This Just In

Welcome back, Castro

Around the world with Adam Reilly

By ADAM REILLY | September 6, 2006

Castro slims down, rules out FidelCam
On Tuesday, the Cuban dictator announced his recuperation on Cuba’s state-run news Web site. “One can say that the most critical moment is behind us,” Castro wrote. “Today, I am recovering at a satisfactory pace.” Some intriguing facts about said recovery: 1) Castro lost 40 pounds after undergoing intestinal surgery in July. Talk about results!; 2) He’ll be actively involved in the Non-Aligned Movement summit coming up in Havana; and 3) Despite the accompanying photos of Fidel in his pjs (which look to be made of a natty red-and-black silk print), we won’t be watching him eat, sleep, or make love any time soon. “This doesn’t mean that every activity [of mine] will be immediately covered by film and photos,” he explained, “although news coverage will always be provided.”

Mexican judges: presidential election stands; telenovela did no wrong
Following a closely contested presidential election in which both sides claimed victory, Mexico’s highest electoral court ratified the victory of conservative Felipe Calderón by a 233,831 vote margin, a skosh less than the original 240,000. (Nearly 42 million votes were cast in the election last July.) Among the complaints rejected by the court was a charge that the soap opera La Fea Mas Bella — “The Prettiest Ugly Girl” — had indirectly supported Calderón over his opponent, Mexico City mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Best of times/worst of times for the Taliban
First the good news, for readers who dislike totalitarian-fundamentalist regimes: a NATO offensive in Afghanistan killed an estimated 200 Taliban fighters. And now the bad: a report by the international think tank the Senlis Council — titled “Five Years Later: The Return of the Taliban” — suggested that Mullah Omar & Co. may find themselves back in power before too long. Maybe next time.

No pressure, Kiko
As the Phoenix went to press, all Japan waited breathlessly to learn the sex of the newest child of Princess Kiko and Prince Akishino, who was slated to be delivered by Cesarean section Wednesday morning. Kiko and Akishino currently have two daughters; a son could inherit the Chrysanthemum Throne, but a daughter would just get a bunch of Hello Kitty crap.

Classy
In a statement posted on the Web, the Mujahedeen Shura Council in Iraq praised Nabil Ahmed, the gunman who killed a British man and wounded six other foreign tourists visiting a Roman ruin in Amman, Jordan. Which raises the question: if this is a battle for hearts and minds, how are we losing to these guys, exactly?

Suicide Attacks Target Kabul Peacekeepers
KABUL, Afghanistan - Two separate suicide attackers rammed car bombs into vehicles belonging to NATO-led peacekeepers Monday in Kabul, killing at least one German soldier and wounding at least 13 people in the first major attack on foreign troops in the capital in more than a year.
Afghanistan: Just say no!
The idea that the war in Afghanistan has reached a critical junction, a “now-or-never” moment that requires an additional 40,000 troops to win, is rubbish.
An Obama confidant on the surge in Afghanistan
Twenty-four hours before President Barack Obama announced a 30,000-troop escalation of the Afghan War, one of his key foreign policy advisors provided a view of the president’s thinking at Brown University.
On the ground
Through journalistic instincts, hunches, and sheer luck, Dexter Filkins has, for the past ten years, managed to frequently be in the wrong place at the right time.
The JonBenet factor
Five summers ago, in the weeks before terrorists slammed fully loaded passenger planes into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, national television was obsessed with what? The Taliban? Osama bin Laden? Nope. Sharks.
March to war
During the course of two weeks in May, America’s top-ranking military officer went from warning that war with Iran could cripple the US military to rattling his saber at Tehran.
It's lonely at the top
Big business and the military-industrial complex in the Obama White House
Wink!
The GOP pulled a Coup D'e Tea Bag on the Massachusetts Senate Seat.
Plan B
With the end of the long primary campaign, Mainers are facing an ugly reality.
Boston pols bail on Bank of America
In this time of political stridency, where everything is either red or blue, Boston City Councilors have found a potential purple issue that everyone can stand behind, be they radical lefties or Fox News worshippers.
Is there 'hope' in Hollywood?
Buoyed by President Barack Obama's campaign slogan, many had hopes for change after his election.
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Topics: This Just In , Elections and Voting, Politics, Internet, More

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ARTICLES BY ADAM REILLY

BULLY FOR BU! | March 12, 2010
After six years at the Phoenix , I recently got my first pre-emptive libel threat. It came, most unexpectedly, from an investigative reporter. And beyond the fact that this struck me as a blatant attempt at intimidation, it demonstrated how tricky journalism's new, collaboration-driven future could be.

STOP THE QUINN-SANITY! | March 03, 2010
The year is still young, but when the time comes to look back at 2010's media lowlights, the embarrassing demise of Sally Quinn's Washington Post column, "The Party," will almost certainly rank near the top of the list.

RIGHT CLICK | February 19, 2010
Back in February 2007, a few months after a political neophyte named Deval Patrick cruised to victory in the Massachusetts governor's race with help from a political blog named Blue Mass Group (BMG) — which whipped up pro-Patrick sentiment while aggressively rebutting the governor-to-be's critics — I sized up a recent conservative entry in the local blogosphere.

RANSOM NOTES | February 12, 2010
While reporting from Afghanistan two years ago, David Rohde became, for the second time in his career, an unwilling participant rather than an observer. On October 29, 1995, Rohde had been arrested by Bosnian Serbs. And then in November 2008, Rohde and two Afghan colleagues were en route to an interview with a Taliban commander when they were kidnapped.

POOR RECEPTION | February 08, 2010
The right loves to rant against the "liberal-media elite," but there's one key media sector where the conservative id reigns supreme: talk radio.