Word: forums
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...best handicapper of the religious vote is political scientist John C. Green, senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, who has studied the voting habits of the country's 55 million Evangelicals. The most conservative white Protestants, he says, are all but off-limits to the Democrats. But then there are more than 22 million voters he calls "freestyle Evangelicals," worried about not only their eternal souls but also their kids' schools, their car's fuel efficiency and the crisis in Darfur. In the past, those voters may have leaned Republican in part because the G.O.P...
...Less than 24 hours after Sarkozy made an unprecedented presidential appearance at a meeting of European Union economy and finance ministers in Brussels on Monday, that forum declared its support for Strauss-Kahn to replace current IMF director general, Spaniard Rodrigo Rato, who steps down in October. That would appear to make Strauss-Kahn a lock for the job, although not if developing nations - emboldened by recent grumblings from Britain - propose a strong alternative candidate. In going to bat for the former Socialist Finance Minister who oversaw France's last big economic and employment boom in the late 1990s, however...
...This resurgence has been powered by soaring demand for Africa's abundant natural resources, which has also boosted its strategic importance to trade partners as far afield as the U.S., India and China. Li Ruogu, head of the Export-Import Bank of China and co-chair of the forum, said his bank has invested in over 300 projects in Africa, from low-cost housing to schools to mining ventures. Li, a key player in the blossoming romance between China and Africa, said he's visited more than 20 African nations in the past year alone. Others are eyeing the region...
...surprise, then, that when participants in a workshop at the summit were asked to identify the biggest barrier to economic progress, they overwhelmingly chose corruption. An Africa Competitiveness Report released at the forum also spoke of the heavy toll of such practices as "frequent bribes" and "political favors." The report, produced by the World Economic Forum, the World Bank and the African Development Bank, rates the competitiveness of 29 African countries. Zimbabwe is described as suffering "a complete absence of property rights, high levels of corruption and a lack of evenhandedness [in government] dealings with the public." Nigeria is said...
...perhaps my experience wasn't so random, after all. Sure enough, a few days after the forum, I received an e-mail from a friend saying his home in Cape Town had just been burgled on his birthday and two laptops, four passports and $5,000 in cash had been stolen. He dubbed it "that extra-special South African birthday surprise." A new dawn may be coming, but it isn't here quite...