Dilma Rousseff is the first woman to be elected to lead the largest country in Latin America. This is progress for Brazil and the whole world, writes Sofia Rijo in the Blog A Vida de Saltos Altos for the weekly Expresso: "What brings me to talk about Dilma and her victory has nothing to do with her political predecessors or her social background. It is always good news when a woman is elected to such a prestigious political post. ... I'm curious after this victory, and will watch closely how a country full of possibilities like Brazil develops under its new president. ... According to the Brazilians she's not as charismatic as Lula da Silva, but the people don't doubt her leadership qualities. We need more people like this. ... Who knows? Perhaps a world led by women would be considerably fairer, more balanced and more peaceful." (01/11/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Gender equality, » Global, » Brazil
All available articles from » Sofia Rijo

With the 62-year-old Dilma Rousseff yet another woman has managed to climb to the pinnacle of state politics. That will do Brazil good, writes Mircea Martin in the blog portal standard.money.ro: "The world powers and large economies are gradually becoming more feminine. Women are breaking up the male monopoly over top spots at the highest decision-making levels - as heads of state and government like German Chancellor Angela Merkel or as top diplomats like Hillary Clinton. ... The special thing about Dilma Rousseff's victory is that a woman can win such elections in a 'macho' country. The idea that her gender could work to her disadvantage in politics has turned out to be a prejudice. Dilma Rousseff is now top dog in a country that is known for how badly women fare in it - from the under-age prostitutes in Rio ... to the millions of female clandestine workers. For all of them Dilma Rousseff will become the mother of the nation." (02/11/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Elections, » Latin Amerika, » Global, » Romania, » Brazil
All available articles from » Mircea Martin

Brazil's new President Dilma Rousseff wants to stimulate the economy with a rigorous reform policy. She has no choice if Brazil wants to become one of the world's five largest economic powers, writes the economic daily Financial Times Deutschland: "Indeed, Rousseff must slow down public spending without choking growth. That alone will not be enough to maintain the dynamism of the Brazilian economy on the long term, however. Rousseff must lessen Brazil's dependence on its raw materials and boost exports of processed goods. These are suffering immensely because the boom has considerably raised the value of the Brazilian real. In addition the country is lacking private investment in infrastructure. The airports and harbours are currently bottlenecks for Brazil's foreign trade. An improved infrastructure would also help the country face the challenges to come. In 2014 it will host the FIFA World Cup, and in 2016 the Summer Olympics. If the country cuts a good figure here, voters will accept even more rigorous reforms from Rousseff." (02/11/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Infrastructure / Travel and Transport, » Economic Policy, » Elections, » Brazil

Things won't be easy for Brazil's new President Dilma Rousseff because she will have to measure up to her charismatic predecessor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the liberal-conservative daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung notes: "If Rousseff can't maintain the same success rate it won't be as easy for her as it was for her mentor to gloss this over with charisma. Rousseff, an economist who has tended to come across as arrogant, really needs to work on this quality so vital for politicians, otherwise she could quickly be crushed by the unprecedented popularity of the outgoing Lula da Silva. Rousseff will have to rapidly develop her own profile. If she doesn't  her government could turn into a South American version of the Medvedev-Putin duo, or worse still, a caricature of the Peróns and the Kirchners in the neighbouring countries. Lula can do his bit to aid the profile of the first female president of the largest state in Latin America by making it clear from the start that he didn't nominate Rousseff just to hold his place so he can take power again in four years' time." (02/11/2010)

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All available articles from » Oswald Iten

Today, Tuesday, Britain and France will sign an agreement on extensive security and defence cooperation. The conservative daily Le Figaro welcomes the move: "France and Britain are Europe's only nuclear powers and the only permanent European members of the UN Security Council. Together they account for half of Europe's defence budget and half of its operative capacity, as well as two thirds of R&D spending on defence. Without Paris and London, Europe would have no military significance whatsoever. If the two capitals can agree on mutual military support, pooled resources for large military equipment projects and joint deployments, it will promote the defence of all of Europe in a very pragmatic way." (02/11/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Crises / War, » France, » United Kingdom
All available articles from » Pierre Rousselin

Hungary's right-wing conservative ruling party Fidesz plans to use its two-thirds majority in parliament to adopt a new constitution. The country's leaders lack a proper understanding of democracy, the historian István Rév writes in the left-liberal daily Népszabadság: "Those who initiate a referendum through the constitution or write a new constitution for themselves pointing to their parliamentary majority ... have failed to understand the essence of democracy, freedom and the constitution. ... The constitution does not confer rights on its citizens, it guarantees that they are realised. It serves to limit the power of those in government who want to create their own version of a constitution in today's Hungary. ... The will of the majority by no means entitles the government to sweep aside the lives, the dignity, the freedom and the faith of others. Freedom means that every member of the community has the right, enshrined in the constitution, to act against the will and the interests of the majority." (01/11/2010)

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All available articles from » István Rév

It's not only President Barack Obama who is faring badly in polls carried out among voters ahead of the midterm elections in the US. The results testify to a similar level of weariness with politics in the US as in Austria, political scientist Peter Filzmaier concludes in the Christian-liberal daily Salzburger Nachrichten: "Obama can only survive the disastrous polls because the image of the members of Congress independent of all party colours is even worse than his own: two thirds of voters want no one to be re-elected. ... In Austria the level of respect and trust in politics is just as middling to low. Politician-bashing and party-bashing is very convenient and easy. But fewer and fewer US citizens are able to go beyond the complaining and formulate their own ideas for good policies in a constructive way. This is a damning indictment for elected politicians and their voters alike. Here in Austria we should ask ourselves whether we are really any better in this respect." (02/11/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Elections, » Austria, » U.S.
All available articles from » Peter Filzmaier

The UN biodiversity summit in the Japanese city of Nagoya came to an end on Saturday with an agreement on the protection of biodiversity that has been celebrated in the press across the world. Unfortunately no one has taken a closer look at their statement, writes the left-liberal daily The Guardian: "If governments had met in Japan to try to save the banks, or the airline companies, they would have sent more senior representatives, their task would have seemed more urgent, and every dot and comma of their agreement would have been checked by hungry journalists. When they meet to consider the gradual collapse of the natural world they send their office cleaners and defer the hard choices for another 10 years, while the media doesn't even notice they have failed to produce a written agreement." (02/11/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Environmental Policy, » Global, » Japan
All available articles from » George Monbiot

The growing xenophobia and the search for charismatic leaders have a common denominator: discontent with a defeatist political class that lacks the courage to take action, writes German philosopher Jürgen Habermas in the left-liberal daily La Repubblica: "The motivations underlying each of the three phenomena - the fear of immigrants, attraction to charismatic non-politicians and the grass-roots rebellion in Stuttgart - are different. But they meet in the cumulative effect of a growing discontent when faced with a self-enclosed and ever more helpless political system. The more the scope for action by national governments shrinks and the more meekly politics submits to what appear to be inevitable economic imperatives, the more people's trust in a resigned political class diminishes. ... What is needed in Europe is a revitalized political class that overcomes its own defeatism with a bit more perspective, resoluteness and cooperative spirit. Democracy depends on the belief of the people that there is some scope left for collectively shaping a challenging future." (31/10/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Society, » Germany, » Europe
All available articles from » Jürgen Habermas

A British government committee acting on the initiative of the British Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable has drawn up stricter rules for protecting British businesses against foreign takeovers. But such protectionism will harm both Britain and the continent, writes the left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung: "There is ... no proof that takeovers of British firms by foreign companies must lead to job losses. On the contrary, many investors have given ailing businesses a new lease on life. The British-produced Mini is a sales hit for the German company BMW. The traditional car brand Jaguar, which like Land Rover has been taken over by the Indian firm Tata, is now increasing its production capacities. Britain should not toss its reputation as an investor-friendly country to the wind. Not only national interests but also the interests of Europe are at stake here. While on the continent it's primarily the French and the Spanish that tend to take a more protectionist attitude to foreign takeovers, the British should remain true to their liberal tradition. Europe needs the free market. This is also the best guideline for a more composed discussion of mergers and acquisitions here in Germany." (02/11/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Economic Policy, » Germany, » France, » United Kingdom, » Europe
All available articles from » Andreas Oldag

Despite a rise in the key interest rate and an appreciation of the yuan, China's economy continues to boom and is forecast to hit ten percent this year. This growth stands in sharp contrast to the stagnation of the Western economic powers, writes the daily The Irish Times: "China's economic problems are much less acute: there are some worries about rising inflation and some fears that its economy is overheating as property prices soar and exports slow in the face of weakening global demand. But in the developed world - and the US in particular - the fear is more of deflation than of inflation in a depressed economy marked by low growth and rising unemployment. The most pressing concern there is to avoid a double-dip recession." (02/11/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Trade, » Financial Markets, » Banks, » Labour market, » Economy, » U.S., » Global, » China

The British government has announced plans to raise university tuition fees, and Spain is also debating such a move. The left-liberal daily El País warns of the dangers of such a debate in the context of the austerity measures: "Raising university fees must be debated in terms of equality and efficiency and not budgetary cuts. It doesn't seem very fair, for instance, that wealthy parents who can afford to send their children to private schools see their costs go down when their children go to university - the very phase of education which is not compulsory and which leads to the best opportunities on the labour market. In such cases the fees should be much closer to the real costs. For their part the many students who come from a less comfortable social background should receive more grants and support to prevent their talents from being wasted for lack of financial means." (02/11/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Upbringing / Education, » United Kingdom, » Spain

Catholics the world over celebrated the Christian solemnity of All Saints' Day on Monday, during which the departed faithful are commemorated. For Poland it was particularly sad day, writes the daily Fakt: "All thoughts were with the victims of the Smolensk airplane disaster, as well as on the farcical nature of the investigations [into the disaster] - particularly on the part of the Russians. At the same time all the ill will and aggression over the cross was ever-present in people's minds, as was the memory of the political victim of roughly ten days ago. 'Is November a dangerous month for Poles?' asks the prince in November Night [drama by the Polish author Stanisław Wyspiański on the Polish uprising against Russia in 1830]. It must be said that the entire year was dangerous for the Poles. Only the last two months were somewhat calmer." (02/11/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Remembrance culture, » Poland
All available articles from » Łukasz Warzecha

According to a report by the Council of Europe Bulgaria is among the countries in Europe with the highest number of public prosecutors in relation to its population, only Norway and Russia have more. The daily Trud calls for a reduction in their number: "While other European citizens go to the police we turn to the public prosecutors. In Europe the public prosecutors deal only with suspects. Here however there is a pile of 600,000 complaints against persons unknown! … For 20 years we have regarded our public prosecutors as all-rounders and members of the police. It is time they finally found their true place. Society should determine whether there are too many of them and who should stay and who should go." (01/11/2010)

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More from the press review on the subject » Crime, » Justice, » Society, » Europe, » Bulgaria
All available articles from » Lilia Hristovska