The events on the streets of Tehran point to a new revolution, writes the daily Die Presse: "What happened on the streets of Tehran bore all the hallmarks of the beginning of a revolution. After the events of the past week it has become clear that the state leadership may have won the street battle for now, but it will lose the war for the soul of Iran. Why? As a result of his miscalculations the supreme leader has fallen into discredit, the image of an Islamic republic can no longer be maintained. It's not that republics don't beat up demonstrators, but all the reactions of the Iranian government to the protest were those of a paranoid dictatorship. After 30 years of the Islamic Republic a new chapter has begun and nothing will ever be the same again." (26/06/2009)

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All available articles from » Thomas Seifert

The daily Helsingin Sanomat sees the chance for peaceful change in Iran slipping away: "On the surface, the unrest which has gripped Iran over the past two weeks is on the wane. The intimidation through arrests and violence is taking its toll. Nevertheless the events leave a lasting impression on all classes of society. ... After the dramatic revolt against the election results the Iranian leadership can no longer maintain that the calls for change came from an insignificant extremist faction. If the necessary objections continue to be met with the severity of recent days yet another opportunity to introduce badly needed reforms through peaceful means will be missed. ... The Islamic Republic's complicated system allows for both the use of violent power and for settlement-seeking mediation. If brutality and lies win the upper hand Iran itself will be the biggest loser." (26/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » Iran

In the opinion of the left-liberal weekly 168 Óra the political system in Iran is beginning to totter: "You can't yet talk of a revolution. But a seemingly unstoppable process has begun. After 30 years of spiritual leadership the Persians 'have had enough'. The country with its 70 million inhabitants, two thirds of whom are under 30, wants change. It is weary of bans imposed by the Islamic revolution of Ayatollah [Ruhollah Musavi] Khomeini and which make their lives so joyless. The most recent presidential elections, which were obviously rigged, have shown that there are huge cracks in the dictatorship of the clergy. … The process of fermentation began inside the system. Now the indications are clearly that there will be reform." (26/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Domestic Policy, » Iran
All available articles from » Endre Aczél

Even if it may not look that way the Iranian opposition is still far from having lost the battle, the daily Tribune de Genève writes: "Not all hope of change in the land of the mullahs has evaporated. The June 12 election and the campaign that preceded it have exposed a deep crack in a political system which until then had managed thanks to never-ending compromises to show a united front. Because a large number of Iranians wanted an opening [to the West] and reform, the contradictions of this religious-political regime have now been laid bare. For the moment the hardliners appear to have won. But against the backdrop of the economic crisis and as a result of international pressure we can bet that the Ahmadinejad-Khamenei duo won't be able to hang on for long without giving in." (26/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » Iran
All available articles from » Bernard Bridel

Writer Enzo Bettiza was in Iran in 1979 when the Shah was overthrown. In the liberal Italian daily La Stampa he compares events at the time with those of today: "The unforeseen, almost sudden change of regime and political climate came to a head back then in a crescendo of psychological premonition and physical violence. With their quick, repeated, irresistable rhythm the events of 1979 resemble in many ways the terror and repression which have spilled blood in Tehran for weeks. ... Back then the creator of the Shi'ite theocracy [Ruhollah Musavi] Khomeini announced to the cheering crowd: 'The law belongs to the people, and no government has the right to claim it for itself'. ... Since then 30 years have passed. The same words that stripped the secular tyranny of the Shah of its legitimacy are now being used by at least half of all Iranians against the theocratic tyranny of Khomeini's clerical heirs." (26/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Domestic Policy, » History, » Iran
All available articles from » Enzo Bettiza

The trial on the murder of Russian Journalist Anna Politkovskaya is to be reopened. On Thursday Russia's supreme court in Moscow overturned the acquittal of the four men accused of being involved in her killing, on the basis that the jury's decision in February was based on a "lack of evidence": The left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: "But the real perpetrators and those who commissioned the crime are still in hiding, and the public prosecutor's behaviour, pointing one moment to the hated oligarch Boris Berezovsky in London and shooting in the dark the next moment, only feeds suspicions that the true protagonists are completely out of the picture. The members of the jury coolly thwarted these attempts to obscure the situation in February while at the same time exposing the lamentable incompetence of the Russian public prosecutors. But the fact that some of the accused probably did have something to do with the crime gave the whole thing an additional bitter twist." (25/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Press freedom, » Russia
All available articles from » Sonja Zekri

Twelve people died following heavy rainfall and floods in the Czech Republic on Thursday. The conservative daily Lidové Noviny warns that the talk of climate change should not be played down as panic-mongering: "We don't have to believe in global warming or even fight it at any price. But we can't deny that the weather is behaving more erratically than it used to. It's not only green ideologists who say this, nature is showing us this - above all through flood disasters since 1997. … The opponents of a 'climate panic' claim we must simply accept this and not fight against it: a good idea which our ancestors had hundreds of years ago. … In such cases of arrogant self-confidence one should remember the old adage: Pride goes before a fall." (26/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Environmental Policy, » Czech Republic
All available articles from » Zbyněk Petráček

As part of his recent cabinet shuffle, French President Nicolas Sarkozy abolished the office of Secretary of State for Human Rights. The daily Le Monde calls the move a mistake: "The president has put an end ... to an experiment unique in Europe: the French Secretary of State for Human Rights. Of course many doubts were aired on the need for such an office, on the basis that as there were no similar offices among France's partners it would have difficulties creating synergies. Similarly doubts were cast over whether Rama Yade, a relative newcomer to politics, was the right person for the job. Yet she clearly demonstrated her aptitude. Her success in dealing with the media and her choice of several key issues like the international struggle to de-criminalise homosexuality gave her a broad support basis and did much to enhance French diplomacy. The abolition of this post may put an end to a contradiction - even a hypocritical attitude - on the part of the Élysée. But ... the message sent out by this move is like a lost illusion." (26/06/2009)

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The daily Latvijas Avize asserts that French President Nicolas Sarkozy deliberately chose a highly symbolic setting when he called for the Muslim burka to be banned in his speech before the two chambers of parliament in Versailles: "A few years ago under [President Jacques] Chirac a law was passed forbidding conspicuous religious symbols at schools, and the then interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy was not an impassioned advocate of the ban. Bus as president he has repeatedly triggered controversies on the role of religion and come under fire for violating the secular foundations of the state. But for Sarkozy the burka is not a religious symbol but a sign of submission that deprives its wearer of her identity, making her a prisoner and marginalising her from society. … However another reason for Sarkozy choosing such a historical setting for this awkward issue is probably that he wanted to butter up to the mood prevalent among right-wing voters." (26/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Religion, » Weltanschauung, » Gender equality, » France
All available articles from » Uldis Šmits

Romania is now represented in the European Parliament by two MEPs from the Greater Romania Party PRM: the right-wing extremist football club owner Gigi Becali and the long-standing PRM chairman Vadim Tudor. The weekly magazine Revista 22 writes that "the kind of extremism for which Vadim and Becali stand is at best a paper tiger. They are cowardly, lying and raucous politicians lacking the tiniest scrap of ideological conviction. For that reason it is very difficult to imagine that - apart from in our own media circus - they should play a significant role in the European Parliament or exert any influence at all. Especially considering that Gigi Becali has even been banned from leaving the country [because of legal proceedings]. ... Paradoxically, the only difficult thing is to say what's more striking: the pseudo-extremism of the two or the decision by voters to cast their ballots for such political cowards." (26/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » Europe, » Romania
All available articles from » Alexandru Lazescu

Writing for the left-leaning daily Público, Isaac Rosa takes a look at how Spanish language usage has changed in the course of the economic crisis: "Rich against poor. It's interesting to see how the crisis has influenced the way we talk, how our vocabulary has changed along with our gross domestic product. Nowadays we call the rich rich once more and the poor poor, without euphemisms. There's no 'high income' or 'great fortune' but simply 'the rich', with that resounding echo of social injustice. The designations used depend on our point of view. Before the crisis when it seemed that we would just keep on growing and that the value of property would keep on rising indefinitely, the millionaires were the role models in this land of possibilities. … But then along came the crisis and the party is over, the doors and the staircases to social advancement are closed, the delusion has been shattered. And with our new awareness of ourselves as hopelessly poor part of our social resentment has also returned. The millionaires are no longer glamorous but just the hated rich." (26/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Languages, » Spain, » Global
All available articles from » Isaac Rosa

In his Book 'Reflections on the Revolution in Europe', the US writer Christopher Caldwell prophesises the downfall of European culture through Muslim immigration. Anet Bleich points to three "errors in reasoning" committed by Caldwell: "First of all, he seriously over-estimates the autonomous power and cohesive force of Islam. ... Caldwell's second major misjudgement is to underestimate the vitality and dynamism of cultural life in Europe. ... The many immigrants ... didn't come to plunder Europe or to force their religion on it, but to reap the benefits of European affluence. Their arrival leads to conflicts ... but those problems are transitional. Because - and this is Caldwell's third big mistake - in contrast to the examples he cites ... cultures are not complete, monolithic entities, not some sort of organisms that expand, enter into conflict and then subside. Certainly, kingdoms and empires can perish. ... Cultures can regress, through wars and the intervention of brutal rulers. But in our time of global contacts cultures - all cultures - are hybrid and flexible, they influence each other." (26/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » Integration, » Europe
All available articles from » Anet Bleich

The former CEO of Siemens Hellas, Michalis Christoforakos, was arrested this week in Germany on charges of bribing employees of the Greek telecommunications group OTE. The daily I Kathimerini comments: "Christoforakos has been accused of putting many millions of euros aside to bribe politicians in Greece's two biggest political parties. ... He was wagering that his powerful friends would prevent his prosecution, but he lost his bet. He tried to stop those who'd helped him from saying that that they'd distributed money on behalf of the company, but he couldn't. He made one last attempt to avoid being taken into custody, but he was unsuccessful." (26/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Germany, » Greece
All available articles from » Telloglou Tasos

Lithuania fears energy shortages once its Ignalina nuclear power plant is closed down at the end of the year in line with EU stipulations. Among other things a new power line between Lithuania and Poland is intended to ease the situation, but the latter won't be ready in time for the closure. The daily Lietuvos Rytas points out that the idea is not new: "It's been ten years since the project for a so-called power bridge was shelved in June 1999. This would have hooked up Lithuania's power network with that of Poland and later the rest of the EU. And back then Brussels had already been promised that the Ignalina nuclear power station would be shut down. Have Lithuanian politicians learned any lessons from this? Ten years ago a consortium with strong partners from Germany and other European countries managed to convince the Polish authorities that the project was worthwhile, but it was Lithuania under former prime minister Rolandas Paksas that put a stop to [the project]." (26/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Energy, » Economic Policy, » Poland, » Lithuania
All available articles from » Gediminas Vagnorius

According to a 2009 report on human trafficking presented by the US government thousands of people across the world are subjected to different forms of modern slavery. "As the global economy shrinks, human trafficking is on the rise - and it extends far beyond prostitution", says the left-liberal daily The Guardian. "As jobs disappear and unemployment increases, desperate people may accept worse conditions in order to have a job, even a bad one. Some businesses and individuals unscrupulously exploit this desperation in order to force others to work in poor conditions. ... Applying existing labour laws would address many abusive situations, including trafficking. Wage and hour stipulations are additional tools that are currently under-utilised. The Obama administration and the international community should also recognise informal labour situations. Many people who cannot legally work in the country where they live seek work in informal sectors - in bars and restaurants, for example, or in homes as nannies or maids, or as day labourers." (25/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Economic Policy, » U.S., » Global
All available articles from » Melissa Ditmore

Pop singer Michael Jackson died suddenly on Thursday at the age of 50. In an obiturary in the daily Dziennik, musician and composer Marcin Staniszewski says that although the man may have passed away, the artist is immortal: "It's true, Michael Jackson didn't record a single album in the past decade that could come close to his legendary 'Thriller' [of 1982]. But there's no doubt in my mind that with him the world has lost the man who - aside from the Beatles and Elvis Presley - exerted the most profound influence on popular music. Musicians of almost every genre trace their roots to Michael Jackson. From [US soul singer] Beyoncé ... to the next generation of young musicians. ... Michael Jackson not only combined rock and blues with funk and pop in an explosive mix that promted other musicians to carry out their own experiments. ... Along with that, his inimitable dance style is unforgettable. ... I don't know if I'll miss Michael Jackson. But I do know that like Elvis, he'll never die." (26/06/2009)

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All available articles from » Marcin Staniszewski