financial crisis - G20 - Iraq - Sarah Palin - suicide bombing
In The Papers
Los Angeles Times (USA)
'Summit of G20 nations is unlikely to produce quick solutions’
The G20 summit this weekend to discuss the global financial crisis is featuring in much of the world’s press, but many newspapers don’t paint a very positive view, with many editorials already condemning the summit to failure. The Los Angeles Times has an analysis piece on why they think the summit won’t achieve anything – they say it was convened at too short notice, the issues are too complex, and that there’s a general lack of energy. The LA Times also laments the non-presence of US President-elect Barack Obama and quote an analyst as saying Obama won’t want his fingerprints on this likely failure.
Hindustan Times (India)
‘Frozen Heights’
The Indian newspaper The Hindustan Times also takes a very negative view, in an opinion piece by an Indian MP and former member of the country’s Planning Commission. He highlights the divide between western nations and developing countries in the G20, saying there are double standards and that the US won’t apply any strict rules to itself. The editorial opinion piece says the world needs a real multilateral umbrella organisation, not just a PR exercise.
Mail & Guardian (South Africa)
‘“It’s OK to use women” for suicide bombing’
The South African newspaper The Mail & Guardian’s Baghdad reporter has a piece on the rise of female suicide bombers in the Diyala province north of the Iraqi capital. This comes after a 13-year-old girl blew herself up in the region only a few days ago. The report says that women, especially young women and girls, are being trained by radical clerics to become suicide bombers, and points out that there have been 27 female suicide bombings in Diyala in last 18 months. The article cites Iraqi government intelligence as saying girls from dysfunctional families are targeted and promised that they can redeem themselves and their relatives if they become martyrs.
Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
'Prank blog takes credit for Palin's Africa "faux pas"'
Rumours about former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin have been circulating since the US elections, with Fox News quoting a “McCain aide” as saying Palin didn’t know Africa was a continent, rather than a single country. Now it appears those ‘aides’ and those rumours are false. The Sydney Morning Herald has picked up on the story -they report it was all the work of two US bloggers, who created a fictional character ‘Martin Eisenstadt’ who they claimed was a McCain policy adviser.
The Guardian (UK)
‘Second Life affair leads to couple's real-life divorce’
Virtual world ‘Second Life’, in which players can assume identities, earn money, buy a house and communicate with others has caused strife for one British couple. A real-life husband and wife are divorcing after the woman found her real-life husband ‘cheating’ on her with a virtual partner! The UK newspaper The Guardian says Amy Taylor, who initially met her husband in an internet chatroom, described this as “the ultimate betrayal”.
