In the Papers
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
By James Creedon / FRANCE 24
L'Orient le Jour (Lebanon)
‘Jubilation on one side, bitterness on the other, a chapter is closed’
‘La liesse d’un côté, l’amertume de l’autre, un chapitre est clos’
The front page of this Lebanese daily provides a balanced account of Wednesday’s prisoner exchange between Hezbollah and Israel. Two photos illustrate the contrasting emotions, as echoed in the headline.
The paper reports that President Michel Sleiman paid tribute to the ‘heroes of the resistance’ who had returned from ‘the land of occupation’.
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, sounded a slightly less militant note than usual during a welcoming ceremony for the five released prisoners. He spoke of reaching out to the Israeli majority and said he was open to dialogue regarding "defense strategy".
Haaretz (Israel)
Columnist Israel Harel encapsulated much of Israel’s anger over this exchange. He called the deal "humiliating and exorbitantly expensive".
New York Times (US)
“Policy Shift Seen in US Decision on Iran Talks”
The Israeli press wasn’t very happy regarding this next story either. Six months ahead of the end of the Bush Administration, American officials are set to meet face to face with Iran in a major shift in US policy. This is a softening of America’s previous position, reports the New York Times, despite attempts to play down the development and cast it as a simple change in tactics.
Up to now, European and in particular Swiss diplomats acted as go betweens in any indirect discussions between Teheran and Washington.
There is some speculation in the Times that this was an initiative supported and pushed by Condoleeza Rice. Analysts say it could signal a fresh schism in the Bush Administration and a definitive break with hardcore conservatives. A recent softening in policy towards North Korea seems to suggest such a trend, the paper notes.
The Guardian (Britain)
A timeline of the US’s conflict with Iran is provided in The Guardian. It charts the troubled relationship up today.
Hardliners such as Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld have resisted any attempts at rapprochement and hard-line right wingers will certainly not be happy at this latest turn in events, certainly those who advocated bombing nuclear facilities in Iran will accuse Bush of appeasement in this latest move.
New Yorker magazine investigative journalist Seymour Hersh has written a 6,000-word article alleging a secret US campaign to fund ethnic separatist groups fighting the Iranian government . There are allegations that U.S. commandos scooped up intel on clandestine forays onto Iranian soil.
Hersh alleges that the U.S. Congress secretly OKd up to $400 million to fund such activities.
US officials have denied the accusations that Hersh has leveled.
Le Figaro (France)
‘In Sydney, surf, music and Evangelism for World Youth Day’
« A Sydney, surf, musique et Evangile pour les JMJ »
The Figaro Reports that Bondi Beach had never seen such crowds… surfers ceding their place for an uncommonly spiritual gathering. Thousands converged here to welcome the Pope who was entertained by traditional aboriginal dancing.
World Youth Day was Pope John Paul’s initiative and has now taken on new importance as a means of reaching out to the young, all the more so in light of damaging Church scandals regarding child sexual abuse in Australia over the past decade.
Youths from 179 countries are converging on Sydney for the celebration which the Vatican hopes will boost the Church’s profile in Australia. Only 6% of young Australian Catholics practice their religion.
Lots of clichéd pictures emerged from the festivities including a shot of a koala bear who seemed to be trying to flee the Pope’s outstretched arms.
The Province (Australia)
“Lucky koala survives hit at 100 km/h”
This Canadian daily reports the widely circulated story of a pretty resilient koala. Dubbed ‘Lucky Grilles’ (and with very good reason) he emerged with barely a a scratch after being hit by a car at 100 km/h and riding for 12 kilometres with his head stuck…yes, in the grill!
France 24 can confirm that the Pope Mobile was nowhere in sight at the time of the collision.
