NEWSWEEK International Editions: Highlights and Exclusives, February 18, 2008

NEWSWEEK International Editions: Highlights and Exclusives, February 18, 2008

COVER: Turkey's Western Soul (Asia and Atlantic editions). Moscow Bureau Chief Owen Matthews and Special Correspondent Sami Kohen report that Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) is undeterred in keeping its 2002 promise to get Turkey into the European Union. Instead of slowing down the pace of change, the AKP has announced its biggest and boldest reform package yet -- a wholesale overhaul of the hard-wiring of the country's political system. Central to the new order is a redrawing of Turkey's 1981 Constitution designed to give more power to the people -- including direct presidential elections -- as well as introducing more freedom of speech and religion. In doing so, the AKP hopes to create a society that Europe simply cannot refuse.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/109544

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080210/NYSU002 )

A Good Anchor. Middle East Bureau Chief Christopher Dickey and Senior Editor Rana Foroohar talk with Turkey's most powerful business leaders -- representatives from the country's four largest industrial families -- about the future of their country as it moves toward historic changes. Ali Y. Koc is CEO of Koc Information Technology Group, Ferit Sahenk is chairman and CEO of the Dogus Group, Mehmet Ali Yalcindag is CEO of Dogan Media Group and Suzan Sabanci Dincer is a board member of Sabanci Holding and managing director of Akbank. They speak frankly about European double standards, headscarves, military might and hot money.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/109545

COVER: There Will Be Blood: Why The Right Hates McCain (U.S. and Latin America editions). Washington Correspondent Eve Conant, White House Correspondent Holly Bailey and Senior Editor Michael Hirsh report on the recent volleys between the warring conservative pundits over current GOP front runner John McCain. The latest Newsweek poll shows that 76 percent of all GOP voters and 69 percent of self-described conservatives say they would be satisfied with McCain as the GOP nominee, but listening to some outspoken conservative pundits, one would hardly think he is doing so well. Prominent hard-right pundits such as Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh have been ranting over McCain and his position in the polls, while other right-wing pundits have launched counterattacks in what has become a case of the party's base bringing chaos out of order.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/109699

Newsweek Poll: Out Front: McCain romps while the Dems divide

http://www.newsweek.com/id/109495

The Theater of Big Change. Senior Editor and Columnist Jonathan Alter writes that both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will have to give a more concrete sense of how they would change Washington. "The first task is to clarify what changes we're talking about," Alter writes. "Iraq is a wash: both candidates would repair the breach with our allies. It's fixing health care and leading the country to make the sacrifices necessary to address global warming that would test which one is the real changemaker."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/109590

The General's New Mission. National Security Correspondent John Barry, Special Correspondent Zahid Hussain and South Asia Bureau Chief Ron Moreau report that Pakistan's latest Army chief, Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, has been tasked with one of the toughest, most urgent military assignments in the world: reforming Pakistan's armed forces and rescuing the country itself from possible collapse. Unless he can do that, and quickly, the official outcome in next week's parliamentary elections could be beside the point. Everyone in Pakistan is bracing for the possibility of widespread violence.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/109585

The President's Passion Play. Special Correspondent Tracy McNicoll reports that suddenly, faith, once an entirely private affair, has infused President Nicholas Sarkozy's political discourse, igniting a debate over church and state in strictly secular France. The revival has touched a nerve among a large swath of the French population, where there are many who view a rollback of France's strict separation of politics and religion as dangerous.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/109547

This Watch Won't End. Beijing Bureau Chief Melinda Liu reports that Beijing is cleaning house for the Summer Olympics. The crackdown on dissent is growing, laying the roots of a new security regime. Security czar Ma Zhen- chuan has promised the extravaganza in August would provide "a sound and safe social environment." China's police are no novices at stifling domestic dissent. What's new is the focus on international threats, including potential troublemakers among the foreigners who've flocked to Beijing in recent years.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/109541

Carnival Goes Political. Special Correspondent Mac Margolis reports that the floats in Brazil's Carnival-traditionally a raucous nationwide party -- now increasingly carry charged political messages. The high-mindedness is not necessarily born of a sincere commitment to set the world right. Mostly it's a way to pay the bills. Once bankrolled by the underworld, now the bureaucrats have caught on and are lavishing money on the parade in exchange for photo ops and a captive audience. And as officials enter the fray for audience share, causes -- whether combating poverty or plugging a forgotten hero -- have become the new commodities.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/109542

Jewels in Their Crown. London Reporter William Underhill reports that Indian investors have pulled a post-colonial table turn, snapping up some of Britain's best brands. Flush with cash, corporate India is on an investment spree, and Britain, the old colonial master, last year became the favorite target. Indian investment in Britain has more than doubled in the past three years, surpassing the U.K.'s own investment into India. Indians are now the second-biggest investors in London -- home to 19 percent of the national economy -- topped only by acquisitive Americans.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/109546

Deeper Than The Skin. Special Correspondent Michael Levitin reports that this year's Berlin International Film Festival -- Berlinale -- features a number of films that deal with aspects of Islam long considered taboo. Indian director Parvez Sharma's "A Jihad for Love," a documentary about gay and lesbian Muslims, is one of a dozen films that tackle complex and previously unexplored aspects of Muslim life.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/109549

GLOBAL INVESTOR: Tough Times for Deep Pockets. Mohamed El-Erian, co-CEO and co-CIO of PIMCO, writes that "Until recently, private equity was on a major bull run." But the industry "has fallen on tougher times, with a recent spate of unraveling deals and languishing bank loans. Indeed, the worry is that private equity will become yet another falling domino in the global financial system."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/109552

WORLD VIEW: The Fight for Iran's Freedom. Akbar Ganji, an Iranian journalist and dissident imprisoned in Iran from 2000 to 2006, writes that while it is easy to criticize U.S. policy toward the Middle East, "Iran's fundamentalist rulers often use such criticism as a way of disguising their own ineptitude and their responsibility for Iran's deplorable conditions- including the suppression of civil society ... Iranians need the support of the international community, including the American people."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/109548

THE LAST WORD: Former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan. Annan speaks with Newsweek about his efforts to mediate in Kenya, where tribal killings that began after a disputed presidential election on Dec. 27 continue to rage. "We're now at the critical item of resolving the political crisis. The two sides have stated their cases. The government side feels they won [the election] fair and square. The opposition thinks the government stole it fair and square. My problem is to bridge that difference."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/109550

PRNewswire -- Feb. 10

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Source: Newsweek

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