Here is the Monday, September 8th, 2008 edition of what’s making news and interesting reads from around the world. Also please note that off to the left there are two widgets with updates on news from Asia and the world in a separate page: Around Asia & Around the World New Feeds.
Israeli Police Recommend Indictment of Olmert
Israeli police on Sunday recommended indicting the prime minister, Ehud Olmert, on charges including bribe-taking, fraud and breach of trust. More from the New York Times and the Jerusalem Post.
Kurt Beck Resigns of Germany’s SPD
The crisis in Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) continues to mount. Polling in the 20% range after only leading the country but two years ago, the SPD is a party in search of itself. I’ve written on this before believing that the decline of the SPD offers a warning to the US Democratic party. A party that abandons its roots is destined for the dust bin. One day after Germany’s Social Democrats leaked the news that Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier would be the party’s candidate for chancellor, SPD leader Kurt Beck resigned in frustration. More from Der Spiegel.
Sarkozy in Moscow for Talks on Georgia
French President Nicolas Sarkozy will demand Moscow complies with a month-old peace plan for Georgia or risk demaging relations with the EU when he meets his Russian counterpart for talks today. More from Euro News (includes a video report) and from the Wall Street Journal.
More Talks on Zimbabwe
South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki headed for Harare again on Monday to try to nudge Zimbabwe’s deadlocked political parties into a powersharing settlement. A report from All Africa.
Haiti Is Reeling After Hurricane Ike
Haiti is the world’s most deforested nation unlike its neighbor the Dominican Republic which is surprising one of the world’s most forested. Without forests to absorb the storms and hold the soil, Haiti is acutely prone to a magnification effect from powerful tropical storms. As for why the Dominican Republic is so forested, it largely stems from the foresight of former stongman Joaquín Balaguer who used authoritarian measures to preserve his country’s forests. More from the Miami Herald.