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TOP NEWS: Nat’l Security / Foreign Affairs: May 02, 2012
*Chinese activist leaves US Embassy on ‘own volition’
*Myanmar’s Opposition Leader Takes Her Seat in Parliament
*Latin American nationalisation dominoes
*Ratings agency S&P upgrades Greece out of selective default
*4 Ways the Euro Could Fail
*Uncertainties Lurk in Afghanistan
*UN Says Syria Cease-Fire Violated
*EU and Spain criticise Bolivia power firm takeover
*Euro-Zone Manufacturing Slumps As Unemployment Matches Record High
*Cuba May Be the Most Feminist Country in Latin America
Chinese activist leaves US Embassy on ‘own volition’ - Stan Grant, CNN
Chinese human rights activist who escaped house arrest and took refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing left for a hospital Wednesday, opening a new chapter in the life of a man at the center of a controversy between the United States and China.
Myanmar’s Opposition Leader Takes Her Seat in Parliament – Thomas Fuller, New York Times
After two decades of persecution as Myanmar’s most prominent dissident, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and nearly three dozen members of her party, took the parliamentary oath of office.
Latin American nationalisation dominoes - John Paul Rathbone, Financial Times
There seems to be a domino effect in Latin America. Two weeks after President Cristina Fernández nationalised Spanish oil company Repsol’s stake in Argentina’s YPF, President Evo Morales has nationalised Spanish electricity grid operator Red Eléctrica’s business in neighbouring Bolivia. [...] But does this mark a new wave of populism and nationalisations in the region? Almost certainly not.
Ratings agency S&P upgrades Greece out of selective default after debt exchange – Staff, AP, via Washington Post
The Standard & Poor’s ratings agency lifted Greece’s credit grade out of default on Wednesday after the country completed a major debt writedown with private creditors.
4 Ways the Euro Could Fail - Michael Sivy, Time
All courses of action appear to lead to an eventual financial crisis of some sort. But moderate progrowth policies are the best bet to minimize the damage:
Uncertainties Lurk in Afghanistan - Alissa Rubin, New York Times
President Obama chose to visit Afghanistan to make the most of a brief window when relations between the two governments are improving
UN Says Syria Cease-Fire Violated - Staff, CNN
Both the Syrian government and opposition forces are violating a cease-fire, and the regime continues to deploy heavy weapons in cities, the chief U.N. peacekeeper said Tuesday.
EU and Spain criticise Bolivia power firm takeover - Staff, Reuters
The European Union and Spain criticised the Bolivian government’s nationalisation of a local unit of Spain’s Red Electrica Española, raising questions about the security of investing in the South American country.
Euro-Zone Manufacturing Slumps As Unemployment Matches Record High – Ilona Billington and Paul Hannon, Dow Jones Newswire
The euro zone’s manufacturing sector shrank at the sharpest pace in almost three years in April, while its unemployment rate rose to match a record high in March…
Cuba May Be the Most Feminist Country in Latin America - Luisita Lopez Torregrosa, Int’l Herald Tribune / New York Times
It ranks No. 3 in the world when it comes to the political participation of women in Parliament, and it’s the only nation in Latin America to rank in the top 20 in the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2011.
