Recently added articles from The Economist (US):
Evo's big win; Bolivia.(Evo Morales won in recall)
Aug 16, 2008 ... A recall referendum strengthens the socialist president, but fails to knock out his opponents in a still-divided country THE jubilant crowds, chanting "Evo, brother, the people are with you", that gathered in front of Bolivia's presidential palace on August 10th appeared to ...
The rise of the log mansion; Canada.
Aug 16, 2008 ... The simple life, at a price THE Canadian middle classes have long considered a lakefront log cabin in the woods for summer weekends to be as much a part of their birthright as maple syrup. Suddenly this idyll is starting to move out of reach. Property prices might still be ...
Patchy blockade; Cuba and the United States.
Aug 16, 2008 ... The trade embargo that sometimes bites FOR almost half a century, the United States has imposed a trade embargo against Cuba. And yet it sometimes seems barely visible. Across the island, American brands are ubiquitous. Tourists can order a Coca Cola (made in Mexico) in ...
Tearing up the rules; Nicaragua.
Aug 16, 2008 ... Daniel Ortega bans his foes THOUGH he has been in office for only 18 months, the opinion polls show that Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua's president, is deeply unpopular. But he seems to have found a way to deal with his critics. Mr Ortega, of the left-wing Sandinista movement, is ...
Lessons from an earthquake; Peru.(Post-disaster reconstruction)
Aug 16, 2008 ... New houses for the lucky few A town rebuilds, slowly A YEAR ago this week, a devastating earthquake hit the Peruvian coast some 200km (125 miles) south of Lima, killing 610 people and destroying or damaging 36,000 homes. Worst hit was Pisco, a once flourishing port ...
Five-ring circus; The Beijing Olympics.
Aug 16, 2008 ... News from the Forbidden Citius, Altius, Fortius Producers of the dazzling Olympic opening ceremony on August 8th acknowledged that an adorable nine-year-old girl in a red dress was miming her solo rather than singing, and that the actual singer had been removed at the last ...
Going for gold; Beijing's economy.(Beijing's Olympic slump)
Aug 16, 2008 ... Beijing's lonely shopper The Olympics have not brought Beijing's businesses the boom they hoped for YABAO ROAD in Beijing's embassy district is normally bustling. Russian traders scour its wholesale shops for furs and boots. Hawkers throng the pavements. The street ...
Twenty painful years; Myanmar.(The sad state of Myanmar's opposition)
Aug 16, 2008 ... Remembrance day, in London not Yangon Hopes for change have yielded to despair THE anniversary on August 8th of Myanmar's popular uprising against military rule in 1988 saw exiled activists across the world remember fallen colleagues and call for renewed pressure on ...
Time's up, Mr Musharraf; Pakistan.(Pervez Musharraf)
Aug 16, 2008 ... Enemies of Pakistan's president smell blood RETIREMENT beckons for President Pervez Musharraf. On August 11th Pakistan's ruling coalition, led by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), convened parliament in order to impeach the former dictator. By coincidence, it was his 65th ...
Pardon me; South Korea.
Aug 16, 2008 ... The president forgives some tycoons THE leaders of South Korea's conglomerates or chaebols have long acted as if they were above the law. Kim Seung-youn, chairman of Hanwha, an explosives, construction and insurance group, confessed last year to beating bar workers at a building ...
Not many pluses; Sri Lanka.
Aug 16, 2008 ... A brutal military campaign threatens Sri Lanka's exporters AT A lingerie factory in Pannala, in Sri Lanka's Western Province, lines of women in red work-coats, red headscarves and face-masks are stitching knickers. These garments, bound for British high streets, represent one of ...
No disrespect; Thailand's lese-majeste law.(disloyalty)
Aug 16, 2008 ... More royalist than the king ONE of the shabbiest but most popular tricks in Thai politics is to accuse your critics of disloyalty to revered King Bhumibol. Anyone can file a police complaint of lese-majeste on the king's behalf and the penalty is up to 15 years in jail. During ...
Run, Thaksin, run; Thailand.(Thaksin Shinawatra's corruption case)
Aug 16, 2008 ... Thailand's deposed prime minister jumps bail. But political turmoil may persist GIVEN the avalanche of corruption cases tumbling on Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife Potjaman, it caused some surprise in Thailand when the Supreme Court let them leave the country to attend the ...
Lifting the veil; Darfur.(Tears of the Desert: One Woman's True Story of Surviving the Horrors of Darfur)(Book review)
Aug 16, 2008 ... A witness and victim of the conflict in Darfur finds a voice SINCE Darfur's resistance to the inequities of Arab rule from Khartoum broke into open warfare in the spring of 2003, as many as 300,000 may have died and about 2.8m have been displaced. At the height of what many have ...
Living far apart; Kerala's Jews.(The Last Jews of Kerala: The 2,000 Year History of India's Forgotten Jewish Community)(Book review)
Aug 16, 2008 ... YAHEH HALLEGUA is the last Jewish woman of child-bearing age in Mattancheri. Her cousins Keith and Len are the last eligible bachelors. But she is not keen on either of them. So within a few decades the extinction of the 400-year-old Jewish community in the port-village in India's southern ...
The other side of the fence; South Africa.(On the Contrary: Leading the Opposition in a Democratic South Africa)(Book review)
Aug 16, 2008 ... TONY LEON, a firm believer that South Africa needs a robust opposition to the overwhelmingly dominant African National Congress (ANC), leaves few people indifferent. Friends and foes respect or despise him for his combative--some would say aggressive--style and abrasive wit. He rose to ...
Nationhood and mutton pie; The Kit-Cat Club.(The Kit-Cat Club: Friends Who Imagined a Nation)(Book review)
Aug 16, 2008 ... THEY gathered to eat a "collation of oven trumpery" at the invitation of Jacob Tonson, a publisher and bookseller, pictured above. The kitchen produced mutton pies, cheesecakes, golden custards, puff-pastry apple tarts and rosewater codling tarts. Between mouthfuls the conversation ...
Adversity in verse; Poetry slams.
Aug 16, 2008 ... Teams from across America compete for poetic laurels "WHAT sound do you make if [John] McCain walks in the building?" asks Mahogany Browne from the stage of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. The audience of college students, artists and self-proclaimed hipsters erupts in jeers and ...
Another thawed conflict; Russia's violent fringes.(Red To Black)(Book review)
Aug 16, 2008 ... DEEP in the Kremlin, spymasters are planning a sinister conspiracy to take over Europe, using a Russian enclave in a former Soviet state that is now an independent country as their springboard. "Red to Black" hinges not on South Ossetia, the Russian-backed, breakaway region of Georgia that ...
Live liquid; Real ale.
Aug 16, 2008 ... Folk-drink or aspirational libation? EARLS COURT, a vast, high-ceilinged exhibition centre in west London, does not make for a promising pub. There are few seats, and the bright fluorescent lights do little to make drinkers feel at ease. But the lack of creature comforts did not ...