Belgian PM named as EU president

EU leaders have chosen the Belgian Prime Minister, Herman van Rompuy, to be the first permanent European Council President.

The other top job created by the Lisbon Treaty – foreign affairs supremo – has gone to the EU Trade Commissioner, Baroness Catherine Ashton from the UK.

Both are seen as consensual politicians with limited foreign policy experience.

Both had unanimous backing from the 27 EU leaders at the summit in Brussels, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.

Earlier, the UK government had said it was no longer pushing for former PM Tony Blair to get the presidency post.

Mr Van Rompuy, 62, had crucial French and German support. He has a reputation as a coalition builder, having taken charge of the linguistically divided Belgian government and steered it out of a crisis.
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Pleased to meet you

Barack Obama’s trip to China may encourage a warming of relations

MUTUAL suspicion and mutual attraction are powerful and competing forces in the relationship between China and America. President Barack Obama hopes his first visit to China, which began on Sunday November 15th, will enable the two countries to work more closely on global problems, from climate change to the economy. His hosts appear to agree, but misgivings are still abundant.

Mr Obama began his trip in Shanghai, China’s financial capital. Part of his mission was to reassure city leaders that America would be an enthusiastic participant in the World Expo which is due to be held there next year. The American government—as is its custom for such events—will not pay for a pavilion. Corporate sponsorship has been proving hard to drum up in these troubled economic times. To help the effort, America’s secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, who is travelling with Mr Obama, paid a visit to the half-built pavilion. The leader of America’s pavilion committee, Jose Villarreal, introduced her by saying she would “personally build the pavilion brick by brick if she had to”.

Such rhetoric may help to dispel what could have become a dark cloud over the relationship (China regards putting on the World Expo as something akin to staging the Olympic Games, and would have been deeply resentful of any sign of American diffidence). But Mr Obama still has to tread carefully during his trip, which ends on Wednesday. He has to balance his desire to secure China’s co-operation on global matters against demands at home that he takes China to task over issues such as human rights and trade.
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Brazil takes off

Now the risk for Latin America’s big success story is hubris

WHEN, back in 2003, economists at Goldman Sachs bracketed Brazil with Russia, India and China as the economies that would come to dominate the world, there was much sniping about the B in the BRIC acronym. Brazil? A country with a growth rate as skimpy as its swimsuits, prey to any financial crisis that was around, a place of chronic political instability, whose infinite capacity to squander its obvious potential was as legendary as its talent for football and carnivals, did not seem to belong with those emerging titans.

Now that scepticism looks misplaced. China may be leading the world economy out of recession but Brazil is also on a roll. It did not avoid the downturn, but was among the last in and the first out. Its economy is growing again at an annualised rate of 5%. It should pick up more speed over the next few years as big new deep-sea oilfields come on stream, and as Asian countries still hunger for food and minerals from Brazil’s vast and bountiful land. Forecasts vary, but sometime in the decade after 2014—rather sooner than Goldman Sachs envisaged—Brazil is likely to become the world’s fifth-largest economy, overtaking Britain and France. By 2025 São Paulo will be its fifth-wealthiest city, according to PwC, a consultancy.

And, in some ways, Brazil outclasses the other BRICs. Unlike China, it is a democracy. Unlike India, it has no insurgents, no ethnic and religious conflicts nor hostile neighbours. Unlike Russia, it exports more than oil and arms, and treats foreign investors with respect. Under the presidency of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a former trade-union leader born in poverty, its government has moved to reduce the searing inequalities that have long disfigured it. Indeed, when it comes to smart social policy and boosting consumption at home, the developing world has much more to learn from Brazil than from China. In short, Brazil suddenly seems to have made an entrance onto the world stage. Its arrival was symbolically marked last month by the award of the 2016 Olympics to Rio de Janeiro; two years earlier, Brazil will host football’s World Cup.
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She’ll be back

Sarah Palin and the state of the Republican Party

EVER since Abraham Lincoln made a virtue of log cabins and splitting railway sleepers, crafting the right autobiography has been an essential task for anyone seeking high office in America. On Monday November 16th Sarah Palin, ex-governor of Alaska and failed vice-presidential candidate in 2008, made an eagerly awaited appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show, as part of the launch of her biography. That book, “Going Rogue”, is already topping the bestseller charts, as readers rush to read about gossip and infighting during last year’s presidential campaign and to size up Mrs Palin herself.

On television on Monday Mrs Palin talked about her time as John McCain’s running mate. She recalled an awkward series of unflattering television interviews with Katie Couric, in which Mrs Palin struggled to answer simple questions about international affairs, calling the occasion a “gotcha” moment. She added that the media had no understanding of ordinary people like her and her family. Mrs Palin has also given an acerbic narrative of how she was “mishandled” by Mr McCain’s advisers, whom she says tried to hide her away from the spotlight. Mr McCain has diplomatically called the book “a good account” of the campaign, but he has not responded to Mrs Palin’s claim that she was not repaid a $50,000 fee for vetting her background.
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Full steam ahead for US railways

The story of the railroad is written like a thread of thick and shining steel woven into the tapestry of American history.

There is a poetry to the names of the trains and the tracks that bound this great land together as it expanded west towards California in the 19th Century.

Perhaps it is no coincidence that the names of the Wabash Cannonball or the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe are remembered in song where those of the London and North Eastern Railway or the French national SNCF by and large are not.

This month’s business headlines though are a reminder that America’s railways have a future, as well as a past.

It was the announcement that Warren Buffet – the man often described as the world’s greatest investor – was forking out $44bn (£26bn) for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) which made the news.

If the Oracle of Omaha was convinced there was money to be made on the rails, ran the argument in many investment columns, then surely he must be right.
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‘Female Viagra’ discovery claim

A drug that failed tests as an antidepressant is being hailed as “Viagra for women” after surprising but not unpleasant side effects.

In three separate trials, the drug flibanserin did wonders for women’s flagging sex drive despite doing nothing to lift mood.

The accidental discovery is akin to Viagra’s – it was originally designed as a heart medicine but failed.

The US work was presented at a sexual medicine meeting in Lyon, France.

Lead researcher Professor John Thorp, of the University of North Carolina, told the European Society for Sexual Medicine: “Flibanserin was a poor antidepressant.

“However, astute observers noted that it increased libido in laboratory animals and human subjects.
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China and US ‘to work together’

The presidents of China and the US have agreed to work together to tackle some of the world’s most pressing problems.

On climate change, Barack Obama said both sides agreed on the need for a comprehensive global deal in Copenhagen next month, not a political statement.

Mr Obama and Hu Jintao also agreed to push for North Korea to re-enter stalled talks on its nuclear programme.

But underlying tensions were referred to, with Hu Jintao calling for joint opposition to trade protectionism.

The two leaders held two hours of talks in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, on the edge of Tiananmen Square.

Both leaders then held a joint media event at which they read out statements, but took no questions from listening journalists.

Mr Obama came to China for his first visit as president emphasising that China was now a major player on the world stage – and he turned to that point again in Beijing.
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New warning on ‘perfect vaginas’

Women are undergoing surgery to create perfect genitalia amid a “shocking” lack of information on the potential risks of the procedure, a report says.

Research published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology also questions the very notion of aesthetically pleasing genitals.

Operations to improve the appearance of the sex organs for both psychological and physical reasons are on the rise.

But surgeons said the report overplayed the risks of an established procedure.

Researchers from University College London reviewed all the existing studies on cosmetic labial surgery – which generally involves reducing the amount of tissue that protrudes from the lips which cover the vagina. They found there had been little work to document any longer-term side effects.

Labioplasty, as it is known, costs about £3,000 privately and is offered for a variety of reasons: some women complain that wearing tight clothes or riding a bike is uncomfortable, while others say they are embarrassed in front of a sexual partner.
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BA and Iberia agree merger deal

British Airways and Spanish airline Iberia say they have reached a preliminary agreement for a merger expected to be completed in late 2010.

The merger, which must be approved by the European Commission, would create Europe’s third biggest airline.

Under its terms, Iberia would take a 45% stake and BA, which last week reported a six-month pre-tax loss of £292m, a 55% stake in the company.

Iberia says it can pull out if BA fails to resolve its pension deficit problem.

‘Growing dominance’

“The merger will create a strong European airline well able to compete in the 21st Century,” said BA chief executive Willie Walsh.

“Both airlines will retain their brands and heritage while achieving significant synergies as a combined force.”
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Deadly shootings at US army base

A US army major has opened fire on fellow soldiers at the Fort Hood military base in Texas, killing 12 people and injuring 31, officials say.

Base commander Lt Gen Bob Cone said that the gunman had not been killed, as earlier stated, but was in custody.

Two other suspects were questioned, but the army now says only one gunman was involved in the incident.

Lt Gen Cone said the motive for the shooting was not known. One of the dead was a policeman, others were soldiers.

President Barack Obama described it as “a horrific outburst of violence”.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington, he said: “It is difficult enough when we lose these brave men and women abroad, but it is horrifying that they should come under fire at an army base on US soil.”

He extended his condolences to the families of the victims, adding: “We will make sure that we get answers to every single question about this horrible incident.”
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