Recent protests in Russia underscored growing popular dissatisfaction in a country dominated for the past decade by the quasi-authoritarian rule of President (now Prime Minister) Vladimir Putin. TIME presents portraits of …
Europe
Former French President Jacques Chirac Convicted on Corruption Charges
[Update: In contrast to what had been the prevailing assumption in France following the verdict in Jacques Chirac’s corruption trial (all detailed below), the former French President announced Thursday night he would not seek …
As the Crisis Refuses to Calm, Scenarios of Euro Collapse Appear
Despite the distracting political drama over the UK’s outlier rejection at last week’s European Union agreement on fiscal and budgetary coordination, it’s now become clear that main objective of the collective effort–to ensure …
Can A French Sports Star Change China’s Soccer Fortunes?
Chinese online-gaming mogul Zhu Jun is used to winning big. After all, he made his fortune in part by being the first to nab China distribution rights for the World of Warcraft franchise. But the soccer team that he bought with …
After Falling Out with Europe, U.K.’s Cameron Faces Fallout at Home
“Ou est Nick Clegg?” cried one Labour MP, quite possibly demonstrating the beginning and end of his French language skills. His colleagues contented themselves with shouting the question in English. It didn’t need an interpreter …
Dominique de Villepin Enters Stage Right and Adds to Sarkozy’s Woes
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has yet to officially declare his imminent re-election campaign, but that hasn’t kept a teeming field of rivals from launching their own bids for the Elysée. That pack of presidential hopefuls …
Not So Great, Britain: After E.U. Summit, U.K. Drifts Toward Isolationism
“Mommy, daddy, where were you when Britain left Europe?” David Cameron’s deployment in the early hours of Dec. 9 of the British veto over a Franco-German plan to save the euro will be seen as a pivotal moment by future …
Why Is Donald Rumsfeld on This Package of Spicy Peanuts?
There are, in this salty tale of frolics, politics and peanuts, a number of what Donald Rumsfeld, might call known knowns. These are things we know that we know — like how a photograph of a young Rumsfeld, a chopstick balanced …
Case of Scottish Hacker Illustrates Divide Between U.S. and U.K. Extradition Laws
Sometimes the bleakest of battles can find some unexpected support.
In 2002, a Scottish man living in North London found himself under suspicion for hacking into dozens of Pentagon and NASA databases from his home computer. …
Crunch Time for the Euro and Europe: Taking Note of the Elephant
Elephant, meet room.
Doubt and despair returned to Europe by Tuesday despite positive reaction a day earlier to the French-German proposals to save the teetering euro. The reason? The pachyderm in the room that markets see all …
Is Sarkozy and Merkel’s New Debt Proposal The Beginning of The End To The Euro Crisis?
The details of the campaign by France and Germany to save the euro became a little clearer Monday though substantial questions about it remain as the week winds toward a European Union summit on the euro crisis summit on Friday. …
British Ambassador Describes Embassy’s Takeover by Iranian Mob
Dominick Chilcott, the UK’s wonderfully named ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Iran, has given the Washington Post’s Frances Stead Sellers a blow-by-blow account of the view from inside the British embassy when an Iranian mob breached its gate and ransacked the compound, as well as an embassy residential compound a few miles away. …
The Bonn Conference: Can Afghanistan Be Saved Without Pakistan On Board?
It’s rarely a good sign these days when a summit gets referenced by the city that hosts it: Kyoto is now synonymous with the international community’s failures dealing with climate change; Oslo has become another watchword for …