041508f - FOREIGN PRESS REVIEW (FPR) - ‘Relevant news, views, comments and analyses for informed debate’ Compiled by Şanlı Bahadır Koç U.S. / Britain / Turkey / Magazines / Think-tanks / Blogs / Misc /Books / Quickread / Numbers / Reports - Subscribe to FPR FPR Table - H4 NYT WP GU H7 ME Isr H10 CSM IHT Eur FSU Asia H13 Times WSJ FT LAT H16 USP DT Ind H19 Mil Int Ter Wonk H21 Misc

H1 New Yorker Is American power on the wane? Is the West being overtaken by the rest? By Ian Buruma

Los Angeles Times Iran waging proxy war with U.S., officials say Iran, facing border violence that it says involves U.S.-backed insurgents, feels impelled to fight back by backing its own allies in Iraq, experts say.

New poll shows Barack Obama tanking in Pennsylvania

US, Iraq Far Apart on Security Pacts

Financial Times Power and Russia’s backyard As an alliance of free countries, Nato should not allow Russia a veto on who joins the club. But the counter-arguments should not be airily dismissed – unstated spheres of influence do still exist in the modern world, writes Gideon Rachman

Even a slowdown brings some good news There is a silver lining. I am not convinced that the turmoil in financial markets will push the world over the edge of the economic precipice, writes Philip Stephens

‘No problem’Iranians are avoiding sanctions by using hawala, an ancient money transfer system based on trust How Iranians are avoiding sanctions

A crackdown initiated by Washington on Tehran’s financial sector is proving less than effective as businesses and consumers step up their use of hawala, an ancient system based on trust and leaving no clear paper trail

Fears emerge over Russia’s oil output Leonid Fedun, vice-president of Lukoil, says Russian oil production has peaked and might never return to current levels

Christian Science Monitor

U.S. hopes to counter Mahdi Army's clout in Baghdad American forces in Iraq announced Monday ambitious public-works plans to win support in Sadr City.

The TimesFood crisis: France calls for EU protectionism

At a high-level EU agriculture meeting French call on Europe to establish a food security plan and to resist subsidy cuts

Wall Street Journal Bush and Iran, Again
While Tehran meddles, Washington fiddles.

Bush's North Korea Capitulation
By John R. Bolton Pyongyang's escape from accountability has precedent-setting potential for all would-be proliferators.

Disruptive Civil Technologies: Six Technologies with Potential Impacts on US Interests out to 2025 Source: National Intelligence Council Biogerontechnology - Energy Storage Materials - Clean Coal Technologies - Service Robotics -The Internet of Things

U.S. Sees Iran's Beirut Strategy in Iraq Gambit By: Bay Fang | The Chicago Tribune As Iran's involvement has moved to the forefront of the Bush administration's concerns about Iraq in recent weeks, Crocker has increasingly compared Iran's strategy there to its tactics in Lebanon, where it was able to cause great damage through secretive connections with homegrown Lebanese groups

Washington Times State OK with private, unofficial talks The State Department said yesterday that it encourages contacts between Americans — including former U.S. officials — and Iranians, but denied reports that it had opened back-channel talks with the Islamic republic.

Daily Star The jury is still out on the US candidates' managerial skills By Joseph S. Nye

New York Times Fuel Choices, Food Crises and Finger-Pointing Biofuels are fast becoming a new flash point in global diplomacy, putting pressure on Western politicians to reconsider their policies

Guardian A spectre haunts the Middle East Petra Marquardt-Bigman Let us hope that reports of secret talks between the US and Iran are true - a modicum of good news for a region living in deadly nuclear peril

In office but not in power Leader: Italian voters opt for stalemate in election that solves nothing and permits nothing to be solved

Ha’aretz – Senate to hold debate on Syria-N.Korea nuke ties next week Media reports in U.S. could alter the gag order Israel has imposed on coverage of the IAF strike in Syria

Attitudes Toward US Worsen in Arab World

Washington Post Jewish Liberals to Launch A Counterpoint to AIPAC Political Funds, Lobbying to Promote Arab-Israeli Peace Deal

U.S. Sees Iran's Beirut Strategy in Iraq Gambit By: Bay Fang | The Chicago Tribune As Iran's involvement has moved to the forefront of the Bush administration's concerns about Iraq in recent weeks, Crocker has increasingly compared Iran's strategy there to its tactics in Lebanon, where it was able to cause great damage through secretive connections with homegrown Lebanese groups

Iraq's Neighbouring Countries Meeting in Damascus Issue Press Statement

Debka Exclusive: Another Syrian armored division masses on Israeli-Lebanese borders

Jerusalem Post The Region: 'Lennonism' paints the Middle East By BARRY RUBIN Imagine if patriotism and religion in the West was a solution to the Islamist threat?

H2 Michael Rubin Turkey's Turning Point: Could there be an Islamic Revolution in Turkey? - Middle East Forum Few U.S. policymakers have heard of Fethullah Gülen, perhaps Turkey's most prominent theologian and political thinker.

FT Ankara mulls pre-emptive strike against court WORLD NEWS: Turks 'have to adapt to a new way of thinking' The Turkish government may launch a pre-emptive strike to stop the Constitutional Court from banning the president and prime minister from politics, and closing down the ruling party Transcript: FT interview with Ali Babacan

Middle East Progress Turkey’s Democracy at a Critical Junction

Turkey’s Constitutional Crisis – From Lose-Lose to Win-Win Lenore G. Martin

AB-Türkiye ilişkilerinde alternatifler FARUK ŞEN

Guardian Bones don't speak For two years, the UN has been exhuming mass graves across Cyprus, reviving harrowing memories of the bloodshed in which 2,000 Greek and Turkish Cypriots disappeared without trace.

Britain praises "excellent" ties with Turkey in London talks

Headscarved Turkish Women Prepare For Long Struggle

Lale Sarıibrahimoğlu Turkey, Russia begin to overcome military distrust

İç Basında Türk Dış Politikası Dış Basında Türkiye - BBC Turkish 0700 VOA TSİ 06:30 Turkish Press Review Google News Turkey TurcoPundit

Google News Fırat News Agency KurdishMedia Kurdish Kurdish Aspect Dış Basında Irak BBC Monitoring Inter-national

MAHMUT ÖVÜR Kürt meselesi, bu kez de kapatmanın gölgesinde!

Cevdet Aşkın Kürt sorununun çözümünde pozisyonlar netleşti

Google News Greece Cyprus Turkish Cypriot Press ABHaber Dış Basında Türkiye-AB İlişkileri Günlük Haftalık

AB-Türkiye ilişkilerinde alternatifler FARUK ŞEN

USAK Report on Cyprus Issue

Sami Kohen Bu Birlik başka Birlik...

Guardian Bones don't speak For two years, the UN has been exhuming mass graves across Cyprus, reviving harrowing memories of the bloodshed in which 2,000 Greek and Turkish Cypriots disappeared without trace.

Turkey needs more effective media to reach out to Central Asia - Turkish Daily News Apr 14, 2008

Hedo Okur Tuncay Nihat Altintop

H3

Milliyet Son Dakika

Cengiz Çandar Milliyetçilik-ulusalcılık laiklik-militarizm

Ahmet Taşgetiren Ben iyimserim

Ruşen - Çakır

Taha Akyol Cumhurbaşkanı ve 301. madde

Fikret Bila AKP’nin savunması

Hasan Cemal Erdoğan, Demirel gibi muhalefet yaparsa...

Murat Yetkin 'AB ile durum ciddi'

İsmet Berkan

Fehmi Koru Bir toplantı ve Türk-ABD ilişkileri

Taha Kıvanç Washington'da atlatma haber

Şamil Tayyar

Ali Bayramoğlu Demokratik direnç…

Yasemin Çongar

Ertuğrul Özkök

Ahmet Hakan

M Ali Birand AB, ulusalcılarla yollarını ayırdı...

Cüneyt Ülsever Türkiye, Ortadoğu denkleminde nerede?

Enis Berberoğlu

İlter Türkmen İlham kaynağı komplo teorileri olunca

Sami Selçuk Türk Ceza Yasasının 301. maddesi değişiyor (mu) - I

Oktay Ekşi

Özdemir İnce

Mehmet Y Yılmaz

İlnur Çevik A lame duck administration in Turkey

Şahin Alpay AKP'ye yapılanlar ne hukuka sığar, ne ahlaka

İhsan Dağı CHP'de sorun Baykal mı, taban mı?

MUHARREM SARIKAYA

ERDAL ŞAFAK

ENGİN ARDIÇ

ERGUN BABAHAN

EMRE AKÖZ

Umur Talu

HASAN BÜLENT KAHRAMAN

NAZLI ILICAK Barroso ne dedi?

MEHMET BARLAS

YAVUZ DONAT

ABDURRAHMAN YILDIRIM

Ercan Kumcu

Erdal Sağlam

H4 New York Times Fuel Choices, Food Crises and Finger-Pointing Biofuels are fast becoming a new flash point in global diplomacy, putting pressure on Western politicians to reconsider their policies

Despite Tough Times, Ultrarich Keep Spending

Retailing Chains Caught in a Wave of Bankruptcies

Rice Rules Out Spot on McCain Ticket

H5 Washington Post Jewish Liberals to Launch A Counterpoint to AIPAC Political Funds, Lobbying to Promote Arab-Israeli Peace Deal

Candidate on a High Horse By George F. Will, Barack Obama may be the fulfillment of modern liberalism.

Loose Lips and Democratic Ships By E. J. Dionne Jr. The Democratic presidential candidates are doing a splendid job of helping John McCain get to the White House.

Guns, God and Gotchas By Richard Cohen, 'Frankly,' Hillary Clinton's recent actions have been disingenuous.

Iraqi Militias Offering Aid To Displaced

McCain Echoes Clinton's Attacks Obama Talks of November Damage

Economists Debate Link Between War, Credit Crisis

On the Economy, 70% Disapprove of Bush

Two Separate Societies: One in Prison, One Not

A Back-to-Basics Messenger Pontiff Expected to Stress ROME, April 14 -- In an era saturated with entertainment and politics, a key question looms as Pope Benedict XVI leaves here Tuesday for Washington: Is his style too dense to get Americans' attention?

Building Ties With Catholics A Bush Priority President Identifies With Church on Key Issues

Shot and a Chablis By Eugene Robinson, I have a couple of problems with Clinton's seeming-is-being theory of campaigning.

'Journey of Harmony' By Anne Applebaum, Welcome to the latest Olympic sport: Put Out the Torch.

H6 Guardian A spectre haunts the Middle East Petra Marquardt-Bigman Let us hope that reports of secret talks between the US and Iran are true - a modicum of good news for a region living in deadly nuclear peril

Berlusconi sweeps back to power as left concedes defeat in Italy

Former PM set to return to power at the head of Italy's most rightwing government in 14 years

The ups and downs of a rightwinger from left field Profile: Silvio Berlusconi

In office but not in power Leader: Italian voters opt for stalemate in election that solves nothing and permits nothing to be solved

Declaring class war Dean Baker By propping up the dollar, US officials are hurting lower-income workers and failing to advance the nation's economic recovery

Credit crunch? The real crisis is global hunger. And if you care, eat less meat George Monbiot: A food recession is under way. Biofuels are a crime against humanity, but - take it from a flesh eater - flesh eating is worse

Three terms is quite enough. Democracy demands change

Geoffrey Wheatcroft: The row over Labour's leader rests on the false assumption that another win would be good for the country and the party

Israel's politicians snub Carter visit

Former US president 'disappointed' at lack of high level meetings as he begins Middle East tour

Self-help for self-haters Seth Freedman: Zionists have managed to unforgivably drag their religion's name through the mud for more than 60 years

A popularity contest Leader: Here is Mr Brown's opportunity to tell banks that their reckless lending and trading caused the credit crunch

House prices fall at fastest rate since 1978

H7

Attitudes Toward US Worsen in Arab World

U.S. Sees Iran's Beirut Strategy in Iraq Gambit By: Bay Fang | The Chicago Tribune As Iran's involvement has moved to the forefront of the Bush administration's concerns about Iraq in recent weeks, Crocker has increasingly compared Iran's strategy there to its tactics in Lebanon, where it was able to cause great damage through secretive connections with homegrown Lebanese groups

Our man in Tehran M Cist In Tehran, a city divided between north and south, rich and poor, pious and secular, life carries on regardless

Analysis: A change in the Middle East? By CLAUDE SALHANI (UPI) -- A Lebanese politician predicts a new war between Israel and Syria and that Hezbollah's power in Lebanon would suffer a new assault from Israel.

Outside View: Legitimize Iran opposition (UPI) -- To tackle threats from Iran, legitimize its opposition movement.

Tough New Iran Sanctions Could Backfire

Tribal identities in a modern world GENERAL David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker have gone back to Baghdad with all the time they want, but with no clear plan other than carrying on as before and muddling through. "Our patience is not unlimited," said Senator John Barrasso, but apparently it is. Congress has not the will to be decisive, and so we fight on, with an ... (By H.D.S. Greenway, Boston Globe)

Commentary: 92 years to go
By ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE (UPI) -- We are beginning to use words, phrases and assertions without any regard to their meaning. The predicate "Islamist extremism is the defining characteristic of the 21st century" ignores we are now in year eight of this century -- with 92 more years to go. No one can possibly know what will define our century over the next nine decades.

Iraqis aren't stupid — and they're watching us

Ambassador Crocker's Warnings - Washington Times editorial

National Security is the Issue - David Limbaugh, Washington Times

Iran: War and Pieces - Peter Brookes, New York Post

Give Muslims Time to Find Democratic Feet - Daniel Pipes, Sydney Morning Herald

Gitmo Closure no Simple Prospect - Julian Barnes, Los Angeles Times

FOOD CRISIS: Global backlash building against ethanol fuels...

Tyranny's enabler By Frank J. Gaffney Jr. Jimmy Carter's pathetic need for political rehabilitation following a presidency widely regarded as one of the worst in American history is once again making news.

H8 IraqSlogger Google News Iraq Iran Syria Mideastwire.com - NPR Iraq

Iraq's Neighbouring Countries Meeting in Damascus Issue Press Statement

Iraqi Foreign Minister Disappointed Over Delayed US-Iran Talks; Security Update

Debka Exclusive: Another Syrian armored division masses on Israeli-Lebanese borders

Iraq Govt's Financial Free Ride May End

Monday: 2 US Soldiers, 87 Iraqis Killed; 142 Iraqis Wounded

Fighting Resumes in Baghdad's Sadr City

Iraqi and Iranian Delegates Argue at Damascus Meeting - TV

BBC Monitoring Headlines, Quotes From Iraqi Press 14 Apr 08

Saudi King: Leave some oil for future generations...

Iran: Shiraz Mosque Blast Shrouded in Mystery

Iraqi Militias Offering Aid to Displaced

McCain Reveals Confusion Over Petraeus Role

Basra fight goes door-to-door (UPI) -- U.S. military reports out of Basra say operations there entered a new phase of operations with Iraqi security forces conducting door-to-door raids.

No room for militias in Iraqi politics (UPI) -- Iraqi officials agreed to a draft provision of the law on provincial elections to take place Oct. 1, though it bans political parties retaining their militias.

New U.S. Embassy in Baghdad ready — six months late

H9 Ha’aretz – Senate to hold debate on Syria-N.Korea nuke ties next week Media reports in U.S. could alter the gag order Israel has imposed on coverage of the IAF strike in Syria

Our debt to Jimmy Carter In terms of results, at the end of the day, Carter beats out any of those who ostracize him

Carter calls on U.S. to start direct dialog with Iran

Who lost? The people of IsraelThe "settlements" and the "consensus for two nation states" continue to feed the public discourse, but their relevance has become nostalgic and anachronistic.

Qatar's emir tells Livni Israel should lift blockade on Gaza

Rosner's blog / In run-up to elections, Obama hits 'G-spot' As Penn. primary approaches, Clinton has latched on to remarks by Obama about the two Gs: guns and God

Is neoconservatism Jewish? (WTR)

Double agent enabled Israel's capture of top-ranked Soviet spy Klingberg

Jerusalem Post Fischer: Economy must keep growing to pay for defense costs Exclusive: Concerns over inequality and poverty must not be allowed to hold back growth, Bank of Israel governor tells Post.

The Region: 'Lennonism' paints the Middle East By BARRY RUBIN Imagine if patriotism and religion in the West was a solution to the Islamist threat?

Carter and Hamas Little good is expected to come from his meeting with Mashaal.

Gaza: A Wholly-Owned Subsidiary of Iran - Caroline Glick

Yedioth Ahronoth

Report: Two Syrian Officers Executed Over Involvement in Hizbullah Commander's Assassination

Daily Alert.org – Hebrew Press Editorials (2008) - Middle East Progress - EJC Israeli Press Review – Google News Israel - Palestine

The Struggle for Palestinian Hearts and Minds: Violence and Public Opinion in the Second Intifada Source: Institute for the Study of Labor

Israel snubs Carter and declines security help

Tea with Terrorists - Editorial (New York Post)

Israel Is a Main Source of Radicalism in the Arab World By: The Daily Star | Arshin Adib-Moghaddam Largely unconsciously, Israel has become one of the main sources of radicalism in the Arab and Muslim worlds. I am emphasizing that this may be unintentional because the very idea of Israel as an exclusively Jewish entity has served as a rallying point for a whole range of partially violent movements, from the socialist "lefties" to the Islamist "jihadists."

Carter: Sderot attacks criminal Former US President Jimmy Carter describes missile attacks on Israel from Gaza as a crime during a visit.

Only the defeat of Rommel at El Alamein kept German forces from entering Palestine and carrying out operations against the Jewish population... more»

Daily Star Livni might have come away from Qatar with a useful lesson

Forward Study Estimates Assets of Arab Lands’ Jews In the first effort to methodically calculate the amount lost by Jews who fled Arab countries after the creation of Israel, a Holocaust restitution expert estimated that the losses amounted to $6 billion

H10 Christian Science Monitor

U.S. hopes to counter Mahdi Army's clout in Baghdad American forces in Iraq announced Monday ambitious public-works plans to win support in Sadr City.

Pope begins a 'teaching' trip to U.S. Preaching universal values at the UN, Benedict will urge followers to strengthen their Catholic identity.

Will Medvedev's Russia tread more lightly on business? The intense state scrutiny of private oil firm TNK-BP, now facing an environmental review, echoes Putin-era takeovers. The president-elect is reputedly more liberal.

ASIA

China's Great Migration By: Patrick Radden | Slate
It's a drizzly Wednesday morning, and I'm walking through Shengmei, a tiny village of cramped homes and concrete lanes, trying to learn about the town's most famous daughter, notorious snakehead Cheng Chui Ping, who is better known as Sister Ping

Building for the Future SSI A 74-page US report assessing the progress of China's space programme

Washington Times Leadership event By John J. Tkacik Jr. Although U.S. officials seem oblivious to the dodgy optics of an American president celebrating China's "emergence on the world stage," at a time when China is expressing an unrepentant preference for an outdated — not to mention brutal — Leninist system of governance.

In Asia, the start of something new THE TAIWAN STRAIT is the most dangerous flashpoint in Asia, and so the ice-breaking meeting Saturday between China's president, Hu Jintao, and Taiwan's vice president-elect, Vincent Siew, opens a dialogue that should be welcomed by neighbors and partners of both governments. (Boston Globe)

With Decline in Development Aid, Japan Fears Losing Diplomatic Clout By: Jason Miks | World Politics Review
As expected, at the meeting in Tokyo of G-8 development ministers earlier this month, rich countries reaffirmed their commitment to tackling poverty in Africa and pledged to fulfill past promises of aid to developing countries. Yet for host nation Japan, the meeting came at an awkward time

Tibet's last stand Ian Buruma: The last glimmers of Tibetan culture are in danger of being extinguished by restrictions on language and the breakneck pace of development

China 'executes nine people a week' Amnesty International says China is executing at least nine prisoners a week and sentencing a further 35 to death.

Japan: first industrialised nation with no butter Japan’s history of industrialisation offers clues about what will happen to food demand in an expanding economy

Stateless in Pakistan By: Anna Husarska | The Wall Street Journal In the war on terror, most of the media attention is paid to military operations in Afghanistan. But there's an equally important upheaval going on just over the border, in Pakistan's bulging refugee camps.

China 'now top carbon polluter' China has already overtaken the US as the world's biggest polluter, according to a new report by US scientists.

India learns its oil lessons India, often losing out when it comes to bidding against its neighbor China for oil resources, may have turned the corner this month with deals and pledges secured across three continents.- Sudha Ramachandran

LA Times Dial back the Koreas' volume By Mike Chinoy

Can the U.S., Pyongyang and Seoul find a diplomatic way forward?

The Conqueror of China’s Wild West By: Mark O'Neill | Asia Sentinel On April 11, dozens of top Chinese military officers, government and party officials gathered in the frontier city of Urumqi to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late Wang Zhen, the man who conquered China’s vast western region for the Communists and in doing so created a unique institution

CRS “Tibet: Problems, Prospects, and U.S. Policy,” April 10, 2008.

Musharraf Allies Reject Coalition Offer - Associated Press

In an editorial on last week’s forecast by the IMF of recession for the United States economy, the paper says the reason for the waning influence of U.S. growth on global performance is obvious; other economies, notably China and India, have become far more significant.

A policy paper from the Center for Strategic and International Studies looks at the involvement of India and Pakistan in Afghanistan.

Nepal triggers Himalayan avalanche With the Maoists' stunning march to victory in Nepal's elections, the poorest country in South Asia has catapulted itself into the vanguard of democratic reform and political transformation. The country will never be the same again. And for neighbors India and China, both with a keen interest in cultivating Kathmandu, there's some serious rethinking to do. - M K Bhadrakumar

H11 IHT

EUROPE European press review

Turkmenistan to Cut EU Dependence on Russian Gas By: Renata Goldirova | EU Observer
Turkmenistan has agreed to supply 10 billion cubic metres of natural gas to the European Union each year - something that should cut the energy-hungry bloc's dependence on gas from Russia

Berlusconi declares election win

Silvio Berlusconi warns of "difficult months ahead" as he hails a major victory in Italy's general election.

French push for EU food response France calls for an EU initiative on food security, amid alarm about unrest linked to rising prices.

German-Libyan anti-terror deal revealed (UPI) -- German police may have continuously trained security forces in Libya over the past three decades.

Walker's World: The U.K.'s Saudi mess By MARTIN WALKER (UPI) -- Opposition parties never win elections, says the old political rule; governments lose them. And the British government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, with the help of Saudis, seems to be following the traditional script.

H12 RFE/RL

Google News Azerbaijan

CSM Will Medvedev's Russia tread more lightly on business? The intense state scrutiny of private oil firm TNK-BP, now facing an environmental review, echoes Putin-era takeovers. The president-elect is reputedly more liberal.

WSJ Russian Oil Output SlumpsRussian oil production has begun to stagnate and even slump, adding to market uncertainties that have helped push oil prices to record highs. Brazil's Petrobras appeared to have made a major offshore oil strike, a discovery that could turn the country into a big oil exporter.

Those Ukrainian, Iranian NATO Blues By: Richard Lourie | The Moscow Times On the surface, it seems Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin each got what they wanted most at the NATO and Sochi summits.

Ukraine to Defend Against Russia Kommersant The tension in relations of Moscow and Kiev nearly reached the peak past weekend. Chief of General Staff of the RF Armed Forces Yuri Baluevsky threatened by taking military actions should Ukraine joins NATO, and Kiev rebuffed by calling on Moscow to stop hawkish rhetoric and by pledging to defend its sovereignty

Party offers Putin chairman role Russia's biggest political party says it will offer Vladimir Putin the newly-created position of chairman.

H13 The TimesFood crisis: France calls for EU protectionism

At a high-level EU agriculture meeting French call on Europe to establish a food security plan and to resist subsidy cuts

Obama on attack as polls show slump Frontrunner accuses Hillary Clinton of opportunism over 'guns and religion' comment as Pennsylvania shows 20-point gap

Food shortages: think big If we're to solve this global problem, we need more globalisation and less sentimentality Paul Collier

Berlusconi wins power as rival concedes election Silvio Berlusconi heading for his third term after centre Left leader Walter Veltroni admitted: 'The Right will govern'

UN expert? No, a conspiracy crank The new adviser on human rights has compared Israel to Nazi Germany. And not only that...

David Aaronovitch

Afghan troops drop AK47s

National Army swap their beloved Kalashnikovs for the American M16

The Pope: Mass Appeal

The White House and the Vatican see the Pope's visit as a vital opportunity

Wall Street Journal Bush and Iran, Again
While Tehran meddles, Washington fiddles.

Bush's North Korea Capitulation
By John R. Bolton
Pyongyang's escape from accountability has precedent-setting potential for all would-be proliferators.

Obama's Flaws Multiply
By John Fund
Democrats have a habit of falling in love with candidates on the first date.

Enough With the Interest Rate Cuts
By Martin Feldstein
At this point they're only fueling inflation and political instability around the world.

Berlusconi Is Back
By Matthew Kaminski
Let's hope the returning prime minister plans to govern. Italy needs it.

Judging China's Communists
A dirty politician is behind bars, neatly consolidating President Hu Jintao's power. But without a free judiciary, corruption will only deepen.
Review & Outlook

Taiwan Tête-à-Tête
Saturday's meeting was the highest-level session between officials of the two Chinas in almost 60 years. Review & Outlook

Jimmy's World

By Bret Stephens
Global View: In which a dictator would speak for all the people.

H14 Financial Times Power and Russia’s backyard As an alliance of free countries, Nato should not allow Russia a veto on who joins the club. But the counter-arguments should not be airily dismissed – unstated spheres of influence do still exist in the modern world, writes Gideon Rachman

Even a slowdown brings some good news There is a silver lining. I am not convinced that the turmoil in financial markets will push the world over the edge of the economic precipice, writes Philip Stephens

‘No problem’Iranians are avoiding sanctions by using hawala, an ancient money transfer system based on trust

How Iranians are avoiding sanctions

A crackdown initiated by Washington on Tehran’s financial sector is proving less than effective as businesses and consumers step up their use of hawala, an ancient system based on trust and leaving no clear paper trail

Fears emerge over Russia’s oil output

Leonid Fedun, vice-president of Lukoil, says Russian oil production has peaked and might never return to current levels

Berlusconi heads for third term as PM Silvio Berlusconi, billionaire entrepreneur and centre-right opposition leader, is heading for a third term as Italy’s prime minister after partial results gave him a clear lead

WORLD NEWS: China seen as biggest threat to stability

The global food crisis Guide: Food prices have jumped almost 60 per cent in the past year. Our interactive feature maps food price related civil unrest and policy measures governments have taken in response to rapid food inflation

Tricky period for the 'special relationship'

WORLD NEWS: Brown hopes to revitalise US-UK bond

WORLD NEWS: Shia leader defends Iraqi soldiers who gave up arms Moqtada al-Sadr says the Iraqi forces fired for refusing to go into battle with his followers should retain their jobs because they were ‘driven by their religious duties’

WORLD NEWS: 'Cultural elitist' tag weighs on Obama Barack Obama struggled to fend off accusations of being a cultural elitist as Hillary Clinton piled on charges that her opponent “looks down” on ordinary people following his controversial remarks last week about the bitterness of small-town Americans

Defence squeezed Brown wants Britain to punch above its weight militarily. Unless ends are matched to means, its fighting forces will be consigned to the second division

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Give the IMF's dynamic new quota deal its due

WORLD NEWS: McCain attacks 'very greedy' Wall Street

Peres blames 'weak' Palestinian leadership

H15 Los Angeles Times Iran waging proxy war with U.S., officials say Iran, facing border violence that it says involves U.S.-backed insurgents, feels impelled to fight back by backing its own allies in Iraq, experts say.

Pre-Islamic icons symbolize Iran's confused present Nostalgia offers an outlet for quiet rebels. Government uses the past too, as do the fashion-conscious

Editorial

Turning to politics, he went all-out His naval career relaunched, John McCain became a popular Senate aide. Part 2 of 2.

Dial back the Koreas' volume

By Mike Chinoy Can the U.S., Pyongyang and Seoul find a diplomatic way forward?

A vibrant, if unorthodox, U.S. flock awaits pope's visit

The pope's long, winding road to the White House By Massimo Franco

H16 American Politics

Gallup Daily: Obama Numbers Holding Strong

56% Disagree with Obama's Comments on Small Town America

Elite perspective Michael Tomasky: US elections 2008: Conservative and liberal stereotypes are breaking down to the point where wedge issues no longer distract from what really matters

MCCAIN: ‘HILLARY CAN STILL PULL IT OFF’; SENATOR PREFERS CLINTON CONTEST

Did Obama's remarks make Pennsylvania voters bitter?

McCain: More conservative than his image

WSJ Obama Goes on Offense After Fumble —

realclearpolitics memeorandum ABC’s The Note – US News Political Bulletin Early Bird GovExec Swamp Gas The Swamp

George F. Will / Newsweek:

A Libertarian Surge? —

From Michigan War Studies Review, what can America expect from President McCain in foreign policy?

Economy a Top Issue as Pennsylvanians Consider Candidates

Green menace Ian Williams: Bernie Sanders, the US Senate's first and only avowed socialist, rails against the pernicious influence of money in American politics

Small town-minded Dylan Loewe April 14, 2008 5:00 PM

US elections 2008: Barack Obama's comments about the 'bitterness' of rural Americans aren't elitist - they accurately reflect the concerns of the working class

H17 Daily Telegraph

Free markets and world can feed itself Transfixed for months by the global credit crisis, we have rather lost sight of another, potentially even more damaging, threat to the world's welfare - rising food prices.

The sick man of Europe The election of Italy's 62nd government in 63 years offers little hope of escape from a dire economic situation.

China 'executes nine people a week' Amnesty International says China is executing at least nine prisoners a week and sentencing a further 35 to death.

H18 Independent Biofuel: the burning question The production of biofuel is devastating huge swathes of the world's environment. So why on earth is the Government forcing us to use more of it?

Daniel Howden: Brazil's experience testifies to the downside of this energy revolution

Berlusconi returns to power thanks to 'post-Fascist' ally Silvio Berlusconi celebrated an election comeback triumph last night, putting him back in charge of the world's seventh biggest economy for a third term as the centre-left failed to summon the unity to stop him.

Leading article: An unwelcome return

Extreme party of chauvinism holds the keyThe perma-tanned Silvio may be stealing the headlines but Italy's election has been a triumph for former bricklayer and guitar teacher Umberto Bossi and his tempestuous Northern League.

H19 Military Intelligence Terrorism

Al-Qaeda Media Nexus: The Virtual Network Behind the Global Message (PDF; 2.2 MB)
Source: Radio Free Europe

CRS “The Executive Office of the President: An Historical Overview,” updated March 17, 2008.

Former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld to Publish Memoirs

The Limits of the Surge: An Interview With Gian Gentile By: Judah Grunstein | World Politics Review Gian P. Gentile is an active duty Army lieutenant colonel who has served two tours in Iraq, most recently as a combat battalion commander in west Baghdad in 2006. Last month, his World Politics Review article, "Misreading the Surge," brought a fierce internal debate over the Army's new emphasis on counterinsurgency operations and its potential impact on conventional capabilities to the attention of the general public.

From Wired, a look at how a regional nuclear war would cause worldwide destruction.

“United States Military Casualty Statistics: Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom,” updated March 18, 2008.

“Iraqi Civilian Deaths Estimates,” udpated March 13, 2008.

IHT AGAINST AL QAEDA

Victims of terrorism unite By CARIE LEMACK

There is a sad unity among victims of terror, even when our political and religious views differ. That unity begets power

A Uighur in Guantánamo, with no place to go

Huzaifa Parhat, prisoner at Guantánamo since 2002, should be released to one of the Uighur communities in the United States

Countering terrorism (By Joshua Sinai)

Troubling questions about missile defense THE HOUSE Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs will hold a long-overdue oversight hearing tomorrow on the prospects for national missile defense. The most basic question that needs to be addressed is the inability of the national missile defense to tell the difference between simple warheads and decoys. A second issue that should be explored is whether intelligence and ... (By Theodore A. Postol, Boston Globe)

'Extraordinary-Rendition' Procedure Unreliable, Says CIA Vet Who Created It

H20 Slate Big Snob or Little Snob?

Trying to figure out what Barack Obama was trying to say.
John Dickerson

Cardinals' Law Two questions for the pope. Christopher Hitchens

The Mirror of History What hinders historians from discovering the strangeness of the past? David A. Bell

Disruptive Civil Technologies: Six Technologies with Potential Impacts on US Interests out to 2025 Source: National Intelligence Council

World Bank President Robert Zoellick is calling for a “New Deal on Global Food Policy.”

H21 William Powers on how digital overload isn't making us happier or more productive.

The Sulzberger family would never let go of Times — or would it? With the latest shareholder assault on the “invulnerable” paper’s management, Michael Wolff plays out the most likely and unlikely scenarios.

In praise of ... free will

Leader: If rational thought is just mental froth atop a physical world, then what hope for reason as the motor of progress?

Deconstruction was for M.H. Abrams a problem from the start. He had doubts about the idea that “for hundreds of years people have missed the real point”... more»

“This is how we lost to the white man.” Other people have their mythical stories, says Bill Cosby. Why can’t black people have their own?... more»

Monroe sex film to be kept from public Footage of star engaging in oral sex to be guarded by New York businessman who paid $1.5m

Le Monde staff strike over job cuts

First action against bosses in the 64-year history of the most authoritative paper in France as a quarter of journalists face axe

Simply fantastic Observer,

Mandeville by Matthew Francis Faber £9.99, pp53 John Mandeville was reputedly the author of a famous 14th-century travel book.

Linguistic pedants of the world unite Andrew Mueller: The Typo Eradication Advancement League are travelling America to correct the nation's misspelt signs: a truly heroic mission

Same-sex couples could create children A scientific technique that could allow same-sex couples to create their own biological child in a laboratory should be allowed under law, a group of influential scientists said.

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