Global Agenda articles from December 2007

Global Agenda archives from December 2007

No picnic; How a row over a teddy bear stoked interfaith tensions; The teddy bear row in Sudan.
December 1, 2007... A teddy bear row in Sudan FOR anyone who is labouring to improve Christian-Muslim relations, or stop civilisations clashing, it is a painful setback: a well-intentioned Western woman who has volunteered her services as a teacher in a land...

Who buys Old Masters? Art.view; Dealers, tennis players, and, of course, Russians.
December 1, 2007... Dealers, tennis players, and, of course, Russians COMPARED to the frenzied contemporary-art market, auctions of Old Masters attract few speculators, less excitement and far less money. Sotheby’s total estimate for the sale of 304 lots...

The week ahead; What may make the headlines; The coming days.(Calendar)
December 2, 2007... What may make the headlines * REPRESENTATIVES from 190 countries will converge at Bali in Indonesia on Monday December 3rd for a UN-backed climate-change summit. The aim of the get-together is to launch talks about a new mechanism to cut...

Putin's phoney election; Russia's parliamentary election; President Vladimir Putin aims to tighten his grip on power.
December 2, 2007... Guess who is going to win "MARIA", a teacher in Tver, near Moscow, felt ashamed when she told her 15-year-old pupils to join a rally in support of President Vladimir Putin before the parliamentary election on Sunday December 2nd. The order...

Crunch time; Market.view; Tight credit could mean choppy markets ahead.
December 2, 2007... Tight credit could mean choppy markets ahead WALL Street’s extraordinary moves in late November, with three consecutive shifts of more than 200 points in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, have been attributed to a host of factors....

The bag-man cometh; Green.view; Eliminating witches' knickers, one stitch at a time.
December 3, 2007... Eliminating witches' knickers, one stitch at a time BACK in 1977, when the Sex Pistols, the death of Elvis Presley and the queen’s Silver Jubilee were grabbing the headlines, a simple product emerged in supermarkets and quickly became...

Desert island dollars; Abu Dhabi diary; Heading for the uninhabited Emirates.
December 3, 2007... Heading for the uninhabited Emirates Monday "HEYYA 'alas-Salah" ("Come to prayer"), calls the muezzin from a mosque one street from my apartment. He rouses me from sleep: it is five in the morning. I toss and turn until his short,...

Getting serious in Bali; Climate-change talks get underway in Bali; Talks on climate change get underway in Bali.
December 3, 2007... Talks on tackling climate change begin AS A meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) got underway in Bali on Monday December 3rd, there was immediately one piece of news for activists to celebrate. On...

A failed mini-coup; Coup plotters come to grief in the Philippines; A failed coup attempt in the Philippines.
December 3, 2007... Fuss and bother in the Philippines On November 29th a small group of military officers, politicians and Catholic priests tried to stage a coup in the Philippines. The attempt promptly fizzled out after it became apparent that a mass...

How it was rigged; Russia's fraudulent election; Bribery and worse, as Russia elects a new parliament.
December 3, 2007... A farce of a poll, but Vladimir Putin looks stronger IT WAS never in doubt that Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party would get a sweeping victory in the parliamentary elections on Sunday December 2nd. The entire government machine,...

Lost for art; Abu Dhabi diary; Local art is hard to find.
December 4, 2007... Local art is hard to find Monday | Tuesday Tuesday "YES, yes, I turned left at the light, and passed the big pink house. Roundabout? What roundabout?" Once again, I'm lost. I am on my way to an exhibition of two Iraqi...

How it was rigged; Russia's fraudulent election; Bribery and worse, as Russia elects a new parliament.
December 4, 2007... A farce, but Vladimir Putin looks stronger IT WAS never in doubt that Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party would get a sweeping victory in the parliamentary elections on Sunday December 2nd. The entire government machine, the court...

Less scary than we thought? Is Iran's weapons programme less threatening than America once thought? America's spies change their minds about Iran's weapons plans.
December 4, 2007... America's spies change their minds IT REPRESENTS a remarkable change of opinion. Just two years ago the consensus view of America's 16 intelligence agencies was tough and unambiguous: Iran was "determined to develop nuclear weapons despite...

More than a game; A big merger in the video games industry; Two big video-game firms merge.
December 4, 2007... Why two big companies are teaming up LIKE the instruction manuals that used to accompany the industry’s wares, the deal looks a little complicated. On Sunday December 2nd Vivendi, a French entertainment conglomerate, announced that...

The path ahead; Hugo Chavez's referendum defeat; Venezuela's president fails in his attempt to change the consitution.
December 4, 2007... After Hugo Chavez’s defeat in a constitutional referendum, where next for Venezuela? ON MONDAY December 3rd Hugo Chavez did something unusual: he admitted, during a broadcast on Venezuela's state TV station, that he had made a...

Bah! Humbug; Business.view; Why are so many charities ineffective?
December 4, 2007... Why are so many charities ineffective? SOCIAL entrepreneurship--the application of business principles and practises to solve social problems--is all the rage. The new sort of philanthropist who sees giving as a social investment wants to...

Lebanon's search; Lebanon may finally get a president; A new president on his way.
December 4, 2007... A new president may finally be chosen General Michel Suleiman, the commander of the Lebanese army, seems to be assured of occupying the vacant post of president, now that the parliamentary majority has endorsed him as its compromise...

Boom and boomer; Abu Dhabi diary; View from the top, view from the bottom.
December 5, 2007... View from the top, view from the bottom Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday Wednesday DRIVING from Abu Dhabi to Dubai is always a shock. Abu Dhabi is booming, but its growth is positively restrained compared to its northern neighbour. On...

The path ahead; Hugo Chavez's referendum defeat; Venezuela's president fails in his attempt to change the consitution.
December 5, 2007... After Hugo Chavez’s defeat ON MONDAY December 3rd Hugo Chavez did something unusual: he admitted, during a broadcast on Venezuela's state TV station, that he had made a mistake. Venezuela's leader had hitherto seemed invincible, but...

Olympic heat; Asia.view; More than light in China debate.
December 5, 2007... More than light in China debate SEOUL in 1988, or Berlin in 1936? Debate about the staging of next year’s Olympic games in Beijing tends to polarise opinion. Most Chinese--and foreigners optimistic about the country's direction--see...

Borderline war; Ethiopia and Eritrea growl about the border; Ethiopia and Eritrea cannot agree about their shared border.
December 5, 2007... Tension grows, again, between Ethiopia and Eritrea The likelihood of conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea is at its highest level in seven years. Eritrea is in the weaker position, politically and economically. At the end of November...

CAFE society; Proposed new laws may force Americans into smaller cars; Why Americans may soon be driving smaller cars.
December 5, 2007... Proposed legislation would force Americans into smaller cars ASK a European to describe a typical American car in one word and the answer will invariably be "big". An energy bill set to pass through the House of Representatives this week is...

Show me the money; Abu Dhabi diary; Then show it to everyone else, too.(Diary entry)
December 6, 2007... Then show it to everyone else, too Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday Thursday PORTRAITS of austere, stern-visaged Arab leaders festoon cities throughout the Middle East. Images of Sheikh Zayed--who united the seven emirates...

Down with democracy; Europe.view; A democratic vote is necessary, but not sufficient.(Democratic centralism)
December 6, 2007... A democratic vote is necessary, but not sufficient WHAT could be more democratic than an election that reflects the majority’s will? Opinion polls consistently give Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, an approval rating above...

CAFE society; Proposed new laws may force Americans into smaller cars; Why Americans may soon be driving smaller cars.
December 6, 2007... Forcing Americans into smaller cars ASK a European to describe a typical American car in one word and the answer will invariably be "big". An energy bill set to pass through the House of Representatives this week is likely to number the...

In the bleak midwinter; The Bank of England cuts interest rates, the ECB holds them; The Bank of England cuts rates, the ECB does not.
December 6, 2007... The Bank of England cuts rates, the ECB does not THE Bank of England rarely moves interest rates in December. But on December 6th the central bank, under Mervyn King, its governor, broke with habit and brought down the base rate by a...

Conduct unbecoming; Brazil's powerful senate leader resigns; Charges of corruption are dropped and a crisis averted.
December 6, 2007... Brazil's senate leader resigns, averting a political crisis One of the most serious crises affecting Brazil's Senate came to an end on December 4th with the resignation from the upper house leadership of Renan Calheiros. The crisis was...

Can a Mormon be president? Mitt Romney and Mormonism; Religion and the race to be America's president.
December 8, 2007... Mitt Romney's religious beliefs IT WAS a fine and patriotic speech, full of ennobling rhetoric about liberty and tolerance. But it was not a speech about Mitt Romney's particular religion, and so it may not help his cause. Mr Romney, a...

A good eye; Art.view; Collecting in a venerable European tradition.(collection of Giorgio Marsan and Umberta Nasi)
December 8, 2007... Collecting in a venerable European tradition THE names Giorgio Marsan and Umberta Nasi, whose collection is being auctioned on December 12th, may fail to excite, until you learn from the sale catalogue’s introduction that Nasi was the...

An awkward meeting; Robert Mugabe attends the Euro-Africa summit; The EU-Africa summit hosts Robert Mugabe.(International economic relations)
December 9, 2007... Robert Mugabe at the EU-Africa summit IT IS a coincidence that Europe should try to relaunch its relations with Africa in Lisbon. It was from here, in 1415, that Portuguese ships first set out on the exploration and conquest of the dark...

Mean times; Market.view; Why credit spreads revert to the middle.
December 9, 2007... Why credit spreads revert to the middle PERHAPS the biggest change in the debt markets over the last 20 years is described by the ugly world "disintermediation": banks have been replaced as the providers of finance. Instead, borrowers are...

The week ahead; What may be in the headlines; The news of the coming days.(Calendar)
December 10, 2007... The news this week * PROSECUTORS are seeking to have Conrad Black jailed for as many as 24 years when he is sentenced on Monday December 10th. The former chairman of Hollinger, a newspaper publishing empire, was found guilty of defrauding...

Blue in green; Green.view; It's time to put greens in their place.
December 10, 2007... It's time to put greens in their place EVERY day the world we live in seems to get a little greener. There are green politics, green economics, green living and, well, Green.view. The colour is used as a synonym for environmentalism. ...

Scrum memories; South Africa diary; The prism that precedes arrival.(Column)
December 10, 2007... The prism that precedes arrival JUST to clear up any misconceptions: I am not, and have never been, The Economist’s South Africa correspondent. The extent to which I am not may soon become obvious: still, this point is best made at...

Awaiting independence; Kosovo's independence approaches; Independence without the UN’s blessing will come within months for Kosovo.
December 10, 2007... Kosovo will go it alone within months With status talks between the Serbian government and the Kosovan Albanian leadership exhausted, the stage is set for Kosovo soon to declare independence rather than receive a universal recognition of...

Hit and Swiss; UBS announces a huge write-down; The pain at UBS.(UBS AG reducing the book value of an asset because it is overvalued compared to the market value (united states mortgage crisis))
December 10, 2007... UBS's $10 billion write-down CONTROLLED bleeding or cauterisation? That was the unappealing choice facing UBS, a Swiss bank which has been badly hurt by the carnage in America’s mortgage market. On Monday December 10th, the bank...

Over to you; Vladimir Putin names his successor; Dmitry Medvedev will be Russia's next president.
December 10, 2007... Russia's new president will almost certainly be Dmitry Medvedev IN SOME countries the suspense of a presidential election is based on the question of who is going to win a popular poll. In Russia it centres on who the outgoing president...

Rich man, poor man; South Africa diary; From one township to another.(Diary entry)
December 11, 2007... From one township to another Monday | Tuesday Tuesday SO, A few days to get to know Johannesburg, with our guide’s target audience--business travellers--in mind. This is hard: the guide is already written, and updated...

Over to you; Vladimir Putin names his successor; Dmitry Medvedev will be Russia's next president.
December 11, 2007... Russia's new president and prime minister IN SOME countries the suspense of a presidential election is based on the question of who is going to win a popular poll. In Russia it centres on who the outgoing president (in this case Vladimir...

Believe it or not; Atheists in America; Increasing numbers of Americans no longer believe in God.(Mitt Romney campaining for the presidential elections)
December 11, 2007... A frustrated group of Americans MITT ROMNEY hopes to become America’s first Mormon president. But, if he pulled off an unlikely victory, he would not be the first Mormon to take high office: his father was a governor and two current...

Going easy on corporate crime; Business.view; Is the crackdown on corporate America over?
December 11, 2007... Is the crackdown on corporate America over? JUDGING by the six-and-a-half year jail sentence handed to Conrad Black on December 10th, the long arm of American justice continues to wrap itself like a python around the throats of corporate...

A grisly attack; A huge bombing in Algeria; Al-Qaeda strikes in Algeria.
December 11, 2007... Algeria's Islamist terrorists step up their campaign WHO is killing whom in Algeria, and why? Islamic terrorism against western targets makes a certain kind of sense, and the violence in Iraq has its own grisly logic. But who were the...

On safari; South Africa diary; Lazy lions, but beware the rogue cheese-pie.(Diary entry)
December 12, 2007... Lazy lions, but beware the rogue cheese-pie Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday Wednesday LIKE many short-time visitors to a country, I spend a lot of time talking to taxi drivers. Most of the drivers I ask about life after apartheid are...

Believe it or not; Atheists in America; Increasing numbers of Americans no longer believe in God.(Mitt Romney campaining for the presidential elections)
December 12, 2007... A frustrated group of Americans MITT ROMNEY hopes to become America’s first Mormon president. But, if he pulled off an unlikely victory, he would not be the first Mormon to take high office: his father was a governor and five current...

From Santa to Scrooge; The Fed's latest cut brings gloom; Why the latest Fed cut brought little cheer.
December 12, 2007... The Fed’s quarter-point cut is followed by plans to ease money market tensions BACK in September, Ben Bernanke wowed Wall Street with a larger-than-expected interest rate cut. Stockmarkets soared after the Fed slashed its policy rate...

A grisly attack; A huge bombing in Algeria; Al-Qaeda strikes in Algeria.
December 12, 2007... Algeria's Islamist terrorists strike WHO is killing whom in Algeria, and why? Islamic terrorism against western targets makes a certain kind of sense, and the violence in Iraq has its own grisly logic. But who were the targets of the...

Domo arigato, Mr Roboto; Asia.view; Will Japan build rather than import new citizens?
December 12, 2007... Will Japan build rather than import new citizens? SHINTOISM is an animist religion. Its adherents believe that all things, from lampshades to leopards, can possess living spirits. This fact is often trotted out to explain Japan’s...

Ticking time bomb; Britain's armed forces are feeling the pinch; Government defence spending is stretching Britain's armed forces.
December 12, 2007... Britain's defence policy is straining its armed forces The unprecedented and ongoing criticism of the UK government by military experts including five former defence chiefs, has reinforced concerns that relations between the armed forces...

Heart of the country; South Africa diary; From Afrikaner Jerusalem to the new South Africa.(Diary entry)
December 13, 2007... From Afrikaner Jerusalem to the new South Africa Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday Thursday EVERY visiting journalist and aid-agency veteran visits Melville House sometime. On the verandah, BBC hacks back from incognito trips...

Unclogging the system; Central banks try emergency relief; A co-ordinated response to the credit crisis.
December 13, 2007... A collaboration over the credit crisis CENTRAL bankers are supposed to be boring and predictable. But on Wednesday December 12th the rich world’s monetary authorities stunned financial markets with a dramatic, joint plan to ease the...

Club rules; Europe.view; Organise, cooperate, develop--and watch out.(Russia joins Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development )
December 13, 2007... Organise, cooperate, develop--and watch out RUSSIA longs to join the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a club mainly comprised of old rich countries that is anxiously trying to expand and stay...

Braced for two presidents; Scrapping at the top of South Africa's ANC; South Africa's divided ruling party.
December 13, 2007... Nasty squabbles in South Africa's ruling party Jacob Zuma is well-placed to win the ANC presidency, potentially leaving the country with two conflicting centres of power. Some in the ruling party think that early elections would be...

Over and out; South Africa diary; One last stop in Havana on the Indian Ocean.(Diary entry)
December 14, 2007... One last stop in Havana on the Indian Ocean Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday| Thursday | Friday Friday LEAVING Johannesburg, I stop in Maputo, Mozambique’s raffish coastal capital, which I’ve heard compared to Havana. Like...

GPS changes direction; Tech.view; It's the journey, not the destination.
December 14, 2007... It's the journey, not the destination PERSONAL navigators--those turn-by-turn digital finders usually mounted on car dashboards, with touch screens and pre-loaded maps--have become this holiday season’s must-have gizmo. They account...

Slim chance; Mike Huckabee's fight for the nomination; The chances of landing the Republican nomination look slender for Mike Huckabee.
December 14, 2007... Mike Huckabee is gaining support but the primaries will be a tough contest TWO months ago most Americans knew nothing of Mike Huckabee. If they knew anything it was that he was running for president, was from the South and had once been...

Bolivia's breaking point? Imposing a new consitution on Bolivia; President Evo Morales's opponents campaign against a new consitution.( ministerial incompetence)
December 14, 2007... Attempts to impose a new constitution have met resistance A gathering political storm has broken in Bolivia in recent weeks. In addition to stalemate in Congress and paralysis since August of the constituent assembly called to rewrite the...

Blame the secretary; Britain's Gordon Brown is indecisive about a trip to Lisbon; Indecisive Gordon Brown finally plumps for a trip to Lisbon.
December 14, 2007... Gordon Brown fumbles in Europe IT DID not take long for the "Macavity" jibes to start, once word spread that an unconvincing diary clash would prevent Gordon Brown, Britain's prime minister, from attending a ceremony in Lisbon to sign the...

Slim chance; Mike Huckabee's fight for the nomination; The chances of landing the Republican nomination look slender for Mike Huckabee.
December 15, 2007... The primaries will be a tough contest TWO months ago most Americans knew nothing of Mike Huckabee. If they knew anything it was that he was running for president, was from the South and had once been very fat but had lost a lot of weight....

The week ahead; What may be in the headlines this week; The coming days.(Calendar)
December 16, 2007... What may make the headlines * SOUTH AFRICA'S ruling party, the African National Congress, is set to elect a new party leader at a five-yearly conference that ends on Thursday December 20th, with big implications for who gets to be the...

Your call; Mobile phones are coming to a plane near you; Phones on planes.
December 16, 2007... The in-flight use of phones may be a possibility LIKE many flights, the use of mobile phones on aircraft has been subject to unexpected delays. But some passengers, at least, are now sending text messages and e-mails, and soon an Air France...

Agreeing upon a timetable; The Bali talks on climate change conclude with a deal, of sorts; Some good news, of sorts, from Bali.
December 17, 2007... A deal is finally struck in Bali AFTER a fortnight of often tortuous negotiations, and an additional day at the end, 190-odd countries have decided that a global agreement involving all countries is needed to tackle climate change. The...

On the rebound; Green.view; Energy pleas ignore an important bit of economics.
December 17, 2007... Energy pleas ignore an important bit of economics ENERGY efficiency is probably the most popular environmental panacea. While politicians discuss complicated global climate-change deals, economists tinker with intricate emissions-trading...

Jagged little hair; Art Basel Miami diary; Champagne is a weapon, darts are a statement.(arts inluded in the exhibitions)
December 17, 2007... Champagne is a weapon, darts are a statement Monday "WOULD you like to throw darts at Sue?" The woman addressing me is Susan Lee-Chun, clad in spiky black heels, a blue plaid jumper and a skullcap topped with a short felt spire....

A victory, but little to cheer; Afghanistan's winter will be a bleak one; A sharp division between the north and south Afghanistan.
December 17, 2007... Afghanistan's bleak north-south divide THE confrontation probably marked the end the current fighting season. As some 5,000 NATO and Afghan soldiers last week massed around Musa Qala, a town in southern Afghanistan’s troubled Helmand...

A reshuffle in China; China's Communists hold a provincial reshuffle; A change of jobs for provision Communist leaders in China.
December 17, 2007... New jobs for some provicincial Communist leaders The 17th Congress of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in October 2007 has been followed by a wide-ranging reshuffle of senior positions in provincial governments where future national...

Great paper; Art.view; The oldest political document, on the block.
December 18, 2007... The oldest political document, on the block ON DECEMBER 18th, Sotheby's in New York is auctioning a copy of what it describes as "the most famous document in history". They refer to a Magna Carta, which was originally issued by...

Bum's rush; Art Basel Miami diary; Close to the madding crowd.
December 18, 2007... Close to the madding crowd Monday | Tuesday Tuesday TODAY is Art Basel's opening day. The floor of the convention centre is a honeycomb of booths, all teeming with collectors, and it is nearly impossible to get an unobstructed...

Anything but sub-prime; Business.view; Best and worst of a prime year for business news.
December 18, 2007... Best and worst of a prime year for business news BUSINESS dominated the news in 2007, perhaps more than in any year since the dotcom bubble burst in 2000 (in 2001 the terrorist attacks of September 11th eclipsed the admittedly high level of...

Colombian standoff; No relief for dozens of hostages held in Colombia; Hostages held in Colombia see little chance of relief.
December 18, 2007... Why rebels seem no closer to releasing their hostages President Alvaro Uribe, now well into his second term in office, has failed to date to negotiate the release of hostages long held by Colombia’s largest rebel group, Fuerzas...

Tension mounts; Turkey intervenes in northern Iraq; Turkey's intervention in Iraq.
December 18, 2007... Turkey's incursions into northern Iraq TURKISH warplanes bombed Kurdish rebel positions deep inside northern Iraq on Sunday December 16th in one of the biggest cross-border air strikes in recent years. The Turkish army declared that all...

Prompt corrective action; The ECB's [euro]350 billion hand-out; Why the ECB is dishing out [euro]350 billion.
December 18, 2007... Europe’s central bank dishes out some [euro]350 billion THE European Central Bank (ECB) is keen these days to spew cash into troubled markets. On Tuesday December 18th it accepted bids from 390 banks for close to [euro]350 billion in...

Swoon; Art Basel Miami diary; Even amidst the throngs, art can still captivate.
December 19, 2007... Even amidst the throngs, art can still captivate Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday Wednesday AFTER my evening stroll through a deserted Art Basel, I drove to the Raleigh hotel, where Deitch Projects put on an evening of outdoor...

Anything but sub-prime; Business.view; Best and worst of a prime year for business news.
December 19, 2007... Best and worst of a prime year for business news BUSINESS dominated the news in 2007, perhaps more than in any year since the dotcom bubble burst in 2000 (in 2001 the terrorist attacks of September 11th eclipsed the admittedly high level of...

America's Russia problem; Europe.view; Reviewing fifteen years of mistakes.
December 19, 2007... Reviewing fifteen years of mistakes AMERICA’s blunders risk making Russia into an enemy, argues Dimitri Simes of the Nixon Center in Washington, DC, in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs--and if so, watch out. His main point is...

Prompt corrective action; The ECB's [euro]350 billion hand-out; Why the ECB is dishing out [euro]350 billion.
December 19, 2007... The ECB dishes out [euro]350 billion THE European Central Bank (ECB) is keen these days to spew cash into troubled markets. On Tuesday December 18th it accepted bids from 390 banks for close to [euro]350 billion in short-term money, at...

Jacob Zuma comes out on top; The new leader of South Africa's ruling party is likely to rule the country too; Jacob Zuma becomes the ANC's new boss.
December 19, 2007... Political upheaval in the ruling ANC AFTER months of acrimony, the African National Congress (ANC) has elected Jacob Zuma to be its new leader. In a ballot of almost 4,000 delegates at the national conference of South Africa’s ruling...

The dollar and the world economy; Prospects for the dollar next year; How the dollar will fare next year.
December 19, 2007... Why the dollar should stabilise next year The global economy, already beset by financial market turmoil and slowing US growth, is now confronted by the risk that the gradual decline of the US dollar could run out of control. In addition to...

A landslide in South Korea; South Korea's opposition enjoys a big election win; An end to a decade of liberal rule in South Korea.
December 19, 2007... Does a new era beckon for the Korean peninsula? AS VOTING ended in South Korea’s presidential election, exit polls indicated what most in the country had anyway expected: the opposition Grand National Party’s Lee Myung-bak was...

Enough; Art Basel Miami diary; A ball of artists at the Ball of Artists.
December 20, 2007... A ball of artists at the Ball of Artists Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday Thursday I AM rooted to my seat, transfixed by the images on a screen overhead: a dramatic glacial landscape, sunlight glinting off a choppy sea....

Asia in 2008; Asia.view; The Olympics put China on the international stage.
December 20, 2007... The Olympics put China on the international stage IF THIS is to be the Asian century, future historians might pinpoint 2008 as the year it truly began. Curiously, the event that will symbolise this is rooted deep in Western tradition:...

Collision course; Europe's car emissions; The EU introduces tough new standards for carbon-dioxide emissions from cars.
December 20, 2007... New European Union emission rules are bad news for Germany’s carmakers IF BALI failed to produce much besides cop-outs and compromises, at least the European Commission showed that it means business when it comes to tackling carbon...

A landslide in South Korea; South Korea's opposition enjoys a big election win; An end to a decade of liberal rule in South Korea.
December 20, 2007... Does a new era beckon? AS VOTING ended in South Korea’s presidential election, exit polls indicated what most in the country had anyway expected: the opposition Grand National Party’s Lee Myung-bak was to be the country’s...

Indian state elections; Election's in Gujarat; State polls have become the focus of Indian politics of late.
December 20, 2007... Exit polls point to a narrow BJP victory in Gujarat On December 16th the western Indian state of Gujarat completed the process of holding elections to its state legislature. Although the official results will not be released until December...

The end; Art Basel Miami diary; Debating what to covet with unlimited funds.
December 21, 2007... Debating what to covet with unlimited funds Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday Friday IT’S early morning, and I'm driving over the causeway to Miami Beach with my rental car’s top down. Neon Miami is...