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  Talking to Hamas, the Pope in America, and the Global Food Crisis

  April 17, 2008
  
  

  Business Standard (India)

  • In an editorial on comments by the head of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, on the global food situation, the paper says his emphasis on this issue reinforces the view that food inflation is perhaps the most significant threat to the global economy today, even more than the financial crisis in the United States.

  Christian Science Monitor

  • Michael Armacost of Stanford University questions whether Washington is poised to take advantage of a convergence of views with South Korea, whose newly elected president Lee Myung-Bak is visiting the United States this week.  
  • In an editorial, the paper says if Beijing can talk with Taiwan about ties, it can talk with the Dalai Lama about Tibet's future.

  Daily Telegraph

  • Bill Emmott, a former editor of the Economist, calls for a rethink on genetically modified food, saying the longer we deny ourselves this technological way to increase food output and reduce the use of fertilizer, the longer the current imbalance between food supply and demand will last.
  • In an editorial on new measures in Britain to tackle the financial crisis, the Telegraph says the crash of 2007 was caused by a lethal combination of negligent government oversight and political decisions (implemented through central banks) to keep money cheaper than it should have been. 

  Daily Times (Pakistan)

  • Talat Masood, a retired general, writes that the Bush Administration’s uneasiness with any peace moves by the Pakistan government with Pakistani militants is creating reciprocal resentment in Pakistan’s political circles and civil society.

  Financial Times

  • In an editorial on warnings about a possible fall in Russian oil output, the paper says Moscow should swiftly pass delayed laws that define sectors where foreign involvement will be limited, and press on with privatization of state-controlled assets.
  • Columnist Victor Mallet, in a commentary on the global food crisis, says that while it is tempting to assume that the problem is purely one of supply and can be fixed by genetically modified plants or investment in a new “green revolution” to boost crop yields, the most productive solutions are all matters of policy.

  Guardian

  • In an editorial on the Pope’s visit to the United States, the paper says his speeches and sermons  there will be carefully watched for what they say not just about private but public morality.
  • Columnist Timothy Garton Ash writes that a great idea is now stalking the corridors of Europe. It is that Europeans should resolve to promote a modern, liberal version of demokratia in countries beyond Europe's borders - in our own interest, and in theirs, he says.
  • Meanwhile columnist Seumas Milne asks why Zimbabwe and Tibet are getting all the attention at the moment, citing other countries where he says elections have been rigged, or minorities repressed.

  Independent (London)

  • In an editorial on former U.S. president Jimmy Carter’s plans for a meeting with Hamas, the Independent says the Israeli political establishment does not want to hear it, but Carter is right: Israel needs to talk to Hamas and negotiate a ceasefire. CFR.org yesterday launched a new interactive Crisis Guide, which provides an in-depth look at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
  • William Gumede, author of a book on Thabo Mbeki, says that by not dealing decisively with Robert Mugabe, Mbeki's much vaunted African solutions for Africa's problems have been dealt a devastating blow. It is now to those outside Africa, to solve this deep African problem, he says.

  International Herald Tribune

  • In an editorial on a case being heard by the United States Supreme Court on allowing the death penalty in a case of child rape, the paper says the court should not extend the death penalty to crimes other than murder.  

  Haaretz

  • Columnist Shmuel Rosner describes Jimmy Carter as nothing but a nuisance, and adds that it is possible to ignore him, protest his manipulative tricks, and still continue to work for true peace between Israel and the Arabs.

  Jerusalem Post

  • In an editorial in which the paper offers congratulations to Silvio Berlusconi, it says this week's dramatic elections in Italy promise to redraw that country's political map and to change its relations with Israel - both to auspicious effect.  

  Jordan Times

  • Columnist Michael Jansen writes that Jimmy Carter’s efforts to promote dialogue could break the logjam of U.S. and Israeli prohibitions on contacts with groups and governments these countries call “terrorists.”

  New York Times

  • In an editorial on the death penalty in the United States, the Times regrets a ruling that upholds the use of lethal injection, saying it’s a reminder of why government should get out of the business of executing prisoners.
  • Also in an editorial, the paper says every American who has a job or who wants one should be following the debates in Congress over bills to crack down on illegal hiring.
  • In a further editorial, on the Pope’s visit, the paper is encouraged that he has spoken out about the actions of pedophile priests.

  Times of London

  • In an editorial on the visit of the British prime minister, Gordon Brown, to the United States, the Times says that Britain’s standing has declined in America and it is up to the prime minister to reverse this.
  • The paper’s chief foreign commentator Bronwen Maddox writes in praise of the European trade commissioner Peter Mandelson for a speech on China which linked the Beijing Olympics and concessions on trade.

  Wall Street Journal

  • In an editorial on President Bush’s new pledges on greenhouse gas emissions, the paper says the president’s larger purpose was force the global warmists to take responsibility for the carbon and greenhouse-gas regulation they say they favor.
  • Two Nobel Prize laureates, David Baltimore and Ahmed Zewail regret the decision by the three candidates left in the U.S. presidential race to decline participation in a televised science debate. Apparently, they write, they have better things to do than explain their views on securing America's future.
  • Michael Pettis of Peking University, writing in the Journal’s Asia edition, asks what is causing inflation in China, and says data suggests that it is less to do with food prices and more with monetary policy that has been too loose.

  Washington Post

  • Mahmoud al-Zahar, a founder of Hamas, writes that President Jimmy Carter’s sensible plan to visit the Hamas leadership this week brings honesty and pragmatism to the Middle East while underscoring the fact that American policy has reached its dead end.
  • In an editorial on Zahar’s commentart, the Post is critical of Carter, saying it is one thing to communicate pragmatically, and quite another to publicly and unconditionally grant recognition and political sanction to a leader or a group that advocates terrorism, mass murder, or the extinction of another state.  
  • In a further editorial, the paper says President Bush on Wednesday once again passed up an opportunity -- perhaps his last -- to do something meaningful on climate change.
  • Op-ed columnist Harold Meyerson asks why the Iraq war is different from all other American wars.

  Washington Times

  • In an editorial the paper says President Bush's speech on Wednesday outlining the goal of halting the growth of greenhouse-gas emissions in the United States by 2025 runs the unusual gauntlet of promising something the private sector will probably deliver on its own.
  • In a further editorial, on the growing military strength of Hamas, the paper says it is likely just a matter of time until this strengthened Hamas arsenal confronts the Israeli military for control of Gaza.
  • Russell Shaw of the Catholic bishops’ conference of the United States questions whether the Catholic Church in the United States has really done enough about the scandal of child sex abuse by priests.

  Ynetnews (Israel)

  • Columnist Dror Etkes writes that people like Jimmy Cartercontribute to the creation of a local political culture that is hinged on facts, rather than religious and nationalistic fantasy.

   

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