Siobhan Benita will not be the next mayor of London. The only independent candidate contesting the May 3 election, she’s currently polling at just 3%. That places her light years behind Boris Johnson, the loose-lipped incumbent, …
Okinawa Troop Withdrawal: Why the U.S. and Japan Have a Lot More Talking to Do
The deadlock over what to do with thousands of Marines on Okinawa loosened up a little today with the announcement that the U.S. and Japan have decided to relocate 9000 Marines off Okinawa “to locations outside of Japan.” The …
Must-Reads from Around the World: April 27, 2012
Judicial Over-slight – Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper analyzes Thursday’s conviction of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for contempt of court and the custodial sentence lasting “until the rising of the court” – which was 37 …
Q&A with George Clooney: Hollywood Legend Talks Sudan, Satellites and How to Stop Atrocities
If you wanted a celebrity to adopt your cause, you’d pray for George Clooney. The 50-year-old gets to address Congress, the National Security Council and the U.N. General Assembly, meet U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and …
“The slow pace of Iranian nuclear progress to date strongly suggests that Iran could still need a very long time to actually build a bomb — or could even ultimately fail to do so.”
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Bo Xilai’s Low-Profile Elder Son Says Scandal ‘Destroyed’ His Life
Li Wangzhi says he hasn’t seen his father Bo Xilai in years, but the ouster of the once high-flying Chinese politician has harmed him deeply. “This incident has destroyed my life,” Li, 34, told Bloomberg in his first public …
Blind Chinese Activist Escapes from House Arrest, Said to Enter U.S. Protection
On April 22, Chen Guangcheng, a blind Chinese legal activist named one of TIME’s 100 most influential people in 2006, escaped from detention in eastern Shandong province, according to He Peirong, an online advocate who has …
A Prime Minister Resigns in Jordan, and the Sun Rises in the East
The news out of Jordan almost does not qualify as news: Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh resigned Thursday. It happened all of a sudden and without explanation, but it’s something that happens so frequently in the Hashemite Kingdom …
A Dangerous Game: Why Sarkozy’s Bid for Far-Right Votes May Backfire
The electoral dilemma facing French presidential finalists Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande is as urgent as it is heavy with risk: how to lure the nearly 6.5 million voters who backed extreme-right candidate leader Marine …
Global Justice: A Step Forward with the Conviction of Charles Taylor and Blood Diamonds
An international court’s conviction of former Liberian President Charles Taylor for aiding and abetting war crimes marks the first time in the modern era that a former head of state has been found guilty of human rights …
Blame Game: Rupert Murdoch Alleges Cover-Up At News of the World
There was a moment at the Leveson inquiry on Thursday when Rupert Murdoch actually sounded contrite. Appearing before the British inquiry into media ethics for the second day in a row, he apologized to the “innocent staff” of …
The Bo Xilai Rumor Mill: Is There a Method Behind the Wild Speculation?
Another day, another juicy detail. Once, political scandals in China took months, even years, to reveal themselves. We are, for instance, still gleaning particulars of the power struggles that culminated in the brutal 1989 …