Independent (UK)
A week in which our political leaders need to deliver
 

A week of high-profile political summits starts here. For the Independent, this week is one “in which our political leaders need to deliver.” In its editorial, the left-leaning British daily says “now is the time for action.” The newspaper’s focus is of course on Thursday’s G20 summit in London’s Docklands. From this one-day summit, they rather optimistically expect decisions on everything from climate change to the economic crisis.

Der Tagesspiegel (Germany)
Die Königsetappe
The key stage
 

Germany’s Der Tagesspiegel previews the upcoming week of political summits. For its readers, it has prepared a graph showing all the important stages in this highly charged week of political meetings. Taking the form of a key stage on the Tour de France, we can see one mountain on the graph bigger than all the others: the G20 summit is the highlight of a very complicated stage. Surrounding it are the conference on Afghanistan starting in The Hague on Tuesday and the NATO summit in Strasbourg starting on April 3.

Libération (France)
Pourquoi Obama est meilleur
Why Obama is better

To see who might end up being the king of the mountains in this crucial stage, Libération has organised a match between Europe and the United States. The French left-wing daily wants to find out who might be arriving at the G20 summit in London with a spring in their step and, crucially, with popular support to back them up. Libération sees a very clear winner. It’s US President Barack Obama, who, they say, is seen as a leader on both sides of the Atlantic. Europe, meanwhile, is seen as disorganised in the face of the economic crisis, with many stimulus packages being handed out left, right, and centre.

The Times (UK)
The last supper…

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is the host for London’s G20 summit. He is the star of The Times’ cartoon this Monday. Brown is very much a man under pressure on his own turf, with the woes of an economic crisis in the United Kingdom as his major worry. In the cartoon, Brown is hosting the last supper, with all the political leaders of the G20 member states in attendance. The Times seems to be suggesting Brown would be willing to sell his soul for this summit to be a success. It is, after all, possibly one of his last chances to shine on the world stage.

The National (United Arab Emirates)
Al Bashir arrives in Doha for summit

The other summit that will catch the attention of the world’s media begins today. This one is held by the Arab League in Qatar. The two-day summit already risks being overshadowed by the presence of the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir. He has arrived in Doha despite an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court hanging over his head.