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December 11, 2012 | | JUSTICE Nafissatou Diallo, who just won a settlement in her sexual-assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, helped deny the veteran pol the presidency of France—and changed the country’s geopolitical and economic history, says Christopher Dickey. Plus, Michael Daly on the judge who helped Diallo find justice. SICK Nelson Mandela is being treated for a lung infection, the office of the current president, Jacob Zuma, confirmed on Tuesday. The 94-year-old former South African president was hospitalized on Saturday and is responding to treatment, said presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj. On Monday, Mandela’s wife, Graça Machel, said in a television appearance that seeing her husband suffer with age is “something which pains you.” “This spirit and this sparkle, you see somehow it’s fading,” she said. Mandela was last hospitalized in February, when he was treated for abdominal pain. BEST BOOKS 2012 From Tina Brown to Andrew Sullivan to Michael Tomasky, our writers and editors pick the favorite books they read this year. PROGRESS? Maybe the holiday spirit—or a sense of impending doom—is finally getting through to them. Budget talks between House Speaker John Boehner and President Obama have taken a promising turn, sources close to the process tell The Wall Street Journal. Apparently, negotiations between the leaders have become more serious in recent days, as both Boehner and the White House are reportedly beginning to feel increasing pressure over the impending fiscal cliff. Another big change? Both sides have agreed to stop tattling on each other. A strict public moratorium on public commenting is now being followed on both sides—a sign experts say means the bargaining is only just beginning. VIOLENT Nine people were injured on Tuesday when masked gunmen opened fire and threw gas bombs at the protesters in Tahrir Square—while President Mohamed Morsi’s main opposition called for more demonstrations in the wake of the constitutional vote this weekend. For the first time since protests started on Nov. 23, police cars surrounded the capital, and supporters of Morsi’s Islamist regime began arriving in the area. Protests erupted after Morsi announced plans to ban all legal opposition, and although he has backtracked on that decree, demonstrations have continued as the government prepares for a snap referendum on the Constitution. | | 
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