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• n  a bad or difficult situation or state of affairs
• n  a difficult juncture
• n  a narrow channel of the sea joining two larger bodies of water
• n  a bad or difficult situation or state of affairs

• Considering his present straits, the move may make sense.
• No one should begrudge respect for Cubans on either side of the straits not those who died in prisons fighting Fulgencio Batista nor those who died on rafts escaping Fidel .
• A cross-straits war, however, is hardly imminent.

• pass
• strait
• head
• sound

News & Articles

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• Service & survival
  LIHUE — In the aftermath of the 2008 recession, Central Pacific Bank was in “dire straits.”
  June 23, 2013 - The Garden Island
• Swimmer vs. jellyfish
  Australian swimmer Chloë McCardel’s swim across the Straits of Florida from Havana to Key West was dangerous because she was stung by jellyfish during her swim. She was supposed to break the world record for the longest unassisted swim, but she blew it; it was tough to do.
  June 21, 2013 - Miami Herald
• Report: HTC Hires Robert Downey Jr. in $12 Million Campaign
  It's no secret the Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC is in dire straits, but can Iron Man himself help? HTC brass seems to think so: According to a Bloomberg report, the company has hired Robert Downey Jr. in a two-year $12 million global marketing deal Citing two people with knowledge of the company's plans, Bloomberg claimed Downey Jr. will be helping HTC out as himself — not his ironclad movie ...
  June 21, 2013 - Mashable

Quotes

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• Wen Jiabao in Times Online
  I find it incredibly insensitive, incredibly out of touch: The one primary role for government is to protect people who are being taken advantage of; protect people who are in an extreme straits and not able to take care of the circumstances... Joe Biden http://www.google.com/url?q=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Biden&source=dictionary&usg=AFQjCNGfV3iqiFvyt3gg5wYE9YfDMOzy4Q Wall Street Journal (blog) http://www.google.com/url?q=http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/06/17/biden-doesnt-bore-despite-his-own-predictions/&source=dictionary&usg=AFQjCNE4QoWApiUeJ1xu1eM4IMpm7kZfow Jun 17, 2010 95142 126413 straits Mr Wen said that his Government was ready to create conditions for ending the state of hostility and concluding a peace agreement between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits".
• Hu Jintao in People's Daily Online
  Hu said, "we oppose any words and deeds that wantonly bespatter the people on the mainland and provoke and aggravate confrontation between the two sides of the Straits. We'll take practical measures to promote exchanges and cooperation between the...