 | | Game in Washington | | DESPITE all the bluster about an impending default on the government's debt, most observers in Washington and on Wall Street still believe the two parties will reach a crisis-averting agreement.
That's because the practice of American politics assumes that all players will negotiate according to predictable patterns _ that they will realise they can get more from compromise than by demanding everything and winning nothing.
Under that assumption, President Obama is right to keep pressing for a compromise, because eventually the Republicans will fall in line. But as two wildly different fields _ game theory and the study of elephant mating patterns _ show, there are limits to the usual assumptions: Sometimes players simply refuse to play the game, and when that happens, the best advice for their opponents is to do the same.
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|  |  | | CAN'T THE US DO THIS RIGHT? | | THERE is only one thing worse than Republicans and Democrats failing to agree to lift the debt ceiling, and that is lifting the debt ceiling without a well-thought-out plan and with hasty cuts totalling trillions of dollars over a decade. What business do you know _ that is still in business _ that would operate this way: making massive longterm cuts, negotiated by exhausted executives, without any strategic plan? It certainly wouldn't be a business you'd expect to thrive.
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| | Nepali students, teachers benefit from ROTA, Vodafone initiative | | DOHA NEPALI students and teachers are reaping the benefits of the joint Reach Out to Asia (ROTA) and Vodafone Qatar programme named 'Quality Education through Disaster Resilient Schools in the Kailai District'. The project is being carried out in collaboration with Mercy Corp, ROTA's strategic international partner, Action Aid International Nepal and the local organisations, Forum for Awareness and Youth Activities and Nepal Red Cross. "The programme takes a two-prong approach to ensure continuous education in the country," said Vodafone's Head of Corporate Responsibility Luisa Gentile. "By designing safe schools and promoting disaster prevention initiatives, and training teachers to improve education quality, we make certain that children have hope for sustainable future in the community," she said. The programme has been of great benefit to both teachers and students. Khushi Ram Chaudhary, chairperson of the School Management Committee, a group benefitting from the programme, said: "In the past, our school has been constantly battered and damaged by storm, year after year. Teaching activities are disrupted regularly, and it is the students who suffer the most. However, with this initiative, we are better prepared with the disaster risk reduction aspect, and teachers are better trained.
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| | Employees of Nakilat clean Fuwayrit beach | | DOHA EMPLOYEES of Nakilat Keppel Offshore and Marine (N-KOM) cleaned the Fuwayrit Beach located along Al Shamal recently. They were guided and supported by Ali Syed al Rashde, a representative of the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning for Al Shamal. N-KOM CEO Abu Bakar Mohd Nor said that both Nakilat and N-KOM were committed to environmental awareness and protection. "The programme was designed to demonstrate the importance we place on preserving the environment and to show how each of us can make a difference in the community where we work and live," said Bakar. "The enthusiasm demonstrated by N-KOM employees provides an excellent foundation for future initiatives that aim to improve our environment while also providing an opportunity to build team spirit and cohesion. Today we are all winners. We look forward to having many more environment outreach efforts in the future," he added.
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| | Partial closure on Corniche Street | | DOHA THE Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has announced the partial closure of the Corniche Street from the point after Ministry of Interior building and up to Diwan Roundabout. The middle and extreme left lanes will be closed from Friday to Sunday to facilitate the completion of maintenance works. The closure is the third and last phase of the renovation works on the stretch between the National Theatre Roundabout and Diwan Roundabout.
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