The World

1 | Brussels Plumbing a Downturn’s Depths The economic crisis is hitting the E.U. even harder than its economists predicted in January. According to a new European Commission forecast, the “E.U. is not spared” from the “deepest and most widespread recession in the postwar era.” European economies will continue to contract, with unemployment expected to reach nearly 11% by 2010. The report says that despite government bailouts and bank-stabilization plans, the E.U.’s economic situation is “exceptionally uncertain.”

[The following text appears within a chart. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual chart.]

European Union economic forecast

UNEMPLOYMENT (IN %)

% CHANGE IN GDP

Predicted in January 2009

Predicted in May 2009

SOURCE: EUROPEAN COMMISSION

2 | Pakistan Refugees Flee Taliban Area Citing government steps to oust its fighters from the southern region of the Swat Valley, the Taliban ended a three-month truce May 5, prompting thousands of civilians to flee, fearing a renewal of violence. As many as 800,000 of the valley’s 1.6 million residents are expected to evacuate, according to Khalid Khan Umerzai, a local commissioner, in what he said might be “the biggest displacement of Pakistanis since independence” in 1947. While the government has set up at least six refugee camps, officials are worried they will lack funds to support the anticipated influx.

3 | Washington Just Another New Guy Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Senator who rocked U.S. politics by leaving the Republicans for the Democrats, has been stripped of his seniority in a deal struck by party leaders. The demotion means Specter, a 29-year Senate veteran who cited the GOP’s tilt rightward for his departure, will be the most junior Democrat on four committees–including Judiciary, which he had chaired as a Republican.

4 | Detroit A New Plan For GM General Motors announced a new deal with the U.S. Treasury on May 5 in which the government would forgive about $10 billion of the carmaker’s $15.4 billion federal debt in return for a 50% stake in the company. The United Auto Workers union urged the government to reject the proposed plan, which also includes a 100-to-1 reverse stock split, because it would call on GM to outsource more of its manufacturing to foreign countries.

5 | Nepal A Rocky Start for an Infant Democracy A dispute over the integration of former Maoist guerrillas into the country’s military has prompted a governmental collapse less than a year after Nepal became a republic. Prime Minister and Maoist leader Prachanda resigned in protest, while demonstrators carrying torches called for the dismissal of the nation’s army chief.

6 | Georgia AN INCONVENIENT MUTINY Armored tanks rushed to break up a revolt by some 500 soldiers on a military base in Mukhrovani, one day before NATO embarked on sensitive military exercises nearby. Officials painted the mutiny as a covert Russian coup attempt, which Moscow flatly denied. The uprising comes at a bad time for President Mikheil Saakashvili, who faces mass protests calling for his resignation over his handling of last year’s war with Russia.

7 | Washington Targeting Tax Havens President Obama has proposed cracking down on U.S. corporations that use offshore subsidiaries to lower their tax burdens. While most nations do not tax corporate profits earned abroad, Obama says doing so would put some $210 billion in U.S. coffers over the next 10 years. Critics say the change would make it harder for U.S. companies to compete globally and could spur some to relocate overseas. A 2008 report from the Government Accountability Office said 83 of the 100 largest public U.S. companies have subsidiaries in tax havens.

8 | Paris Different Strokes for Different Folks According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the French spend twice as much time enjoying meals each day as do Americans, and they get an hour more of sleep per night than do most South Koreans. The group’s report used government data and Gallup polls from 18 of the OECD’s member countries to examine various social indicators–from education spending and fertility rates to leisure activities and “life satisfaction.”

[The following text appears within a charts. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual charts.]

An average night’s rest, in hours, by country

8.8 FRANCE

8.6 U.S.

8.4 MEXICO

8.2 GERMANY

7.8 S. KOREA

34.3% 3.5%

More than a third of Americans are obese–the highest rate in the report and nearly 10 times that of South Koreans

FRANCE

U.S.

The French have 30 days of government-mandated paid leave per year. That compares with 20 in the U.K., 10 in Japan and zero in the U.S.

SOURCE: ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

9 | Washington Torture Charges Unlikely A draft report from a U.S. Justice Department ethics investigation says the Bush Administration lawyers whose secret memos laid the legal foundation for brutal interrogation tactics should not be prosecuted. However, the draft also recommends that state bar associations consider disciplinary action, including possible disbarment, for those involved in composing the memos. Attorney General Eric Holder has yet to approve its findings.

10 | Mumbai Alleged Gunman Fights Back Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab, the sole surviving suspected gunman involved in November’s deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai, pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, including murder and waging war, in a Mumbai court on May 6. After failing to convince the court that he was under 18 and should be tried as a minor, Qasab admitted he was 21 but maintained his innocence, claiming he had been tortured into confessing. Two others accused of helping plan the attacks also pleaded not guilty. More than 160 people died in the assault, including nine suspected gunmen.

* | What They’re Banning in Germany: On May 5, the German Constitutional Court upheld a ban on married people’s combining already hyphenated names (or “chain names”), ruling that surnames with three or more parts “would quickly lose the effectiveness of their identifying purpose.” The decision is less than shocking in a country where parents must seek approval from local authorities before they officially name their children.