JORDAN

JORDAN
The Jordan Times, Amman, Aug. 5: If we knew this was the kind of policy that the new Parliament would have upheld, we would have never called so eagerly for elections. The election of these 110 deputies, including six women, was meant to inaugurate a new era of democratic progress. It looks more like a return to the middle ages.
The lower house ruled that granting women the right to file for divorce ... is "dangerous."
The new Parliament also dealt yet another blow to the campaign against the so-called "honor crimes," by rejecting -- like its predecessor did in 2000 -- amendments to the Penal Code that would make it harder for those found guilty of such crimes to get away without or with very light prison sentences.
Shameful performance
While looking at Parliament's shameful performance, one should not miss the extremely sad irony: The most optimistic and idealistic amongst us had hoped that the new legislature would actually rectify the temporary laws generally accused of hampering democracy and restricting public freedoms.
But this Parliament has already proven that it is much more of a menace to public freedoms than the strictest of government legislation.
JAPAN
Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo, Aug. 2: Six nations -- North and South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan - will begin breakthrough discussions as early as next month on North Korea's nuclear development program.
The important thing now is to provide an open table for negotiations to engage North Korea in dialogue. We welcome the fact such an opportunity has finally been agreed on.
Here's the problem: How to conduct six-way talks and attain the final goal of North Korean nuclear disarmament?
The more nations involved, the more difficult it will be to reach an agreement.
Multilateral diplomacy
Conversely, diverse, multilateral diplomacy may bring North Korea to a compromise. It may, for example, be that all nations involved back U.S. guarantees of North Korean security if Pyongyang drops its nuclear program. The meetings will also temper the Bush administration's tendency toward unilateral action.