Word: primed
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...ironing out differences than with paying respects in a formal, stylized setting. In that sense, China President Hu Jintao's upcoming trip to Japan - the first by a Chinese head of state since 1998 - is expected to be run of the mill. The meticulously scripted itinerary calls for Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to play host as Hu strolls through Yokohama's Chinatown, visits temples in Nara and dines at the Imperial Palace. On May 8 at Waseda University in Tokyo, Fukuda's alma mater, the two leaders are scheduled to play Ping-Pong...
...gracious host would throw the match, but Fukuda might want to think twice before dropping his paddle: a display of national athletic prowess against an old rival might be just the tonic he needs to revive his moribund prime ministership. Since taking over from the hapless administration of Shinzo Abe in September 2007, Fukuda's team has managed to look even more inept and out of touch than Abe's on issues ranging from Japan's faltering economy to the appointment of a new central-bank governor. Initiatives by Fukuda's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) have been bottled...
...summit goes well, though, Fukuda could yet turn around his struggling administration. Abe, his predecessor, was most popular right after his successful visit to Beijing in October 2006. Similar good vibrations could give the current Prime Minister time to reshuffle his Cabinet and survive until July, when the spotlight will be on Japan as it hosts a G-8 summit. That could "slow the erosion of [Fukuda's] support," Curtis says. "That's what he has to do if he's going to stay in office much longer." Says Phil Deans, an international-affairs expert and assistant dean at Temple...
...community can hold its head high and claim to be part of the civilized world if it condones the practice of discriminating against one half of humanity.' MANMOHAN SINGH, Indian Prime Minister, on the spreading practice of aborting female fetuses because of a preference for male children...
...Eliot may have branded April the cruelest month, but he was not a French employer. For those whose prime concern is the productivity of their workforce, May is anything but kind. That's because a series of public holidays create ponts ("bridges") that allow the weekends to eat into the 35-hour work week. And 2008 will be particularly harsh on employers: With the May 1 holiday falling on Thursday, chances are slim that most French employees will show up for work on Friday, either, despite the fact that it's nominally a working day. The pattern will be repeated...