The National - United Arab Emirates
“Wheel of fortune”

Chinese people worldwide will be celebrating today. It’s the first day of the Year of the Ox. If you are born this year, you will be a born leader, and both patient and tireless in your work.That's according to the Chinese 12-year-cycle.

The National, an English-language daily from the United Arab Emirates today publishes an illustration of the Chinese lunar calendar.

After the Year of the Rat, China will be hoping for a better year this time around. Last year was a bittersweet one, marked by the devastating earthquake in Sichuan and the very successful Olympic Games held in Beijing.

Le Figaro - France
“Le Nouveau printemps des democrates chinois”
"A new spring for China’s democrats"

It’s a time of celebration in China but, in Beijing, the authorities are worried about possible dissidents. We are only months away from the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

Despite censure in China, a petition for human rights is making the rounds on the internet. It’s called Charta 08 and calls for a reform of the current political system. Its supporters want an end to the one-party rule, replacing it with a system based on human rights and democracy.

The Charta is being taken very seriously by the Chinese authorities as it has been signed by former politicians and, crucially, by people inside the system.

The Independent – United Kingdom
“The Brown backlash”

In the United Kingdom, the recession is biting, and it is having an influence on the country’s politicians as well. The Independent runs the results of a poll on its front page. Right next to it, a picture of a very glum Gordon Brown. David Cameron’s Conservative Party now has a lead of 15% over Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Labour Party.

According to the poll, Labour is now back where it was before the government’s rescue of banks, and the subsequent praise for the Prime Minister’s handling of the most acute moments of the financial crisis.

“Stop all these savage cartoons? Fat chance.”

On its inside pages, the Independent suggests Gordon Brown might be suffering from an image problem. In cartoon form, that is.

The left-leaning British newspaper reports that Brown has complained about how he is portrayed in cartoon form in the British press. He says, quite simply, that they make him look too fat.

This is of course not the first time a top-ranking politician falls victim to the cartoonists. One of the most famous recent examples comes from Steve Bell in the Guardian: he portrayed former US president George W. Bush as an orangutan.

Der Standard – Austria
“Erste Proteste gegen Obama in Pakistan”
“First protests against Obama in Pakistan”

On the cover of Austrian daily Der Standard, first signs that the honeymoon for new US President Barack Obama could be over in Pakistan, at least. The Austrian newspaper runs a picture of protests in Karachi against US policy in the region.

This comes after a US drone attack in the North of the country. The US attacks in the area are aimed at stopping extremists from entering Afghanistan.

The Sun – United Kingdom
“Fast food faker is McMillionaire”

The biggest-selling tabloid in the United Kingdom, The Sun, portrays the man with the “recipe for success”.

Chef Todd Wilbur from Las Vegas has made a fortune from revealing the biggest secrets of the world’s fast food chains.

Wilbur has sold over four million books telling people how to make their very own Big Macs. But this chef doesn’t stop here: he can also tell you how to copy your favourite pizza and burgers in the comfort of your own home.