BRITAIN

The Independent, London, Aug. 18: The arrest of three suspected Irish terrorists in Colombia has worked a near-miracle of which the British Government had long despaired. It is contributing to a change of heart among American liberals and Irish republican sympathizers that could not only diminish American political support for the IRA, but sap a big source of funds.
Inference: The idea that Irish republicans should be consorting with such notorious enemies of U.S. interests as Colombia's Marxist rebel grouping, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), is reprehensible enough for most Americans. But the unavoidable inference that the Irishmen may have been dabbling in the drugs trade as well threatens to put them, and whichever organization they may belong to, well beyond the bounds of acceptability. Until now, Americans have regarded Irish republicans as clean-living ascetics, fixed on the cause.
SWEDEN
Svenska Dagbladet, Stockholm, Aug. 22: The Chinese regime has been forced to admit that an AIDS epidemic has hit the province of Henan. Between 500,000 and 1 million people could be infected with HIV (the virus that causes AIDS), according to independent Chinese doctors. This puts the spotlight on two aspects of the oppression. Firstly, the social and economic misery. Poor farmers have been enticed to sell blood at official clinics that were unsanitary. Secondly, the authorities have continuously tried to suppress the discontenting truths.
Internet: Brave people in China risk both their careers and lives by disseminating information about abuses and the unsatisfactory state of affairs. The Communist regime wants the Chinese people to have access to the Internet, but not to the independent information sources available there. Chinese users are blocked from Web sites that have offensive material, for instance about the situation in Tibet or the democracy movement.
EGYPT
Al-Akhbar, Cairo, Aug. 21: Washington's stand vis-a-vis the development of situation in the Middle East will be clear during the U.N. Security Council debate which started Monday upon a call from the Islamic countries.
It is certain that discussing the tragedy of the Palestinian people by the Security Council represents an embarrassment for the United States of America at this particular time when the (Israeli) aggression has reached its climax.
Jewish lobby: Washington, naturally for the sake of Israel and to satisfy the Jewish lobby, is not interested in or does not pay attention to the Israeli occupation forces' daily crimes of killing, demolishing of houses, destruction of land and displacement of their owners.