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INTERNATIONAL
EDITIONS: HIGHLIGHTS AND EXCLUSIVES, MAY 19, 2008
COVER:
How To Stop The Food Riots. (Atlantic and Latin America editions). Senior
Editor Rana Foroohar opens this special report on the world food crisis with a
primer on the incredibly political nature of food. As food prices spiral out of
control, the worry is that millions more of the world's poorest will also be
lost to its ravages. Over the past few months, there have been food-related
riots in 22 countries. Fuel prices have risen farther and faster than
agricultural commodities over the past few years, and the $1 trillion subprime
mess dwarfs the food crisis in terms of economic impact. But you don't eat oil
or stocks. Those who would try to predict where the current situation is headed
would do well to consider food crises of the past. This cover package
illustrates that agriculture, one of the world's most distorted industries, is
in desperate need of an overhaul.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/136360
It's the Stupid Politics. Hong Kong Bureau
Chief George Wehrfritz and European Economics Editor Stefan Theil report there
are two big factors contributing to today's global food crisis. One is the
grossly distorted system of global trade in agriculture. The other factor is
underinvestment in agriculture in the developing world, which leaders
rationalize on the mistaken assumption that imported food would forever remain
cheap. "They simply did not make [agricultural investments] a
priority," says Lennart Bage, president of the U.N.-affiliated
International Fund for Agricultural Development. "They've been lulled into
a false sense of complacency."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/136355
How To Feed The World. Eight leaders in
the fight against hunger, including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, World
Bank Group President Robert Zoellick and Executive director of the United
Nations World Food Program Josette Sheeran, offer food crisis action plans and
long term ideas for how to end famine and bolster farming.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/136360
Rich But Hungry. London Reporter William
Underhill reports that cost-conscious consumers in weakening economies are well
aware of the doubling of the cost of wheat that makes their bread sometimes 30
percent more expensive. In the 15-nation euro zone, annual food-price inflation
is running at 6.5 percent, the highest figure since recordkeeping began in
1997. It's reckoned that a record 28 million Americans will need food stamps
this year, up 1.5 million on last year, and everywhere, politicians are
struggling to supply answers to a problem that looks set to worsen.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/136357
Beakers To the Rescue. Special
Correspondent Mac Margolis reports on the burgeoning industry of genetically
manipulated crops. According to industry analysts, biotech crops have already
expanded from practically nothing a decade ago to 282 million hectacres in 23
countries in 2007. The market for GM
seeds has more than doubled since 2001, from $3 billion to $7 billion.
Enthusiasts say once the products are unleashed onto the marketplace, farmers
will be able to grow more nutritious food at lower costs using less water and
pesticides, and even in the most punishing weather.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/136358
COVER:
The Winds of Regime Change? (Asia edition) Beijing Bureau Chief Melinda Liu reports
that while some in Myanmar are still in shock from the deadliest natural
disaster in their country's history, others seem almost optimistic: they think
the May 2 killer cyclone just might signal the end of Burma's
military
junta, one of the most corrupt and oppressive dictatorships on earth. Many
citizens in this superstitious country
seem to believe that the storm represented nothing less than divine
retribution-cosmic payback for the violent sacrilege committed by the junta
last September, when the military put a quick and bloody end to the
"Saffron Revolution." Now
many Burmese see the monster cyclone as proof that Sr. Gen. Tan Shwe and his
junta have lost the "mandate of heaven"-the supernatural right to
govern.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/136365
War Is
the Answer. Special Correspondent Jeremy Kahn reports that in the past year,
Sri Lankan government officials seemed tantalizingly close to the end of the
25-year long conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The remarkable
progress achieved already is challenging the conventional wisdom about civil
wars from Yugoslavia to Iraq: that there is no military solution.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/30166
The
Hunt for Mr. Europe. Denis MacShane, a Labour M.P. and a former British minister
for Europe, writes in an essay that whoever is chosen by the European Union's
27 government leaders to become president of Europe will define the EU for a
generation to come. "The EU has a chance to have someone who can speak for
Europe and pick up the phone when America or India or Brazil calls... If EU
leaders flunk this test, Europe's global status, and with that the EU's
standing with European citizens, will decline still further," MacShane
writes.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/136365
The Closing
of the Church Door. Special Correspondent Mike Elkin reports Spain is loosening
the binds between the Roman Catholic Church and state. Amid growing religious
apathy nationwide, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in 2006
eliminated the church's exemption from paying the value-added tax. Now he is
moving ahead with distinctly secular projects, including introducing
sexual-education classes in school and providing government funding for a free,
over-the-counter morning-after contraception pill.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/136356
GLOBAL
INVESTOR: What's in a (Foreign) Name? Columnist Daniel Gross writes that naming
rights are becoming a sought-after U.S. export. "Appeal to the vanity of
status-hungry rich people or CEOs, and they'll pay top dollar to have their
names associated with yours," Gross writes. "As the geography of
global wealth rapidly shifts-with rich American institutions becoming suddenly
poorer and impressive pockets of wealth bulging around the globe-naming rights
have quickly evolved into what might be considered a new category of
export."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/136303
WORLD
VIEW: An Underwater Threat. Daniel Blumenthal, a resident fellow at the
American Enterprise Institute, writes that, "for many years, America's security
umbrella over the region has allowed Asia's great powers, including China, to
focus on economic growth rather than military competition. Now China's rapid
buildup could spark a costly regional competition that could potentially slow
Asia's economic growth, as funds are diverted to military spending and
investors are scared away."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/136366
THE
LAST WORD: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Special Diplomatic Correspondent
Lally Weymouth spoke with Olmert, who addressed the investigation into charges
that he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign
contributions when he was mayor of Jerusalem. He also spoke about the
possibility of resigning. "I don't really see that this will bring any
better outcome for this country at this point. Not that a person is
indispensable or irreplaceable. I don't believe in this. We are all human
beings and there are many great guys in this country that can one day become
prime ministers. But, given the circumstances right now, I think it will not do
good that I step down at this point. I have to think about it."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/136105
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