Newsweek International articles from January 2009

Newsweek International archives from January 2009

Mail Call: Challenges Abound.(International Edition; LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
January 5, 2009... Readers enumerated the challenges awaiting Barack Obama. These run the gamut "from bolstering a battered economy to combating worldwide terrorism," as one put it. And while the United States needs to move forward to "earn back its lost...

An Experiment in Leadership.(International Edition; WORLD AFFAIRS)(Boris Johnson)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Stryker McGuire; With Saleha Mohsin London Mayor Boris Johnson is brash, animated, quirky--and full of bold plans that just might work. In Whitehall and Westminster, new thinking seems to have slowed to a trickle, with both big...

Exploding with Ideas.(International Edition; WORLD AFFAIRS)(Boris Johnson)(Interview)
January 12, 2009... Johnson on his vision for London, and on those who say he lacks one. London Mayor Boris Johnson, 44, has had a wild ride, turning city hall into a youthful idea factory that could position him to be Britain's next Conservative leader....

The Affinity Ponzi Scheme.(International Edition; GLOBAL INVESTOR)(Bernard Madoff)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Barton Biggs; Biggs is a managing partner of Traxis Partners hedge fund in New York. It's incredible that Madoff could have sucked so many rich and very sophisticated people into his Ponzi scheme. The Madoff Ponzi scheme has...

The Next Turn Down.(International Edition; BUSINESS)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Stefan Theil No one has the money to rescue all the emerging markets, and the likely outcome is a steeper plunge. As if Western governments and central banks weren't spending enough (some $7 trillion and counting) to prop up...

The Truth About Plan Colombia.(International Edition; WORLD AFFAIRS)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Adam B. Kushner The U.S.-backed war on drugs is failing, as coca traffickers stay one step ahead of Uribe. By some measures Alvaro Uribe is the world's most successful head of state. Since taking office in 2002, the president...

How to Sell America.(International Edition; WORLD AFFAIRS)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Adam B. Kushner; With Michael Miller in New York Washington's head of public diplomacy is one Bush official Obama would do very well to keep. James K. Glassman, as they say in Washington, gets it. The under secretary of state...

Dirty Coal is Winning.(International Edition; POINT OF VIEW)
January 12, 2009... Even before the crisis, the world was investing only 1 percent of what's needed on coal technology. Saving the planet was never going to be easy. Avoiding the most catastrophic effects of climate changes will require cutting carbon...

Castro's False Claims of Success.(International Edition; POINT OF VIEW)(Fidel Castro)(Viewpoint essay)
January 12, 2009... It's true that many Latin countries are now governed by the left, but few subscribe to the Cuban model. The Cuban revolution turned 50 years old last week, and its founder and undertaker was still around to celebrate the anniversary, though...

Israel's Worst Fears.(International Edition; WORLD AFFAIRS)(Interview)
January 12, 2009... Its U.S. ambassador says the big threat is that Iran has almost enough fuel for its first nuclear weapon. Sallai Meridor has been Israel's ambassador to the United States since 2006. During that time, his government's main strategic worry...

The Author's Voice.(International Edition; SOCIETY & THE ARTS)(The Spoken Word: British Writers)(Sound recording review)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Sophie Grove A newly released series of recordings preserves the speech of British writers from Woolf to Waugh. We will never know what Shakespeare sounded like when he spoke. He lived, of course, 300 years before the advent of...

The Modern Blackbeard.(International Edition; THE LAST WORD)(Shamun Indhabur)(Interview)
January 12, 2009... Last September, Somali pirates captured a Ukrainian cargo ship, the MV Faina, loaded to the gunnels with heavy weapons, including 33 battle tanks. Ever since, U.S. and Russian naval vessels have been shadowing the Faina, now the most prominent...

Real Estate: Second-Home Sale.(The Good Life)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Ginanne Brownell During the boom economy it was hard enough to climb onto the real estate ladder to buy a first home, let alone a vacation property with an ocean view or ski-slope access. But the economic crisis has brought a bit...

Adventure: Snowy Holidays Without the Skis.(snow safaris and adventure travel)(Brief article)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Morgan Brennan Anyone can ski or snowboard. But during the winter season, there are plenty of more unusual ways to enjoy the frosty outdoors, from ice-fishing to snowshoeing. American companies such as Alaska Snow Safaris offer...

Perspectives.(International Edition)(Quotation)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Quotation Sources: New York Times; Wall Street Journal; The Australian; Wall Street Journal; New York Times (2) "We used to fight about who gets to keep the house. Now we fight about who gets stuck with the dead cow." Gary...

Bush-Era War Crimes? The Legal Noose Tightens.(International Edition; PERISCOPE)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Jonathan Tepperman The United States, like many countries, has a habit of committing war-time excesses and a bad record of accounting for them afterward. But that may finally be changing--and top Bush administration officials could...

Iraq Fallout: He'd Rather Not Inquire.(Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the investigation into Britain's part in the Iraq War)(Brief article)
January 12, 2009... Byline: William Underhill Every politician knows a public inquiry can defuse controversy. So why won't Gordon Brown launch an investigation into Britain's part in the Iraq War? Last week the prime minister said the long-promised probe must...

Immigration: Fleeing At Any Cost.(influece of the global financial crisis to the trends of immigration and emigration in USA, Italy, and Northern Africa)(Brief article)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Barbie Nadeau Since the economic crisis hit, most illegal immigration has slowed--in the U.S. it fell 21 percent last year. Why head north if there's no work? Yet in Italy, arrivals from North Africa doubled in the last year (from...

By the Numbers.(International Edition; PERISCOPE)
January 12, 2009... Capping off the International Year of the Potato, the FAO released a report looking at why the potato may soon pass maize as the world's leading crop. The spud's upward trend: 325 Metric tons of potatoes produced in 2007, with China, India...

Education: Sweden's Test Crisis.(international ranking of Sweden in terms of science academic achievement)(Brief article)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Sarah Garland In Sweden, forget stock prices: it's plunging test scores that are causing a national panic. Once 11th in the world in science rankings, Sweden's scores on international eighth-grade tests fell 42 points between 1995...

Hot Spots: Heart of Art-Ness.(Double Club)(Restaurant review)(Brief article)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Sophie Grove For Carsten Holler, art can never be too much fun. The Belgian artist's latest installation takes that ethos to new heights: Double Club is both bar and exhibit, devoted to the idea of "opposite models," Holler says....

Fast Chat: Mercy of the State.(presidential pardon on the political prisoner Mikhail Khodorkovsky)(Brief article)
January 12, 2009... A crisis-stricken Kremlin is courting Western investors, and activists hope this may lead to the release of high-profile political prisoners, like the Yukos Oil executives. (Last month, a terminally-ill Yukos man was allowed the option of dying...

A Song For the Web.(YouTube Symphony Orchestra)
January 12, 2009... Byline: Sophie Grove YouTube is using a classical-music promotion to bolster its image as an educational tool and push audio quality. YouTube is better known for its viral spoofs and witty amateur skits than serious downloads. And...

Mumbai's Crisis.(International Edition; LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
January 19, 2009... The Dec. 8 cover package on the Mumbai tragedy riveted readers. "Fareed Zakaria's reactions were powerful given his personal and familial connections to the Taj Mahal Hotel," one said. And a former Indian security official cited "a callous...

Why China Works.(China's management of the financial crisis and its economic growth and policies )
January 19, 2009... Byline: Rana Foroohar; With Melinda Liu and Mary Hennock in Beijing and Duncan Hewitt in Shanghai A look at bright spots in the recession begins with Beijing, where state control is looking smart. China is the only major economy that...

The One Who Saw It Coming.(economist Robert Shiller's forecast on USA's economy)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Zachary Karabell; Karabell is president of River Twice Research. Robert Shiller forecast the credit crisis for the right reasons, and has a novel idea for how to fix it. Robert Shiller is one of a handful of economists who have...

The End of Gridlock.(the influence of the global financial crisis on Japan's Liberal Democratic Party )
January 19, 2009... One of the most dramatic effects of the global crisis could be the end of the LDP's 53-year-long rule. Hard economic times will be politically risky for many countries, bringing populism, protectionism, mass protests, internal strife,...

The Boom From The Bottom.(economic policy and development of India)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Jason Overdorf Isolated from world trends, India's aspiring poor will help it grow through the credit storm. Though it may not look it on the ground at times, India is one of the few bright spots in a global economy with...

Another Dimension.(3-D movies and the movie industry)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop Film studios are looking to 3-D to revive the industry the way sound and color once did. Three years ago, Jeffrey Katzenberg, one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, had a "Eureka!" moment while...

'As Good As It Gets'.(Indonesia's economy and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's economic policies)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Solenn Honorine and George Wehrfritz Indonesia is managing the global recession better than most, thanks to its tough finance minister. Last month a financial tidal wave washed over Indonesia, but not the one kicked up by the...

Sidelined in Their Prime.(sports injuries in professional tennis)
January 19, 2009... The expected drama in 2009 is raising questions about why so many tennis players are getting injured. Tennis in 2008 was sometimes more like a casualty ward than a sport. Australian Open winner Maria Sharapova battled a shoulder injury for...

Back for An Encore.(interview with movie director Chen Kaige on his movie Forever Enthralled and the Chinese society)(Interview)
January 19, 2009... Filmmaker Chen Kaige uses opera again to help explain Chinese society. In his new film, "Forever Enthralled," Chinese director Chen Kaige returns to the subject of opera, which he tackled to stunning effect in his 1993 masterpiece...

'Unity Is the Answer'.(the international envoy to the Middle East, Tony Blair, on the fighting in Gaza)
January 19, 2009... Tony Blair, now international envoy to the Middle East, on how to stop the fighting in Gaza. Tony Blair was warned. when the former British prime minister left office in June 2007, plenty of friends and colleagues cautioned that plunging...

Keeping Up Appearances.(women's tight budgets in clothing, accesories, and jewelries )
January 19, 2009... Byline: Sameer Reddy Costume is no longer fine jewelry's poor cousin, but still comes at a fraction of the cost. On the cult-favorite prime-time American drama "Gossip Girl," Jenny Humphrey, a pretty blonde from the wrong side of the...

The Last Model Standing Is France.(Global Investor)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Holger Schmieding; Schmieding is chief European economist at Bank of America. For better or worse, French-style intervention is gaining the upper hand as other economic models lose credibility. The global recession takes its...

The Rails Less Traveled.(luxury rail travel)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop JOURNEYS In this age of harrowing airport check-ins and unpredictable flights, some travelers are returning to a slower, more comfortable and far more romantic way to see the world: by luxury train. The...

Packing Everything In.(travel bags industry)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop Nothing conveys the message of luxury travel quite like a matching set of fine designer luggage. Associated with Old World travel style, beautiful leather trunk cases have been making a strong comeback. The...

Stations: A Destination That Matches the Journey.(the best railroad stations in the world)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Jaime Cunningham Among the many fine sights to be seen while traveling by train, few are as pleasantly surprising as the terminals one passes through. Madrid's Atocha Station, a large building with wrought-iron design built in...

The Stars of The Recession.(companies and persons who survivde the recession)
January 19, 2009... It's only when darkness falls that the stars start to twinkle. Similarly, sometimes it takes a pitch-black economy to reveal who and what in the business firmament really shines. Although they're not likely to get their own star on the...

Perspectives.(International Edition)(Quotation)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Quotation Sources: ABC, CNBC, NY Times, Times of London, New York Times "There is no short run, other than keeping the economy from absolutely tanking. That's the only short run." Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.,...

In Gaza, Sarkozy Rushes In Where Angels Fear to Tread.(French President Nicolas Sarkozy on the peace talk in Gaza)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Christopher Dickey If the tragic axiom of Middle East peacemaking is that the Israelis and Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity, there is now a new corollary: French President Nicolas Sarkozy never misses an...

The Crisis Exposes All The Flaws.(Satyam Computers' CEO Ramalinga Raju resigns after inflating the company's profits for years)(Brief article)
January 19, 2009... Warren Buffett once said, "It's only when the tide goes out that you realize who has been swimming naked." Well, it's ebb tide for the global economy, and high-flying companies are being caught in the buff. The latest hapless swimmer? Ramalinga...

Desperate In Kiev, Too.(Gazprom shuts off gas to Ukraine)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Owen Matthews The last time Russia cut off gas to Ukraine, in 2006, energy prices were soaring, and with them the Kremlin's ambitions. The then President Vladimir Putin vowed to use the country's vast gas reserves to make it into...

By The Numbers.(International Edition; PERISCOPE)
January 19, 2009... It's conventional wisdom that crime soars when economies shrink. But this recession, the evidence is mixed. Shoplifting and bank robberies are rising in New York, but other property crimes are down there and in London: 54 Percentage...

Books: Smith on 'Netherland'.( Zadie Smith's essay, Two Paths for the Novel, on Joseph O'Neill's novel, Netherland)(Brief article)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Jennie Yabroff Years ago, I saw a man tangoing with a life-size puppet in the Times Square subway station. Last spring, I came across this passage in Joseph O'Neill's "Netherland": "Gripping his inanimate partner with grotesque...

Art: CAI Guo-Qiang's 'Head On'.(art installatione exhibit)(Brief article)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Cathleen McGuigan Of all the astonishing works in Cai Guo-Qiang's exhibition "I Want to Believe" at New York's Guggenheim Museum, the one I can't get out of my head is "Head On." The piece consisted of 99 full-size synthetic wolves...

Sports: The Grandest Slam.(Rafael Nadal-Roger Federer tennis finals)(Brief article)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Devin Gordon When sports junkies describe the games we love as art, the Rafael Nadal-Roger Federer final at last year's Wimbledon is what we mean. It stretched across an entire Sunday, including five hours of much-needed,...

Shoot First, Feel Bad Later.(morality complex of video games and Ubisoft's Far Cry 2)
January 19, 2009... Byline: Christopher Werth To freshen up their blockbuster shooter games, videogame makers have begun to add a thin layer of moral complexity. Videogames get a bad rap. Parents' groups condemn them as a raucous cocktail of guns, murder,...

Mail Call: Get Ready, Get Set.(International Edition)(Letter to the editor)
January 26, 2009... Readers worldwide hold high expectations for America's popular president-elect. One acknowledged the challenge of putting "America back on the right track." Another highlighted common global goals in which Barack Obama "has the opportunity and...

Tight-Fisted Is Back In Style.(economic frugality and the global recession)
January 26, 2009... Byline: Stefan Theil; With William Underhill and Sophie Grove in London Economic frugality surges into fashion as the global recession ushers in an Age of Thrift. It's an attitude that would have made World War II-era Britons proud....

Give Them a Raise.(labor policy on setting a minimum wage to battle recession)
January 26, 2009... Byline: George Wehrfritz Setting a minimum wage for Asia's poorest workers could help speed the world out of recession. Henry Ford, that lion of industrial innovation, was also a champion of the men in his employ. In 1914, to the...

When Prudence Was a Virtue.(consumer spending and thrift in times of economic turmoil)
January 26, 2009... Live within your means; waste not, want not; always put something aside for a rainy day--everyone of a certain age in America knows the litany of these platitudes about thrift. Banal though they may be, their banality does not make them less...

A Return to Realism.(presidential adviser James A. Baker on the United States foreign policies and President Barack Obama)
January 26, 2009... Byline: Adam B. Kushner James A. Baker III: Sad to say there are people in my party who regret the fact that we no longer have a big enemy out there. White House Chief of Staff. Secretary of State. Treasury Secretary. James A. Baker...

Want to Make a Clean Break?(political corruption, and President Barack Obama's appointment of Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary)
January 26, 2009... Ignoring Geithner's lapse may seem a small price to pay. But cutting corners is dangerous. In the days leading up to Barack Obama's inauguration, it really has felt like the dawn of a new era in the United States. While the latest...

The Numbers Are Horrifying.(US economic conditions, and the economic hurdles that president-elect Barack Obama will face)
January 26, 2009... Obama's calm efforts have been negated by talk in Washington of regulatory clampdowns and violations of property rights. On Tuesday, president-elect Barack Obama inherits an economic calamity, and the situation will get worse in the first...

South America's Napa.(travel to Argentina's premiere wine district, Mendoza)
January 26, 2009... Byline: Brian Byrnes Every time I visit the vineyards of Mendoza--a two-hour flight from my home in Buenos Aires--I end up spending hours chatting with the winery owners. It's not that these guys aren't busy. Argentina is the world's...

A Very Private Label.(real estate marketing of vineyards at Mendoza, Argentina)
January 26, 2009... Byline: Brian Byrnes Any host can pour a great vintage at a dinner party. But how many can say, "Try this 2007 Cabernet-Syrah blend from my private estate in Argentina"? A growing number of dabblers are buying pieces of vineyards and...

There's More Than Grapes.(wineries at Mendoza, Argentina)(Brief article)
January 26, 2009... Byline: Brian Byrnes Even those who don't like wine can find plenty to do in Mendoza. Local vineyards have created a wealth of special activities and events to coincide with the grape-harvesting season in February and March.aThe Masters of...

Perspectives.(International Edition)(Quotation)
January 26, 2009... Byline: Sources: New York Times (2), New York Post, Times Of London, ABC, L.A. Times "I know as much or more than Cheney. I'm the most experienced vice president since anybody." Vice President Joseph Biden, vowing to roll back the...

Israel Tanked in Lebanon, But Could Still Win Big in Gaza.(International Edition; THE MIDDLE EAST)
January 26, 2009... Byline: Adam B. Kushner As Israel's operation in Gaza extends into week four, critics have begun to compare the assault on Hamas to the messy 2006 war on Hizbullah in Lebanon. Israel's "massive retaliation" against Hamas rocket attacks is...

Merkel, Meet Keynes.(economic policy of German Finance Minister Peer Steinbruck and Chancellor Angela Merkel)(Brief article)
January 26, 2009... Byline: Stefan Theil Barely a month after German Finance Minister Peer Steinbruck blasted fiscal stimulus programs like Britain's cut in the value-added tax as "crass Keynesianism," he and Chancellor Angela Merkel cobbled together a...

Nations That Love Bush.(global opinion on George W. Bush's presidency)(Brief article)
January 26, 2009... Byline: Katie Baker Most nations will bid a jubilant goodbye to George W. Bush, it's true. The Pew Global Poll last month found that majorities in 20 of the 24 nations surveyed have little or no confidence in him, with his negative ratings...

By the Numbers.(International Edition)
January 26, 2009... Gulf states like Abu Dhabi are pouring billions into alternative-energy technologies, which are on display at the emirate's World Future Energy Summit this week. A look at the region's long-term green investments: 2.2 Millions of dollars...

A Man for A'That.(Barack Obama chooses Robert Burns to be his poet on the upcoming presidential inaugurations)(Brief article)
January 26, 2009... Byline: Katie Baker Barack Obama's already picked a poet for his Inauguration--but considering the grim times, a reading of Robert Burns would be just as apt. The national bard of the Scots (they're celebrating his 250th birthday on Jan....

Give Us a Sonnet.(poems recited during presidential inauguration)(Brief article)
January 26, 2009... Byline: Samantha Henig It's a tough task to write a poem grand enough for a presidential Inauguration but accessible enough for the wide swath of Americans tuning in--and artful enough to keep critics at bay. Only three poets have ever...

The Oscar Goes to --.(Slumdog Millionaire wins the Academy Awards)(Brief article)
January 26, 2009... Byline: Ramin Setoodeh Slumdog Millionaire," the rags-to-riches fable set in India, is the best-picture front runner at this year's Oscars. It was made for just $15 million, contains long stretches of Hindi dialogue and has an all-Indian...

Where's the Sniper?(International Edition; TECHNOLOGY)(countersniper technology)
January 26, 2009... Byline: Benjamin Sutherland Defense contractors are developing ways of locating hidden sharpshooters a few moments after they pull the trigger. Making decisions in battle, Prussian military strategist Karl Von Clausewitz wrote two...