3/30 International Herald Tribune - World News, Analysis, and Global Opinions

More dismal news expected to come for U.S. economy March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am Economists warn that it is too soon to say the United States is recovering from what will probably become the longest and deepest decline since the Great Depression. China marks its half century of control over Tibet March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am In China's official version of events, Tibet was a remote medieval backwater where most people lived in servitude to the Buddhist theocracy and nobility until the Communist government stepped in. To support that contention, China on Saturday commemorated a new political holiday, "Serfs Emancipation Day." U.S. and Iraqi troops exchange gunfire with Sunni militants March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am A second day of clashes in central Baghdad followed the arrest of a local leader of Sunni security volunteers who had broken with Al Qaeda. Palestinian youth orchestra disbanded after playing for Holocaust survivors March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am An official of the Jenin refugee camp called the Holocaust a "political issue" and accused the orchestra's conductor of unknowingly dragging the children into a political dispute. Nicholas D. Kristof: A boy living in a car March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am If slum-dwelling Haitians can share what little they have, I hope we can be equally generous during this downturn when needs are greatest. Graveyard myths March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am Afghanistan is no longer the graveyard of any empire. Rather, it just might become the model of a somewhat stable Central Asian state. Thomas L.Friedman: Mother Nature's Dow March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am If Mother Nature had a Dow, you could say that it, too, has been breaking into new (scientific) lows. Geithner was a better choice than he has been made out to be March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am Speculation that the highly qualified Treasury secretary would step down is mostly either political posturing or a bank shot at his boss, the president. South Korean wins her first world title with a record total March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am Kim Yu-na was speechless after performing yet another elegant, seemingly effortless routine that enthralled the crowd and the judges. A little rugby with your cross-dressing, alcohol-soaked debauchery? March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am The Sevens has long been an annual coping mechanism for the BlackBerried and Burberried expatriate set, the well-heeled bankers, brokers and lawyers across the Asia-Pacific region. Japan's rice farmers fear their future is shrinking March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am As rice imports grow, an aging work force is struggling to eke out a living on tiny plots of land. Is Facebook growing up too quickly? March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am As Facebook expands, it is also struggling to match the momentum of hot new start-ups like Twitter while managing the expectations of tech-savvy early adopters, attracting mainstream moms, and justifying its hype-carbonated valuation. In Europe, possible survival lessons for U.S. papers March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am As the death toll in the American newspaper industry mounted this month, the German publisher Axel Springer, which owns Bild, the biggest newspaper in Europe, reported the highest annual profit in its 62-year history. Spanish court weighs inquiry on torture for 6 Bush-era officials March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am A case that could lead to arrest warrants will examine whether officials wrongly contrived a legal framework that led to abuses of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. European court seems to rankle Kremlin March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am The Kremlin's dispute with the European Court of Human Rights is underscoring its growing antipathy toward international organizations. 100 years on, tracing an engineer's legacy March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am A reporter spent a week following in the footsteps of Antoine Fayard, his maternal great- grandfather who built and designed roads, dams and canals across colonial Indochina. Obama will face a defiant world on foreign visit March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am Economic woes in the U.S. are emboldening allies and rivals as they question American power on multiple fronts. Vast spy system loots computers in 103 countries March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am Researchers said that the spying, which infiltrated the offices of the Dalai Lama, was controlled from computers based almost exclusively in China. Reinstated, chief justice bears hopes of Pakistan March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am After returning to the bench last week, a tangle of thorny legal issues await Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. Death for a despised toad: Australia makes a day of it March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am Thousands of poisonous cane toads met a poetic fate Sunday as gleeful Australians gathered for a celebratory mass killing of the hated amphibians, with many of the creatures' corpses being turned into fertilizer for the very farmers they have plagued for years. Philippine troops pull back, but no hostages are released March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am Qaeda-linked militants who have threatened to behead three Red Cross hostages rejected a limited pullout of government forces in exchange for the release of one of the captives, an official said Sunday. Cable mounts a drive for broadband in Europe March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am Cable television companies in Europe are catching up quickly with new, super-fast networks that are siphoning customers from some of the Continent's largest phone operators. Speaking freely, Biden finds influential role March 29, 2009 at 9:50 am President Barack Obama has found the verbose vice president a useful contrarian in the course of decision-making. World Championship Figure Skating Results March 29, 2009 at 6:56 am World Championship Figure Skating Results Anglo-American capitalism on trial March 29, 2009 at 6:25 am The meeting of the Group of 20 industrialized and emerging nations may help determine the extent to which the economic model shaped largely by Britain and the United States after World War II survives as the touchstone for economic growth worldwide. Pakistan's president praises Obama and offers new concession to the opposition March 29, 2009 at 5:16 am President Asif Ali Zardari promised to ease domestic political turmoil and praised the Obama administration's new policy to Pakistan as "positive change." Troops arrest an Iraqi ally in Baghdad March 29, 2009 at 5:08 am U.S. and Iraqi forces arrested the leader of a crucial Awakening Council in Baghdad, and that group declared that it was no longer allied with the Americans.