Is the downfall of former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn amid charges of attempted rape in the U.S. inspiring women in France to denounce the sexual coercion and aggression they’ve suffered from men for so long? The resignation Sunday of a French government minister accused of sexually harassing and assaulting …
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Chinese Authorities Try to Limit Protests in Inner Mongolia
Parts of Inner Mongolia, the region that forms much of China’s northern border, have been put under tight control following protests touched off by the hit-and-run death of a herder who was run over by a coal truck. The killing of Mergen, who like some ethnic Mongolians goes by a single name, has raised concerns about development and …
For Israel, the Silver Lining in Gaza: Shifting the Strip to Egypt
Egypt’s decision to officially re-open its border to the Gaza Strip may be officially tut-tutted over by Israel, which in Hosni Mubarak had a willing partner for besieging the Palestinian enclave controlled by Hamas. But as a practical matter, the siege effectively ended a year ago Tuesday when Israeli commandos killed nine civilians on …
Egypt Pulls the Plug on a Failed U.S.-Israeli Gaza Strategy
It might have been easy, amid the raucous cheering at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Capitol Hill pep rally on Tuesday, for Israelis to ignore President Obama’s earlier warning of a gathering storm on Israel’s horizon. But Wednesday’s announcement that Egypt plans, on Saturday, to effectively end the siege of Gaza by permanently …
Gone And Forgotten: But Obama’s U.K. Visit Has Boosted Key Players
Here are a few telling symptoms of Obamamania: shiny eyes; raised pulse rate; terminal hyperbole; an urge to trample others to gain physical proximity to the President of the United States, and to do so despite phalanxes of sharp-shooters braced to liquidate anyone who might pose a threat to him. During the Obamas’ state visit to the U.K., …
Chinese City Shaken by Multiple Bomb Blasts
Three coordinated explosions rocked a southern Chinese city Thursday morning, injuring at least five people, according to state media reports. The bombs exploded near municipal buildings in Fuzhou, a city of 3.9 million in Jiangxi province, injuring at least five people. (Update: State media now say two people have died and seven are …
Obama in London: All Hope and Glory, Signifying Nothing?
President Barack Obama — in a speech before the British parliament that drew approving nods rather than the aerobic repeat ovations that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had elicited on Capitol Hill a day earlier — sought to reassure Britons that the transatlantic relationship remains “special”. More importantly, he wanted …
U.S., Chinese Interests on Display in Karachi Raid
As news emerged Monday about the attack on a naval base in Karachi, it appeared that Pakistan’s ally China might also be caught up in the mayhem. Some initial reports suggested that Chinese military personnel were being held hostage. That news was later denied by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. My colleague Omar Waraich’s story …
Obama: So Loved in Britain, He Might Consider Staying
The President was supposed to arrive for his two-day state visit to the U.K. on the morning of May 24. Instead, a plume of volcanic ash from Iceland forced a change of plan that saw POTUS curtail his trip to his ancestral homeland, Ireland, and head for London before Air Force One could be grounded. As officials scrambled to find him a …
Fukushima: Can Japan’s Largest Power Company Survive Its Disaster?
The people running the show at Tokyo Electric Power Company, the embattled utility that is struggling to shut down its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, were probably not out enjoying the sunny, late spring Friday in Tokyo. It’s been a bad week for the Japan’s largest utility, even given the astoundingly bad couple of months …
Angela Merkel Backs a European for the IMF Job. But Which European Can She Have in Mind?
This morning Angela Merkel made clear that she wishes to see a European replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the helm of the IMF. “It is of course of great importance that we find a quick solution,” she added.
The German Chancellor carefully avoided any hints as to which of the various Europeans mooted for the IMF candidacy might receive …
A Month of Scandals for Beijing’s Forbidden City
Beijing’s Forbidden City gets its name from the fact that it was once off limits to anyone who did not have the permission to enter from the Chinese emperor. It’s also known as the gu gong, or former palace, a firm reminder that such elitism is a thing of the past, never mind that the Communist Party’s leadership compound of …
Would Strauss-Kahn’s Downfall Mean More IMF Democratization?
Last week, a high-ranking International Monetary Fund official lectured a conference of Latin American central bankers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, about not letting their economic booms overheat into financial crises. It’s the sort of warning that any country should of course heed. But the IMF has lost a lot of clout in Latin America …