 |  | | Debt Crisis & West |
 YOU may recall the Latin
American debt crisis of 1982,
the Asian debt crisis of 1997,
the Russian debt crisis of 1998
- and you´ll certainly remember
the US sub-prime debt crisis of 2008.
Now we have a European debt crisis
and, horror of horrors, a US government
debt crisis.
That´s the word to keep hold of: debt.
Ignore the financiers´ jargon - bond
yields, credit default swaps, hedge
funds - which make finance sound like
quantum physics, a fearfully abstruse
subject beyond the grasp of ordinary
mortals. Financial crises occur when
people (or governments or companies)
can´t repay their debts. Or more precisely
when their creditors (or shareholders)
decide they aren´t likely to get
their money... |
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| |  | | US GRIPPED BY GREAT
CONTRACTION |
| IN the wake of the hugely disappointing
budget deal and
the S&P´s debt downgrade,
maybe we need to hang a new
sign in the immigration arrival
halls at all US ports and airports. It
could simply read: "Welcome. You
are entering the United States of
America. Past performance is not
necessarily indicative of future
returns."
Because our country is now finding
itself in the worst kind of
decline - a slow decline, just slow
enough for us to keep deluding ourselves
that nothing really fundamental
needs to change if our
future is to match our past.
Our slow decline is a product of
two inter-related problems. First,
we´ve let our five basic pillars of
growth erode since the end of the
Cold War - education, infrastructure,
immigration... |
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|
 | Qatar signs Lazaroni as
new football coach
UNDER pressure to improve
its performance, Qatar on late
Sunday fired its football coach
Milovan Rajevac and replaced
him with Sebastiao Lazaroni, a
Brazilian veteran. Appointed
on a three-year contract,
Lazaroni is expected to take
charge.
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| | Zimbabwe savours victory
on Test comeback |
 ZIMBABWE celebrated in
style after ending its six-year
absence from Test cricket
with a 130-run victory over
Bangladesh on Monday.
The jubilant home team
had set the tourists a daunting
target of 375 to win, and
secured the victory when
Kyle Jarvis trapped Robiul
Islam lbw for 12 to end
Bangladesh´s second innings
on 244.
Zimbabwe had made 370
in their first innings, helped
on their way by a fine 104
from Hamilton Masakadza.
After ending Bangaldesh´s
reply on 287, the host then
reached 291 for five in their
second innings, including an
unbeaten century from
Brendan Taylor, before
declaring at tea on Sunday.
The result was of major... |
| | Omani teams climb Extreme
Sailing leaderboard |  THERE were action-packed
racing and drama on the
second day of the Extreme
Sailing Series in Cowes on
Sunday. Despite some of
the strongest winds seen so
far this series, the Oman
Sail teams, the flag-bearers
of the GCC region, got the
day off to a perfect start,
with a win in the first race
for The Wave, Muscat and a
second place for Oman Air,
which was enough for them
to climb a place on the overall
event leaderboard.
According to reports
from Cowes, on the Isle of
Wight in the Great Britain,
as racing started, the wind
peaked at 29 knots and for
safety reasons the fleet
raced in two groups of six,
giving the boats more room
to navigate their way
around the... |
| | Stepanek shocks Monfils
in ATP Legg Mason final |  RADEK Stepanek became the
oldest winner of the ATP
Washington Classic since
Jimmy Connors in 1988, the
32-year-old Czech upsetting
French top seed Gael Monfils
6-4, 6-4 in Sunday´s championship
match.
Stepanek won his first ATP
title in 2 1/2 years and the fifth
of his career, rushing the net
to control the tempo and frustrate
the fleet-footed
Frenchman to claim the
$264,000 top prize at the $1.4
million US Open hardcourt
tuneup.
"It´s a great satisfaction for
me," Stepanek said. "It´s great
to still be able to compete with
the young guns."
Stepanek, the oldest player
in the world´s top 100, became
the ATP´s oldest champion
since France´s Fabrice
Santoro. |
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