ALANBAA English30 Wednesday, 15 April, 2015

Analysis International Clinton: A first lady with History now made, U.S. and face bumpy road ahead White House dreams Reuters -- Cuba and differences,” said Cas- Washington’s wish AFP -- She is perhaps the senator Barack Obama, who the United States just tro, 83, who has been that Cuba allow U.S. most admired, most criti- savaged her vote support- made history. Now an enemy of the Unit- diplomats to travel cized, most over-analyzed ing the Iraq war. comes the hard ed States for most of around the island woman in US history. Clinton chose to run part. his life and still railed and relax the police has been on her experience, refus- In the first meeting passionately against presence around the a public fixture for 37 years, ing to campaign on gen- of its kind in nearly 60 its past policies even diplomatic mission in and at 67 she is aiming der. But Americans opted years, U.S. President as he praised Obama Havana, where visit- once again to win over a instead on the 40-some- Barack Obama and Cu- as “an honest man”. ing Cubans are close- skeptical America. thing political neophyte ban leader Raul Cas- Restoring diplo- ly watched. Who after all remains Obama, bringing hope of tro sat down togeth- matic relations is easy Obama wants the unfamiliar with the lives of change after eight years er for over an hour enough, requiring little Republican-controlled Hillary and ? of George W. Bush. at a regional summit more than the presi- U.S. Congress to dis- They have not just en- After finding detente in Panama, moving a dents’ agreement. But mantle the embargo dured but suffered and with his party rival, Obama step closer to restoring normalizing overall and some allies believe thrived in symbiotic tan- appointed Clinton secre- diplomatic ties. relations could take a coalition of Demo- dem under the political tary of state. It was the result of years. crats and Republican spotlight since 1977, the Her critics argue she nearly two years of se- Cuba has shown no free-marketeers may year before Bill’s election as can claim no major dip- cret talks and quiet di- signs that it is willing succeed. governor of Arkansas. lomatic successes, but plomacy and the mood to allow wider politi- The U.S. president Parts of first lady Clin- her four globe-trotting was positive, both in- cal rights. The govern- has already used his ton’s archives have been years in the post cement- side the room and out, ment dismisses dissi- executive powers to made public, and candid ed her image as a pow- where Latin American dents as mercenaries, ease travel restrictions papers of Hillary confi- erful stateswoman. leaders praised Obama moves quickly to sti- to Cuba, and allow dante Diane Blair, who lary Clinton remains in maiden name and became In 2007, in his definitive for ending decades of fle dissent, and Cas- U.S. importers to buy died in 2000, are avail- the church. Hillary Clinton, first lady Clinton biography, journal- U.S. hostility toward tro has made clear he goods from indepen- able at the University of From age 13, she took of Arkansas and then the ist Carl Bernstein cited his the communist-ruled does not intend to dent Cuban contrac- Arkansas. odd jobs to help finance nation after her husband’s subject’s dominant char- island. allow any relaxation tors and exporters to her studies. Smart and am- White House election vic- acteristic as “passion,” ex- Obama clearly of Communist Par- ship building materi- Bill Clinton’s sexual bitious, Hillary was admit- tory in 1992. uded in her “enthusiasm, sees Cuba as a pos- ty rule. als to private Cuban proclivities were laid out ted in 1965 to Wellesley, Her style contrasted humor, tempestuousness, sible success story for And while Cuba companies. in explicit detail. Hillary an elite women’s college with her predecessors’. inner strength,” and her his policy of engag- is looking to draw in He has so far used herself has recalled the near Harvard where she She played an active po- “lethal (almost) powers ing U.S. foes. foreign investment, those powers spar- rage she felt against her was eventually elected litical role, symbolized by of retribution.” At a time of multi- any U.S. business- ingly, however, and mentor-husband after the president of her class. the location of her office A Machiavellian image, ple risks to his foreign es seeking to set up Cuba would like him Monica Lewinsky scandal, With 1960s America in the West Wing. one painted by her many policy record - from there need the gov- to go further. the threat of divorce, the in turmoil, Clinton’s aca- Her relations with law- enemies, clings to Clinton, Iran’s nuclear program ernment’s blessing. U.S. officials ac- marriage-counselling. demic years opened her makers and journalists especially in the eyes of and the war in Syria Castro’s government knowledge Obama Hillary Diane Rodham eyes to civil rights and quickly soured. Republi- voters who remember the to Russian involve- moves cautiously, as can ease more re- was born October 26, 1947 gender-quality struggles, cans branded her a radi- turmoil of the 1990s. ment in Ukraine and it has shown with its strictions on his and raised in a middle- and the cultural divide cal feminist. Only voters born after the violence of Islam- own market-style eco- own, within limits, class household in Chica- over Vietnam. She suffered intense 1980 have a majority opin- ic State - getting on nomic reforms in re- but they are waiting go suburb Park Ridge. After she was accept- humiliation during her ion of her as “honest and well with Cuba looks cent years. to see the results of She adored her moth- ed in 1969 at the presti- husband’s presidential trustworthy,” according to relatively easy. In the short term, the latest changes be- er Dorothy but described gious Yale Law School, affair with intern Moni- a CNN poll. Republicans “The Cold War is Cuba is still waiting fore deciding future her father , she met Bill Clinton, the ca Lewinsky in 1998. But continue to describe her over,” Obama said. “I to be removed from measures. born from Welsh immi- “Viking” from Arkansas her popularity has nev- as living in a self-centered think there is a strong the U.S. State Depart- While Cuba is keen to grants, as a stubborn and who would change the er been higher than the bubble. majority both in the ment’s list of state reopen embassies and rigid taskmaster. course of her life. 67-percent approval rating Fuelling that percep- United States and in sponsors of terrorism, see more U.S. sanctions He imposed his work After a period in Wash- she enjoyed in December tion, Clinton said in 2014 Cuba that says our a unilateral designa- lifted, U.S. officials say ethic on young Hillary, but ington in 1974, when a 1998, according to a Gal- that she and Bill were “dead ability to engage, to tion that Cuba rejects the communist gov- also his frugality. She still commission hired her lup poll at the time. broke” when they left the open up commerce as unjust. ernment appears in- puts uneaten olives back to help investigate the Pressured by friends and White House, largely due and travel and people- Though there is tent on moving slowly in the jar and is loath to Watergate scandal, she associates in Hillaryland, to her husband’s legal fees, to-people exchanges little doubt that Ha- toward full normaliza- waste anything, she wrote gave in and joined Bill the first lady launched even though the couple is ultimately going to vana will be taken off tion, fearful that a quick in her 2003 autobiogra- in Arkansas. herself into politics, win- owned two million-dol- be good for the Cu- the blacklist, U.S. of- opening in areas like phy, “.” He was soon elected ning an election in 2000 lar homes. ban people.” ficials privately have travel, trade and Inter- Clinton shared her fa- Arkansas governor and to be the new US sena- Both Clintons went Yet the gulf between made clear that they net access might loos- ther’s Republican convic- Hillary Rodham joined a tor from . on to make several mil- the two sides remains have sought to use en its grip on Cuban tions in adolescence, as prestigious law firm, even- She laid low during the lion dollars from speak- wide, illustrated by the the timing of the society. well as his thunderous tually becoming its first 2004 presidential race, but ing fees. absence of U.S. and Cu- move as leverage in laugh. The family is Meth- female partner. four years later she entered ban flags at the careful- broader normaliza- odist, and to this day Hil- She soon dropped her the fray to challenge fellow By Ivan Couronne ly orchestrated meet- tion negotiations. ing on Saturday in a A number of un- sparsely furnished con- resolved issues have ference room. slowed down the The U.S. econom- process, including Business ic embargo, which has blocked nearly all trade between the two nations for the Arms spending up globally, last five decades, is firmly in place. Cu- ba’s human rights re- cord stills draw scorn except in US, Western Europe from Washington, as AP — World military does U.S. foreign pol- spending was largely icy from Havana. unchanged in 2014 as “Let’s not fool our- lower spending in the selves. We have a lot of United States and West- ern Europe was matched by increases elsewhere, prompted by conflicts Science in the Middle East, East- ern Europe and Africa, according to an arms watchdog. New aluminum battery can The Stockholm Inter- national Peace Research be charged in a minute Institute said total glob- al arms expenditure was Reuters -- U.S. scientists said they ner to aluminum, Stanford said in down 0.4 percent at $1.8 have invented a cheap, long-last- a statement. trillion. ing and flexible battery made of In a prototype, aluminum was American spending aluminum for use in smartphones used to make the negatively- was reduced by 6.5 per- that can be charged in as little as charged anode while graphite cent as part of measures one minute. provided material for the posi- to cut the U.S. budget The researchers, who detailed tively charged cathode. deficit, while the three their discovery in the journal Nature, A prototype aluminum battery biggest arms spenders the Baltics and the Nordic ing trends.” “These increases part- said the new aluminum-ion battery recharged in one minute, the sci- after the U.S. — China, countries. On the other Ukraine increased ex- ly reflect worsening se- has the potential to replace lithi- entists said. Russia and Saudi Arabia hand, the five biggest penditure by over 20 per- curity situations, but in um-ion batteries, used in millions “Lithium-ion batteries can be — greatly increased their spenders in western Eu- cent in 2014 and plans to many cases they are also of laptops and mobile phones. a fire hazard,” said Dai. “Our new purchases. Saudi Arabia rope — France, Britain, more than double spend- the product of corrup- Besides recharging much faster, battery won’t catch fire, even if boosted its military in- Germany, Italy and Spain ing on the armed forces tion, vested interests and the new aluminum battery is saf- you drill through it.” vestments the most, by — have all budgeted in 2015. In line with plans autocratic governance,” er than existing lithium-ion bat- The new battery is also very 17 percent, while China’s for further, small cuts made before the Ukraine he said. teries, which occasionally burst durable and flexible, the scien- arms spending rose by this year. conflict Moscow is also In Latin America, Mex- into flames, they added. tists said. 9.7 percent to an esti- “The Ukraine crisis has spending more on arms ico increased its spend- Researchers have long tried but While lithium-ion batteries last mated $216 billion. fundamentally altered the this year, the institute ing by 11 percent be- failed to develop a battery made about 1,000 cycles, the new alu- SIPRI program director security situation in Eu- said in its report. cause of the continuing of aluminum, a lightweight and minum battery was able to con- Sam Perlo-Freeman said rope, but so far the impact The fast build-up of battle against drug car- relatively inexpensive metal that tinue after more than 7,500 cycles the conflict in Ukraine on military spending is arms in areas such as the tels, with Brazil’s expen- has high charging capacity. without loss of capacity. It also can has prompted many Eu- mostly apparent in coun- Middle East and Africa diture falling slightly due A team lead by chemistry pro- be bent or folded. ropean countries near tries bordering Russia,” he is “placing an increas- to economic difficulties. fessor Hongjie Dai at Stanford Uni- Larger aluminum batteries could Russia to increase mili- said. “Elsewhere, austeri- ingly high burden on Crisis-hit Venezuela had versity in California made a break- also be used to store renewable ener- tary spending, particu- ty remains the main driv- economies,” Perlo-Free- the largest drop in the re- through by accidentally discovering gy on the electrical grid, Dai said. larly in central Europe, er of downward spend- man added. gion, of 34 percent. that graphite made a good part-