They also sent a jointly signed letter to Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, who were about to meet for the first time, urging them to make a commitment to eliminate nuclear weapons and start making further big cuts in their own arsenals.

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And this is not the first time questions have been asked about Sir Stuart Bell's commitment to constituency work in Middlesbrough.

BBC: Middlesbrough MP Sir Stuart Bell fights laziest MP tag

As I spend the last few days of 2012 evaluating how my time was invested this year, I am going to be looking at 2013 first with the perspective of making more time and then with the commitment to investing my newfound commodity wisely towards the much bigger goals the year ahead holds.

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I've had a constructive dialogue, there are outstanding questions, we shouldn't hide that, the SDLP owned inquiries and a number of other areas but I think that what impressed me as an attendee for the first time at these particular round-table talks was the absolute commitment of everyone there to make this process work.

BBC: News Online

For the first time in its history, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization invoked Article 5 -- the commitment that says an attack on one member nation is an attack on all.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama on the Way Forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan | The White House