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PR Newswire
NEWSWEEK INTERNATIONAL EDITIONS:
Highlights and Exclusives,
September 25, 2006

09.17.06, 4:09 PM ET
 
 COVER: Putin's Hollow Victory. (Atlantic edition) Moscow Bureau Chief Owen Matthews and Special Correspondent Anna Nemtsova report that while the Chechen war was costly in terms of blood and treasure, the "peace" that the Kremlin has secured is not much less thuggish. It comes in the person of Ramzan Kadyrov, the handpicked 29-year-old prime minister of the new Chechnya. Kadyrov is a former rebel whom Moscow anointed as Chechyna's alpha warlord in May 2004 after the assassination of his father, President Ahmad Kadyrov. His brief: to pacify Chechnya by any means necessary. Kadyrov chose simple, violent and effective methods, backed by the so-called Kadyrovtsy, a private irregular army of close to 10,000 former rebels. Tactics commonly used include kidnapping family members as a way of persuading outlaws to give themselves up. One danger of this tenuous and brutal peace is that it will only repress popular frustrations, to erupt anew in the future. Another is that Putin may be tempted to follow the same model to quell Islamic unrest growing in other republics along Russia's northern border.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060917/NYSU006 ) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14871219/site/newsweek/ Grozny Live. Anna Nemtsova reports that the new, post-war Grozny has its own music, played by young musicians who grew up in bomb shelters and basements. The Chechen rappers' music is like their lives-uncompromising, angry and full of the imagery of war and destruction.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14870271/site/newsweek/
COVER: Who's Afraid Of China? (Pacific and Latin America editions) Joshua Cooper Ramo, managing director of Kissinger Associates, writes that China's greatest strategic threat may be its national image. For one of the few times in its history, this famously inward-looking nation is vulnerable to how it is seen abroad. Its most important strategic issues, challenges that include its economic health and the threat of Taiwanese independence, have at their root a shared connection to China's national image. Other issues, such as the quality of foreign investment the country attracts, the willingness of other nations to share the latest technology with China and the spread of Chinese firms into international markets, all to some extent feel the chill breeze of a national image that is burdened with mistrust and misunderstanding. China is perhaps the most dynamic part of the international order at the moment, and that, to many people, makes it the most frightening. Fixing that problem could be China's biggest challenge.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14871319/site/newsweek/
A Virtual Gold Rush. Beijing Bureau Chief Melinda Liu reports on so-called gold farm computer operations in China involving the wildly popular online role-playing game called World Of Warcraft. The Chinese gold farmers try to scoop up as much in-game currency, or gold, as they can in the shortest amount of time. They then sell it for real money to other gamers who crave the gold to gain an edge in the game. WOW's designers at the Irvine, California-based firm Blizzard don't like gold farming one bit, because the farmers don't play by rules that ban "real-money trade." The brouhaha has a slightly familiar ring, as Blizzard's complaints begin to sound like Washington's criticism of China's real-world "mercantilist" behavior.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14871320/site/newsweek/
To Recapture A City. Chief Foreign Correspondent Rod Nordland reports on an exclusive inspection of Baghdad's worst neighborhood, Adhamiya, with Gen. George Casey, the senior U.S. military officer in Iraq. Casey tells Newsweek that he's pleased with the progress he sees in Iraq, "It has worked. You see the reactions of the people on the streets." Even so, the general acknowledges, "there's a long way to go." Casey says Iraq will need 12 to 18 months more before it's ready to take charge of its own security.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14870306/site/newsweek/
Wagging The Buffalo. Hong Kong Bureau Chief George Wehrfritz and Special Correspondent Marites Vitug report that critics see political motives behind the Philippine government's hard line against the nation's 37-year-old communist rebellion. Some suggest President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has been so weakened by scandal and questions about the legitimacy of her election that she dare not rein in her coup-prone military. Others say the commander in chief and her various coalition partners are trying to drum up a new Red scare.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14871422/site/newsweek/
The Democratic Entourage. Chief Political Correspondent Howard Fineman and White House Correspondent Holly Bailey report that Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel is fast becoming a political networking force in Los Angeles-issuing his clients and partners invitations to fund-raising events, including one for his brother, Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Chicago, and for his House campaign committee. "For us to win we have to focus. It's all about picking, making good judgments about priorities," Rahm Emanuel tells Newsweek about the Democrats' hopes for winning control of the House. If you are one of the 40 members of the Democrats' Red to Blue Program, donations from strangers across the country will blow through your campaign mail slot. The Red to Blue program is a Good Housekeeping Seal, Emanuel tells Newsweek. "It means a lot of things: campaign well run, campaign well financed, good candidate. It means a good opportunity to pick up a seat. Candidates want to be on [the list] and donors want the clarity," Emanuel says.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14871152/site/newsweek/
The Pope's 'Holy War'. The pope's intentions in discussing "holy war" were presumably good-he approvingly quoted an early Qu'ranic "surah," (chapter), which says "there is no compulsion in religion"-and he was right to raise the issue of how to confront and combat the religious extremism that gives rise to terror and violence, writes Managing Editor Jon Meacham. Sadly, though, he did so clumsily and obliquely, and, far from opening a constructive conversation, instead exacerbated tensions between Christianity and Islam. The episode also marks the first widely noted break with the spirit of the papacy of Benedict's beloved predecessor.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14866559/site/newsweek/
WORLD VIEW: Questions for The Interrogators. A fierce debate over military tribunals has erupted in Washington. The president and the legislative branch are negotiating a new system to determine the guilt or innocence of terrorism suspects, and it will have to pass muster with the courts. Let's hope the debate will end with the United States' embracing a position that will allow America to reclaim the moral high ground, writes Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria. After Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and alleged civilian massacre at Haditha, America desperately needs a symbol that showcases its basic decency. Quibbling with the Geneva Conventions is the wrong signal, by the wrong administration, at the wrong time.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14870307/site/newsweek/
THE LAST WORD: Walid Jumblatt, leader of Lebanon's Druze community. After a 34-day war with Israel, some Lebanese were writing epitaphs for Jumblatt and his allies in the country's "March 14" coalition of anti-Syrian figures. Last week he spoke with Jerusalem Bureau Chief Kevin Peraino at his home in Mokhtara about enduring this "dark period" and his thoughts about the war. "I still stick to my theory, that the Iranians and Syrians [launched] this pre- emptive war to tell the Americans: 'Think twice before attacking us, if you want to attack our nuclear facilities.' And they succeeded."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14870275/site/newsweek/
SOURCE Newsweek -0- 09/17/2006 /NOTE TO EDITORS: To receive a story or book guests, contact Natalia Labenskyj at 212-445-4078 or Andrea Faville at -4859. Highlights and articles are posted on the World Wide Web at www.Newsweek.com. / /PRNewswire -- Sept. 17 / /Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060917/NYSU006 AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN2 PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com/ /Web site: http://www.newsweek.msnbc.com / CO: Newsweek ST: New York IN: PUB MAG SU: CM -- NYSU018 -- 5845 09/17/2006 16:07 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com

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