Iowa: 'With enemies like these...'

Iowa Tuesday will give us an insight into which Republican candidates are in or out - will there be a surprise? Also, Iran is sabre-rattling just weeks after the US pullout from neighbouring Iraq. And how should you nurse that New Year's Eve hangover? That's the focus for this look at the world papers, Monday 2nd January 2012.

IN THE PAPERS

The editor of The Cedar Rapids Gazette has a piece entitled “Looking forward to a night of many possible winners”, suggesting Iowa Tuesday will be inconclusive for the Republicans.

Tweets capture some of the mood, with one saying: “Come on … Political junkies unite. 2012 is here”. Another suggests that "Iowa stands for “Idiot Out Wandering Around”.

The UK paper The Independent headlines: “With enemies like these, does the President need friends?”

Slate focuses on a statement by one of the Republican candidates: Rick “Santorum Says He Would Bomb Iran’s Nuclear Facilities”…

Today’s International Herald Tribune cartoon, meanwhile, implies that Tehran is not such a worry right now. It shows “Iran” on a surfboard hovering above the water with the caption “Things to do on the Strait of Hormuz - Hot Air Surfing!”

The Tehran Times is leading on the testing of its first nuclear fuel rod. It says the technology will be used to power a Tehran research reactor producing radio-isotopes for cancer treatment.

And The Atlantic is running a piece called 12 Hangover Cures from Famous Heavy Drinkers. Nuff said: ***Plink, plink, fizz***

18/06/2013 - IN THE PAPERS INTERNATIONAL

Bashar al-Assad: Europe’s backyard will become a terrorist haven if it supplies rebels with arms

INTERNATIONAL PAPERS, Tues. 18.06.13: Brazilian papers react to widespread protests across the country. Bashar al-Assad is defiant in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He says Europe will pay the price if it supplies rebels with weapons. And why do Norwegians like boring television?

18/06/2013 - IN THE PAPERS NATIONAL

Tapie Scandal: Le Monde says the panel was fixed

FRENCH PAPERS, Tues. 18.06.13: Le Monde says it has seen proof that the private panel that granted Bernard Tapie 400 million euros in 2008 was fixed. Meanwhile, Le Figaro says the judge in charge of the Bettencourt scandal is biased against Nicolas Sarkozy. And Hollande and Barroso clash at the G8 summit.

17/06/2013 - IN THE WORLD PAPERS

'Revealed: how UK spied on its G20 allies at London summits'

Another week, another Guardian espionage revelation! This time, the paper says it has seen documents which show that UK intelligence agencies spied on delegates at the G20 summit in London. In Turkey, two domestic papers have two very different takes on the ongoing unrest; Israeli papers are taking a wary approach to welcoming Iran's new 'moderate' president-elect.

17/06/2013 - IN THE FRENCH PAPERS

'A slap in the face for the French socialists'

A day of 'Hope' - That's what Libération calls the victory of a moderate cleric in Iran's presidential election; Le Parisien explains the Socialist Party's latest setback; La Croix examines the strengths and weaknesses of the French exam system as teenagers sit down to their first 'Bac' paper this Monday.

14/06/2013 - IN THE FRENCH PAPERS

Pension reform: the 'untouchable' pension schemes

FRENCH PAPERS, Fri. 14/06/13: François Hollande's government is set to examine how to reform the country's pension system and French papers say it's likely to be explosive. Le Parisien says the government isn't going to touch the thorny issue of special pension deals for certain public sector workers. Also, the Bernard Tapie scandal moves closer to Nicolas Sarkozy, and Libération takes a closer look at skinheads in France.