David Petraeus

Smart Reads February 4, 2013

February 4, 2013 2:27 pm by Amie Tsang

Olfa Riahi, a blogger who published bills for the Sheraton hotel in Tunis which allegedly show a stay by the foreign minister at government expense and the suggestion of an extramarital affair, has gained celebrity status. However, she has found herself caught in the post-revolutionary tug between Nahda, Tunisia’s long-repressed Islamist party, and the media.
Many in Mali are celebrating the flight of Islamist extremists from their strongholds, but fears persist that they have only made a tactical withdrawal.
Gavyn Davies argues that while we may be right to worry about currency wars, we’re not going back to the 1930s.
Economists have found that after switching to digital television, the drop in the share of viewers for Berlusconi-controlled channels also caused a drop in his coalition vote share.
A look at Hillary Clinton’s role behind the scenes reveals that she and David Petraeus had proposed to arm rebel fighters in Syria, but the plan was rebuffed by the White House.
Iyad Ag Ghali, warlord and founder of Islamic group Ansar Dine, was viewed by Algerians as a the key to managing the crisis next door Mali, but actually brought the conflict closer by making a sudden push towards Bamako.
Michael Bloomberg paid for an ad during the Super Bowl to hit out at the NRA.
Currency controls that complicate the purchase of imports and price caps that don’t cover production costs are exacerbating foot shortages in Venezuela.

January 23, 2013 3:40 pm by Amie Tsang

China’s lottery ticket sales have boomed and the industry is worth $40bn, but not everyone is convinced of its benefits.
Western military officials working on China have been urging for more transparency, but now China is talking about the war and few like the message.
Martin Wolf argues that America’s fiscal policy is not in crisis.
David Remnick reflects on how there is a greater fight in the centre-left in Israel than previously suspected.
Yair Lapid, a prominent journalist and now a powerful political leader in Israel, was the surprise of this election — his party came second, despite polls saying that it would come in fourth.
Jill and Scott Kelley have broken their silence over the Petraeus scandal.
The Washington Post have mapped where a coup is most likely to occur — 22 of the 30 most at-risk countries are in sub-Saharan Africa.