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 …
Why West Bengal Isn’t East Berlin
It is an almost irresistible comparison. When Mamata Banerjee triumphed over the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in recent state elections in West Bengal, she ended the rule of the world’s longest continuous democratically elected Communist government. Here’s how Swapan Dasgupta described it to the Financial Times:
“For many
…
Behind the Israel Protest Turmoil: A Middle East Without a Peace Process
Welcome to the post-peace process: The drama that unfolded on Israel’s boundaries on Sunday as 12 Palestinians were killed in a wave of unarmed civil disobedience was but a taste of things to come. That was the warning from Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Sunday night, and he’s certainly got reason to worry: Rather than pin their …
Global Briefing: Crimes and Misdemeanors
L’affaire DSK: The arrest of International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on sexual-assault charges in New York has plunged France into a bout of “soul searching” and probably removes the greatest threat to unpopular French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s rule in upcoming elections. TIME’s global business correspondent Michael …
Couch Potato Briefing: Immigrants, Idiots and Crumbling Empires
Here’s our latest installment of five rental films to watch this weekend to get you up to speed with our week in news. Compiled by Ishaan Tharoor and Tony Karon.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvp_GJ_4dow]
Carry On Up the Khyber
It’s a truth we’ve all read (and written about) for a while now: as grumpy as Washington …
Mideast Peace Envoy Mitchell to Resign: Who Knew He Was Still on the Job?
Senator George Mitchell is no fool, so it should come as no surprise that he’s no longer prepared to undertake the fool’s-errand assignment of being President Barack Obama’s Special Envoy on Middle East peace. News that the 77-year-old retired senator who brokered the Northern Ireland peace agreement will on Friday resign the position …
India Makes a Move in the Afghanistan Endgame
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Afghanistan this week at a crucial time for both countries and the troubled state lying between them. India and Pakistan have been engaged in a regional power struggle for influence over Afghanistan, and events of the last two days seemed to underline their differences. A day after India …
Fukushima: Er, Sorry…Worse Than We Thought.
In the two months since Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was pummeled by a quake and tsunami, no news has generally been good news.
Unfortunately, today, there’s some news.
Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) announced on Thursday that the damage to fuel rods inside Unit 1’s reactor core is worse than the …
Poor Panama. China’s Just Not That Into You.
The list of countries that have chosen diplomatic relations with Taiwan over mainland China reads like an exercise in national obscurity. The 23-nation compendium includes Burkina Faso, Tuvalu and Saint Kitts and Nevis, along with Palau, Swaziland and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Nevertheless, the People’s Republic has assiduously …
Bin Laden’s Diary: War Plans, or Musings from the Landfill of History?
“Since the end of the last civil war, the colonel had done nothing else but wait. October was one of the few things which arrived.” At least, it arrived for the aging military commander whose life is described in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s story “Nobody Writes to the Colonel Any More”. For Osama bin Laden, this year, the Navy SEALs …
Haiti’s Own “Birthers”: Martelly Refutes Citizenship Rumors
Does Haitian President-elect Michel Martelly, who is set to be inaugurated on Saturday, May 14, have his own “birthers” to contend with? In recent weeks the former Carnival singer, who won Haiti’s runoff election on March 20 by a landslide, has felt compelled to answer rumors that he has U.S. citizenship – which would effectively …
A Game of Two Halves: Can Soccer’s Governing Body FIFA Finally Clean Up Its Act?
Where were we when we last discussed the soap opera that is soccer’s governing body (and veritable global behemoth), FIFA? Ah yes, President Sepp Blatter — who, given the power of his position and the popularity of the sport, is arguably as influential as the Pope — claimed he was going to clean up the sport for good if re-elected on …