What’s the connection between the women of Rio’s Carnival and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg? For Brazil’s O Globo, Mônica Geraldi Valentim writes that even if women have become more financially independent in recent decades, the lengths to which they’ll go to look attractive is proof that catching a mate still requires good old-fashioned thin waists, full lips and silky hair; and for a man, what still counts most is a nicely-stuffed bank account. For Brazil’s O...

With President Obama about to travel to Brazil [March 19], it looks as though Brazil’s new president may be keen to show a change in direction in regard to Iran and the United States. Days ago, off of the radar screen of most of the world, Brazil’s new government took the bold decision to dissociate itself from its past policy of looking the other way when Tehran commits human rights abuses by holding a lunch with Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Iranian dissident Shirin Ebadi. This editorial...

Just before today’s massive earthquake, U.S.-Japan relations were badly dented by comments made by Kevin Maher, a former U.S. consul to Japan who was, until yesterday, the head of the State Department’s Japan desk. As is reflected in this editorial from Japan’s Nishinippon Shimbun, Maher’s comments, jotted down by U.S. students, triggered an uncharacteristically angry response in Japan. The Nishinippon Shimbun editorial says in part: Coming from the previous U.S. consul...

The WikiLeaks wave has now moved to Latin America, where newspapers around the region have been supplied with U.S. diplomatic cables from local U.S. Embassies. This article by columnist Luis Hernandez Navarro of Mexico’s La Jornada underscores the tremendous damage the cables have done to the credibility of President Felipe Calderon, and the fear that many Mexicans have of a U.S. invasion. For La Jornada, Luis Hernandez Navarro writes in part: These materials are a kind of X-ray of influence...

Is it possible to financially starve Libyan despot Muammar Qaddafi into submission? This editorial from Germany’s Financial Times Deutschland warns that a no-fly zone would lead to another war that the West cannot afford to wage, and that the only way to defeat Qaddafi is massive global cooperation to deny his regime the funds it needs to survive. The Financial Times Deutschland editorial says in part: It’s enough to drive one mad: In plain sight of the world, the rebels in Libya are attempting...

In an editorial that many will find ironic in the extreme, Japan’s Nishi Nippon defends the practice of whaling by insisting that it actually contributes to the protection of other marine life. The newspaper goes on to criticize the U.S. group Sea Shepard for protecting whales from death by arguing that doing so endangers the lives of whale hunters – and that whaling must go on to preserve the tradition of eating whales, before young people lose interest in it. Highlighting the disconnect...

Are Western journalists, who have been reporting attempts by people in China to demonstrate against their government, aspiring for China’s “collapse”? This editorial from China’s state-run Global Times tells its readers hopefully, ‘Chinese society has no interest in resolving problems through revolution.’ The editorial from the Global Times says in part: “A few Western media outlets are looking for clues of a Chinese-style Jasmine Revolution. Inevitably,...

Is the office of the U.S. Trade Representative cracking down on Chinese search engines Baidu and Taobao for being ‘notorious markets’ for pirated goods – or is it simply retaliating for Google’s controversial withdrawal from the China market? According to this news item from China’s state-controlled Finance East Day, one Chinese analyst suggests that Beijing must stand up to the U.S. for smearing Baidu and Taobao, and respond with ‘counter-sanctions.’ The...

How ‘true’ are Hollywood films that are based on ‘true stories?’ From Switzerland’s News, columnist Patrik Etschmayer rails against the Oscars for favoring films that spin ‘truth’ for the benefit of producers and studios, over movies that despite being fiction, tell us much more about reality and ourselves. For Switzerland’s News, Patrik Etschmayer writes in part: Colin Firth almost had to get the Oscar, because last year, he lost out to Jeff Bridges...

Can this year’s Academy Awards be interpreted as a slap in the face to American cinema? According to columnist Renato Silveira of Brazil’s Cinematorio, the fact that True Grit went away empty handed and ‘The Social Network’ nearly so to the benefit of The King’s Speech was nearly inexplicable. For Brazil’s Cinematorio, Renato Silveira writes in part: The Academy sent American cinema to the gallows at the 83rd Academy Awards. Amongst the ten major nominees, we...

There is a lot of hand wringing on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border about what to call the drug-related conflagration in Mexico – and much talk about whether the U.S. should intervene directly. While stopping short of calling for U.S. troops, for Mexico’s Excelsior newspaper, military analyst Jorge Luis Sierra makes no bones about what he would call it: a full-scale war. For Excelsior, Jorge Luis Sierra writes in part: In responding to the government offensive, based primarily...

Has there been, as we have all been told, a ‘revolution’ in Egypt? For Semana of Colombia, columnist Antonio Caballero writes that the only thing which has changed is the person leading Egypt’s 60-year-old military government, and he cites as evidence the apparent satisfaction of President Barack Obama. For Semana, columnist Antonio Caballero writes in part: “Televisions around the world have shown Egyptian demonstrators dancing in Cairo’s Tahrir Square because the...

Is this a seminal moment in human history – beyond which the major powers no longer pay lip service to freedom and human rights, while simultaneously backing friendly dictators? According to this editorial from Russia’s Vedomosti, diplomats will from now on have to recognize that the use of ‘our son’s of bitches’ – as Franklin D. Roosevelt is rumored to have called them – has reached the point of diminishing returns, and the voice of the people in the third...

Whether fundamentalist or not – how grateful are young Arabs for the emergence of Facebook and Twitter – which are, after all, the inventions of America’s open society? Dar al-Hayat columnist Jameel Theyabi writes of the new lease on life social networks have provided young Arabs and their elders, and expresses his deep thanks for these powerful tools that have enabled people to take down regimes and wrest back control of their futures. For Dar al-Hayat, Jameel Theyabi writes...

Get ready for a new period of controversy over U.S. diplomatic cables being unleashed by WikiLeaks. According to this continental roundup by Rogelio Núnez of Spain’s Infolatam, in Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Columbia and Guatemala, newly disclosed cables are impacting presidential elections, angering heads of state, and sparking local political squabbles that are likely to have significant consequences. For Infolatam, Rogelio Nunez begins his overview this way: The storm over Wikileaks...

This article by Alberto Goncalves of Diario de Noticias has created an uproar in Portugal since it was printed on Saturday. When you read it you’ll understand why. Focusing his attention on the sexual assault against U.S. reporter Lara Logan by a joyous mob of 200 in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, Goncalves goes into excruciating detail about why he and people like him have trouble trusting Muslims and Islam. For Diario de Noticias, Alberto Goncalves writes in part: In Tahrir Square, 200 citizens...

Are the ongoing uprisings in the Muslim world due to ‘weariness’ with the materialism of the West, led by the U.S.? To judge from the above photo, at least, it isn’t only materialism making Iranians ‘weary.’ In this latest explanation for the Muslim revolution from Tehran, Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reports that the supreme leader has once again congratulated ‘seekers of freedom and justice’ in the Muslim world, even as his security...

In the past, has China resisted meddling in the internal affairs of weaker nations – and is it time for Beijing to turn over a new leaf? According to this editorial from China’s state-controlled Global Times, while China has in the past followed a course of non-interference with the domestic affairs of other states, the ongoing series of uprisings in the Middle East may call for a whole new strategy. The editorial from China’s Global Times says in part: Having been victimized...

What can we expect from the uprisings that have suddenly erupted in Muslim lands? Highlighting the confusion over Egypt, La Jornada columnist Jose Steinsleger, who appears to be a confounded, left-wing revolutionary from Latin America, writes that whatever the risk that their dreams may be thwarted – he sides with the young people who have faced down a tyrant. For Mexico’s La Jornada, columnist Jose Steinsleger writes in part: Do we have a “pre-revolutionary” situation in...

Is it wrong for President Obama to support India’s bid for a U.N. Security Council Seat, while appearing to oppose Brazil’s? For the newspaper Estadao, Brazil’s former ambassador to the United States, Roberto Abdenur, insists that Washington take another look at Brazil’s qualifications, and suggests that sidelining Brazil for opposing U.N. Security Council sanctions on Iran would be unjust. For Estadao, Roberto Abdenur writes in part: According to a State Department source,...

Is Washington considering direct intervention in Mexico, after the murder of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent? Writing for Mexico’s Excelsior, Attorney Juan Carlos Sánchez Magallan warns his readers that under no circumstances must U.S. troops be permitted to enter Mexican territory – and that Mexican officials should come clean about the how they will end a crime war that has already claimed 35,000 lives. For Excelsior, Juan Carlos Sánchez Magallan writes in part: The...

Can Islam and democracy exists side by side? Columnist K. Selim of Algeria’s Le Quotidien d’Oran contests the notion that a free election can happen ‘only once’ in Arab countries, and warns those who have led uprisings in Egypt and Algeria that the eyes of the world are upon them – and most are against them. For Le Quotidien d’Oran, K. Selim writes in part: “Bush or bin Laden: Since September 2001, this false, cursory choice has been imposed on Arab societies both...

One of the more ironic experiences in modern journalism is to translate criticism of the American media from China’s state-controlled version. This article from China’s state-run Nan Fang Daily takes a a few digs at America’s “free press” by examining the recent controversy surrounding the firing of commentator Juan Williams by publicly-funded National Public Radio and his resulting huge contract with privately-owned Fox News. Nevertheless, it is encouraging to see...

Is he an American citizen who shot two Pakistanis to death in cold blood, or an American official with diplomatic immunity who shot and killed two men attempting to rob him? The story hasn’t made news in our mainstream media, but in Pakistan, it’s almost all people have discussed for days, since it once again seems like American overreach into Pakistan sovereignty. Ex-U.S. consulate staffer Raymond Davis is now on trial in Pakistan for murder, but Washington wants him released. This...

Do Arabs, particularly people living in states alongside Egypt, have a right to be skeptical of claims that America is a defender of democracy and human rights? Americans may not like to hear it – but there is massive suspicion that the U.S. does and is doing everything it can to extend the rule of Hosni Mubarak and other friendly dictators. According to one of the leading commentators in the Maghreb, columnist K. Selim of Algeria’s Le Quotidien d’Oran, the fact that the White House...