Word: primed
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...someone who is expected to meet with Hillary Clinton during her first trip to Asia as U.S. Secretary of State, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso appears to be a host not yet ready for the party. Japan's economy continues to shrivel, the government remains gridlocked as elections loom, and public approval for Aso's administration is plunging. Even influential former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is criticizing Aso's performance, though both are members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party...
...Little wonder that fewer than one in 10 Japanese support Aso, according to a recent poll by Nippon Television. His approval rating of 9.7% is the lowest since former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori bottomed out at 8.6% in February 2001. (Mori resigned two months later.) Despite efforts to jumpstart economic growth, including a controversial proposal to hand out $21.7 billion to the Japanese public, many think Aso hasn't done enough. "We have a once-in-a-hundred-year crisis and the policy response is not even average," says Jesper Koll, president and CEO of Tantallon Research Japan. "The people...
...worse. "It's too late for Aso to turn it around," Curtis says. "He'll lose a point a week and by early March he'll be down 6% or 7%. He's going to have to quit." If Aso were to quit, he would be the third Japanese prime minister to do so in as many years. (Watch a TIME video from Tokyo...
...Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said his country, which also hosts a plant owned by PSA Peugeot Citroen, could launch retaliatory measures against Paris. "Calls for such brutal protectionism are not helping anyone," he said. "If one country starts behaving like this, for example France, then we will send Gaz de France home...
...Czechs, who currently hold the E.U.'s presidency, are seething at Sarkozy's threats. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek has announced a special E.U. summit in Brussels for March 1 devoted to protectionism, and another in Prague in May to examine jobs and unemployment...