Briefing

FLASH POINT

Kenya at War with Itself It began with a disputed election that sparked ethnic violence. On Jan. 29, the killing of an opposition lawmaker led to still more bloodshed. Kofi Annan can get the two candidates to meet, but who will control their henchmen?

'For every one Kikuyu killed, we shall avenge their killing with three.' ANTHONY MWANGI, a Kikuyu, one of hundreds of Kenyans armed with machetes, clubs and rocks who are threatening members of rival tribes

WHO'S WHO

1 MWAI KIBAKI He allegedly rigged the vote, but Kibaki brushes aside any talk of conceding the election.

2 KOFI ANNAN The frustrated former U.N. head has ditched the idea of new elections in favor of mediation.

3 RAILA ODINGA The opposition leader may be aggrieved, but his Luo tribe has engaged in wanton retaliation against Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe.

4 WILLIAM RUTO Ruto, part of Odinga's inner circle, and his ilk are key to this crisis. Yes, they attend peace talks, but they're accused of inciting ethnic violence on the side.

FRAUD EXPLAINER

Trading Trouble

A rogue trader cost one of Europe's largest banks $7.09 billion--the biggest loss ever from a single trader--but who's really to blame?

The Lowdown

WHO? Jerome Kerviel, 31, a futures trader from a second-tier business school, had worked at Societe Generale since 2000.

WHAT? SocGen says it was surprised by a series of "elaborate, fictitious transactions" that Kerviel executed. But skeptics are crying foul play, saying rogue trades that large could not have gone unnoticed for so long.

Play by Play

Kerviel wanted more action than his low-level position allowed. So he began trading secretly--racking up huge profits at first. He says some bosses knew and made him out to be a criminal only when the trades went bad. So was he solo? "If he was working alone, he would have been caught," says Suresh Sundaresan, a finance professor at New York City's Columbia Business School.

What Now?

AT STAKE Now SocGen management is itself under heavy scrutiny. The bank's chief, who called Kerviel a "terrorist," offered his resignation, but the bank's board is backing him for now.

THE BOTTOM LINE The bank's biggest risk yet? Hostile takeover bids from foreign rivals. But France's Prime Minister says he will block any attempts.

TRANSLATION

State of the Union--Flashback to 2003?

In his final State of the Union address on Jan. 28, President George W. Bush may have been thinking about his future legacy. But the speech felt more like a blast from the past. Not only did it bear a striking thematic resemblance to his 2003 address, but the word tally from each speech is very similar. A side-by-side comparison:

2008 America (65) 2003 America (59)

2008 people (29) 2003 people (31)

2008 terror (23) 2003 terror[ist] (19)

2008 security (13) 2003 security (10)

2008 government (11) 2003 government (13)

2008 al--Qaeda (11) 2003 al--Qaeda (8)

2008 peace (8) 2003 peace (9)

2008 citizen (10) 2003 citizen (10)

2008 allies (3) 2003 allies (3)

2008 Iraq (39) 2003 Iraq (21)

2008 Congress (27) 2003 Congress (10)

2008 nation (24) 2003 nation (23)

2008 economy (9) 2003 economy (13)

2008 war (3) 2003 war (11)

2008 federal (9) 2003 federal (5)

GLOBAL ECONOMY

Sovereign Wealth Funds

As global markets wobble, foreign-government funds, many of them oil-driven, are now big players. Some key investor countries:

UAE: Abu Dhabi Investment Authority

$875 billion Abu Dhabi is CITIGROUP's single largest shareholder

NORWAY: Government Pension Fund

$380 billion Among Norway's 3,500 investments is GOOGLE

SINGAPORE: Government Investment Corp.

$330 billion Singapore has a major stake in Swiss bank UBS

CHINA: China Investment Corp.

$200 billion China holds more U.S. TREASURY SECURITIES than any country except Japan