Crunch Time

Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters

Back against the wall: Nakagawa had no choice but to resign after his G-7 performance

If you are going to take to the global stage at a critical time in history, you had better be on your game. Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa certainly wasn't at his best at a recent meeting of the G-7 group of industrialized nations in Rome. During a Feb. 14 news conference, Nakagawa went before the press in what appeared to be an inebriated state. While the cameras rolled, Nakagawa slurred out halting answers to questions, yawned and seemed on the verge of dozing off. He later said he wasn't drunk, blaming his bleary, wobbly performance on jet lag,...

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