One Week Later....

Romney up and running

In US: the real campaign begins, we wrote that it may finally be McCain's year -- not least, because he may have the best chance of beating Hillary Clinton in November.

• Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney last week soundly defeated McCain in the party's Michigan primary.
• Romney's triumph in Michigan was a major blow to McCain, who hoped to consolidate his front-runner status. The Republican nomination battle is again wide open ahead of the South Carolina primary on Saturday.

Taiwan: strong win for KMT

In Taiwan: year of the thaw?, we wrote that a strong win for the Taiwan's opposition Kuomintang Nationalist Party (KMT) -- which favours friendlier relations with Beijing -- looked likely in legislative elections.

• The KMT thrashed the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), strengthening its bid to recapture the presidency in March.
• The win -- coupled with a victory for the KMT's Ma Ying-jeou in the presidential election on March 22 -- should see increased engagement with China, but how far cross-Strait relations will improve will depend on how flexible Beijing is willing to be.

Bush's sweet-talking

In Bush: a tepid welcome, we wrote that US President George Bush is coaxing Israelis and Palestinians to reach a final settlement by the end of the year

• Bush last week maintained that any Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement required "mutual adjustments" to the 1949 armistice lines to "reflect current realities" and ensure a "viable" Palestinian state.
• Bush has been deliberately utilising language designed to assuage all sides in his Middle East visit, yet he has barely touched on the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Doubts over Blair

In Blair's eyes on the prize, we wrote that ex-UK Prime Minister Tony Blair was hoping to get full and public support from French President Nicolas Sarkozy for his ambition to become the first EU president.

• Former French President Valerie Giscard D'Estaing said Blair was the wrong man to become the EU's first president. The man, Giscard said, must come from a country that "respects all European commitments.
• Blair's failure to sell the euro to his countrymen during his ten years in office as well as his participation in the Iraq war, which caused the biggest split in the EU in decades, means he is unlikely to emerge as the winner.

Political Masterstroke

The World Next Week Political Masterstroke award goes to Mitt Romney. His triumph in Michigan was a major blow to McCain, who hoped to consolidate his front-runner status. The Republican nomination battle is again wide open ahead of the South Carolina primary on January 19. The latest polls show McCain with solid support there, but Huckabee will attract considerable support from social conservatives and Romney's campaign is in the strongest financial position.

Analytica™

Worthy of note, or news to us.

Cloned Humans

A California company has said it used cloning technology to make five human embryos, with the eventual hope of making matched stem cells for patients. (Reuters)

Merill: record loss

Merrill Lynch, the biggest US brokerage, reported a record loss after $16.7 billion of writedowns on assets infected by the subprime-mortgage crisis.

And finally…

The production of mozzarella cheese is under threat from an infection spreading through herds of water buffalo. (BBC)