Are the U.S., South Korea, Japan, China and Russia all wrong about Pyongyang’s launch of a satellite atop a rocket capable of delivering a nuclear weapon? According to this lengthy Stalinist commentary from North Korea’s state-run Rodong Sinmun, the U.S., Japan and the ‘group of traitors’ running south Korea had better reconsider plans to intercept the rocket, which is expected to be launched this week, or face an ‘unimaginable’ counterstrike. The ‘commentary’ from North...

Are we living at a time in which politicians – American and non-American alike – need to choose their words more carefully? For Russia’s Gazeta newspaper, columnist Semen Novoprudski writes of the dangers of fast-and-loose political rhetoric, and why, for the good of the world at large, all politicians, instead of using divisive Cold-War language, should from now on ‘speak exclusively about partnerships in the common cause of developing and preserving the human race.’ For...

Has the threat posed by North Korea become so great, that Beijing will fully join the rest of the world in bringing the maximum pressure to bear against Pyongyang? Expressing friendly skepticism about geopolitical naivete on the part of President Obama and issuing a plea to China to get off the stick, this editorial from Japan’s Nishi Nippon Shimbun laments that the signs aren’t promising for preventing this month’s planned North Korean missile test. The Nishi Nippon Shimbun editorial...

To many people in the outside world, the killing of Trayvon Martin seems to be stretching the fabric of American society to the breaking point. For France’s Le Monde, U.S. correspondent Corine Lesnes writes with surprise of how the events of the past month could have occurred three years after the election of America’s first Black president. For Le Monde, Corine Lesnes writes in part: Thousands of young people throughout the country have demonstrated with hooded sweatshirts like the...

In the eyes of the world at large, the killing of a young Black man in Florida named Trayvon Martin has done nothing to diminish the image of America as a gun-totting, shoot first, ask questions later country. For Germany’s Frankfurter Rundschau, correspondent Olivia Schoeller explains to her readers that on gun violence and racism, his death should be a wake-up call to Americans: ‘It’s time for a change.’ For the Frankfurter Rundschau, Olivia Schoeller writes in part: When...

Is ‘universal suffrage’ as it is practiced today a sham? For France’s Le Monde, philosopher Jean Salem asserts that the popular vote, rather than being a kind of panacea for rule by the people, gives the dynastic transfer of power a patina of legitimacy in the world’s old and new democracies. For Le Monde, philosopher at the University of Paris I-Panthéon-Sorbonne Jean Salem starts out this way: When considering our faltering civilization, I think it beneficial to paint...

How extreme have Republican Party members become? For Switzerland’s News, columnist Patrik Etschmayer writes that the ongoing Republican narrative about women, contraception and abortion sounds a lot like the way farmers talk about their livestock. For the News, Patrik Etschmayer writes in small part: A bill that was debated in the Georgia Assembly is called HB 954, and its purpose is to prohibit women from having an abortion after the 20th week of pregnancy – even if the fetus would...

Is Putin’s Kremlin focused on the wrong adversary-competitor? For Russia’s Yezhednevniy Zhurnal, columnist Alexandr Golz writes that given Russia’s incredibly long border with China and Beijing’s growing wealth and skyrocketing military budget, Russia would be well-advised to keep a closer eye on China than on the United States or NATO. For Russia’s Yezhednevniy Zhurnal, Alexandr Golz writes in small part: Russian officials are terribly fond of talking about double...

Are reports that Iranian influence in Iraq is growing by the day, true? According to columnist Abdullah al-Etabi of Iraq’s Sotal Iraq, the Iraqi people find the assertions of Iranian President Ahmadinejad that the two countries have a ‘common enemy’ offensive, and he painstakingly outlines why Iran and Iraq do not share a common enemy, and the many ways in which the interests and values of the two countries differ. For Sotal Iraq, Abdullah al-Etabi writes in small part: Statements...

The murky story about the American kidnapped by an Iraqi militia loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtad al-Sadr has yet to breath its last breath. Is Washington too embarrassed to admit that the man taken captive last year and released last week by The Promised Day Brigade, Randy Michael Hultz, is an American soldier? According to this news item from Iraq’s Sotal Iraq, the Brigade, an armed wing of the Sadrist movement, says it has proof that the man is a soldier, and that U.S. Embassy claims to the...

Could it be that global concern over North Korea’s upcoming launch of a rocket capable of carrying a nuclear warhead is just a great big misunderstanding? According to this surprisingly conciliatory news item from the state-run Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry insists that the launch, which it maintains is for peaceful purposes, was not part of the deal it signed with Washington last month, and in any case has no military purpose. The news item from the Korean Central...

Have the most extreme elements on the political landscape – once considered beyond the embrace of polite society – taken control of the Republican Party? According to columnist Jean-Sébastian Stehli of France’s Le Figaro, the conspiracy theorists who once shouted themselves hoarse about fluoridated water being a communist mind-control plot and government implantation of chips under citizens’ skin now call the shots in the GOP – and Mitt Romney has joined them in their...

Is the Nuclear Security Summit about to begin in Seoul a way for those who profit from nuclear power to sweep the concerns of the world’s people under the rug? This editorial from South Korea’s The Hankyoreh warns that the summit – the first nuclear summit to be held since Fukushima – is in danger of being hijacked by a ‘nuclear power mafia’ comprised of the major nuclear powers and businesses that profit from the status quo. The Hankyoreh editorial says in...

Has the scientific method lost all relevance to conservative Republicans in America? The question is not new. But now, according to this editorial from Switzerland’s News, a scientific study conducted by researchers at Yale University shows that not only doesn’t the U.S. right put much stock in what is known as ‘scientific fact,’ but more educated Republicans are just as resistant to the fruits of modern scientific research as their less-educated associates. The editorial...

Will the most raucous Republican presidential primary race in living memory result in better policies on the Republican side? Given the shocking political bloodletting, this editorial from Japan’s San-in Chuo Shimpo Shimbun expresses the hope that it won’t all be for naught. The San-in Chuo Shimpo Shimbun editorial says in part: Previous victorious U.S. presidential candidates have been those who incorporated policies from opponents in and out of their own party, making their campaign...

How right-wing is today’s Republican Party when compared to other right-wing parties around the world? In an effort to explain the matter to French voters who are also in the midst of a presidential campaign pitting “right” and against “left,” Le Figaro columnist Pierre-Yves Dugua admonishes his readers not to even put the French and American right in the same category – and to stop treating Americans ‘like fools’ just because they do not follow the...

Vice President Joe Biden recently traveled to Mexico, which is another country in the midst of a heated presidential campaign. In an effort not to show favoritism toward the ruling party candidate, Mr. Biden met briefly with each of the candidates. In the event, political analyst Víctor Beltri, in this article from Mexico’s Excelsior, which amounts to a direct appeal to the vice president, pleads with him to pose some questions about the worrying state of governance, violence and corruption...

One year after one of the most devastating catastrophes in living memory, there seems to be no end to Japan’s inner turmoil. According to this editorial from Japan’s Too Nippo Shimbun, recently released transcripts from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission not only demonstrate America’s proactive attitude in a crisis, they expose a deep-seated tendency among Japanese decision-makers to underestimate danger and seek to ‘save face’ rather than save lives. The Too Nippo...

Like Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum continues his nearly perfect record of derision from the international press. In this latest example from Switzerland’s News, columnist Patrik Etschmayer compares the elections in Iran to the Republican primary race and concludes that Rick Santorum is running for office in the wrong country. For Switzerland’s News, Patrik Etschmayer writes in small part: “Rick Santorum combines the worst of what Republicanism and Catholicism bring together in the public...

As Afghans boil over with rage after a U.S. soldier reportedly left his base in the middle of the night to murder 16 Afghan civilians in their homes, according to this news account from Pakistan’s Frontier Post, the Taliban are claiming that the operation was the work of a group of soldiers, and that far more people were killed. Propaganda it may me. But in the fog of war, will the average Afghan be able to tell the difference? The news item from the Frontier Post says in part: KANDAHAR:...