One of the many conspiracy theories prevalent in the Arab world – and elsewhere – is that the United States invented HIV/AIDs, infected people in the rest of the world and blamed it on Africans. In a new twist on this theory, Abed al-Nasser of Algeria’s Echourouq al-Yawm writes that the U.S. infected Mexico with swine flu to make itself look good by saving its southern neighbor: “America, the country of Nobel Prizes in every science and that wants to change the maps of...

Is the American press, radio and TV acting as the media arm of the Obama Administration? This criticism, made very often on the American right – and for many years in regard to Reagan and Bush on the American left – appears in this article from Jordan’s Al-Arab al-Yawm, as a warning to the world not to fall for it. For Al-Arab al-Yawm, Amal al-Sharqi writes in part: It is well known that the American press, in spite of the broad spectrum of freedom it enjoys, remains directed by...

It’s the question on everyone’s lips – but one that so far, few have answered: Why have so many died in Mexico of the new H1N1 flu virus, but only one – so far – in the United States? Looking for an answer, Leo Zuckermann, for Mexico’s Excelsior, writes in part: “When I get a fever in Mexico, I telephone my doctor. He’s a friend who knows me perfectly. He asks me about my symptoms, makes an initial diagnosis and usually issues me a prescription over...

As in the United States, the controversy over the torture issue continues to ripple through the international community. But according to this editorial from Estadao of Brazil, there is much more at stake than merely the issue of torture, aka, ‘enhanced interrogation techniques.’ The editorial reads in part: “What’s at stake goes beyond torture … Under the auspices of Bush and the invocation of the imperative of national security, his intimate circle – Vice President...

”Iran’s regional cards: Syria, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbullah and Hamas.” Israel isn’t the only U.S. ally in the Middle East expressing concern about the policies of the Obama Administration. According to this editorial from Lebanon’s L’Orient Le Jour, The pro-West ruling faction in Lebanon is worried as well – given the peace overtures being sent out in the direction of Syria and Iran and the far-right Israeli government of Binyamin Netanyahu. Emile...

Is ‘just following orders’ a defense for those who imposed torture on detainees? While it’s true that the U.N. Convention on Torture outlaws this defense, in the words of Izvestia’s Maxim Sokolov, ‘A convention is a convention, but real life is so much richer.’ Sokolov makes the point that it was fine to say ‘just following orders’ was inadmissible for Nazi war criminals, since the Third Reich was no more – and there was little concern about...

How is President Obama doing as he nears the 100-days-in-office milestone. According to this editorial from Le Monde, in the area of international justice he has done well and is getting a bad rap from well-meaning but wrong-headed human rights groups. The Le Monde editorial says in part: “On April 30, the Obama Administration will have been in place for 100 days. It’s time for a preliminary assessment. In the area of international justice, some are being fussy. Admittedly, they say,...

As we have already established – there is little patience in Europe for Bush Administration arguments about expediency when it comes to the issue of “harsh interrogation techniques.” Adding his views to the debate on the subject is Robert Misik of Germany’s Die Tageszeitung, who writes in part: “Those who are responsible for gross human rights violations should not so easily escape. It may be that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney don’t regard being stuck in the...

Continuing with our coverage of the global reaction to the issue of torture in the United States, this article from Italy’s Corriere della Sera is perhaps the most sympathetic we have seen yet, to the position of those who say ‘harsh interrogation techniques’ were acceptable given the circumstances. For Corriere della Sera, Guido Olimpio writes in part: “The CIA memos encapsulate a brutal synthesis of the harshest years of the struggle against terror. A short torture manual...

Dick Cheney’s defense of what many call torture has Turkish journalists shocked. This editorial from Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper says in part: “The reason U.S. policy is so important to us, in particular this new policy, is that our own struggle to rein in such heinous practices in Turkey is directly related to the standards set in Washington. Like most newsrooms in Turkey, ours is intimately familiar with the topic. In the past, torture as an instrument of state power was common...

According to Bettina Gaus of Germany’s Die Tageszeitung, if President Obama obtains a candid and unsparing assessment of the policies of his predecessor by granting immunity to CIA operatives, then it’s an exercise worth doing. But if granting immunity is simply for the purpose of not antagonizing government agencies and the military – then according to Gaus, the confidence that the world has placed in him will have well and truly been squandered. Gaus writes in part: “Clearly...

Those who suggest that Hugo Chavez got the best of President Obama at the Summit of the Americas might want to read this article from Venezuela’s El Universal, which advises that the truth is just the opposite – that Obama played Chavez like a harp, forcing him into a situation in which he had to back down. Castigating the ‘antics’ of President Chavez and expressing his personal discomfort over his gift of an untranslated Spanish-language book on imperialism to the U.S. head...

How significant was Cuban dictator Fidel Castro’s response to President Obama’s overtures last week? The editorial board of Brazil’s Estadao newspaper puts it this way, in part: “The reaction from President Raúl Castro was singular. Just a few hours later, from where he was in Cumaná, Venezuela, he sent word “publicly and privately” that “we are open to discussing everything – human rights, freedom of the press and political prisoners.” These...

Chavez: ‘Today I don’t smell sulfur.’ Obama: ‘Thank you very much.’ As part of our coverage of the events surrounding the Fifth Summit of the Americas, WORLDMEETS.US offers this unforgiving walk through the reality of Latin America from a Russian perspective. For Gazeta of Russia, Yevgeniy Trifonov writes in part: “For Latin Americans, China, Europe and Japan, even all together, can’t substitute for the United States. Cuba is a perfect example of this: free...

Venezuela President Hugo Chavez hands President Obama a book titled, Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, at the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad & Tobago. How badly do Latin Americans want President Obama to understand the history of the United States in Latin America? In this ‘Open Letter’ to President Obama, Mexican columnist Gilberto Lopez y Rivas outlines the events that have created a well of angst and resentment toward our nation...

‘IT’S A PITY THAT THE PRESIDENT OF GRINGOLAND IS IN WASHINGTON’S CROSS HAIRS AS HE’S A DEMOCRAT AND HE’S BARACK OBAMA … AS FOR BUSH, FOR EIGHT YEARS WE HAD ‘WELCOMING MATERIAL’ WAITING FOR HIM … BUT NOW WE HAVE TO THROW IT IN THE TRASH.’ Barack Obama has just completed the first visit by a sitting U.S. president to Mexico City in decades. And while he made a good impression, this editorial from Mexico’s La Jornada suggests that...

President Obama has arrived in Trinidad & Tobago for the Fifth Summit of the Americas, and WORLDMEETS.US will be following events every step of the way. As we are wont to do in a situation like this, below are some of the headlines we have posted from around the world in the run-up to the summit. Whether the United States likes it or not – it looks like Cuba will be the central topic of discussion: El Espectador, Colombia: Cuba in Obama’s Sights La Jornada, Mexico: It is ‘Important...

Now that the G20 Summit – and all the other summits – are finally over, along with all the backslapping of participants – not everyone is buying. One of those skeptical voices belongs to Swiss columnist Patrik Etschmayer, who wonders whether spring fever might have gone to the heads of leaders who seem to believe that throwing more unsecured money at a problem that began due to excessive unsecured money is really the way to address the crisis at hand. For the Swiss newspaper Nachrichten,...

As many of you will recall, just weeks ago in Prague, President Obama proposed his vision of a world without nuclear weapons. As we have been cataloging, not everyone thinks this is such a good idea. Now it turns out that the French, too, are ‘annoyed’ by President Obama’s plan. According to a leaked memo addressed to President Nicolas Sarkozy and obtained by Le Figaro: “Paris is annoyed at the worldwide enthusiasm unleashed by the speech on disarmament given in Prague last...

What are Iraqis feeling now, during the sixth anniversary of the U.S. invasion? In order to help answer that question, WORLDMEETS.US just posted this article from Iraq’s Kitabat newspaper, written by a man who witnessed the fall of Baghdad, tells of what went through his mind back then and expresses his great concern for the fate of his nation. For Iraq’s Kitabat newspaper, Warid Bader as-Salim writes in part: “In April, 2003, with my senses trembling, I believed I was witnessing...

Like Russia, the Venezuela of Hugo Chavez appears ever-more inhospitable to press freedom. But as we have demonstrated before, there are news outlets in that nation which are more than capable of letting loose a fierce barrage of criticism in the direction of their fearless leader. On the eve of the Fifth Summit of the Americas beginning April 17, this editorial from Venezuela’s Tal Cual unfavorably compares Chavez to our own Richard Nixon – and condemns him for ’shitting on the...

Continuing with our coverage of the Arab world’s reaction to President Obama’s visit to Turkey and his outreach to the Muslim World, we’ve posted this op-ed from Syria – another Arab nation that Washington is trying to woo into turning over a new leaf. So in the opinion of the Syrian regime, how successful was the President trip in convincing Muslims that a new era in America’s relations with the Islamic World has begun? According to this article by Rasha Issa of Syria’s...

CARTOON TITLE SAYS, ‘NETANYAHU’S GOVERNMENT’ PICTURED AS A DOG AND CHASING THE ARAB BOY IS ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER, AVIGDOR LIEBERMAN To ring in the weekend, here are two cautionary articles from the Arab world that relate to President Obama’s attempt to reach out to the Arab world and the price Israel might pay for opposing his efforts and refusing to pursue peace with Palestinians. First is an editorial from Egypt’s Algomhuria that urges Arab leaders, based on...

According to this report published yesterday by Switzerland’s Le Temps newspaper, for the past six years, American, European and Iranian researchers have been meeting in secret in Geneva. The objective: to establish informal bridges to avoid “the worst.” The report, according to Le Temps, contains information apparently intended by Iranians who have taken part in the talks, to “influence the Iranian presidential elections” in June. For Le Temps, Stephane Bussard writes...

Was it a bow or just good manners? The blogosphere is bursting with debate over whether President Obama diminished his stature by appearing to bow to the King of Saudi Arabia at the G20 summit. As for the Saudis, the act was just another reflection of President Obama’s well-earned respect. According to this op-ed article from Saudi Arabia’s Al-Riyadh newspaper, Obama’s act of respect to someone older than he reflects not only his policy of breaking with the prior administration’s...