Luxury hotel launch red carpets over recession

Hours after G-20 leaders agreed to a trillion-dollar bailout of the world economy in chilly London, one of the world’s most flamboyant hoteliers opened his latest luxury hotel in sunny South Africa. Sol Kernzer admits opening an uber-luxury hotel in the current economic climate is not ideal, but he still firmly believes his latest venture — One&Only — in Cape Town’s waterfront will be a success.

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Commentary: Obama finds a world that blames U.S.

After firing the CEO of General Motors and putting Chrysler on a path that could lead to bankruptcy, the still-popular President Obama moved from the domestic battlefield to the international one. But the subject is the same, with no relief in sight: the woeful world economy

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India’s Dynastic Feud: A Gandhi Who Hates Muslims

The spectacle in India is riveting: virulent anti-Muslim diatribes spouted by a pedigreed and ambitious young Hindu politician who shares the surname of the world’s foremost apostle of non-violence and who is descended from the Prime Minister who founded modern India as a secular state to serve the country’s multiplicity of faiths. Since early March, Varun Gandhi, 29, has been the scandal of India’s political class after he called for, among many things, the hands of Muslims to be cut off if they are raised against Hindus, their throats to be slashed, their population to be culled by strict birth control. His words triggered India’s stringent National Security Act, and for days the young Gandhi was a fugitive from the law

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New Israeli PM says ‘extremist Islam’ trying to destroy his country

Incoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tuesday that "extremist Islam is trying to bring us down through terrorism from north and south" as his Cabinet prepared to take office. He offered an olive branch of sorts to Palestinians, but did not hold out the promise of their own state. “In order for there to be peace, our Palestinian allies and partners also have to fight terrorism,” he said

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Turkish vote tests Erdogan’s mandate

Turkey was Sunday voting in local elections widely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Rece Tayyip Erdogan, whose challenges the country’s strict secular system have pitted him against the military and judiciary. Polls show Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, or AK Party, in power since 2002, is once again likely to win more than 40 percent of votes in the mainly Muslim country. More than 90,000 positions are up for grabs, from the mayor of Turkey’s largest city Istanbul to the headman of the smallest village.

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Juarez’ Mayor: Running the Most Dangerous City in the Americas

Jose Reyes Ferriz, mayor of the Mexican border city of Juarez, presides over what may be the western hemisphere’s most dangerous town, certainly the hardest hit by Mexico’s drug-war terror. Since the start of last year, Juarez has seen almost 2,000 drug-related murders

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GOP leader on budget: ‘Here it is, Mr. President’

House Republicans on Thursday said they have come up with an alternative proposal to the president’s budget, following criticism from Democrats that they have become the "party of no." “Two nights ago the president said, ‘We haven’t seen a budget yet out of Republicans.’ Well, it’s just not true because — Here it is, Mr. President,” said House Minority leader Rep. John Boehner, as he held up a booklet that he said was a “blueprint for where we’re going.” The details of the GOP budget will be presented on the House floor next week, said Rep.

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Turkish PM shows common touch on campaign trail

The yellow bus with a giant photo of the prime minister on its side raced through Elazig, a provincial town in eastern Anatolia, blaring patriotic music. Crowds of cheering locals, some of them women dressed in robes and veils, lined the dusty streets, straining to get a glimpse of Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he waved through the windshield. Suddenly, Emine Erdogan, the prime minister’s wife, gasped in shock

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