BOSTON – For the first time in nearly half a century, Massachusetts voters will be handed ballots for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Edward Kennedy without his name on them.
The long list of potential candidates to replace him in the seat once held by President John F. Kennedy includes congressmen, former prosecutors and, perhaps, one of Edward Kennedy's nephews.
Kennedy's death leaves little mourning time for the dozen or more Senate hopefuls who face a five-month dash to election day.
State law requires a special election no sooner than 145 days and no later than 160 days after a vacancy occurs. The law bans an interim appointee. In this case, the election must be held either the last two weeks of January or the first week of February.
Primaries must be held six weeks before the special election, giving Democratic and Republican candidates little more than three months to campaign for their party's nomination.
"That is a very short period of time to be able to mount an attempt to garner one of these precious seats," said Paul Watanabe, a professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts-Boston. The tight window will favor candidates with name recognition and hefty campaign war chests, he added.
An open senate seat in Massachusetts is a rare political prize. Kennedy held his seat for 47 years. Fellow Democrat Sen. John Kerry was elected in 1984.
"No one will replace Ted Kennedy in their first year, but Democrats at least want someone who reflects his basic policy positions," said Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University.
Despite speculation that Kennedy's wife, Vicki, could assume his Senate seat, family aides have said she is not interested in replacing her husband.
One of Kennedy's nephews, former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, has also been suggested as a candidate. He heads Citizens Energy, a nonprofit that distributes discounted heating oil to the poor, and has been criticized in recent years for accepting oil from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Other potential Democratic contenders include state Attorney General Martha Coakley, who would be the first woman elected to the Senate from Massachusetts. She has a high profile and statewide recognition, but would need to raise money quickly.
Several congressmen have also been mentioned, including Reps. Stephen Lynch, Michael Capuano, Edward Markey, James McGovern and William Delahunt.
While each has a federal campaign account, they are better known in their districts and differ in ideology. Lynch from the South Boston neighborhood of Boston, is more socially conservative compared to Capuano, a liberal from the blue collar city of Somerville.
One former Democratic member of Congress, Martin Meehan, has also been named as a potential candidate. Now chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Meehan still has nearly $5 million in his federal account.
Republicans face an even tougher climb in a state that leans heavily Democratic.
Potential candidates include Cape Cod businessman Jeff Beatty, former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan, state Sen. Scott Brown, and Chris Egan, former U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Cooperation and Development.
In a recent letter to lawmakers, Kennedy said the special election law should be changed to allow the governor to appoint someone to serve in the Senate during the course of the election — provided that person pledges not to run for the seat.
"It is vital for this Commonwealth to have two voices speaking for the needs of its citizens and two votes in the Senate during the approximately five months between a vacancy and an election," Kennedy wrote.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Patrick called the proposal "a reasonable idea" and said he would sign the bill if it reached his desk.

"Right now, Massachusetts needs two voices in the U.S. Senate," Patrick said.

Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Robert DeLeo, both Democrats, haven't said whether they back the change. DeLeo said there would likely be a public hearing on the issue within the next month.

Without the change, Senate Democrats could fall one vote short on any health care overhaul legislation this fall. Health care had been Kennedy's core issue for decades.

Before Kennedy's death, Democrats held a potentially filibuster-proof margin in the Senate, but some moderate Democrats have been wavering. Another Democrat, Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, has been seriously ill and often absent.

The succession law was changed in 2004, when Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., became his party's presidential nominee and Republican Mitt Romney was the state's governor. Democratic lawmakers changed the law to block Romney from installing a Republican to serve until the next general election.

HARARE (AFP) –
South African President Jacob Zuma travels to Zimbabwe on Thursday in a bid to ease tensions within the strained unity government, though analysts held out little hope for a breakthrough.

During his two-day visit, Zuma is set to meet with long-ruling President Robert Mugabe and his new partner in government, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

The former rivals formed a unity government in February but remain deadlocked noteably over the appointment of the central bank chief and the attorney general.

Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) also says the party's supporters are still harassed by police, despite guarantees of political freedoms in the unity accord.

"We hope that his visit will unlock and unblock the political logjam in our country," said Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

"We are very optimistic that he will make the best out of his visit."

Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba has downplayed the trip, telling state media that Zuma was coming to address the Harare Agricultural Fair on Friday.

But Zuma plans to be vocal about Zimbabwe's problems, in contrast to the "quiet diplomacy" of his predecessor Thabo Mbeki, the secretary general of his African National Congress (ANC) told reporters.

"President Zuma will be more vocal in terms of what we see as deviant behaviour," Gwede Mantashe told reporters. "If there is deviant behaviour, we will be more vocal... but we will still engage."

South Africa, Zimbabwe's biggest trading partner, is a key backer of the unity deal. Zuma's findings will likely inform discussions at the next summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) next month.

"President Zuma will be determined to use the visit to solve the outstanding issues" in the unity government, political analyst Okay Machisa said.

"Although he might not find a solution during his two day visit, eventually a solution will be found," Machisa said.

"He has a road map on the issues of Zimbabwe and he would want the local politicians to address the welfare of the people and not address their selfish needs.

Tsvangirai met Zuma in Johannesburg three weeks ago to brief him on the troubles within the unity government.

On Mugabe's side, the 85-year-old leader faces pressure within his own ZANU-PF to avoid any further compromises that would further erode the party's power.

The party's politburo earlier this month publicly called on Mugabe "to resist any pressures intended to prejudice the party."

The feuding has hindered Zimbabwe's drive to win 8.3 billion US dollars in aid to revive the civil service and jump start the shattered economy.

To date the inclusive government has raised just over two billion dollars, mostly coming from continental organisations and China.

Takura Zhangazha, director of the Media Institute of Zimbabwe, said he doubted that any breakthrough would come before the SADC summit in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"He will be briefed on the progress and the problems before the SADC summit, but he is obviously not going to solve the main issues before the summit in the DRC," Zhangazha said.

One South African government official, in Harare ahead of the trip, insisted Zuma was coming to seek compromise.

"There are issues which have to be addressed, but as South Africa we believe that every problem presents a new opportunity," the official told AFP.

"Zimbabwe is far much better today than what it was last year, so we believe a compromise will eventually be found."

KABUL – It's been a summer of setbacks in Afghanistan — with rising casualties, a divisive election and growing public doubts about the war in the United States and among key allies.
The year began with President Barack Obama promising a new beginning for an old war — long ignored and under-resourced by the Bush administration as the spotlight fell on the conflict in Iraq.
As part of a new emphasis, Obama ordered 21,000 troops to Afghanistan and replaced the top U.S. commander with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who unveiled a strategy shifting the focus from killing insurgents to protecting Afghan civilians, a mindset that helped turn the tide of the Iraq conflict.
At the same time, the administration promised to build up the capabilities of the Afghan government, accelerate the training of Afghan soldiers and police and help the Afghan leadership combat corruption and the flourishing drug trade, which helps finance the insurgency.
Months later, the American effort appears to be faltering.
Hopes that the Afghan presidential election would produce a leader with a strong national mandate have been cast into doubt by allegations of widespread fraud in the Aug. 20 balloting.
Early returns point to a possible runoff between President Hamid Karzai and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, probably in October. Final returns are not expected before the middle of next month, but figures released Wednesday show Karzai leading with 44.8 percent of ballots counted to 35.1 percent for Abdullah.
Karzai needs more than 50 percent to avoid a runoff. Many ballots from Karzai's southern strongholds have yet to be counted, and it is possible Karzai may yet surpass the 50 percent mark and claim a first round victory.
Even if he does, however, fraud allegations — not only from Abdullah but some of the other 34 candidates — have so poisoned the political atmosphere that it will be difficult to bring together social and political groups opposed to the Taliban. At the worst, the controversy may trigger street riots and splinter the country along ethnic lines.
The image of Afghan politicians squabbling in Kabul at a time when American and other international soldiers are dying on the battlefield is grimly reminiscent of the darkest days of the Iraq war, when political stagnation in Baghdad helped turn U.S. public opinion against the Bush administration's policy in the 2006 congressional election.
Nearly 300 international troops have been killed in Afghanistan this year, making this the deadliest year since the conflict began in 2001. Two U.S. service members were killed Wednesday in separate attacks in southern and eastern Afghanistan, raising the August death toll to 43 — one short of the July figure which was the highest monthly total of the war.
At the same time, the insurgents show no sign of shrinking from the fight. With U.S. and British troops focusing operations in Helmand province, the Taliban have quietly tightened their grip in neighboring Kandahar, where a vehicle bomb attack Tuesday killed at least 41 people in an assault that appeared directed at foreign interests in the city.
Taliban intimidation kept many Afghans from the polls in the south last week — despite major U.S. and British military operations aimed at making the vote secure.
The Times of London newspaper reported Thursday that only 150 of the several thousand Afghans eligible to vote in one area of Helmand cast ballots. Four British soldiers were killed this summer trying to make the area, Babaji, safe enough for Afghans to vote, the newspaper said under the headline: "Four British soldiers die for the sake of 150 votes."
U.S. officials have made little effort to gloss over the problems, perhaps mindful of the backlash that stung the Bush administration after years of false optimism in Iraq.
Last weekend, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the situation in Afghanistan as "serious and deteriorating" and told CNN that "I don't think that threat's going to go away."
All this comes as public support for the war both in the United States and Britain is wavering.
A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll found that just over half the respondents said the war in Afghanistan was not worth fighting. A survey last month in Britain found that 58 percent of the respondents believe the war is unwinnable and 52 percent wanted British troops withdrawn immediately.

All these negatives are coming together as McChrystal is preparing to submit a report to the president next week that may include a recommendation for thousands more troops.

Republican Sen. John McCain has urged McChrystal to ask for more, citing the success of the troop surge in bringing down violence in Iraq. McCain has said that doubling the Marine force from three to six battalions would bring "significantly more success."

But sending more troops to an unpopular, meat-grinder war could be a hard sell among many of Obama's fellow Democrats.

Sen. Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat who supported the U.S. move into Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said the U.S. needs a timeline for its departure from the country. Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio expressed frustration with the Afghan government and said he is "concerned that this war not last a whole lot longer."

"We've got to begin seeing changes," Brown said. "We don't stay forever if they don't meet the goals they need to meet."

___

Robert H. Reid is the AP chief of bureau in Kabul and has covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001.

"Boutique Hotel" is a term originating in North America to describe intimate, usually luxurious or quirky hotel environments. Boutique hotels differentiate themselves from larger chain or branded hotels by providing an exceptional and personalized level of accommodation, services and facilities. Because of their financial successes in the most recent past, there have been attempts to create chains have adopted the "boutique" look and feel. In the US this trend was started by the "W" hotel chain in the 1990s and most recently this trend can be observed in chains as "aloft", "NYLO","Hyatt Place" and others. Through this corporate adaptation of the concept the term "boutique" also changed and more recently hoteliers prefer to use the term "lifestyle hotels" to get away from the above mentioned quirky image.[citation needed]

Coco Chanel made the Hôtel Ritz in Paris her home for more than thirty years, until the day of her death, at 87, in a suite now named "Coco Chanel Suite".

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