Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
Press review...
The Christian Social Union now has a new leader. Over the weekend, though, some of the backbiting and inner-party bile that has plagued the CSU for months seeped out into the open.
Günther Beckstein, the man just recently toppled from his position as Bavarian governor, was received by party delegates with enthusiastic cheering and applause -- hardly the welcome one might expect for a recently jettisoned leader.
But the true message of the reception quickly became apparent. Just after Beckstein, long-time party chair and ex-governor of Bavaria Edmund Stoiber was introduced. And the hall filled with boos, jeers and whistles.
Such is the depth to which the party has sunk this autumn. Long a major player in national German politics, the CSU received just 43.4% in elections at the end of September.
While most political parties only dream of such a result, it marked the first time in 5 decades that the CSU had not received an absolute majority in Bavaria.
Stoiber did everything he could behind the scene to make sure that Beckstein lost his governor job as a result. And Stoiber, for his part, silently retreated from the CSU convention before it had ended.
After months of turmoil, the party will be looking to reestablish itself on the national stage, say German commentators.
...Syrian envoy hits out at "terrorist" US (video)
Puh-leaze...
In an interview with Spiegel, American neoconservative scholar and McCain adviser Robert Kagan speaks about the legacy of the Bush-Cheney years, America's future position atop a "League of Democracies" and how China and Russia will push Europe back into America's arms.
The International Monetary Fund may soon lack the money to bail out an ever growing list of countries crumbling across Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa, and parts of Asia, raising concerns that it will have to tap taxpayers in Western countries for a capital infusion or resort to the nuclear option of printing its own money.
For now, Eastern Europe is the epicentre of the crisis. A strategist at Danske Bank said the lighting speed and size of Ukraine's bail-out suggest the IMF is worried about the geo-strategic risk in the Black Sea region, as well as the imminent risk a financial pandemic.
"The IMF clearly fears a domino effect in Eastern Europe where a collapse in one country automatically leads to a collapse in another."
Sarkozy threatens Merkel with arrest [Do what?!]
[WAR: The ripple effect: Less parties mean less room/building rentals, catering orders and limousine bookings...]
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