Director Roman Polanski may have narrowly escaped yet another attempt to extradite him to the United States on charges that he raped a San Francisco 13-year-old 33 years ago. According to this article by Ewa Siedlecka of Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza, Polanski canceled a visit to a film festival in his native country of Poland at the last minute, leading many to believe he feared the long arm of American law. For Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza, Ewa Siedlecka writes in part: On June 6, Roman Polanski...

Pakistani frustration and resentment continued to mushroom yesterday, when, due to its displeasure with a lack of Pakistani cooperation, the U.S. announced a cut of $800 million in aid to Islamabad. According to this editorial from Pakistan’s Frontier Post, U.S. aid has brought the country nothing but misery and insecurity, and in any case, amounts to much less than Washington claims. The Frontier Post editorial says in part: This stoppage in American military aid should come as no surprise....

Recently in Hungary, an organization named after Hungarian-American and former Congressman Tom Lantos was inaugurated. So far so good. But according to this angry editorial from Hungary’s Barikad newspaper, there are many Hungarians who were offended by the praise heaped on the former U.S. lawmaker, a man they regarded as something of a Hungarian turncoat who was more loyal to the U.S. and Israel than to his native land. The Barikad editorial says in small part: The attendees were all very...

Could it be that after years of protecting Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, also known as the father of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, Islamabad may be preparing to prosecute him for providing nuclear technology to rogue states? According to this editorial from Pakistan’s Frontier Post, a letter allegedly passed on by Dr. Khan to a British researcher may be a CIA forgery. If genuine, however, the document would prove that Khan was acting with the approval and support of Pakistan’s government...

With the release of former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn from house arrest in New York, it seems that the soul-searching that had descended on French media over giving the influential a pass on their personal behavior has almost completely reversed itself. For Les Dernières Nouvelles d’Alsace, columnist Olivier Picard laments that when it comes to being neutral observers of events, French journalists have a long way to go. For Les Dernières Nouvelles d’Alsace, Olivier Picard writes...

Although rape charges against former IMF chief Dominique-Strauss Kahn may be dropped, the case has triggered a reawakening among French feminists, and according to Le Monde special correspondent Catherine Simon, they have issued a set of demands to put to all candidates in France’s 2012 presidential election. For Le Monde, from the Summer conference of Feminist Movements in Evry, France, correspondent Catherine Simon writes in part: ‘In a sense, the case has been beneficial. It has...

In what has been cropping up as a pretty consistent narrative from Europeans since President Obama announced that U.S. forces are withdrawing from Afghanistan, Enrique Arias Vega of Spain’s El Semanal writes that after all that America has done for Europe, Europe must step up and fill the security void the U.S. is about to create – or cede the ground to Beijing. For El Semanal, Enrique Arias Vega writes in part: Now is the Europe’s chance to demonstrate its supposed military and...

Is China the victim of a campaign mounted by the United States to turn the nations adjacent to the South China Sea against Beijing? According to columnist Liang Fengming of China’s state-run Huanqui, the U.S. is seeking to demonize China by inflaming territorial disputes between China and other states like Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, South Korea and others – which are none of America’s business. For the state-run Huanqui, columnist Liang Fengming writes in part: Those who...

It may be the Independence Day holiday, but according to Financial Times Deutschland Wall Street correspondent Jens Korte, U.S. citizens have precious little to celebrate this year. So does the dismal economic climate and waning U.S. influence spell the end for the United States? Korte writes – not by a long shot. For Germany’s Financial Times Deutschland, Jens Korte writes in part: This year, the 2nd of August could indeed be a historic day. If by then Congress doesn’t succeed...

Are things so dire on the eve of America’s 234th Independence Day, that the United States needs Europe to step in to preserve all that Western civilization holds dear? According to this article from columnist Clemens Wergin of Germany’s Die Welt, after decades of taking a ‘free ride’ on America’s dime, it is time for Europe to fill the security gap while the United States licks its financial and military wounds. For Germany’s Die Welt, Clemens Wergin writes in...

Are the Muslim uprisings a result of Arab distaste for the United States and Israel? According to this news item from Iran’s state-run Kayhan, Iran’s leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has made the unlikely claim that while most of the Muslim uprisings are against the U.S. and Israel – the uprising in Syria is a plot instigated by the ‘Global Arrogance.’ The news item from Kayhan says in part: The essence of the Islamic awakening is an anti-Zionist and anti-U.S....

Is it reasonable to assert, as President Obama did the other day, that, the ‘wave of war is receding’? According to this editorial from Brazil’s Estadao, while the last few years have proven the ‘folly’ of Bush’s ‘war against terrorists,’ President Obama’s belief that the ‘tide of war’ is receding may well turn out to be just as far fetched. The Estadao editorial says in part: In one of his innumerable spirited phrases, English essayist...

Is President Obama’s decision to follow through with plans to withdraw from Afghanistan just a misbegotten election-year ploy? According to columnist Andreas Ruesch of Switzerland’s Neue Zurcher Zeitung, Mr. Obama has sent the Taliban the wrong message at precisely the wrong time, apparently for strictly electoral purposes. For Switzerland’s Neue Zurcher Zeitung, Andreas Ruesch writes in part: The Taliban will have noticed that the president announced the withdrawal of all combat...

Has the world seen the last of the major U.S.-mounted invasions? For Poland’s Rzeczpospolita, columnist Marek Magierowski writes that while electoral politics played a role in President Obama’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, the explanation goes much deeper. For Rzeczpospolita, Marek Magierowski writes in part: Obama also knows that his country is no longer capable of bearing the financial burden of the war. It costs the taxpayers $10 billion a month to continue waging it. How...

It may have been largely forgotten by the global media, but the nuclear catastrophe in Japan has not been concluded. This editorial from Japan’s Niigata-Nippo Shimbun, packaged with video on the latest assessments on the disaster from both in and out of Japan, offers a glimpse of the ongoing nuclear turmoil confronted by the Japanese people. The Niigata-Nippo Shimbun editorial says in part: ‘If Fukushima doesn’t call for an end to nuclear energy, what will? The whole world is watching...

Is Washington stabbing Hamid Karzai in the back by holding meetings with the Taliban without the involvement of his government? According to this article from Pakistan’s Frontier Post, it’s probably too late for Karzai, who whether he knows it or not, has been nothing but a U.S. stooge since the fall of the Taliban. The Frontier Post editorial says in part: It should come as no surprise. For quite sometime, American media has been publishing leaks that the U.S. administration has been...

Given what we’re used to from China’s state-controlled media, this article about the behavior of Chinese firms listed on U.S. stock exchanges stands out for being remarkably frank about the misbehavior of China’s corporations. Are law-breaking Chinese firms getting themselves listed on U.S. stock exchanges to reap rewards from the good reputation developed by their more honest, hard-working counterparts? According to this surprisingly self-critical article by CCTV Analyst Lie...

While the United States regards itself as a highly transparent democracy, columnist Enrique Lynch of Argentina’s La Capital writes that the photo taken during the killing of Osama bin Laden in the White House Situation Room reflects a blatant and dangerous exclusion of the public more reminiscent of a monarchy than a 21st century democracy. For Argentina’s La Capital, Enrique Lynch writes in part: What’s the significance of the photo showing Obama, Clinton and their collaborators...

Managing the U.S. economic decline in relation to the emerging economies in Asia, Latin America and elsewhere, is hard for many Americans to take. But as this article by Financial Times Deutschland columnist Thomas Fricke makes painfully clear, there is no escaping the fact that the old rule, “when America sneezes, the world catches a cold” is fast becoming a relic of a bygone age. For the Financial Times Deutschland, Thomas Fricke writes in part: Sure – America is important....

Is the United States behind the recent uptick of violent attacks in Iraq? According to columnist Tamam Abdulhamid of Iraq’s Kitabat, this appears to be part of U.S. a strategy to convince Iraqi lawmakers and military officials that American forces are still needed in the country. For Iraq’s Kitabat, Tamam Abdulhamid writes in part: What do the increasing frequency of such attacks and the rising tension associated with the approaching deadline for the withdrawal of American troops signify?...

Despite the fact that Japan was the first and only nation to suffer a nuclear attack, this editorial from Japan’s Chibanippo Shimbun explains that with time, much of the insecurity felt by Japanese over nuclear fission had diminished. That is until that fateful day three months ago, when an earthquake and tsunami triggered one of the most devastating nuclear accidents in history. The Chibanippo Shimbun says in part: It’s a painful fact of history that 300,000 people died as a result...

Unbeknownst to much of the U.S. public, the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection admitted last week to 95 cases of corruption within his agency related to drug trafficking, undocumented immigrants and money laundering by organized crime groups in Mexico. In other words, U.S. customs officials are being bribed. According to this editorial from Mexico’s La Jornada, this is more proof of the dangerous institutional disintegration in both nations, due to which large numbers of Mexicans are...

Is there a shadowy group of men and women, who behind closed doors decide the course of human events and even history? For Switzerland’s Tages Anzeiger, columnist Markus Diem Meier writes that the truth is likely far more frightening: no one can can control global events, and even the Bilderbergers, who just ended their annual meeting, are shaped by rather than shapers of events. For the Tages Anzeiger, Markus Diem Meier writes in part: The whole hullabaloo surrounding the conference probably...

With Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann being seen by some as serious contenders for the presidency, are Republicans running the risk of damaging the chances of future Republican women seeking America’s highest office? For Switzerland’s News, columnist Patrik Etschmayer writes that the historic, history-related gaffes of both Palin and Bachmann may weigh very heavily on the future of their party – and their gender. For Switzerland’s News, Patrik Etschmayer writes in part: Palin’s...

Will the U.N. General Assembly recognize a Palestinian state when it reconvenes in September? And if it does, what will the fallout when the United States – as President Obama has said it will do – vetoes the resolution? For Spain’s El Pais, columnist Louis Bassets warns that one of the consequences may be an even greater gulf between America and Europe. For El Pais, Louis Bassets writes in part: There is still three months before the two trains arrive at their collision point....