Can Islam Accommodate Democracy Or Democracy Accommodate Islam?

ResetDOC, by Benjamin R. Barber - It is not Islam per se, but religion tout court that stands in some tension with secularism and with democracy – a tension that is healthy rather than unhealthy in a free society. Like Christianity and other religions, Islam is a religion practiced in many cultures and [...]

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Fair play for the CIA

Times - The Cold War was fought on many fronts, but most of us think of it taking place on the battleground of covert action and espionage. There, the Soviet Union had home-field advantage: war was in the air in 1948, and many felt it might be lost almost before it began.

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Secret report: biofuel caused food crisis

Guardian - Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian. The damning unpublished assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist at global [...]

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Rise takes eurozone rates to 7-year high

Financial Times - Eurozone interest rates hit a seven-year high on Thursday but markets were relieved by a less hawkish tone from the European Central Bank, which damped fears of further rises to come.

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Global markets - Bearish battalions

Economist - The past six months could be seen as a dreary exercise in sharing out the pain. Will workers suffer by seeing their wages rise more slowly than inflation? Will companies have to compensate their workers by raising wages, sacrificing their profit margins? Will central banks treat high commodity prices as a [...]

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A Vision in Concrete

Atlantic , by Benjamin Schwarz - Today, Brasilia is quite correctly regarded as a colossally wrong turn in urban planning—but the city, paradoxically, contains some of the most graceful modernist government buildings ever produced. All were designed by Oscar Niemeyer (now 100 years old and still working), who helped select Costa’s master plan [...]

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Months of Intelligence Work Led to Betancourt’s Rescue

Spiegel - Months of careful intelligence work led to the dramatic rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages held by Colombian guerrillas. The Colombian government’s triumph is a blow to FARC rebels, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and France’s Nicolas Sarkozy.

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