Uruguay’s proposal to legalize marijuana sales – and make its government the sole seller – reflects a growing worldwide urge to find new and less violent solutions to an old but deadly drug war
Latin America
Must-Reads from Around the World, June 25, 2012
Today’s stories include an update on the unfolding Turkey-Syria crisis, a dispatch from Mexico’s second city and the Chinese Communist Party’s main mouthpiece talking up property market intervention.
Impeachment of Paraguay’s President Still Doesn’t Solve Underlying Injustice
Paraguayan politicians impeached President Fernando Lugo following a string of scandals and controversies. But the episode that prompted Lugo’s departure speaks volumes of the fundamental inequity that still shapes many Latin …
If the Euro Zone Breaks Up, the World’s Poorest Countries Could Suffer Most
International humanitarian organization Oxfam warns that if the euro zone splits, the world’s least developed nations could see some $30 billion disappear from their economies
Must-Reads from Around the World, June 21, 2012
Stories of note today: Western intervention in Syria, Pakistan’s political dramas and more deadly protests by Tibetans in China.
Must-Reads from Around the World, June 20, 2012
Among today’s required reading: Western web attacks on Iran, the Bo Xilai story just keeps giving and testy exchanges between the U.K. and Argentina in Mexico.
Why Is Ecuador Julian Assange’s Choice for Asylum?
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has appealed for asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. It’s a curious choice: under President Rafael Correa, Ecuador’s free speech record has been dismal.
Must-Reads from Around the World, June 19, 2012
In today’s scan of stories: signs of tension at the G20 in Mexico, semi-exiled activist Chen Guangcheng talks to the U.S. media and a new Greek government looks likely.
“Putin is in a petulant sort of mood...He's looking for us to satisfy him, and I don't think we're going to do that.”
Must-Reads from Around the World, June 14, 2012
Among today’s stories: The Obama Administration ramps up its spying efforts in Africa, Hugo Chavez’s campaign for another presidential term and how the lives of Greece’s riches haven’t been dented by the crisis.
Must-Reads from Around the World, June 11, 2012
Must reads for June 11: What will Spain’s bailout really achieve? Who killed Li Wangyang? And will any of Mexico’s presidential hopefuls solve the country’s bloody narco crisis?
Mexico’s Drug-Corruption Arrests: Why Soldiers Make Bad Narco Agents
When Mexican President Felipe Calderón sent his army after the country’s powerful drug cartels six years ago, we all understood the rationales. For starters, Calderón had won the 2006 presidential election by a razor-thin …
Haiti Can’t “Build Back Better” Without Better Journalists
If there was one feel-good moment following Haiti’s ghastly 2010 earthquake, it was the heroic efforts of Radio Signal – the only station in Port-au-Prince broadcasting after the quake ravaged the capital and killed more than …