Foreign investors not scared of housing market
Lack of a recovery have many saying opportunities too cheap to turn down
By MICHELLE CONLIN
The Viceroy, a swanky condominium complex in downtown Miami, gives the impression that the United States is in another real estate boom. The sales office is strangely exuberant. Buyers gush about the glam condos – designed by hipster tastemaker Kelly Wearstler – and their hotel-like amenities: poolside libations, daily housekeeping and room service food stirred up by a celebrity chef.
Since January, 262 of the Viceroy’s 372 units have sold. But there’s a twist: Almost 90 percent of the buyers are foreigners. And theyall paid cash.
A Inside View of the IMF’s Massive Global Influence
Money Is Power
By Klaus Brinkbäumer and Ullrich Fichtne
The building that houses the headquarters of the global economy is a heavily guarded, 12-story, beige structure in downtown Washington with a large, glass atrium and water bubbling in fountains. The flags of the 187 member states are lined up in tight formation.Visitors walking into the office building find the cafeteria on the right, where many meetings are held. There, experts in their shirtsleeves, their jackets draped over the backs of chairs, drink lattes out of paper cups and talk countries into crises or upturns. A little farther down the hallway is The Terrace, the IMF building’s upscale restaurant where the director receives official guests.
USA
U.S. Military Orders Less Dependence on Fossil Fuels
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Published: October 4, 2010With insurgents increasingly attacking the American fuel supply convoys that lumber across the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan, the military is pushing aggressively to develop, test and deploy renewable energy to decrease its need to transport fossil fuels.
Last week, a Marine company from California arrived in the rugged outback of Helmand Province bearing novel equipment: portable solar panels that fold up into boxes; energy-conserving lights; solar tent shields that provide shade and electricity; solar chargers for computers and communications equipment.
Families are trimming plans to pay for college, survey finds
By Ylan Q. Mui
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 5, 2010; 12:02 AM
American families are scaling back plans to pay for their children’s college education as the stunted economic recovery continues to weigh on household budgets, according to a survey to be released Tuesday that was commissioned by college lender Sallie Mae.
The study, which was conducted by Gallup, found that the percentage of families who planned to make little or no contribution to tuition increased, while the percentage who expected to cover more than half of expenses decreased. The trends were particularly pronounced in Hispanic families, where the number who thought they could only pay a little jumped from 12 percent to 35 percent.
Europe
Mayor ousted for corruption plots return to Moscow political fray
By Miriam Elder in Moscow Tuesday, 5 October 2010The powerful former mayor of Moscow says he plans to form a new political movement to bring democracy back to Russia, nearly one week after he was fired by President Dmitry Medvedev.
Yury Luzhkov, who during his 18 years as mayor saw Moscow become the epicentre of Russia’s corruption and lawlessness, made the announcement in an interview published on Monday in the opposition weekly magazine,The New Times.
Kremlin criticizes Belarus leader ahead of elections in the former Soviet republic
The Kremlin has stepped up its criticism of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, shortly after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accused the autocratic leader of creating ill-will between the two nations.
DIPLOMACY | 05.10.2010Russia and Belarus are hardy on speaking terms following an angry tit-for-tat exchange of accusations. News of the high-level diplomatic row could not have surfaced at a worse time for Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko, who is seeking re-election in December.
In a video blog, Russian President Dimitry Medvedev said that Lukashenko could no longer count on the political support of the Kremlin, which he has enjoyed since he came to power in 1994.
“Today I want to talk to you about our closest ally, Belarus.”
Middle East
Israeli settlers ‘burnt down West Bank mosque’
By Catrina Stewart in Jerusalem Tuesday, 5 October 2010Palestinians yesterday accused Jewish settlers of setting fire to a West Bank mosque and scrawling “revenge” in Hebrew on its walls, a provocative move that will heighten tensions amid faltering peace talks.
Vandals broke into the mosque and set it alight early yesterday in Beit Fajjar, a village near Bethlehem. The blaze destroyed several copies of the Koran and prayer rugs. Palestinian witnesses alleged the fire was the work of nearby Jewish settlers, who they saw torching the mosque before speeding off in a white car
Syria accuses teenage blogger of spying
October 5, 2010 – 6:06AM
Syria has accused a 19-year-old blogger who is in prison of being a spy, an official said on Monday in the first comment from authorities on a case that sparked calls by a leading rights group for the young woman’s release.Tal al-Mallohi was taken into custody in December. Her blog, known for poetry and social commentary, focuses mostly on the suffering of Palestinians. It was not clear whether al-Mallohi’s arrest was connected to the blog.
Asia
SPIEGEL Interview with Pervez Musharraf
‘Pakistan is Always Seen as the Rogue’
SPIEGEL: Pakistanis have been left bewildered by the incompetence of the government led by President Asif Ali Zardari in dealing with the consequences of the disastrous floods. Do you expect another military coup soon?Musharraf: Whenever the country is in turmoil, everybody looks to the army. But I would suggest that the times of military coups in Pakistan are over. The latest political developments have shown that the Supreme Court has set a bar on itself not to validate a military takeover.
SPIEGEL: How would you judge the performance of your successor, Zardari, and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani?
Carrings on up the Khyber Pass
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
ISLAMABAD – Hawkish anti-American elements in Pakistan’s military prevailed on pro-United States army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kiani to close a key North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) supply route in Pakistan in a move that signals a possible ominous deterioration in relations between Islamabad and Washington.The hand of the hawks was strengthened by a record number of US unmanned drone attacks inside Pakistan last month – 22 – as well as two raids by US gunships into Pakistani territory.
On Thursday, Pakistan blocked the Khyber Pass at the Torkham border crossing into Afghanistan through which 80% of the NATO supplies that pass through Pakistan are transported.
Africa
Nigerian media mogul arrested after bombings
Authorities arrested the chairperson of a former military dictator’s presidential campaign Monday in connection with a set of dual car bombings in Nigeria’s capital that killed a dozen people, said senior government officials.
LAGOS, NIGERIA Oct 05 2010
Raymond Dokpesi is the owner of the Africa Independent Television network, which is one of the largest in Africa’s most populous nation. He also chairs the presidential campaign for President Goodluck Jonathan’s greatest political threat in the upcoming primary for Nigeria’s ruling party, Ibrahim Babangida.The allegations against Dokpesi will test whatever political power Jonathan has managed to amass in his five months in office since the death of his predecessor. Dokpesi has previously accused Jonathan’s supporters of being behind threats to kidnap his family, a charge Jonathan’s office denied.
In Congo mass rapes, UN guilty of negligence, not complicity
A report on the Congo mass rapes this summer makes it clear that while UN forces in the area were guilty of negligence by not knowing enough to stop the events, they did not play a direct role in the mass rapes.
By Jason Stearns, Guest blogger / October 4, 2010
There has been a lot of talk about the mass rapes that took place in Walikale (in the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in late July and early August. I only now got around to reading the MONUSCO report, which I have posted here in French. It’s pretty graphic in parts – the attackers apparently searched the women’s body cavities for gold and money before raping them. Some of the women were bitten by snakes in the forest during the rape. The report says 303 people were raped – 235 women, 15 men, 52 girls and three boys. Awful.
Latin America
How Colombia’s President Santos aims to tackle decades of violent land disputes
Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos’s new attempt at land reform will begin with the restitution of 5 million acres over four years – an area about the size of Massachusetts.
By Sibylla Brodzinsky, Correspondent / October 4, 2010
San Onofre, Colombia
Colombia has tried this before.
In 1968, the government encouraged peasants to take over fallow land. This spurred Manuel Aguas, once a stableboy who grew weary of taking orders from his boss’s children, to join 19 other families in invading a large ranch, which was eventually expropriated and awarded to them by the government. The peasant movement was short-lived as its leaders were labeled leftist guerrillas and either killed or scared away.“I fulfilled my dream but so many others died before they could,” says Mr. Aguas, now in his 70s