Why is it that President Bush and Pope Benedict XVI get along so well? According to this editorial from El Tiempo, Colombia’s largest newspaper: “Bush sees the world in terms of good and evil, and he considers that only a united front encompassing all 2.2 billion Judeo-Christians will be able to resist Islam. Recent decades have seen increasing religious tension and the spread of theocracies, which now encompass almost all Arab countries.”

If Hillary doesn’t win big in Pennsylvania tonight, will she have the good sense to withdraw? Pierre Rousselin writes for France’s Le Figaro, “She needs a win that is vivid enough to reverse the course of the election … otherwise all that will remain is for her to drop out or, through reckless calculation, be dislodged against her will, which will prolong a fratricidal duel that can only undermine the chances for Democrats to return to the White House.”

Did the Pope visit the United States in part to influence the U.S. Presidential race in favor of John McCain? That seems to be the conclusion of a large number of mainland Europeans. This article from France’s Journal du Dimanche au Quotidien, quoting French journalist V. Jauvert, points out, “Since April 16 – his birthday – Pope Benedict XVI has been in the United States for a rather long trip (for an old person): a week. And he didn’t go there just to blow out the candles...

Does a dictatorship that has outlawed freedom of the press have the standing to criticize the ‘journalistic ethics’ of American reporters? That is the question one must grapple with when reading through Beijing’s latest blistering attack against CNN host Jack Cafferty ‘and his ilk’ for referring to the Chinese regime as ‘goons and thugs’ and calling Chinese goods ‘junk.’ Paradoxically, now the Chinese authorities appear to be criticizing Washington

Has the CIA infiltrated the Ecuadorian intelligence services – and is Ecuadorian intelligence feeding information to the Colombian government? These charges have been leveled by Ecuador’s President Correa against his own intelligence services – and there are some in Ecuador who are demanding he provide evidence. Carlos Freile writes for Ecuador’s La Hora, “We Ecuadorians also have the right to demand, respectfully but with vigor, that President Correa clarify his accusations...

Those who were waiting for Pope Benedict to issue President Bush a ’slap in the face’ over the Iraq War have been sorely disappointed. In fact, according to Patrik Etschmayer of Switzerland’s Nachrichten newspaper: “No one should believe that the Iraq War is really that high on the Pope’s agenda. When it came time for the Holy See to endorse a candidate for the last presidential election, the then chief-inquisitor who became today’s Pope found it more important...

Why is it that Popes don’t usually visit the United States during presidential election years? Lucas Mendez writes for the BBC Brazil, “As neutral as the papal robe is, his messages can and will be used by the candidates … every time Benedict XVI opens his mouth, Democrats and Republicans will interpret and “spin it,” according to their own political ‘gospels’”

A year after the massacre at Virginia Tech by the troubled Cho Seung-Hui, what has been done to address the root causes of that event – the worst at any American educational institution? Dietmar Ostermann writes for Germany’s Frankfurter Rundschau, “The debate over gun control erupts loudly and often, yet it’s a discussion without consequences. The way people with psychological problems are handled, however, is a silent scandal. Even after Blacksburg, American society is...

Has CNN host Jack Cafferty and others criticizing China over Tibet and its human right record betrayed a “sense of superiority” and an often dormant “anti-Chinese racism?” Such is the conclusion of this article penned by Ding Gang, senior desk editor at China’s strictly-controlled state run People’s Daily. Dang writes, “Harboring hatred for China’s development, the Caffertys of the world have assaulted, slandered, framed and spread rumors over recent...

Have sports organizations like the International Olympic Committed become “illegitimate transnational powers” that are like “laws unto themselves?” Columnist Henrique Montiero for Portugal’s Expresso asks, “Is the Chinese regime less brutal today than the Russian regime of 1980? Or, quite simply, is it that the world can no longer live without China, whose capital insures American banks? … a total boycott is dismissed.

From everything we can gather so far, there are few fans of a John McCain presidency in the Russian press – and the same can be said of President Bush. Asking what’s wrong with Bush’s Iraq strategy is the same as asking what the danger of a John McCain Administration would be. Galina Zeveleva of Russia’s Novosti News Service writes, “Bush continues to rely on force, thereby multiplying the army of terrorists more quickly than he can suppress them, while strengthening...

In terms of being the target of Beijing’s vitriol, House Speaker Pelosi has now joined such luminaries as the Dalai Lama and Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian. According to this ‘commentary’ published by the strictly-controlled state run Xinhua news service: “If an Internet opinion poll were to be carried out in China to choose the most disgusting figure, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would probably be on top of the list. … How can such an irresponsible political figure...

Have Nancy Pelosi and Congressional Democrats done Colombia wrong on trade? That seems to be the general consensus in that country, Washington’s strongest ally in Latin America. For Colombia’s leading newspaper El Tiempo, Alfredo Rangel writes in part: “Mrs. Pelosi has gotten her way. With her repeated rejection of the Free Trade Agreement, congressional Democrats are favoring the economic interests of a few U.S. unions and are sacrificing the general interests of Colombia under...

Has U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ‘defied law and discipline,’ and ‘challenged U.S. government’ protection’ of the Olympic torch relay? These are just some of the latest charges being leveled against Pelosi by the Beijing regime. In this article, published in the strictly-controlled state run People’s Daily, her recent efforts to have legislation passed denying U.S. officials the use of public funds to attend the Beijing Olympics, “have left people amazed...

Are Iraqis beginning to feel better about the the U.S.-led occupation and the state of their nation? In our continuing effort to help answer that question, WORLDMEETS.US has translated this article from Iraq’s Azzaman newspaper. Fateh Abdusalam writes in part, “In the sixth year of the new dispensation and still looking for excuses to justify its policies, Iraq’s war-mongering government is isolated from Iraqis. … Iraq remains an ever-shifting

After the failure of the 1980 U.S.-sponsored Olympic boycott, hadn’t the world learned its lesson about the ineffectiveness of such actions? According to this editorial from the Nederlands Dagblad, things have changed since then – not the least of which is the fact that unlike South Korea, which rapidly democratized in the run-up to the 1988 Games, Beijing has taken a different tack. The Dutch newspaper opines, “Such wishful thinking has now given way to the harsh reality. Over...

Not all the global commentary about the Olympic torch relay is serious. Le Monde’s Robert Sole writes in this tongue-in-cheek op-ed, “Yes, clouds are threatening the Olympics in Beijing. But Chinese authorities have just given us some reassuring news: an arsenal is being prepared to make sure that it doesn’t rain during the opening ceremonies on August 8. Twenty-one teams are spread around the capital to watch the heavens and if necessary, launch rockets containing silver iodide...

Has the spectacle of the Olympic Torch relay, first introduced by Nazi Germany in 1936, hijacked the Olympic tradition? After the mass protesting in Paris, London and now San Francisco, and due to the ‘dubious’ Nazi origins of the Olympic torch relay, this editorial from the NRC Handelsblad of The Netherlands opines, “Four years ago, the torch, which had to go from Olympia to Athens, traveled 48,466 miles. And this year is no different. … This is megalomania. … IOC...

Is there a hidden hand behind the anti-China protesting of recent weeks, other than of course the much maligned ‘Dalai Clique?’ Indeed there is, according to Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry. According to a statement, in part published in Venezuela’s El Universal, “The manipulation of the media in regard to the protest of violent groups in the Tibet Autonomous Region is an ingredient of a formula from the psychological warfare laboratories of the United States, that is...

‘NO SMOKING’ Will it be possible to persuade Western governments and public opinion that China is the victim of Tibetan ‘running dogs’? In this op-ed from Hong Kong’s Wen Wei Po, published before the voyage of the Olympic torch began, Hong Kong television commentator Dr. Qiu Zhenhai explains how the Beijing government can turn the public relations battle in its favor. Far more reasonable – even to the point of admitting error on the part of the Chinese government...

Soul-searching over the passage of the Olympic Torch through France and through the West in general has reached a fever pitch, and the question on the minds of many is: As justified as the protesting in London, Paris and now San Francisco may be, what good will come of it?; and will it help those who today suffer under the iron fist of Beijing’s one-party dictatorship? Yves Thréard writes for France’s leading newspaper, Le Figaro, “Olympism, its values and symbols were put to...

With the Olympic torch bound for San Francisco, what is the significance of the protesting that beset the torch’s route in Europe? Olivier Picard writes for France’s Les Dernières Nouvelles d’Alsace, “It’s an absolute disaster. A symbolic defeat, politically, ’sportively,’ diplomatically and historically. During this black Monday of the Olympic adventure, everyone lost! The legend, the athletes, China, France, the government, the police, the protesters and...

What has the Kremlin drawn from the recently concluded NATO Summit in Bucharest? Among other things, Dmitry Kosyrev writes for Russia’s Novosti News Service: “The Bucharest summit has shown that NATO – or Europe and the West in general, is in more difficulty that it at first appeared. … The well-concealed disagreements about the participation of NATO members in operations in Afghanistan demonstrate the failure of the military Alliance, and its ambiguous position as an accessory...

Say what one will about his political positions, especially his staunch defense of the right to bear arms, Charlton Heston meant alot to alot of Americans. In homage to his death, WORLDMEETS.US will be posting foreign press reaction to his death throughout the next few days. We have begun by posting articles from the British, beginning with the The Times obituary, and from Australia’s The Age. The Times writes, “Heston was a rare creature in Hollywood, a town of often unthinking democrats....

Iraqi forces head to Basra on an American C-130, April 3. But will they battle their feuding Shiite brethren after they arrive? In light of the recent Shiite-on-Shiite battles raging in Iraq’s most important port city, Basra, what do the words ‘patriotism,’ ‘freedom,’ and ‘sovereignty‘ mean to Iraqis? After being occupied by the United States and others for the past five years, according to this op-ed from Iraq, their definitions of these terms bear little...