NEWSWEEK: International Editions: Highlights and Exclusives, February 11, 2008

COVER: The Stars of Cuisine. (All overseas editions). Tokyo Bureau Chief Christian Caryl and Special Correspondent Akiko Kashiwagi report on the booming restaurant business in Tokyo that has rocketed into the stratosphere of international gastronomy thanks to the Paris-based Michelin guide awarding eight restaurants its highest distinction: three stars. Michelin's first guide to the Japanese capital -- its first devoted to anyplace in Asia, in fact -- has made official what many foodies have long suspected: that the center of culinary gravity has shifted to the Land of the Rising Sun. Japan is a food- crazy nation like few others, and it's finally getting the attention it deserves. Jean-Luc Naret, the director of the Michelin Guide, knew something extraordinary was up when he and his team of Tokyo inspectors sat down last year after doing their initial reviews and realized that, "for the first time in history," they had enough starred restaurants to fill an entire volume. Caryl and Kashiwagi examine how the city became the new food capital of the world and the impact of that distinction on tourism and the restaurant industry itself.

Finding Poetry on Your Plate. Joshua Cooper Ramo, managing director of Kissinger Associates, writes that no one can begrudge the folks at Michelin their impressive new Tokyo guidebook. "But with the publication of their map to Tokyo's best eateries, they've risked draining away some of the pleasant mystery of finding dinner in this city," he writes. "My advice to prospective buyers of the guide, therefore, is probably this: don't. Just absorb the stunning fact (long apparent to those fortunate to eat regularly in both Tokyo and Paris) that Japan now has more three-star restaurants than the City of Lights. With a bit of careful planning and luck, you can still find these spots on your own, without a guidebook."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/107544

China and the Great Pig Panic. Beijing Bureau Chief Melinda Liu reports on the pork shortage in China and the panic that is leading to reports of "pigjackings" in the news. "They used to [steal] motorbikes," explained a local newspaper. But those sell "for 1,000 RMB, while 125 kilos of pork [now] sells for at least 3,000 RMB [about $420]." The shortage stems from last year's outbreak of deadly blue-ear disease that hit Chinese hog farms, infecting hundreds of thousands of animals and necessitating an enormous cull. Now pork supplies dropped by a tenth, driving prices up about 55 percent, to more than $4 a kilo today.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/107548

The Imperfect Storm. Hong Kong Bureau Chief George Wehrfritz reports on whether a U.S. economic slowdown will affect China. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's warning last week that 2008 will be "a most difficult year for the economy," due to "uncertainties" internationally and "new difficulties and contradictions" at home, may kill the lingering hope that China can boom despite a U.S. slowdown, and grow fast enough to help prevent a nasty global slowdown. Talk of "uncertainties" had analysts wondering whether the era of double-digit Chinese growth may be coming to a close.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/107545

Pakistan's Forgotten Man. Aitzaz Ahsan, a former minister for law, justice and the interior in Pakistan writes that during the crisis in Pakistan in the past months, President Bush and Condoleezza Rice have continued to support President Pervez Musharraf, the man who polls show is the least popular public figure in Pakistan. And U.S. officials have ignored a man who lives near Musharraf, behind barbed wire and a padlocked gate. "Yet he is no dangerous criminal," Ahsan writes. "Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is the chief justice of Pakistan. He's also one of the most popular figures in the country, according to recent polls, and its best hope for returning to a democratic path."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/107546

Afghan Prison Blues. Special Correspondent Sami Yousafzai and South Asia Bureau Chief Ron Moreau report that corrupt Afghan cops, judges and jailers are sabotaging the war effort in Afghanistan. While no official statistics are publicly available, hundreds of captured militants a year appear to be buying their way out of official custody. The Afghan government's National Directorate of Security spokesman Saeed Ansari denies that his directorate has ever taken payment for releasing prisoners. Nevertheless, sources in the U.S. and Afghan governments and inside the Taliban itself have told Newsweek that in Afghanistan's detention system, freedom is always up for sale.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/107576

In the Populist Corner. European Economics Editor Stefan Theil reports on Germany's recent elections, a battle of the populists. The contest between Roland Koch, Christian Democratic (CDU) governor of the German state of Hesse, and Social Democratic (SPD) challenger Andrea Ypsilanti, was the most closely watched regional election in years-both for the drama of the campaign itself, and for what it suggests for the future of German politics. The outcome signals a shift in voter sentiment from Koch-style anti-immigrant populism to the left-wing variant, economic populism.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/107547

France's New Anti-Hero. Senior Editor Rana Foroohar reports on the scandal of French banking giant Societe Generale and the rogue trader Jerome Kerviel, who, for more than a year at SocGen, used high-tech skills gained in the back office to orchestrate and conceal a series of fraudulent European futures trades that has resulted in the single biggest rogue-trader loss ever. While Soc Gen is in no danger of being sold, the bank is now in a severely weakened state that has left it a potential takeover target. A recent Citigroup report noted that despite its current troubles, SocGen "would potentially appeal to both large local and foreign banks."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/107551

WORLD VIEW: The Wrong Experience. Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria writes that one of the problems with Hillary Clinton is that she is "terrified to act on her beliefs." Although she is highly intelligent, has real experience and is an attractive candidate, "she seems so conditioned by what she sees as political constraints that one can barely tell where her beliefs begin and where those constraints end."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/107578

THE LAST WORD: Imran Khan, Pakistani Politician. On his recent visit to the U.S., Khan urged Washington to end its support for President Pervez Musharraf. "Musharraf has convinced people here that he is the only one who can combat terrorism and protect Pakistan's nuclear weapons. I've come to give the other side of the story ... Had the elections been held right after Benazir [Bhutto's] assassination [on Dec. 27], her party would have swept everywhere. I knew she was popular, but even I was surprised by the emotions that erupted after her death. Now the results will be more mixed."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/107553