The Netherlander reports
that former Dutch central bank director and monetary expert Andre Szasz is
gravely concerned about the success of the Economic and Monetary Union. Szasz
worries that standards for entry into the union will soon be diluted and that
Italy's admission could cause "major problems": "If that country is permitted
to join, it will be on the basis of what they say they are going to do, not on
what has been achieved."
The
Zimbabwe Standard says
700 Zimbabweans die of AIDS every week, and 20 percent of the sexually active
population is HIV positive. Zimbabwe's minister of health and child welfare
also notes two sad trends: 1) Discrimination against AIDS sufferers has
overtaken discrimination on the basis of race and tribe and 2) "Most people
want to pretend [AIDS] is a black disease, but the white community is equally
affected, they just have more money to keep it hidden for a longer time than
their black counterparts."
An editorial in the Vancouver Sun supports the immigration curbs recently
suggested by the Reform Party (a group, the piece notes, that is often accused
of racism and extremism). Among the proposals: Tie immigration levels to the
unemployment rate--when more jobs are open, more immigrants can be let in; give
higher priority to the "independent" class of immigrants (those with necessary
job skills); crack down on family sponsorship of immigrants, limiting it to
immediate family members; and cut down on fraudulent claims of refugee
status.
The
St. Petersburg Times of
Russia identifies a bizarre coalition forming in reaction to burial
plans for Nicholas II, the last czar. The remains of the czar and his family
are set to be formally buried, with an official ceremony, July 17 in St.
Petersburg. Vehemently protesting the burial are, on one side, monarchists (who
severely doubt the authenticity of the remains) and, on the other side, radical
Communists (who claim the Kremlin is "reviving the ghost of tsarism--because
those in power have nothing to rely on"). Another theory: The burial is a "
'dress rehearsal' for the eventual burial of Boris Yeltsin himself." Yeltsin, a
"pragmatist," wants to plan ahead for his final sendoff, argues an anonymous
source.
The Guyana
Chronicle announces that the Electoral Assistance Bureau has determined
December's Guyanese elections fair and valid. The EAB found that "no polling
place was considered to have had a poll that was unacceptable or invalid."
Controversy had engulfed the Dec. 15 election of President Janet Jagan, with
repeated attempts to declare her government illegitimate. Jagan greeted the
good news by declaring, "The EAB report proves what we always had known."
In Tanzania, the Express reports on a
downside to Dar es Salaam's exploding night life: "decaying social values." The
entertainment and gambling industries, successful and still expanding, have
spawned prostitution as a growing field in this economically shaky country.
Smart, educated, gainfully employed women have taken to becoming casual sex
workers--the profits of a single night can equal a week's paycheck from a
legitimate job.
