Politics

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President Obama speaks at a campaign event at Cornell College, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012, in Mt. Vernon, Iowa. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Mitt Romney supporters wave "thunder sticks" during a rally at Ida Lee Park in Leesburg, Va. on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

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D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (right) said his reforms to the Certified Business Enterprise (CBE) program will focus on more resources to ensure compliance and enforce penalties against out-of-state firms that flout the program’s guidelines. (Craig Bisacre/The Washington Times)

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**FILE** Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, at the second presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney waves to supporters as he arrives Oct. 17, 2012, for a rally at Tidewater Community College in Chesapeake, Va. (Associated Press)

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Stephen S.F. Chen, a senior adviser to the Taiwanese government, says in an interview at The Washington Times that Taiwan sides with China in its dispute with Japan over East China Sea islands coveted for their natural resources. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

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Masked armed police take Russian opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov for questioning Wednesday after searches of his apartment and his parents’ home. A criminal probe against him and others is seen as part of a widening crackdown. (Associated Press)

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FILE In this Friday, Aug. 31, 2012 file photo, fighters from Islamist group Ansar Dine stand guard as they prepare to publicly lash a member of the Islamic Police found guilty of adultery, in Timbuktu, Mali. Ordinary Malians and international experts alike are not sure what will reunite and bring back political stability to a country that until recently had a reputation as one of West Africa's most steady democracies. Representatives of the United Nations, the African Union and regional body ECOWAS are to consider the situation on Oct. 19, 2012 in a meeting in Mali's capital, Bamako. (AP Photo, File)

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associated press Japanese Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto is concerned by allegations that two American military servicemen raped a woman on the island of Okinawa.

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A crowd lines up Oct. 17, 2012, outside of Ida Lee Park in Leesburg, Va., to participate in a rally for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)