Gordon Brown's renunciation of the Labour Party leadership won't keep Labour in power, writes the daily The Guardian: "The new man or woman at the helm will carry the burden of the party's record but be unable to offer the expertise to cope with the future. Yes, Brown failed to understand the social consequences of excessive immigration in his quest to keep UK labour costs competitive. Yes, he failed to support the military with the kit it needed. Yes, he allowed Ed Balls to so centralise control of the education system that teachers have become mere puppets dancing on Whitehall strings. There is more, but you get the idea. But Brown did not act alone. He had accomplices in the party: every member now being considered a possible successor supported these failed policies. The voters know that, and will remember." (11/05/2010)

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All available articles from » Irwin Stelzer

Gordon Brown's announcement that he is resigning as leader of the Labout party could severely damage both him and his party, the liberal daily Corriere del Ticino writes: "The resignation is on the one hand an admission of his election defeat and on the other an attempt to sabotage the negotiations for a coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. In one fell swoop the Labour boss has weakened the Conservatives' bargaining position and presented his party as the more attractive alternative. ... However it may turn out to be a miscalculation, leading to political suicide. Should a rainbow coalition emerge it would be under Gordon Brown's leadership until September, and he would quickly become the target of harsh criticism if he goes from the loser of the election to proclaiming himself as the knight in shining armour. He would pay a high price for his sacrifice if the Conservatives then went on to take the role of the true saviours, as a minority government without the backing of the Liberal Democrats." (11/05/2010)

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All available articles from » Gerardo Morina

Gordon Brown's announcement that he will resign as leader of the Labour Party opens new possibilities in the post-New Labour era, writes the social democratic daily Aftonbladet: "Brown has gone and Labour - unlike social democracy in Sweden - has a new generation of politicians bent on taking the party forward. That helps. The party has an active economic policy and promotes industry, and last year's discussion on equal rights was lively indeed. New Labour carried through major reforms in its fight against poverty, but hardly dared talk about them for fear of scaring off centrist voters. Today the zeitgeist has changed." (11/05/2010)

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All available articles from » Katrine Kielos

Neither the ruling conservative-liberal coalition nor the social democratic camp can claim a clear majority after the elections in Germany's largest state North Rhine-Westphalia. The left-liberal Süddeutsche Zeitung analyses the election outcome with an eye to Germany's political landscape: "For a long time German politics was characterised by alternating coalition governments, comprising either the conservative CDU and the liberal FDP, or the social democratic SPD and the Green Party. Now however neither the CDU nor the SPD can win enough voters to continue this trend either in the east or in the west. When the Greens gain in strength it comes mostly at the expense of the SPD. However if the shrinking SPD agrees to an alliance with the Left Party even more voters will go over to the Greens, or even the CDU. For its part the FPD, as shaped by party leader Guido Westerwelle when it was in the opposition, attracts neither SPD voters nor - once burned twice shy - CDU supporters. The FDP, and particularly its leader who isn't even popular as foreign minister, have passed their political prime." (11/05/2010)

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All available articles from » Kurt Kister

The Romanian government led by Prime Minister Emil Boc plans to cut the salaries of government employees by 25 percent and pensions by 15 percent as of June 1 in order to receive the next instalment of an IMF emergency loan. For Vlad Stoicescu in the daily Evenimentul Zilei, "the introduction of other draconian measures is another feat the Boc government must now execute because it has been incapable of making even a knee-bend in the space of a year. It didn't know how to manage the administration and the budget, ... and now entire social classes are having to foot the bill. I agree that this was the last resort for the Boc cabinet, but the lack of other alternatives was not the result of an unchangeable, pre-ordained reality but a constructed one resulting from the reforms being postponed indefinitely. In Bucharest the transition period never ceased to exist." (11/05/2010)

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All available articles from » Vlad Stoicescu

Spain has taken in two prisoners from the US Guantánamo Bay detention camp, indicating it is willing to take a further three detainees. The left-liberal daily El País praises the country for taking the initiative: "Spain has become one of the first of the United States' allies to help the Obama government with its vital mission in the fight against terrorism of closing Guantánamo Bay. The US government, seeing its efforts paralysed in its own country because of political opposition and opportunism, has been obliged to appeal to allies like Spain to reduce the detention centre's population. Spain's backing is crucial for convincing other countries, and perhaps even the US Congress, to cooperate with the effort to close Guantánamo and prevent our enemies from using this symbol to recruit new members." (11/05/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Spain, » U.S.
All available articles from » Ken Gude

The Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has asked his ministers to renounce their official cars and chauffeurs and use public transport to get to work. A small step in the right direction, writes the daily Standart: "In many rich countries ministers ride their bikes to work. They decided that for themselves, to please taxpayers who go so far as to wonder if the ministers leave the light on in the bathroom at night. Bulgarian taxpayers are illiterate by contrast. They can't calculate their own finances, let alone wonder if public officials are wasting their tax money. They are poor but generous. For that reason this austerity measure is a wonderful idea. The state should renounce idle doormen, official cars, chauffeurs, secretaries and other conveniences. After all, that's what the private sector does." (11/05/2010)

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All available articles from » Martin Karbovski

According to prognoses more than three billion people will have access to the Internet in 2015. The French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner analyses in the daily Le Monde the power of the Internet to bolster rights and freedoms under authoritarian regimes. "Modern technologies bring with them the very best and the very worst. ... I do not share the naive belief that by nature any new technology, no matter how efficient or powerful, will further the causes of liberty everywhere. Nevertheless the negative effects of the Internet constitute the exception. The Internet is first and foremost a formidable tool for tearing down walls and borders that have shut people away. For oppressed people, stripped of the right to speak freely and decide over their own future, the Internet is an unexpected blessing. ... In authoritarian and repressive countries the mobile telephone and the Internet are fostering the growth of public opinion and civil society." (10/05/2010)

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All available articles from » Bernard Kouchner

The fund set up to save the euro is in place but the mistakes made by the European Union remain, points out the conservative Neue Zürcher Zeitung: "The politicians eagerly blame the speculators for the need for this quickly cobbled-together rescue package, but in the end they are only paying the price for their own illusions and failings. In forming the monetary union there was the illusion that such an alliance would bolster the economic policy convergence and discipline of the participating countries. But some of them enjoyed the benefits in the form of lower interest rates for loans while criminally neglecting their duty to conduct a disciplined economic policy. ... Once again, a free-market mechanism is being invalidated, namely that those who pocket high returns must also carry high risks. It would therefore have been more sensible to aim for the rescheduling of Greece's debt payments and give banks affected by this direct help if necessary." (11/05/2010)

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All available articles from » Walter Meier

Together with his Eurozone colleagues Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann has spoken out in defence of the fund to protect the single currency. But in the eyes of the daily Der Standard the measure in fact amounts to cooperation with the financial markets: "The new emergency fund was not conceived to ever be put in action. The mere prospect of European - and through the Monetary Fund international - aid is meant to persuade the financial markets to lend more money to indebted states. This is why the package - contrary to the rhetoric of Faymann and Co. - is not a blow to the speculators but rather an offer of cooperation. The new solidarity between the euro states can only function if the individual countries relinquish control over their budgetary policies, as well as their financial policies. And not only that: Even pay rises will have to be coordinated in future so that competitiveness doesn't develop as disparately as before the introduction of the euro." (11/05/2010)

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All available articles from » Eric Frey

Although the production of the 23rd James Bond film has been put on hold for financial reasons, a lively debate is taking place in the pages of the daily The Independent over whether the next Bond should be black. Columnist David Lister comments that colour-blind casting has its limits: "But what if it's a figure whose face we really do know, whose mannerisms we really know, whose whole persona we really know? There we enter new and much trickier territory. Would audiences be comfortable with black Queen Victoria on film? A black Roosevelt? A black Hitler? Or would such portrayals be as distracting and unnerving as a white Nelson Mandela? These are subjects never addressed, even by the strongest advocates of colour-blind casting. Colour-blind casting is really a misnomer. We have certainly reached the stage where we can legitimately contemplate a black Bond or Bourne, a black Falstaff or Robin Hood. It is a huge advance on the attitudes of even a decade ago. The next stage, the casting of figures from contemporary history, will be more difficult." (11/05/2010)

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All available articles from » David Lister

According to estimates the number of primary school children in Lapland will decrease by 40 percent over the next ten years. The daily Lapin Kansa writes that communities face major challenges in giving all children equal access to education: "People are now saying that children in sparsely populated regions can be taught with the aid of modern technology. While in some cases the Internet may be ideal as a complementary tool, it will never replace schools entirely because a school is more than just a place for tanking up your ABCs. It's where children learn skills that are vital for social interaction. ... The time has come for new ideas in the debate over the future of our schools. If the primary school in Lako/Sodankylä were closed, for example, the children would have to travel almost one hundred kilometres over dangerous roads to the next school. Clearly it's important that enough schools be maintained to keep transport times within the legal limit." (11/05/2010)

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Lithuania's first gay parade led to rioting provoked by counter demonstrators. The daily Lietuvos Rytas criticises the widespread intolerance towards minorities: "The smaller and more virtual the opponent the better; the main thing is you prove you're a true Lithuanian. There have long been no more Jews in Lithuania and yet still they are fought off. ... Polish surnames spelt with 'w' and gays are further examples of fabricated enemies. So with each day that passes the conviction grows that a true Lithuanian is only he who uses his fists against others and goes around shouting without any regard for etiquette. Gays are naturally not true Lithuanians. And judging by the reactions to the statements of fascist demonstrators, ... even they are more worthy Lithuanians than gays. But with this attitude we marginalise five percent of the population, or 170,000 people. And if you include the Polish minority it adds up to another 220,000." (11/05/2010)

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All available articles from » Rimvydas Valatka

The Dutch football manager Louis van Gaal has guided Bayern Munich to victory as leader of the German Bundesliga and is now being showered with praise. The "tulip general" is a phenomenon, writes the Dutch tabloid De Telegraaf: "He doesn't care about the customs and traditions of German football and remains true to his own principles. ... But are van Gaal, the man with the 'clog German' [as in Dutch clogs] and Germany really a good match? His impulsive and sometimes rather quick-tempered manner doesn't really fit in with the reserved and serious culture that presides between Flensburg und Berchtesgarden. On the other hand the players have to address van Gaal as 'Sie', as even his own daughters do. The formal character of the former trainer of Ajax, AZ [Alkmaar] and Barcelona suits the Germans very well. And the will to win, of course - no matter what it costs." (11/05/2010)

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All available articles from » Rob Savelberg