After months of growing economic struggles, the southern African country of Malawi erupted into protests last week. Rioters took to the streets nationwide last Wednesday to protest the perceived mismanagement of the national economy and an impending fuel shortage. These protesters also stormed the offices of the ruling Democratic …
The West Slowly Backing Away From the Libyan Military Operation
It’s getting harder and harder to believe there’ll eventually be a resolution to Libya’s civil war that will allow anyone to claim Muammar Gaddafi lost to rebel forces—or was humbled by members of the NATO-led coalition waging air strikes against him. Indeed, it’s becoming increasingly clear as the weeks rush by that …
A Spade Is a Spade: Why a Western Terrorist Is No Different from a Muslim One
Last year on Sept. 11, I stood by the site of Ground Zero amid hundreds of people shouting obscenities against Muslims and the religion of Islam. They were gathered to protest the proposed construction of a nearby Muslim-run interfaith community center, which had earned the inaccurate moniker “Ground Zero Mosque.” The rally was …
Deadly Crash Adds to Worries About China’s High-Speed Trains
A deadly train wreck in south China has renewed concerns about the country’s rapid and costly development of a high-speed rail network. The collision of two high-speed trains Saturday evening near the city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang province killed 33 people and injured 191, according to China’s Ministry of Railways. The crash occurred when …
Famine in Somalia: When Does the World Decide to Use the ‘F’ Word?
The word ‘famine’ may be a familiar one, but it is not thrown around lightly by the people who decide when there is one. The fact that most of us today probably associate the term with the 1984 crisis in Ethiopia is testament to its exceedingly careful dispensation; to use it too often would dilute its power to command the …
Couch Potato Briefing: Snoops, Soldiers and French Fries
Here are Global Spin’s weekend recommendations for rental movies to watch that tell you about present world news. Presented by Ishaan Tharoor and Tony Karon.
The Conversation
The U.K.’s hacking scandal roiled on this week, with News Corporation titans Rupert Murdoch and his son James …
What the Oslo Bombing May Reveal About the State of the Global Terrorist Threat
(Update July 23: This post was originally written hours after Friday’s blast, when police and media speculation — and jihadist web sites — were pointing at Islamist extremists as the likely perpetrators of the Oslo terror attacks. On Saturday, however, Norwegian police had charged a 32-year-old Norwegian who they said was a Christian …
Israel’s ‘Threat’ to Bomb Nuclear Facilities is Central to its Iran Strategy
The reason TIME.com’s intelligence columnist Bob Baer this week found himself cast as the unintended source for “authoritative” claims that Israel is about to bomb Iran, is precisely because what he said had been speculative comments inadvertently played into the game of bluff at the heart of the matter. Bob saw an implicit warning …
End of the Road For Lai Changxing, One of China’s Most Wanted Fugitives
For more than a decade Lai Changxing has been fighting in Canadian courts to avoid being sent back to China, where he is wanted for running a multi-billion-dollar smuggling enterprise out of the southeastern port city of Xiamen. Now the deportation battle of one of China’s most wanted men is reaching an end. A Canadian judge upheld …
The Real Cancer Behind the Ill Health of Two Dictators
Earlier this week, the German tabloid Bild published an exclusive: Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan, was said to be in convalescence following surgery in a hospital in Hamburg. Without disclosing its sources, the tabloid claimed Nazarbayev underwent a procedure to his prostate — what likely could be treatment for …
Hillary Goes to Bali: Fear, Disputes and Not That Much Love
Fresh off a three-day tour of India, Hillary Clinton arrived on Bali Thursday to attend a regional forum hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Since her first visit in 2009, the United States has taken an increasingly active role in regional politics, signing treaties, strengthening ties and speaking out on …
New Revelations In France’s DSK Attempted Rape Case Get Surreal — And Really Icky
If New York prosecutors are feeling glum about the credibility concerns about their victim in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexual assault case, they might want to cast a glance at a similar attempted rape inquiry in Paris. Because even if the flurry of follies that have suddenly begun swirling around that French investigation won’t …
France’s Counter-Terrorism Ace Finds Himself Under Scrutiny
For the past three decades he’s been known as “The Sheriff”, “The Admiral”, and more generally as the world-famous icon of French counter-terrorism. The pipe-smoking, Magnum-packing judge became counter-terrorism’s international celebrity through exploits that included (but were far from limited to) tracking down and …