♦ Manufacturing is on the rise in Nigeria, as the global recession cuts returns in developed countries. But the country faces great challenges — political discord, corruption, broken infrastructure and a high poverty rate.
♦ Vali Nasr, a former senior adviser to Richard Holbrooke, criticises the Obama administration’s tough yet diffident and contradictory approach to the Middle East and its eventual retreat in his new book.
♦ Foreign Policy’s flagship blog chronicles the Wikipedia war over whether military intervention in Egypt deserves to be called a ‘Coup.’
♦ The New York Times remembers the 19 Arizona firefighters who died battling a fire outside the old gold-mining village of Yarnell in poignant vignettes.
♦ The New York Times chronicles the lead up to the Egyptian coup, as President Morsi refused to deal with the Americans or with his minister of defence, General Abdul Fatah al-Sisi. As Egypt’s economy faces a tough transitional period during the post-Morsi period in the midst of political unrest, the central bank governor flew to Abu Dhabi to raise financial support.
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