The US presidental election has entered the decisive phase and President Obama must start convincing voters now because early voting starts today, the liberal-conservative daily Malta Independent writes: "This time, putting votes in the bank is even more crucial for Obama. Amid a fragile economic recovery and a persistently weak job market, every voter who decides early is a voter who can't change his or her mind later, if unemployment worsens. The Romney camp is counting on four years taking their toll on Obama's supporters, lowering their intensity and making them a harder sell. Indeed, Obama's camp in 2008 closely monitored early voting patterns to determine whether they were in fact expanding the look of the electorate. The early voting patterns this time will show not so much whether Obama is changing the electorate and more whether he is actually mobilising it." (06/09/2012)

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All available articles from » Jim Kuhnhenn

If he is re-elected Obama will face the same hurdles as he did during his first term in office, the left-leaning daily taz comments: "The tenor of all the speeches on the first day was that the state must guarantee that everyone has a fair chance of fulfilling his or her dream. That is a commitment to the social market economy the likes of which the US has never seen. A major contrast to the ambitions of the Republicans not only to abolish the healthcare reform, the right of women to make their own decisions on abortion, and homosexual marriage, but also to rescind any and every social responsibility on the part of the state. … But even a re-election would not guarantee that Obama can make good on any of his promises. The Republicans stand good chances of maintaining their majority in the House of Representatives. And even if they don't secure a Senate majority as well, their minority there will still maintain a considerable blocking function. So a second term in office would mean Obama must considerably step up his offensive." (06/09/2012)

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All available articles from » Bernd Pickert

At the Democrats' national convention Michelle Obama presented her husband as the champion of the middle class who remains unchanged despite his position of power. The liberal daily La Stampa points out how much she herself has changed: "Four years ago, before she moved into the White House, Michelle Robinson [her maiden name] was a woman of radical convictions. She didn't mince her words, she was ironic, sarcastic and made no bones about lambasting the US. … On the stage at the Democrats' convention in Charlotte, however, she spoke quietly and softly, at times almost whispering her soothing words. A perfect First Lady, who like Laura Bush or Hillary Clinton is forced to deny any will for reform and to swallow humiliations to save her husband's presidency. … She left the stage to deafening applause, but with a bowed head and non-triumphant. Perhaps in the awareness that she [and not her husband] was the true revolution, a girl from the black ghetto at the heart of white power. And that all has not been lost yet." (06/09/2012)

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All available articles from » Mario Calabresi

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet her Spanish counterpart Marian Rajoy for talks in Madrid today. She shouldn't abuse her vast power, the conservative daily El Mundo advises: "Angela Merkel arrives in Madrid with more power than Hitler had when he met with the dictator Franco in [the French-Spanish border town of] Hendaye [to persuade him to side with Germany in 1940]. … The chancellor benefits from being able to borrow money at around one percent interest while Italy and Spain are paying six or seven percent. But Germany should not pull the noose around Spain's neck too tightly because choking these two major nations will also endanger Germany's prosperity. Too much greed is unhealthy. The chancellor must stop abusing the situation. It would already be a good deal for her if Spain and Italy paid three to four percent for their debts and the risk premium was kept below 300 basis points while the Germans continue to pay just roughly one percent." (06/09/2012)

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All available articles from » Luis María Anson
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis, » Spain in the banking crisis

A court in Bahrain on Tuesday upheld life sentences against seven members of the opposition, including the Bahraini-Danish former chairman of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who was arrested when the Shiite protest movent was crushed last year. The left-liberal daily Politiken is incensed: "The 'crime' that has had him put behind bars for life was making use of the fundamental right of freedom of opinion and calling for democracy. Not he, but the Bahrain authorities were the ones to use violence. Although he led a peaceful campaign, he was beaten and subjected to torture after his arrest. And it is not al-Khawaja but Bahrain that has entered into a conspiracy with foreign powers. A committee of enquiry determined [in autumn] that the pro-democracy protests were not being controlled by Iran. The royal family in Bahrain, by contrast, followed the dictates of Saudi Arabia and deployed Saudi soldiers to put them down." (06/09/2012)

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Who's saying what » Arabs fight for freedom

The fact that Azerbaijan is treating Ramil Safarov, the soldier recently extradited by Hungary, like a hero draws harsh criticism from web portal Alfa: "After the EU member Hungary decided for reasons that remain unclear (but probably because of financial backing from Baku) to hand the convicted murdered over to Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev gave the prisoner a hero's welcome at the airport. … Aliyev spent hundreds of millions of euros on hosting this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Baku to make sure the world saw Azerbaijan at its best. Now the country's reputation has been destroyed. … Azerbaijan's claims [in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict] will be constantly overshadowed by the smiling face of the murderer in the near future. This is a major blow for a country that wants to free itself from Russia's influence." (06/09/2012)

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All available articles from » Antanas Manstavicius

Confronted with mounting tensions within his coalition government, British Prime Minister David Cameron restructured his cabinet on Tuesday. The left-liberal daily The Herald doubts that the move will be successful: "Politically, this reshuffle illustrates how little room David Cameron has for manoeuvre in an increasingly uneasy coalition that has to accommodate restless backbenchers from both the Eurosceptic Tory right and the social liberal-inclined Liberal Democrats. Mass mutiny would be politically suicidal. At the same time, as the next General Election [in 2014] approaches, if the UK economy remains in the doldrums, Coalition MPs in marginal constituencies will become increasingly rebellious." (06/09/2012)

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The violent conflict between Syrian rebels and the Assad regime is entering its second year. Yet the international community is still refusing to supply the rebels with weapons, allegedly because it is afraid that they could fall into the hands of extremists. This is just a flimsy excuse, the left-liberal daily Le Soir writes critically: "Such groups are already in Syria! And with each passing week, as the rebels' frustration with the West's inertia mounts, it is to be feared that the influence of this movement - still only a slim minority, according to returning journalists and observers - will grow by leaps and bounds. The US weekly The Nation and the daily Le Monde recently published reports that show once again: the rebels suffer from a severe lack of arms (while Russia continues to support the regime). Can the West afford to maintaing this passive stance?" (06/09/2012)

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All available articles from » Baudouin Loos
Who's saying what » Civil war raging in Syria

The troika is recommending that Greece introduce a six-day working week while at the same time curbing employees' rights, Greek media reported on Monday, basing these claims on emails sent to the Economics Ministry. This spells the end of democracy in Greece, columnist and caricaturist Stathis Stavropoulos writes on the web portal enikos.gr: "If the troika together with its Greek puppets tries to introduce medieval working conditions, the kind of working conditions that in modern times are only established by fascist regimes by force of arms, there is no need for us to say goodbye to democracy: it's already dead. … In times of crisis capitalism shows its true face: it is fascism wearing a tie. And to make it socially acceptable it doesn't have to go round the pubs gathering the citizens' support; it can rule without it. And those who are now calling on us to work 13 hours a day and six to seven days a week so we can afford a decent meal are practicing the socially accepted fascism of the 'free' markets. They pretend to be democratic but in reality they are vampires. And once their work is finished Greece will be a special economic area whether it's with the euro or with the drachma." (05/09/2012)

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All available articles from » Stathis Stavropoulos
Who's saying what » Greece puts the Eurozone to the test

With a sense of anticipation the liberal-conservative daily Diário de Notícias looks forward to the ECB governing council's meeting today, noting that massive market intervention may be approved against powerful Germany's will: "As always the expectations are exaggerated. … But there is a reason for this. … Germany is using all its political and economic power to oppose an overly lax and pro-inflationary course at an ECB that it considers too 'politicised'. The purchase of the bonds of ailing euro states by the ECB is a horror scenario in the Germans' eyes. … And also on the subject of a banking union the path forward seems blocked because Merkel and [German Finance Minister Wolfgang] Schäuble don't want to give the ECB the power to supervise all the banks in Europe. … Yes, Germany wants more Europe and a better Europe, but it wants that Europe to be moulded according to its own rules - rules which it applied to itself rigorously before the global crisis. And it is pressing ahead with the increasingly apparent success of a state that will emerge strengthened from this crisis and which intends to impose its rules on the others even against their will." (06/09/2012)

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Who's saying what » Crisis countries pin their hopes on ECB

The EU Commission has launched an antitrust investigation against the Russian company Gazprom for allegedly abusing its dominant market position as key gas supplier to several EU states. If the allegations prove true, Brussels could impose huge fines on the energy giant, but it's more likely that the two parties will reach a friendly agreement, the state-run liberal newspaper Wiener Zeitung notes, pointing to their mutual dependence: "The Russian monopoly is slowly but surely coming under pressure anyway. Thanks to the shale gas revolution in the US, a lot more gas is currently available on the market than had been expected a few years ago. And there hasn't even been the need for a mining boom in Europe yet: because the US is not a candidate for bulk buying there are huge reserves of liquid natural gas (LNG) off Europe's coasts. This gas is far cheaper than the gas in the long-term, oil-price linked Gazprom contracts. In the long run the Russians won't be able to maintain their advantage. They have already granted German bulk buyers special conditions but the Baltic states, for instance, were sent packing. The EU wants to put an end to this. Nonetheless it will remain dependent on the Russians for some time to come. The attempt to gain more independence from Russian gas with pipelines like Nabucco has pretty much failed." (05/09/2012)

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All available articles from » Hermann Sileitsch

In view of France's record public debt of 90 percent of the GDP, the French government must stop telling its citizens rosy times are ahead, the liberal daily Ouest-France demands: "Such denial is worthy of Tartuffe the imposter, but not of a genuine democracy. ... No sooner were certain taxes raised than all of a sudden an extra 30 billion euros were needed for the 2013 budget. Yet the tax burden on French citizens, one of the highest in the world, cannot be raised any further without risking the most harmful consequences. ... The only true option is putting a stop to waste and non-priority spending. This must go hand in hand with a reorientation of public investment geared towards ensuring future growth and not just keeping the economy running in its present state.  ... How can we accept that our children and grandchilden, who already have great difficulties finding a job, will on top of that have to repay this mountain of debt ? It is time for us to collectively acknowledge that the party is over. And it is the duty of those in government to put this point across." (06/09/2012)

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All available articles from » Yves Meny

The Polish political scientist and Catholic journalist Józef Szaniawski died in a mountaneering accident on Tuesday, aged 68. From 1985 to 1989 he was imprisoned for his activities against the communist regime. The Supreme Court, which finally acquitted him, dubbed him "communist Poland's last political prisoner". The national-Catholic daily Nasz Dziennik praises Szaniawski as an undying role model: "In his life he valued what should be the top priority for the media: the truth. He showed reality for what it was. With all its advantages and disadvantages. With all its positive and negative sides. He remained true to truth - and that in a world of media maniplation and sometimes also of lies. And he was willing to pay the high price for this belief, namely with a prison sentence. ... The void he leaves behind cannot be filled. Without him we will be poorer, forever missing his seminal words." (06/09/2012)

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All available articles from » Tomasz Kornecki

People in Cyprus are employing cheap labourers from abroad to do all their work, the liberal daily Phileleftheros complains, warning that in the end the Cypriots will pay dearly for it: "In a restaurant up in the mountains, a photo of a man hangs on the wall. The words: 'This is the boss' are written under it. And next to it sits the boss. Meanwhile Romanians and Bulgarians do all the work. … The boss doesn't even handle the till; he has another employee to do that. And so that he can pay all the staff, the dishes on offer are very expensive. And we complain about the high prices. But how could things be any different if we insist on behaving like the bosses? Aren't we going a bit too far? Could it be that we have grown too lazy? Pakistanis tend our sheep, Bulgarians make our Halloumi cheese, Chinese take our dogs for walks, our gardens are tended by boys from Bangladesh, our coffee is served by women from Romania and our grandparents are looked after by immigrants from Sri Lanka. … And we are still acting like bosses even though our pseudo-empires are about to collapse." (05/09/2012)

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All available articles from » Chrystalla Chatzidimitriou

The former Italian Formula One driver Alessandro Zanardi has won the gold medal in the handbiking time trial at the Paralympics in London. Zanardi lost both legs in a racing crash in 2001. For the left-liberal daily La Repubblica his victory on Wednesday is further proof that the games give the disabled a threefold revenge: "With every gold medal the 4,200 athletes at the Paralympic Games score a further victory against hypocrisy. ... That is possible because they have consciously faced up to the challenge, and because they have the courage to step into the ring and risk defeat and suffering. And because they have the guts to play according to the rules of the market: when the televisions and sponsors start paying attention, you're a little less different. The fact that in this way the disabled are seen as a source of income and not just as poor sods is the second revenge. And the third: with two and a half million tickets sold, they bring in audiences in London that follow the competitions with as much enthusiasm as races with Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps." (06/09/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Sport, » Gender equality, » Olympics, » Italy, » Global
All available articles from » Maurizio Crosetti