Global Agenda articles from August 2008

Global Agenda archives from August 2008

On a wing and a prayer; Tech.view; The Qantas jet was lucky to land in one piece.
August 1, 2008... The Qantas jet was lucky to land in one piece AS THE investigation unfolds, it’s becoming clear that the 365 passengers and crew aboard Qantas flight 30, which made an emergency landing in Manila on July 25th, are lucky to be alive....

Proxy war; A stalemate between Ethiopia and Eritrea is likely to continue; A stalemate between Ethiopia and Eritrea is likely to continue.
August 1, 2008... A stalemate between Ethiopia and Eritrea is likely to continue The security zone separating Ethiopian and Eritrean troops will cease to exist after the UN voted to end its border peacekeeping mission. The risk of new fighting is at its...

Passion project; Art.view; Compton Verney and the collector who isn’t.
August 2, 2008... Compton Verney and the collector who isn’t "WHAT a funny place it is," says Sir Peter Moores, referring to Compton Verney, the museum near Stratford-upon-Avon that he created. It quickly becomes clear that Sir Peter is pretty funny...

The long and short of it; Market.view; Getting it right, in two years and ten.
August 3, 2008... Getting it right, in two years and ten TEN years ago, GMO, an American fund-management group, was losing clients. GMO was sceptical about the dotcom boom and thought that equities offered poor value. Its performance lagged that of other...

Ruling Uganda; Uganda's long-serving president loses some allies; Uganda's long-serving president loses some allies.
August 4, 2008... Uganda's long-serving president, Yoweri Museveni, is losing the support of some allies Elements of the ruling party are reportedly dissatisfied with the leadership of Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986. Rumours of an...

Getting more women on board; Business.view; Means getting more of them on corporate boards.
August 5, 2008... Means getting more of them on corporate boards WHEN Alcatel-Lucent, the ailing Franco-American telecoms company, bid a less-than-fond adieu to Patricia Russo last week, French business lost one of its most prominent female chief...

Grabbing the bank; Bank takeover raises new concerns; The Chavez government’s planned takeover of a major bank bodes ill for private investors and for any return to more coherent, less-interventionist economic policies.
August 5, 2008... Venezuela's government will nationalise the country's third-largest bank Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s president, has expanded his radical nationalisation policy, for the first time taking over a financial institution with the sudden...

Hun Sen, the great survivor; Asia.view; One of the last (we hope) Asian strongmen.
August 6, 2008... One of the last (we hope) Asian strongmen OLD-SCHOOL Asian strongmen have become an endangered species. The future of even Central Asia’s venerable strongman tradition has been in doubt since the death in 2006 of Turkmenistan’s...

Campaign trail; Angola prepares for its first election in 16 years; Angola prepares for its first election in 16 years.
August 6, 2008... Angola prepares for its first election in 16 years Campaigning has started for Angola's first elections in 16 years which herald a new era for the previously war-torn country. But it could also prove the moment of truth for the main...

Corruption for and against; Europe.view; Why Daniel Morar deserves the West’s support.
August 7, 2008... Why Daniel Morar deserves the West’s support CORRUPTION in Romania is a hot topic as the government decides whether to renew the mandate of the prosecutor-general, Daniel Morar (pictured). His supporters see him as a valiant scourge...

Georgia's war worries; Worries of war in Georgia; Worries of war in Georgia.
August 8, 2008... Why Georgia does not want a war with South Ossetia The potential for conflict between Georgia and its Russian-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia points to increased instability in the South Caucasus. This seems related to the recent...

Making waves in Beijing; Tech.view; Why Speedo’s new swimsuit is a record breaker.
August 8, 2008... Why Speedo’s new swimsuit is a record breaker AS AN armchair athlete, your correspondent eagerly anticipates the next few weeks of blistering performances on the track, the field and above all in the pool, as one record after another...

On the up; Interest rates rise in South Korea; Interest rates rise in South Korea.
August 8, 2008... Interest rates go up in South Korea South Korea's central bank, the Bank of Korea (BOK), raised its policy interest rate by 25 basis points on August 7th, following the lead of other Asian central banks that have begun tightening monetary...

Corruption for and against; Europe.view; Why Daniel Morar deserves the West’s support.
August 8, 2008... Why Daniel Morar deserves the West’s support Correction to this article CORRUPTION in Romania is a hot topic as the government decides whether to renew the mandate of Daniel Morar (pictured), chief prosecutor of Romania's...

The bear and the donkey; Market.view; What the market says about the election.
August 10, 2008... What the market says about the election CAN the markets predict the Presidential election? Many people believe in the acumen of those who participate in the Iowa Electronic Markets. Their "winner takes all" contract strongly favours Barack...

Stuck in the mud; Green.view; A new green agriculture label may take on organic.
August 11, 2008... A new green agriculture label may take on organic IS ORGANIC farming really as green as its reputation? Certainly, nobody can fault rotating crops and planting what grows best in a given area, but ordinary farmers also use such methods. ...

No more celtic tiger; Trouble for Ireland's economy, in particular for its financial-services industry; Trouble for Ireland's economy, in particular for its financial-services industry.
August 11, 2008... Trouble for Ireland's economy, in particular for its financial-services industryI Strong growth in domestic and internationally traded services up to 2007 supported a robust expansion in Ireland's financial services industry. However, with...

Come fly the fee-filled skies; Business.view; Expect airlines to keep fleecing us.
August 12, 2008... Expect airlines to keep fleecing us FIRST it was fuel. Next it was baggage. Then it was soft drinks and water. And now it’s blankets and pillows. Just when it seemed like airlines were running out of things to charge more for, along...

Keep it tight; No need for looser monetary policy in China; No need for looser monetary policy in China.
August 12, 2008... No need for a shift in monetary policy in China There are few countries in the world where double-digit rates of GDP growth would qualify as a cause for concern. However, China has become so used to supercharged rates of expansion that,...

Myanmar's sad anniversary; Asia.view; The limits to people power.
August 13, 2008... The limits to people power THE auspicious date of the eighth day of the eighth month may now forever be associated with the opening of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. But for a generation of Burmese it will always recall the mass uprising of...

Slowing growth? Less cheery economic prospects for Africa; The economic good times may be ending in Africa.
August 13, 2008... Less cheery economic prospects for Africa Because they have not diversified and agricultural performance has been weak, Sub-Saharan Africa’s poorest economies are locked in a poverty trap from which it will take many decades to...

Unacceptable prejudice; Europe.view; Don’t be beastly to the Poles.
August 14, 2008... Don’t be beastly to the Poles IT IS a fair bet that no British newspaper would print a column that referred to chinks, coons, dagos, kikes, niggers, spics, wogs, wops or yids. Indeed, a writer who tried using these words would...

A slowing economy in Japan; Japan's economy contracts; The economy in Japan contracted in the second quarter.
August 14, 2008... The economy in Japan is battered by rising prices and slowing exports Japan's GDP contracted in the second quarter of 2008, underlining the dampening effect that rising prices and weakening exports are having on the world's second-largest...

Who holds the key? Tech.view; The struggle to balance openness and control.
August 15, 2008... The struggle to balance openness and control "I AM RICH" is an iPhone application that made a brief debut on Apple’s software store this month. It cost $999.99 and did nothing more than put a glowing ruby on the iPhone’s...

Ceding control; Nigeria cedes the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon; Nigeria hands control of the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon.
August 15, 2008... Nigeria hands territory to Cameroon Nigeria has handed control of the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon, theoretically ending a 15-year territorial dispute. However, Cameroon may struggle to assert its control over the region. The handover...

Flower child; Art.view; A botanist with a collector’s eye.
August 16, 2008... A botanist with a collector’s eye DR SHIRLEY SHERWOOD is a botanist who became distinguished collector by chance. She was working at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew and saw some paintings that stirred a childhood passion. In 1990...

Searching for the naked truth; Market.view; The real problem with abusive short-selling.
August 17, 2008... The real problem with abusive short-selling FOR much of this financial crisis, America’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has cut a pathetic figure, relegated to the sidelines as a hyperactive Federal Reserve tried a variety...

Ceding control; Nigeria cedes the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon; Nigeria hands control of the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon.
August 18, 2008... Nigeria hands territory to Cameroon Nigeria has handed control of the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon, theoretically ending a 15-year territorial dispute. However, Cameroon may struggle to assert its control over the region. The handover...

Waste not, want not; Green.view; Wastewater irrigation is better than you think.
August 18, 2008... Wastewater irrigation is better than you think NORMALLY, news about the environment can be pigeonholed into one of two categories: a big one, labelled "Bad" and a smaller one, with a heading along the lines of "Encouraging" or at least...

Another boost for Syria; Syria's government is boosted by a deal on Lebanon; A deal on Lebanon boosts Syria's government.
August 18, 2008... A string of diplomatic successes for Syria's government The Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has been on a diplomatic roll since his triumphant appearance in Paris on Bastille Day. He has had further opportunities to display his...

Many unhappy returns; Business.view; Taxmen are cracking down on executives abroad.
August 19, 2008... Taxmen are cracking down on executives abroad GLOBALISATION has created a legion of border-hopping executives who jet around the world seeking new markets and deals. It has also created increasingly complex tax regimes that seek to govern...

Unpopular president; Indonesia's president is troubled by rising prices; The rising price of fuel makes Indonesia's president less popular.
August 20, 2008... Rising fuel prices are making the president less popular in Indonesia The damage to the standing of the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, caused by the 30% increase in government-administered fuel prices in May has been...

The great game; Asia.view; The Olympics’ toughest sport? Scoring tickets.
August 20, 2008... The Olympics’ toughest sport? Scoring tickets YOUR correspondent, like many other journalists in Asia, decided to skip the Olympics. Daunted by the cost of hotels, the scarcity of tickets and the oppressive security, and defeated by...

Death of a leader; Division within Zambia's ruling party; The ruling party in Zambia is divided after the death of the president.
August 20, 2008... The ruling party in Zambia faces a difficult period of succession Zambia faces an uncertain political environment after the death of the president. The ruling party is divided--but so is the opposition. On August 19th the Zambian...

Prosecution and persecution; Europe.view; Lithuania should stop blaming the victims.
August 21, 2008... Lithuania must stop blaming the victims IS LITHUANIA really persecuting Holocaust survivors as if they were war criminals? Not quite, but the story is still troubling. It starts with the Nazi occupation of Lithuania when the Germans, with...

Terror in Algeria; A series of deadly bombs; Algeria's reconciliation policy is threatened by a spate of bombings.
August 21, 2008... Algeria's reconciliation policy is threatened by a spate of bombings Some 60 people have been killed in a series of car bomb explosions over two days in a region to the south-east of Algiers, marking a major escalation in the activity of...

Hazard in a bottle; Tech.view; The plastics industry’s Pyrrhic victory.
August 22, 2008... The plastics industry’s Pyrrhic victory MONEY spoke louder than science in California’s legislature this week, as lawmakers decided between outlawing a chemical used in baby bottles, food containers and household products, and...

A true obsessive; Art.view; The world’s largest collection of cricket books.
August 23, 2008... The world’s largest collection of cricket books AS HEAD of the corporate-finance department of Goldman Sachs in London, Tim Bunting could boast that he had visited New Zealand three times without staying the night. But he found...

An arable parable; Market.view; Is farmland overvalued?
August 24, 2008... Is farmland overvalued? WITH many financial assets in the doldrums and markets spooked by the twin spectres of economic weakness and rising inflation, is it time to head for the hills? Barton Biggs, an investment guru, famously suggested...

The politics of sand; Green.view; What constitutes sustainability?
August 25, 2008... What constitutes sustainability? IT’S official: extracting oil from Canada’s vast deposits of bitumenous sand is unsustainable. So, at any rate, Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) implicitly concluded when it...

Playing for profit; Business.view; Why video gaming can be good for business.
August 26, 2008... Why video gaming can be good for business Correction to this article AS THE Democratic National Convention got underway in Denver yesterday, so, too, did a novel attempt to drum up interest in the American electoral process. Microsoft...

An arable parable; Market.view; Is farmland overvalued?
August 27, 2008... Is farmland overvalued? Correction to this article WITH many financial assets in the doldrums and markets spooked by the twin spectres of economic weakness and rising inflation, is it time to head for the hills? Barton Biggs, an...

Ended revels; Asia.view; The Olympics will not change China’s behaviour.
August 27, 2008... The Olympics will not change China’s behaviour JOURNALISTS moaned about China’s internet controls and thuggish police. Human-rights groups complained that it broke promises to allow protests. Spectators and residents alike...

What Russia will do next; Europe.view; A secret e-mail to Mr Putin reaches our columnist.
August 28, 2008... A secret e-mail to Mr Putin reaches our columnist From:oleg.shutnik@svr.ru To:vvp@gov.ru Cc:dam@kremlin.ru ESTEEMED Vladimir Vladimirovich! As director of the operational task-force of the Foreign Intelligence Service of...

The price of success; Ethiopia's fast-growing economy faces some problems; Ethiopia's economy is growing fast, but inflation is biting.
August 28, 2008... Ethiopia is growing fast, but inflation is biting Double-digit growth has its downsides, in the form of inflation of 40%-plus and foreign currency reserves that cover no more than six weeks of imports. Since 2004 the Ethiopian economy...

Icarus unbound; Tech.view; The solar plane is finally becoming a possibility.
August 29, 2008... The solar plane is finally becoming a possibility ICARUS had the right idea about climbing above the clouds where the sun can work its wonders. Unfortunately, solar energy and aeronautical engineering were not two of his stronger points....

Paraguay's new president; Paraguay's new president secures the support of legislators; Paraguay's new president secures the support of legislators.(Fernando Lugo)
August 29, 2008... Fernando Lugo has secured the support of legislators Fernando Lugo was sworn in as Paraguay’s president on August 15th after having defeated the Partido Colorado (PC), which had ruled the country uninterruptedly for over 60 years, in...

Settling on Old Masters; Art.view; A collector winnows and sharpens.
August 30, 2008... A collector winnows and sharpens WHEN Jeffrey E. Horvitz was doing postgraduate work in psychology at the University of California at Los Angeles, he started to sell inexpensive prints on the side. He never got his doctorate but he caught...