Council on Foreign Relations

Arab News (Saudi Arabia)

• Finger Pointing: In an editorial the paper suggests those behind the bombings in Istanbul might not be the PKK, nor al-Qaeda, but a third group: Ergenekon, the Turkish ultranationalist secret society recently accused of planning to bring down the government.

Age (Australia)

• Stain Removal: In an editorial the paper welcome's the Labor government's proposed changes to rules on the detention of asylum seekers. It says that ending the automatic detention of those seeking asylum removes a stain from the soul of the nation.

Australian

• Climate Change: Dennis Jensen, a research scientist and politician, writes that vested interests have hijacked the climate debate and taken Australia's future hostage. He argues that despite a poll showing 96 percent of Australians believe humans are behind climate change, the data doesn't support the view.

Business Day (South Africa)

• Just in Time: In an editorial, the paper applauds calls from Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, for a carbon tax saying that his recent comments on the environment were too long in the making.

Daily Nation (Kenya)

• Family First: Wilson Macharia, a Nairobi-based businessman, writes that students should be involved in solving the bout of recent unrest in Kenya's schools adding that the country's leaders should de-emphasise materialism and rally people back to the family.

Daily Star (Lebanon)

• Good Man: Columnist Rami G. Khouri has praise for Robert Pelletreau, Jr., a former assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs. He calls him that rare species in Washington these days - an experienced, impartial, patriotic American public servant who knows Washington and the Middle East, and speaks honestly to both.

Daily Telegraph

• Bush Strikes: Economist Irwin Stelzer writes that George W. Bush is undermining Senator John McCain's presidential campaign by talk of turning Iraq's security over to the Iraqis and sending a high-ranking diplomat to talk to the Iranians.

Daily Times (Pakistan)

• Two views: In an editorial, the paper says the joint statement issued following a meeting of President George W. Bush and Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in Washington reflects the conflicting priorities in the war against terrorism.

Financial Times

• Mortgage Magic: In an editorial the paper says there is no easy magic cure for Britain's troubled mortgage market but argues that while the previous model of mortgage finance was unsustainable, it is up to the market, not the government, to find a new one.
• Odd Couple: In an editorial, the FT laments the financial woes of the U.S.-French telecommunications equipment group Alcatel-Lucent which is shedding both its chief executive and its chairman. Being an American in Paris is appealing at the cinema. In corporate life it can be a more painful experience, the paper writes.

Guardian

• Home Front: The housing market could define Gordon Brown's leadership more than any other area of policy, the paper writes in an editorial. It says the prime minister needs to come up with policies to help those struggling to pay their mortgages.

Independent (UK)

• Talks Over: In an editorial, the paper writes that the breakdown of the WTO talks is disappointing and doubts they can be revived after a summer break. It says the hopes imposed on Doha were always greater than the practice would bear.

International Herald Tribune

• Bush Whacked: In an editorial, the paper says it hasn't taken issue with President George W. Bush's decision to attend the Olympics. But his refusal to speak out publicly and clearly about China's repressive behavior is an abdication of leadership and a blot on his record.

Jerusalem Post

• City Limits: In an editorial, the paper wonders how Israel can lay claim to parts of East Jerusalem when it has almost no presence in Arab neighbourhoods. It says the government should delineate the areas the Jewish state claims and ensure those Arab neighborhoods that are to remain under permanent Israeli control reap the full benefits of Jewish sovereignty.

New York Times

• Drilling Times: Columnist Thomas Friedman decries the Republicans for believing that off-shore drilling for oil can solve America's energy crisis. It's like someone in the 1980s arguing that more money should be put into electric typewriters rather than computers, he writes.
• Low Road Express: In an editorial, the paper writes that Senator John McCain has adopted what it calls the low-minded and uncivil playbook of Karl Rove after hiring disciples of the former White House adviser.
• Young Consumers: In an editorial, the paper urges President Bush to sign into law a new package of measures it says will protect consumers, particularly children. It says the new bill will provide much-needed resources and clout for the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Times of India

• Too Much: In an editorial, the paper takes a dim view of remarks by the opposition leader Sushma Swaraj that the recent bomb attacks in Bangalore and Ahmedabad were engineered to divert attention from the bribery charges against the government.

Times of London

• Heading South: Amir Taheri, a commentator on Islamic affairs, writes that as Jihadists face defeat in Iraq and Afghanistan, they are moving stealthily into a new power base, North Africa.

Wall Street Journal

• Trade Talks: Daniel Ikenson of the Cato Institute writes that the Doha trade talks collapsed long before this week adding that while the bureaucracies in Geneva, Brussels and Washington might mourn, the world economy has moved on.
• Read My Lips: In an editorial, the paper lambasts Senator John McCain for what it says is his latest random policy improvisation, appearing to sanction possible tax increases should he become president.
• Full Circle: Deborah Burlingame, a director of the September 11 Memorial Foundation, recounts the story of a Kuwaiti national released from Guantanamo who went on to become a suicide bomber in Iraq.

Washington Post

• Flameout: Columnist Michael Crowley writes that if the charges announced on Tuesday against the powerful Alaska Republican Ted Stevens are true, he will end his four-decade Senate career in a sleazy flameout.
• Olympic Rule: In an editorial, the paper welcomes a ruling by the International Olympic Committee to allow two Iraqi athletes to attend the games but wonders why five others remain banned by bureaucratic fiat.
• All Agreed: Columnist Harold Meyerson welcomes the apparent agreement between Senator Barack Obama's economic advisers and muses that the world of Democratic economics is unused to such accord.

Washington Times

• Republican Trouble: In an editorial, the paper writes that the perception among voters that Republicans participate in a "culture of corruption" has received more fuel following the indictment of Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in the Senate in U.S. history on federal corruption charges.