Global Agenda articles from August 2007

Global Agenda archives from August 2007

A horse is a horse; Buenos Aires diary; Admiring the animals at La Rural.
August 1, 2007... Admiring the animals at La Rural Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday Wednesday GOING to La Rural for the people is like reading Playboy for the articles. I spent half of yesterday ambling by the fair's corporate stands, and much of the...

Quick off the mark; France's new president; Nicolas Sarkozy makes an energetic start.
August 1, 2007... The new president holds centre stage AUGUST is approaching and the people of France are preparing for the month when summer holidays are traditionally taken en masse. While they soak up the sun the electorate and politicians might consider...

An epidemic of white jeeps; Some help; Weighing the effect of aid in Asia's poorest countries.
August 1, 2007... Curmudgeonly thoughts about aid ARRIVING recently in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, your correspondent was puzzled: where were all the white jeeps? On recent visits to Phnom Penh and Dili, the capitals of Cambodia and...

Listening for a misfire; America's economy; The signals are mixed about the state of the economy.
August 1, 2007... How healthy is thet economic engine? DRIVING around the lush suburbs of Washington, DC, there is little sign of trouble in the American economy. The housing market may have slumped but rental rates are strengthening as the young and...

Rupert gets his trophy; Victory for Rupert Murdoch; The media magnate wins his battle to buy Dow Jones.
August 1, 2007... Rupert Murdoch has won Dow Jones, demonstrating his dealmaking prowess NEWS reports suggested that the result was in doubt right up to the end, but Rupert Murdoch's admirers were certain that he would prevail. "Rupert doesn't ask questions...

Kazakhstan turns the screw; Foreign investment in Kazakhstan; The government puts pressure on outside investors in a giant oil project.
August 1, 2007... The government gets tough with foreign investors The Kazakh government has warned Western investors in the giant Kashagan oil project that delays and massive cost overruns amount to a breach of contract, which demands renegotiation of the...

Beefeater; Buenos Aires diary; Eating steak among the Anguses.
August 2, 2007... Chomping on steak among the Anguses Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday Thursday COLD, overcast, windy, drizzling--this is not an afternoon when anyone should leave home, but that hasn't stopped the masses from flocking to La...

Listening for a misfire; America's economy; The signals are mixed about the state of the economy.
August 2, 2007... How healthy is the economic engine? DRIVING around the lush suburbs of Washington, DC, there is little sign of trouble in the American economy. The housing market may have slumped but rental rates are strengthening as the young and...

No time to take the pressure off; The UN and Darfur; The decision to deploy UN troops in Darfur offers a glimmer of hope for the region.
August 2, 2007... A proposed UN force for Darfur AT LEAST 200,000 people have been killed and about 2.5m displaced since hostilities broke out in 2003 in Sudan's western region of Darfur. So the passing of a United Nations resolution on Tuesday July 31st to...

Rupert gets his trophy; Victory for Rupert Murdoch; The media magnate wins his battle to buy Dow Jones.
August 2, 2007... Rupert Murdoch has won Dow Jones NEWS reports suggested that the result was in doubt right up to the end, but Rupert Murdoch's admirers were certain that he would prevail. "Rupert doesn't ask questions to which he doesn't already know the...

Flying in formation; BA fined for price fixing; Virgin Atlantic blows the whistle on a rival airline.
August 2, 2007... British Airways takes the rap for price fixing FOR years British Airways (BA) described itself as "the world's favourite airline". It no longer looks so popular in London and Washington. On Wednesday August 1st the firm was hit with a...

ASEAN toughens up; ASEAN foreign ministers meet; Pressure gorws on Myanmar's militray junta to make reforms.
August 2, 2007... Impatience with Myanmar's miltary junta grows On July 30th the foreign ministers of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) issued a statement calling on Myanmar (Burma) to release political prisoners and to make "tangible...

The winner's circle; Buenos Aires diary; Hungry pigs and Limousin champions.
August 3, 2007... Hungry pigs and Limousin champions Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday Friday I'VE hit pay dirt: on my last day at La Rural, a cattle competition--the fair's signature event--is finally on in the central corral....

Mother of invention; Japanese patents; Bright ideas, born from Japanese pubs.
August 3, 2007... Why is Japan the source of so many bright ideas? WHEN it comes to being awarded patents, the Japanese are world champions. Japan has more than 1,200 patents per million people--more than twice as many as Switzerland, the next most prolific...

Flying in formation; BA fined for price fixing; Virgin Atlantic blows the whistle on a rival airline.
August 3, 2007... British Airways is fined for price fixing FOR years British Airways (BA) described itself as "the world's favourite airline". It no longer looks so popular in London and Washington. On Wednesday August 1st the firm was hit with a...

Gold rush under the ice; Russia and the Arctic; Russia is seeking to grab a huge chunk of a potentially lucrative frozen north.
August 3, 2007... Russia is seeking to annex a vast slice of the Arctic RUSSIA's foray into the Arctic is an audacious geopolitical adventure, as popular at home as it is troubling for outsiders. At stake are the region's natural riches, until now frozen...

Gold rush under the ice; Russia and the Arctic; Russia is seeking to grab a huge chunk of a potentially lucrative frozen north.
August 4, 2007... Russia wants a vast slice of the Arctic RUSSIA's foray into the Arctic is an audacious geopolitical adventure, as popular at home as it is troubling for outsiders. At stake are the region's natural riches, until now frozen both in law and...

Under fire; Afghanistan and America; Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, has little good news for George Bush.
August 5, 2007... Much of the country is still in a mess "AFGHANISTAN is in a much better position now than it ever was before as a nation." So said Richard Boucher, America's assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, on Thursday August 2nd....

The week ahead; What may make the headlines; The coming news.(Calendar)
August 6, 2007... What may be in the news • SIERRA LEONE'S presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday August 11th will be the first to be held without the assistance of international peacekeepers since the country's bloody civil war ended in...

Another man's poisson; Sustainable fishing; Your columnist prepares, glumly, to give up fish.
August 6, 2007... The argument for giving up fish NO MEAL could have been more perfect than a seafood feast I enjoyed on the beach last week in the San Juan Islands, off the coast of Washington state. A friend and I fired up a grill using twigs gathered...

Butter before bedtime; Our correspondent's trip gets off to a bumpy start.
August 6, 2007... Our correspondent's trip gets off to a bumpy start WHO knew that Americans need a passport to fly from California to Alaska? Not this correspondent. I was booked on a flight from San Francisco to Anchorage, with a stop in Vancouver. Nobody...

All at sea; Can John McCain's campaign be saved? A last chance for John McCain?
August 6, 2007... John McCain's campaign for the Republican presidential nomination looks desperate. But rivals' weaknesses may give him a chance to bounce back "HE'S gone from Jane Fonda to Dr Strangelove in one week." Mitt Romney's assessment of Barack...

Earthquakes and ghost forests; Our correspondent encounters a calving glacier.
August 7, 2007... Our correspondent encounters a calving glacier THE SETTLEMENT of Whittier, with a permanent population of roughly 200, is often called the "strangest town in Alaska". Alas, I have heard tell of a less kindly saying, that the weather is...

All at sea; Can John McCain's campaign be saved? A last chance for John McCain?
August 7, 2007... Desperate, but not quite over "HE'S gone from Jane Fonda to Dr Strangelove in one week." Mitt Romney's assessment of Barack Obama's gung-ho conversion to unilateral military action against al-Qaeda in Pakistan was the highlight of a...

Looking for a star turn; Robert Nardelli takes over at Chrysler; Chrysler gets a surprising new boss.
August 7, 2007... Chrysler gets a tough new boss CHRYSLER could do with some reminders of past, happier days when bumper sales and profits were the norm. The completion last week of a deal with Germany's Daimler whereby Cerberus Capital Management, a big...

At the gates of hell; A new boss for Chrysler; Can Bob Nardelli save a struggling carmaker?
August 7, 2007... Can Bob Nardelli rebuild Chrysler? AUF wiedersehen, Daimler; auf wiedersehen, Doctor Z. Chrysler is once again an American company after the dissolution last week of its tempestuous nine-year marriage to German's Daimler-Benz. It can once...

A year to go; Protests against China and the Olympics; Rare examples of protest in China, one year before the Olympics.
August 7, 2007... China's Communist rulers begin the final countdown to the Olympic games. So do some of their critics CHINA'S leaders surely have no regrets about their successful bid to stage next year's Olympics. Some, however, may be ruing the rather...

Unbrotherly in Jordan; Jordan's Islamist groups; Where now for the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan?
August 7, 2007... Is the Muslim Brotherhood turning its back on politics? The Jordanian government has raised the stakes in its approach to the Muslim Brotherhood after the Islamist movement sought to undermine municipal elections at the end of July by...

A bison back from the dead; Our correspondent befriends two grizzly bears and a bison.
August 8, 2007... Our correspondent prefers animals to people Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday Wednesday HAVING watched a companion feast on a musk-ox burger last evening, I decided it was time to see a live specimen. (I'm a vegetarian or I would have...

A year to go; Protests against China and the Olympics; Rare examples of protest in China, one year before the Olympics.
August 8, 2007... The countdown to the Olympics begins CHINA'S leaders surely have no regrets about their successful bid to stage next year's Olympics. Some, however, may be ruing the rather slushy slogan adopted for the event: "One world; one dream". In...

Ashes or embers? Asia.view; Conflict sputters on in Nepal and Timor-Leste.
August 8, 2007... Two peace processes in similar trouble UNDECLARED wars sputter on in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. Pakistan is peppered by bombings. Southern Thailand and Mindanao in the Philippines are wracked by Islamist insurgencies. It is not surprising...

Another false dawn? A summit between North and South Korea is announced; Will a planned summit between North and South Korea achieve anything?
August 8, 2007... The leaders of North and South Korea agree to meet at the end of August THERE is every reason to be sceptical. On Wednesday August 8th the governments of North and South Korea announced what, on the face of it, seems to be a breakthrough...

Another false dawn? A summit between North and South Korea is announced; Will a planned summit between North and South Korea achieve anything?
August 9, 2007... North and South Korea will meet THERE is every reason to be sceptical. On Wednesday August 8th the governments of North and South Korea announced what, on the face of it, seems to be a breakthrough between two countries that have been at...

Under the umbrella; Europe.view; Bringing Georgia into NATO.
August 9, 2007... Why Georgia must join NATO IT IS a fair bet that if Georgia were in NATO the missile that hit the village of Tsitelubani on the evening of August 6th would never have been fired. The Russian view seems to be that on this and other...

A mess in Pakistan; Giving up on democracy in Pakistan; Pakistan is poised for a state of emergency.
August 9, 2007... Pervez Musharraf decides not to declare a state of emergency after all A MORE appropriate commemoration would be unimaginable. On the threshold of Pakistan's 60th birthday, this month, rumours abounded that General Pervez Musharraf, the...

Guatemala's pre-election violence; Guatemala's bloody election campaign; Electoral violence in Guatemala.
August 9, 2007... The bloodiest election campaign in the country's history Guatemalans are preparing to choose a new president on September 9th, in a climate marred by an increase in politically motivated violence. Despite a large field of candidates, a...

The joys of violent fishing; Our correspondent resists a sea-captain's embrace.
August 10, 2007... Our correspondent rips the lips from a salmon Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday Friday "RIP his lips out!" exhorted Captain Cat, instructing me on a finer point of salmon-fishing technique. Finally a calm day had...

Shaken, but not stirred; Tech.view; Earthquake engineering needs to rouse itself.
August 10, 2007... Earthquake engineering needs to rouse itself THE VIEW from the seventh-floor balcony of your correspondent's home-away-from-home in Japan is one of clumps of trees dotted between swathes of rooftops stretching to the edge of mountains....

Crunch time; Renewed fears in the credit markets.
August 10, 2007... Central banks steps in after renewed fears grip the credit markets THIS week, while global stockmarkets appeared to be regaining some confidence after their July rout, a new problem was bubbling quietly up in an obscure corner of the credit...

A man for all seasons; Art.view; Meeting Britain's leading art dealer.(Richard Green)
August 10, 2007... The staying power of Richard Green IN THE vast carpeted halls of international art-fairs, whether in Palm Beach, New York or Maastricht, one prominent and seemingly permanent resident is Richard Green, a British dealer. If there are jewels...

A mess in Pakistan; Giving up on democracy in Pakistan; Pakistan is poised for a state of emergency.
August 10, 2007... But no state of emergency A MORE appropriate commemoration would be unimaginable. On the threshold of Pakistan's 60th birthday, this month, rumours abounded that General Pervez Musharraf, the president, was poised to declare a state of...

Crunch time; Renewed fears in the credit markets.
August 12, 2007... Fears in the credit markets THIS week, while global stockmarkets appeared to be regaining some confidence after their July rout, a new problem was bubbling quietly up in an obscure corner of the credit markets. It burst into the open on...

A spike through the heart; Market.view; Jitters behind the scenes.
August 12, 2007... Interest rates show the price of mistrust IN RECENT years financial alchemists have dazzled and disconcerted laymen with their apparent ability to turn lead into gold--or, at any rate, into alloys that glister. But last week attention...

The week ahead; What may be in the news this week; What may make the headlines.(Calendar)
August 13, 2007... Trials, tribulations and a tribute • AFTER another week of turmoil in the markets traders will start work on Monday August 13th with jangling nerves. Financial markets around the world ended the week by tumbling, despite...

Sending them home; Bringing artefacts home; The graceless art of returning stolen loot.
August 13, 2007... Are museums losing their grip? THE Getty Museum in Los Angeles agreed to return 40 of its treasures to Italy earlier this month, resolving a dispute that had rumbled on for several years. The Italian government argued that all the items...

Carbon connoisseur; Green.view; The baffling menu of emissions-offset options.
August 13, 2007... The baffling menu of emissions-offset options WHEN all you want is a drinkable wine at an affordable price, the sommelier's list in a posh restaurant can seem more of a hindrance than a help. So it is with carbon offsets. The list of...

Sugar-fuelled superpower; Brazil diary; Our correspondent arrives in Porto Velho.
August 13, 2007... Our correspondent is amazed by the Amazon Monday MANY Brazilians talk of their country as the "Saudi Arabia of the 21st century". Presumably they would seek to maintain a few key differences. Brazil is not led by a sprawling monarchy...

On a short fuse; The credit markets seek renewed confidence; Is the latest financial wobble over?
August 13, 2007... The crisis in the debt markets IN TRYING to make sense of the sudden panic that gripped credit markets last week, the most apt comparison is with a previous era of computer-driven financial wizadry, excessive borrowing and unexpected...

Karl Rove quits; America's Karl Rove resigns; Another blow to George Bush as his chief strategist quits.
August 13, 2007... The incredible shrinking White House IN A new blow to an increasingly isolated White House, Karl Rove has announced his retirement. Mr Rove, George Bush's closest political adviser and the man credited with producing an emphatic string of...

A small act against nature; Brazil diary; Our correspondent hears the dam-builders' story.
August 14, 2007... Our correspondent hears the dam-builders' story Monday | Tuesday Tuesday TODAY I have two new friends: Acyr, from Rio de Janeiro, and Afonso, from the southeastern state of Minas Gerais. Both are engineers with Furnas, a...

Fear of foreigners.
August 14, 2007... Chinese cash is a solution, not a problem RECENT market turmoil has wrong-footed many investors, among them the People's Republic of China, which spent $3 billion on shares in Blackstone when the private-equity firm went public in May....

Clean green flying machine? Planes are becoming less dirty, but there are more of them; Will it ever be green to fly?
August 14, 2007... Don't hold your breath waiting for one to be invented SPENDING time at London's Heathrow airport in August is generally a miserable experience. So the protesters who are passing several days there in order to make a point might be...

Getting a grip in Iran; Iran's president wants control of the oil industry; Iran's president sacks his oil and industry ministers.
August 14, 2007... The president wants control of the economy The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has engineered the removal of Iran's oil and industry ministers in a move widely interpreted as signalling his push to impose his will and control over...

Carbon connoisseur; Green.view; The baffling menu of emissions-offset options.
August 15, 2007... The baffling menu of emissions-offset options WHEN all you want is a drinkable wine at an affordable price, the sommelier's list in a posh restaurant can seem more of a hindrance than a help. So it is with carbon offsets. The list of...

What's red and green all over? Brazil diary; Our correspondent falls among communists.
August 15, 2007... The Brazilian Communist Party, our correspondent finds Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday Wednesday I FEEL I am getting to know Porto Velho. Down by the river is what you might call the hot spot of this state capital, where citizens...

Clean green flying machine? Planes are becoming less dirty, but there are more of them; Will it ever be green to fly?
August 15, 2007... Don't hold your breath waiting for one SPENDING time at London's Heathrow airport in August is generally a miserable experience. So the protesters who are passing several days there in order to make a point might be considered heroic in...

Always with us.(National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector )
August 15, 2007... The intractability of South Asian poverty AS IT marks the 60th anniversary of its independence this week India has much to celebrate: a booming economy, unprecedented international attention and respect, and a mood of national...

Cruel and deadly; Bombers strike northern Iraq; Some 200 people are killed in northern Iraq.
August 15, 2007... Bombers kill 200 members of a sect THE murderers struck at dusk on Tuesday August 14th, timing their approach to claim as many victims as possible. As the heat of the day eased, residents in villages near to Sinjar, near the northern Iraqi...

Tumbling down; Poland seeks a new government; A political mess in Poland.
August 15, 2007... Poland's government has collapsed More than a month after the dismissal from the government of Andrzej Lepper the leader of the populist Self-Defence party, the three-party governing coalition finally collapsed mid-August. The prime...

Party time; VMware, a software-maker, launches and soars; Happy days for software-maker VMware.
August 15, 2007... Happy days for VMware, a software-maker, as it goes to market TIME to dust off the dotcom party hats again? Investors drove up shares in VMware, a Silicon Valley software-maker, by 76% on its first day of trading on Tuesday August 14th....

Keep your beak out of our backyard; Brazil diary; Our correspondent meets a table-banging governor.
August 16, 2007... Our correspondent meets a table-banging governor Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday Thursday AT LAST, my meeting approaches with the governor of Rondonia, Ivo Cassol. I have been asked to call his press secretary after...

Party time; VMware, a software-maker, launches and soars; Happy days for software-maker VMware.
August 16, 2007... A software firm goes to market TIME to dust off the dotcom party hats again? Investors drove up shares in VMware, a Silicon Valley software-maker, by 76% on its first day of trading on Tuesday August 14th. Diane Greene (in our picture,...

The truth about eSStonia.
August 16, 2007... Its citizenship policy has been a success READ the Russian-language internet, and you will find Estonia portrayed as a hell-hole ruled by Nazi sympathisers who organise a grotesque form of apartheid hypocritically endorsed by the European...

Stoking protectionism; Substandard exports from China provoke protectionist responses; China's exporters need higher quality controls.
August 16, 2007... Concerns rise about the quality of Chinese exports A series of scandals relating to substandard exports by China--most recently involving major recalls of Chinese-made toys by US toymaker Mattel--has tarnished the image of Chinese products...

The game is up; More trouble in the credit markets; Volatility and uncertainty still haunts financial markets.
August 16, 2007... Credit markets and the crisis of confidence in global finance THE old-fashioned financial system was like Old Maid, a parlour game once beloved of small children. The banks were like players, dealt hands from a pack of cards, which they...

Small news, big stories; Politics in August; Small news items point to bigger stories.
August 16, 2007... Nothing ever happens in August, right? AUGUST in western Europe is quiet almost by official decree. In the eastern part of the continent people still work a bit harder, but the drip of drivel from second-rate politicians who should be off...

Ripping out the lung of the world; Brazil diary; Our correspondent sees the Amazon from the air.
August 17, 2007... Our correspondent sees the Amazon from the air Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday Friday ONE of my last meetings is with a professor at the local university. He flatly contradicts much of what Furnas's engineers and...

Somalia is still a failed state; Life is cheap in Somalia; Nothing to cheer in Somalia.
August 17, 2007... Even hope is in short supply as violence flares in Mogadishu WHO was behind the murder in the past week of two prominent journalists in Mogadishu, Somalia's wretched capital city? Ali Imam Sharmake, the director of the country's respected...

The game is up; More trouble in the credit markets; Volatility and uncertainty still haunts financial markets.
August 17, 2007... The crisis of confidence THE old-fashioned financial system was like Old Maid, a parlour game once beloved of small children. The banks were like players, dealt hands from a pack of cards, which they swapped among each other. At the end,...

Ticket to fly? Getting off the ground; Airport security screening gets ready for take-off, again.
August 17, 2007... Revising security screening at airports, again LAST weekend, some 17,000 people arriving from overseas were left to stew for up to ten hours on the tarmac and in packed customs halls at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). With the sun...

Greek democracy; An early election is likely in Greece; Greece's government expects to return to power.
August 17, 2007... Poised for an early election Greece looks almost certain to hold a general election--officially not due until next, March--in a matter of weeks. Despite setbacks for the centre-right New Democracy (ND) government under the prime minister,...

Gagosian the great; Larry Gagosian; King of the art world.
August 18, 2007... Master of all he surveys (then sells) THE king of the art world--a superlative title, perhaps, but Larry Gagosian just may deserve it. Each year ArtReview, an art journal, publishes a list of the industry's top 100 movers and shakers in an...

Are no nudes good news? The power of public nudity is in decline; Why publicity stunts involving nudity may be less influential.
August 19, 2007... Public nudity is losing its power to shock EFFORTS to raise awareness of global warming take many forms. On Saturday August 18th Greenpeace launched its latest stunt to sway doubters that a heating planet is generally a bad thing. The...

The first cut is the deepest; The Fed cuts its discount rate; Hints a change in policy at the Fed.
August 19, 2007... The Fed lowers its discount rate DOES an interest-rate cut always imply looser monetary policy? That was the question economists were pondering after the Federal Reserve cut its discount rate from 6.25% to 5.75% on Friday August 17th. This...

The Fed keeps its head; Ben Bernanke; The Fed chairman keeps his wits about him.
August 19, 2007... And Ben Bernanke keeps his cool BEN BERNANKE, as chairman of the Federal Reserve, is a man of many hats. For most of his short chairmanship, he has been lucky in needing to don only one: that of the defender of price stability. By presiding...

The week ahead; What may make the headlines in the coming week; News in the week ahead.(Calendar)
August 20, 2007... What may make the headlines * CANADA hosts a summit of North American leaders on Monday August 20th. The country's prime minister, Stephen Harper, will welcome George Bush and Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, to the picturesque village...

Arguing on shaky ground; Atomic energy; South-East Asia considers nuclear-power stations.
August 20, 2007... Quake-prone South-East Asia may go nuclear WITH oil expensive and their electric-power stations straining to keep up with rapidly rising demand, South-East Asian countries are dusting off their long-abandoned plans to build nuclear-power...

The forbidding city; Our Asia editor struggles to recognise the China he knew.
August 20, 2007... Our Asia editor marvels at a pair of trouser legs The traffic is now nightmarish. This weekend, as an "experiment" for the Olympics, car use was rationed--even-numbered licence plates one day, odd-numbered ones the next. Earlier in the...

Watching the markets closely; More nerves and hopes of a rally in the markets; Now seeking some good news in the markets.(managing money markets )
August 20, 2007... Nerves jangle, but markets are rising ALFRED HITCHCOCK once said that his job was to provide the public with beneficial shocks. After an evening of exhilarating terror, filmgoers would check that their doors were locked and their windows...

Thailand approves a flawed charter; Will Thailand escape military rule this year? Thailand votes for a new constitution.
August 20, 2007... Elections will follow--but the army may not approve of the winners WITH understandable reluctance, on Sunday August 19th Thai voters approved a new constitution written by a panel selected by the country's military junta. Only 58% of the...

Hungary in the firing line; Hungary's debts leave it vulnerable to economic swings; Hungary's financial worries.
August 20, 2007... Hungary's large debts leave it vulnerable to turmoil Eastern Europe has started to succumb to the global stockmarket turmoil, with regional bourses and currencies suffering sizeable losses in recent days. Hungary in particular now faces...

Haggling and horror at Tiananmen; Beijing diary; Our Asia editor shares a loo with 400 spectators.
August 21, 2007... Our Asia editor shares a loo with 400 spectators Monday | Tuesday Tuesday I DON'T like bargaining. I lack the patience, the talent and the determination for it. I especially dislike bargaining in Beijing. Bid-offer spreads in this...

Thailand approves a flawed charter; Will Thailand escape military rule this year? Thailand votes for a new constitution.
August 21, 2007... Elections will follow later this year WITH understandable reluctance, on Sunday August 19th Thai voters approved a new constitution written by a panel selected by the country's military junta. Only 58% of the 45m-strong electorate turned...

The sunny continent; Optimistic in Africa; No longer the hopeless continent.
August 21, 2007... Africa's optimistic businessmen GIVEN how much gloom there is in general about Africa, thanks to curses ranging from the HIV/AIDS pandemic to bad government in Zimbabwe and genocide in Darfur, it comes as quite a shock to run into a couple...