadline of December.
It was part of a Washington-inspired attempt to "reset" relations with Moscow after years of frayed ties under the administration of former US President George W Bush.
Emphasis mine.
While the tea partiers/baggers are covered by faux news non-stop, coffee partiers have gone, well, international.
Looking for a little bit of civil political discussion with your decaf latte? Well the newly formed Coffee Party movement may be for you.
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Saturday saw over 350 Coffee Party events held in cafes across the United States and abroad, bringing activists together in person for the first time for a national day of conversation and, of course, espressos and cappuccinos.
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Like the Tea Party, the Coffee Party is a movement, not a registered political entity. But that is where the similarities end.
The Tea Party is a loose affiliation of activists from all over America who are distrustful of the federal government, and what they see as bloated government spending.
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Founder Annabel Park, who began the Coffee Party on her Facebook page out of anger at the Tea Party and its growing influence, has seen it rapidly gain traction on the internet.
Its Facebook page has picked up over 138,000 fans in less than two months.
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But she maintains the coffee party represents the silent majority, who feel angry at politicians but do not want to voice their frustration by adopting the same aggressive and frequently negative tactics the Tea Party has.