The Bangkok Post
leads with good news from Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai's
recent visit to Washington. Chuan's three-day official visit resulted in a
promise from President Clinton of $1.7 billion in aid. Clinton also pledged to
"support Thai exports, provide technical assistance to some state agencies and
ease the financial woes of Thai students in the U.S. caused by the baht
depreciation." The Post reports that Leekpai "won big applause" from the
Thai public and "made his enemies envious."
The
Toronto Sun
identifies a growing rift between the United States and Canada. Canadian
companies (e.g., Labatt's Brewery, a major mining firm, and a major biotech
company) are investing heavily in Cuba. Winners: 1) the Canadian firms, which
enjoy inexpensive labor and warm relations with Fidel Castro; 2) Cuban workers
in Canadian employ, who earn comparatively huge salaries and get paid in
much-treasured American dollars; and 3) Canadian tourists, who take cheap
vacations in a newly cordial Cuba. Losers: American companies, handcuffed by
the Helms-Burton Act's outlawing of trade with Cuba. The U.S. government
harshly condemns Canada's Cuban investments, and several large Canadian firms
with U.S. ties have stayed out of Cuba for fear of reprisals from the United
States.
The Buenos Aires Herald reports on the retirement speech of former
Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who had continued to head Chile's army.
Under the headline "Don't
cry for me, Chile," the Herald notes that Pinochet shed tears during
his farewell address. Pinochet's speech "tried to justify his decision to seize
control of Chile." Explaining away the 3,000 deaths and disappearances during
his 17 year reign, the 82-year-old Pinochet said: "The possibility of Chile's
self-destruction was evident. The Armed Forces had to act given these
circumstances." Before he left the podium, Pinochet announced, "Mission
accomplished." Soon after his speech, a violent protest broke out, during which
police arrested 48 people.
Germany's
Berliner
Morgenpost reports on recent ground-shaking elections in Lower Saxony. The
Social Democratic Party dominated voting, and candidate Gerhard Schröder
emerged as a powerful contender for the German chancellorship. Current
Chancellor Helmut Kohl showed grave concern, but the Morgenpost notes
that "a lot can happen before Sept. 27," the date of the general election. The
Morgenpost also runs an interview with American media mogul/billionaire
Michael Bloomberg, who is launching a business-TV program in Germany. When
asked how Germany can solve its current economic slump, Bloomberg tells
Germans, "I don't know anyone who is successful and doesn't work at least 12
hours a day on five or six days a week. ... You have to be more
competitive--only then will you be able to celebrate with the family. ... If
Germany still wants to be the strong man in Europe, then Germans will have to
work harder."
Astory in the Johannesburg Star
proves that political upheaval makes for strange bedfellows: "South Africa and
Russia, both faced with rampant crime after political transformation, have
pooled their resources and knowledge in a bid to enhance their crime-fighting
abilities." The liaison will involve joint training sessions, the sharing of
criminal dossiers, and cooperative investigations centering on money laundering
and the trafficking of firearms, drugs, diamonds, gold, and uranium.
Top stories in the Prague Post cover the Czech
Republic's impending NATO inclusion. An article credits
grass-roots movements with selling the Czech public on NATO expansion. Approval
had lingered between 35 percent and 45 percent, with little help from
government leaders. A frustrated collection of journalists, activists, and
celebrities then began a major media campaign explaining the benefits of NATO
inclusion, boosting public support to about 60 percent. An editorial warns
that NATO admission is "not a panacea." NATO will have a rough road "making new
friends out of old enemies," and sharing government information with the
Czechs, Poles, and Hungarians will prove "a prickly issue for some time to
come, no matter how trustworthy Prague, Warsaw and Budapest appear to be." (A
Slate
"Dialogue" on NATO expansion pits Strobe Talbott against Jack
Matlock.)
Egypt's Middle East Times often arrives at
newsstands with blank spaces where articles should be. Why? Egypt's government
censors have been at work. On its Web site, however, the Times posts an
archive of censored articles. A sidebar explains, "We are generally not allowed to do the
following things: Report on human rights abuses. Criticize the president or his
family. Criticize the military. Point out the ill-treatment of Egyptians in
'friendly' Arab countries, especially in Saudi Arabia. Discuss modern,
unorthodox interpretations of Islam. Report on discrimination against Coptic
Christians."
The Antarctic Sentinal
reports from the Falkland Islands that NASA will soon be using Antarctic
outposts to train potential Mars travelers, because the region offers isolated,
freezing, rocky conditions, replicating a possible Mars mission, on which
astronauts could be sequestered with a small group for long periods in a harsh
environment.
