Winners & Losers

Winners

Ségolène Royal: The sexy Socialist looks set to become the next (and first female) president of France.

Al Jazeera International: It has finally hit the airwaves. And with 80 million viewers on the first day, it promises to give CNN and the BBC a run for their money. 

India: The U.S. Senate passes the nuclear deal. Too bad so many think it’s such a bad idea.

Bond fans: The wait was long and hard, but the new film is finally a good one.

Sony: Gamers are willing to shell out $500 and camp outside stores for days – even get shot by robbers – in order to get their hands on the new Playstation 3.

Losers 

Iraq’s Sunni minority: In more signs of the downward spiral, the government issues a warrant for the arrest of one of the country’s top Sunni clerics. 

Catholic reformers: Benedict XVI isn’t about to let celibacy for clergy go the way of Latin masses under his watch.

Residents of Bracciano, Italy: TomKat has arrived. The paparazzi nightmare begins.

North Korean fat cats: Japan cuts off North Korean officials’ flow of caviar, cars, booze, and baubles.

Tonga: Eighty percent of the buildings in the capital’s business district have been torched. And no one outside of Tonga notices.