My main gripe was that while the piece made clear that the pressure to cut off funding was coming from Washington as a means to tighten sanctions on Iran, it failed to situate American opposition in historical context.

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Neither Visa or MasterCard has revealed any political pressure behind their move to cut off WikiLeaks.

FORBES: Visa, MasterCard Move To Choke WikiLeaks

While other attempts are planned to block the hole, it is probable that oil will continue to pour from it for another couple of months, until relief wells are drilled to intersect and reduce the pressure in the currently flowing well and cut-off the leakage of perhaps 50 million barrels of oil contained there by the injection of concrete deep into the seabed.

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The conclave is designed to take outside pressure off cardinals by sequestering them behind a wall of silence where communication with the outside world is essentially cut off, and much of the daily schedule is scripted.

WSJ: Cardinals Gather, Facing Varied Agendas

As it has shown repeatedly, the Kremlin is perfectly prepared to use energy prices, and the threat to cut off supplies, as a means of putting political pressure on other countries.

ECONOMIST: Charlemagne

Yet rather than work through back channels or phase in the price increases, it briefly cut off Ukraine's energy supply and began reducing pressure in transmission lines that carry supplies to western Europe.

FORBES: International