Here are excerpts from editorials in newspapers around the world:
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Feb. 6
Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo, on food poisonings:
The mystery continues regarding the spate of food poisonings caused by frozen gyoza dumplings produced in China that were contaminated with pesticide. The facts now emerging are merely adding to the questions that remain unanswered.
Last week it was reported that 10 people from three families in Chiba and Hyogo prefectures were diagnosed with food poisoning after they ate frozen gyoza produced at a factory owned by Tianyang Food in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province. Police and the product's importers are investigating. Traces of the pesticide were found inside the packages of the gyoza the victims ate. ...
A Chinese team of food safety experts has arrived in Japan, and they will work together with Japanese experts to solve this mystery. They will compare notes to bring the case to a swift resolution.
Until the cause of the food poisonings is made clear, appropriate measures cannot be taken. The distrust by Japanese consumers of Chinese food imports will further spread, while Chinese people will take umbrage against Japan because they believe that Japan is falsely accusing China of wrongdoing.
This situation, if mishandled, could seriously injure the bilateral relationship between Japan and China.
The experts from both countries must do as they have promised and settle the case as soon as possible. They must establish a firm framework for cooperation, and both sides must be fully prepared to disclose and share all information, including anything that might incriminate parties on either side. ...
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On the Net:
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200802060067.html
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Feb. 3
This Day, Lagos, Nigeria, on external reserves and economic management:
Ordinarily, keeping external reserves by any nation is a normal part of economic management. Properly utilised it is supposed to shore up the economy, rekindle confidence of the international economic community and creditors in the nations business transactions, and under a good monetary regime, it helps solidify the value of the nations currency
However, in the last five years, Nigeria's keeping of external reserve, instead of generating debates on level to keep it, has been more a subject of controversy, rebuke and resentments both from the well-informed and the uninformed who are peeved by the stark reality of Nigerian economy vis-a-vis its externalities. ... Leading the debate as to its uses and abuses is the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, who had expressed reservation at non-utilisation of the nation's huge foreign reserves for the common good. He had cautioned the federal Government against maintaining external reserves when there are no functional hospitals, good roads and universities in the country. He said if care was not taken, the reserve could be spent on hiring expatriates knowledge if the nation fails to plough it back into its educational system. ...
We can not agree more with the governor's position. This is one position we have consistently maintained in the last five-years. ... The nation wants to be one of best 20 economies by year 2020, yet it is not investing in its infrastructure such as roads, electricity, water supply, and crime fighting and knowledge industry, yet it is keeping money that its citizens may be unable to use judiciously in future when they are not adequately catered for or prepared for that future.
... The American Government is intervening to prevent the collapse of Mortgage Industry by helping out the most affected Americans. So why continue to keep billions abroad when the Nigerian people are suffering and the economy is not making progress? We urge the Yar'Adua Government to think and think again before the social conditions become too dangerous to sustain our democracy.
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On the Net:
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id102282
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Feb. 6
The Independent, London, on Google and Microsoft:
It is tempting, when looking at the battle between Google and Microsoft over the latter's proposed purchase of Yahoo!, to wish that there was some way that they could both lose. It is a little rich to hear Microsoft protesting the virtues of its capture of the second most important search engine on the grounds of competition. ...
Indeed, such is the degree of blurring brought about by the World Wide Web that Google, rather than any other technology company, has emerged as Microsoft's most potent rival and threat. Software that is arguably better than Microsoft's and can be distributed easily and cheaply via the internet is the single biggest threat to Microsoft's future, and much of the developing rivalry to Microsoft's products may well emanate from Google or its allies. So what is the Google case? That "the openness of the Internet is what made Google and Yahoo! possible. This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another. It's about preserving the underlying principles of the internet: openness and innovation". ...
Despite the questionable commercial motivations underlying Microsoft's move, some form of competitor to the ubiquitous Google might be a good thing for web users. Oddly, Microsoft's holding in Apple helped that once arch-rival survive and move into more promising businesses such as the iPod. Yahoo!'s future is a tricky question that may end up being resolved by lawyers. Just don't expect to find the answer by Googling it.
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On the Net:
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Feb. 5
The Jerusalem Post, Israel, on the border with Egypt:
A woman was killed and 40 others wounded when a suicide bomber detonated himself yesterday in Dimona. A second suicide bomber, stunned by the first blast, was killed by an alert police officer before he could explode himself, saving many lives.
... On Saturday, two brothers from Gaza wearing explosive belts were caught in the Sinai by Egyptian security forces. A day earlier, Egypt arrested 15 Palestinian terrorists, 12 of whom were members of Hamas. Last week, Egypt arrested another five Palestinians carrying explosive belts.
These arrests, however welcome and necessary, are not near enough. Whichever route yesterday's bombers took, the wide-open border between Israel and Egypt is "a disaster waiting to happen," as this newspaper editorialized just one week ago. To their credit, at Sunday's cabinet meeting, before yesterday's attack, ministers Ehud Barak, Haim Ramon, and Binyamin Ben-Eliezer all called to build a new security fence along the border with Egypt.
... Promises are cheap and have been repeatedly broken. A plan and the rhetorical support of ministers are worth nothing without a commitment to find the budget to fund this project. If Barak and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert truly support Hourglass, they need to find the money to fund it now, before the current promises disperse with the wind like all the others.
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On the Net:
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Feb. 1
Battle Creek Enquirer, Battle Creek, Michigan, on American foreign aid:
... After nearly two years of hearings and interviews, the government HELP (Helping to Enhance the Livelihood of People) Commission issued a report last month calling for major reform in the way American foreign aid is delivered. It advocates a new business model that promotes locally led development that embraces innovation, encourages research and development and is flexible in its programming to respond to needs more quickly.
While the HELP Commission's recommendations would include rewriting the Foreign Assistance Act, there also are simpler steps that could be taken without delay and yet have an important impact.
One such step, advocated by President Bush in his State of the Union address, would be for Congress to change the law that requires food supplies for foreign aid to be bought in the United States.
While we have no objection to American farmers benefiting from foreign aid programs, requiring that all food aid come from the United States can hamper efforts to deliver food to disaster areas in a timely manner. It sometimes can take months to get food from the United States to famine-stricken areas where there is a desperate need. In such situations, aid organizers should have the option of purchasing food from closer sources that can alleviate hunger more quickly.
Changing the law also could help farmers in developing countries by opening up aid markets to them.
Yet it appears unlikely that Congress will make this change and eliminate a barrier to providing timely help to those who need it most. ...
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On the Net:
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Feb. 4
South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on the Army and the increase of soldier suicides:
The U.S. Army can truthfully say they've tried to do something about suicide among soldiers.
They made changes to mental health programs after it was found that the military was failing to adequately screen troops with psychological problems. There has been more training, more hiring of mental health professionals, closer monitoring of troops on psychiatric medications.
All this, however, isn't enough.
In 2007, at least 121 soldiers committed suicide, an increase of 20 percent over the previous year. At least 30 U.S. soldiers killed themselves in Iraq.
Obviously, troops are in stressful situations. But it is not just the stress of actual combat causing the uptick in suicides.
Repeat and lengthier deployments three and four tours of duty are not unheard of are a factor, as the U.S. military continues to fight wars on two fronts. There is the stress caused by fractured relationships back home. Undoubtedly there is stress caused by worry over job and money situations once a soldier comes home. ...
We spend billions sending troops into hellacious situations. The least the government can do is take care of them while they are there and when they come back.
Politicians who like to orate about "supporting the troops" should make sure it gets done.
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On the Net:
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Feb. 5
The Boston Globe, on President Bush's budget:
President Bush's $3.1 trillion budget for 2009, released yesterday, doesn't have any chance of passing Congress without extensive revisions. But since it is submitted in his last full year in office, the budget is a statement of his legacy, which can be summed up in five words: wars, tax cuts, budget deficits.
Defense spending would approach $515.4 billion, the highest amount, adjusted for inflation, since World War II. ... Bush, when he leaves office, will be the first president to leave two unfinished wars to his successor. ...
In the long-range forecasts that are part of the budget, Bush proposes to extend tax cuts beyond 2011, when they are due to expire, even though the beginnings of the baby boomers' retirement will put unprecedented stresses on Medicare. Bush estimates that the budget will be balanced by 2012, with the tax cuts in effect. To eliminate the deficits, he had to play tricks with defense spending, seek cuts in many domestic programs, arbitrarily restrain the growth of Medicaid and Medicare, and neglect a permanent fix in the Alternative Minimum Tax, which will bite deep into the middle class unless it is amended to target the truly wealthy, its original intent. ...
Congress and the people would never go along with the stingy allocations for domestic programs. And the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will impose strains on the budget for years that Bush refuses to calculate. The president is setting up his successor for a major fight over restoring tax rates to their 1990s levels to sustain vital federal programs, both at home and abroad.
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On the Net:
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Feb. 6
Los Angeles Times, on the renewed interest in presidential politics:
It's hard to say what prompted Americans to stop caring about their president, but it might have been Richard Nixon. Voter turnout for presidential elections was north of 60 percent in the 1960s, but dropped to 55 percent in 1972 and has never climbed above that mark since. The cynicism may be nearing an end. ...
It isn't just the turnout numbers that are rising. Presidential debates this season have become mind-numbingly common. Each party has held about 20 since last April, most of them relegated to cable or local TV. Yet viewership has been surprisingly high. ...
... This election is also in part a referendum on George W. Bush's leadership. ...
Yet more than anything else, it is the candidates themselves who are injecting rare excitement into the contest. On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee entices evangelical Christians, Mitt Romney hopes to be the choice of fiscal conservatives, Ron Paul brings up the libertarian wing, and John McCain ... well, the difficulty in pinpointing his position on the conservative spectrum probably explains his newfound popularity. He pleases many but satisfies few.
The Democrats have far narrower choices _ Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are all-but identical on the issues that matter. Yet it's clear from turnout numbers that the Democrats are far more energized than Republicans, and it isn't hard to see why: Electing either a woman or an African American man to the presidency would be a historic first, and these candidates carry that promise with grace.
More than that, though, these candidates have intrigued young voters. ... Their participation in this year's election couldn't be more welcome.
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On the Net:
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Jan. 31
The Denver Post, Colorado, on challenges for President Bush's successor:
... It has been widely reported that the Bush administration has been negotiating a long-term pact with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that maps how the U.S. would be involved in Iraq, including keeping its government safe from internal and external threats.
Some in Congress and academia believe this meets the textbook definition of a treaty, and if it were one, Congress would have to approve such a pact.
The Bush administration has been forceful in its opinion that the agreement it is forging with Iraq is not a treaty, and therefore does not need to go to Congress.
Whether it technically is a treaty is an important issue, but not the only one. Bush has had nearly five years in pursuing his policies in Iraq. It has been a disaster. It's time he stops creating messes that the next president, and ultimately the American people, will be responsible for cleaning up.
Beyond that injustice there also is the president's continuing abuse of presidential signing statements.
President Bush has used them prolifically to say he doesn't intend to comply with certain sections of bills that he believed to be unconstitutional.
The president justifies his actions by saying Congress cannot pass laws that infringe on the powers the Constitution gives to the executive branch. The trouble is, this administration has a rather expansive interpretation of executive power. ...
The last thing this country needs is for the decisions of this administration to become an even heavier millstone around the neck of the next president.
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On the Net:
http://www.denverpost.com/editorials/ci_8133600
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