SWEDEN

SWEDEN
Goteborgs-Posten, Goteborg, Oct. 26: There are certainly conservative Christians in both the Democratic and Republican party, but the Christian right has "kidnapped" the Republicans.
This means that its influence on politics has increased or, in other words, a mutual dependence has strengthened the political importance of religion. And it is among the religious conservatives that Bush hopes to be able to mobilize new voters by making the most of religion in the election.
The problem for the Democrats and John Kerry is that this also puts traditionally Democratic voters with a strong religious view under a troublesome cross pressure.
KENYA
Daily Nation, Nairobi, Oct. 22: Sudan claims a leader of the Janjaweed, the militia blamed for murdering thousands of people in Darfur, has been found guilty of looting and burning property.
If correct, then it would be the first known punishment of Janjaweed leader.
While Khartoum thinks the action indicates it is serious about reining the Janjaweed, it instead raises questions about its commitment to stopping what has been described as "genocide" if in a year of atrocities only a minor tribal chief has been convicted.
Khartoum has indicated it is willing to consider a federal-type arrangement for Darfur region as long-term solution to conflict.
After nearly 30 years of war in the south, in which over 2.5 million people have been killed, Khartoum finally has reached peace agreement with the rebels.
Self-governance
If Khartoum can get rebels in Darfur to lay down their arms in exchange for self-governance, and if the peace deal can hold in the south, Sudan will have demonstrated that radical devolution can be an antidote to some of the continent's more entrenched conflicts.
SINGAPORE
The Singapore Straits Times, Oct. 27: The persistent clashes in Thailand's southern provinces are consistently cast by the government as a law and order issue. On Monday, the third serious outbreak this year alone saw lawful authority challenged when protesters attacked a police station to free defense volunteers held on suspicion of passing arms to Islamic militants. The cause and effect is troubling enough, without resurgent Islam having re-energized a dormant secessionist lobby. Some 400 people have died this year in three big clashes. All of these had elements of a political challenge to an elected government, street rioting, and pure criminality such as thefts of arms.
Discrimination
Where does drug- and gun-running end and the funding of agents out to undermine the state begin? Why is it that the Muslims never fail to mention discrimination in jobs and education? Is despair feeding anti-government sentiment? Where does militant Islam fit into the picture?
Mr. Thaksin told southerners the authorities will not be permitted to harass the locals, and "bad locals" will not be allowed to harass the authorities and other peaceable people. This was close to acknowledging that mutual animosity is deep-seated.
GERMANY
Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Munich, Oct. 26: Viewed from afar, they don't get on badly -- here the old superpower, there the rising regional power.
Indeed, the United States and China get on better today than they have for decades, and the world can be thankful for that.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is the first high-ranking U.S. government official to visit China since the withdrawal from politics of the old strongman, Jiang Zemin -- and it seems that the new leadership is sticking to the foreign policy legacy of Jiang, who put China on a U.S.-friendly course in the face of some domestic resistance.
He recognized that -- at least at first -- China can become great only with, not against America.
Pheripheral role
The beloved sport of "China-bashing" is playing only a peripheral role in the U.S. election campaign. It is centering more on Iraq and terrorism.
Still, Powell's visit also shows once again the whereabouts of the fractures are that are just waiting to reopen -- there is the issue of human rights, but above all the issue of Taiwan.
RELAND
The Irish Times, Dublin, Oct. 26: It has been said with justice that this U.S. presidential election is a world election in which the world has no vote. Rarely if ever has a presidential election in the U.S. attracted so much international attention, based on the assumed worldwide consequences of a Bush or Kerry victory.
The balance of international opinion decisively favors a Kerry victory -- and especially so in Europe.
In evaluating the international effects of the election, these facts about a deeply polarized United States -- and a polarized world -- must be taken fully into account. But so must the possibility that either man would in fact pursue a convergent and surprisingly similar agenda. If Mr. Bush wins he would feel more free in a second term to repair international relations hurt by the Iraq war and less constrained by his conservative base.
Multilateral approach
If Mr. Kerry is victorious he would apply his more multilateral approach to the same objectives, especially over Iraq. Neither man would be in a hurry to repeat that exercise in unilateral preemptive intervention. They would both have to grapple with declining U.S. influence abroad and the weakening performance of the American economy arising from trade and budgetary deficits.
BRAZIL
Folha de Sao Paulo, Oct. 24: The presidential elections will be among the closest and most controversial elections in the United States' recent history. In a way, they will be a plebiscite on President George. W. Bush, who was chosen to lead his country not by the ballots but by the Supreme Court magistrates.
Analysts believe this fact would have forced him move to the political center. But on September 11, 2001, criminals of the Al-Qaida network unleashed the most violent terrorist attack on the US. Bush declared war on terrorism.
No WMDs
He toppled Saddam Hussein, but his troops got caught in a scenario he cannot get out of. Worse, one by one, all his reasons for the military operation collapsed. Saddam Hussein did not have WMD and did not represent an imminent threat for the US or for Iraq's neighbors. There were no links between Baghdad and Al-Qaida. Even the concept that Bush had saved the world from a particularly cruel tyrant was stained by the images of U.S. soldiers mistreating Iraqi prisoners. Surprisingly, Bush resisted quite well all these foreign setbacks and even without outstanding domestic achievements, he has been able to split the electorate.
His opponent Sen. John Kerry tries to appear a moderate and also as a reliable guardian of security for Americans. If elected, his actions will be quite compromised by the environment established by Bush. But his criticism of unilateralism makes him a less traumatic and more promising choice for the evolution of international relations.
BRITAIN
The Daily Telegraph, London, Oct. 24: The Iraqi husband of Margaret Hassan, the CARE International director who was kidnapped in Iraq last week, has appealed to her abductors to release her because "she is an Iraqi" who has nothing to do with politics. He also reminded them that Mrs. Hassan has devoted the past 30 years to helping the people of Iraq.
Hundreds killed
Tahseen Ali Hassan's pleas are heartfelt and true. It would be misguided, however, to think that the insurgents in Iraq have any regard for such niceties. Many are not themselves Iraqi, but fanatics from other Middle Eastern countries. To be Iraqi offers no protection, since they have killed hundreds of Iraqi civilians in bomb attacks.
There is but one chink of hope: kidnappers in Iraq have not yet murdered a female hostage. It may be that -- for all that Mrs. Hassan has done to help Iraq -- it is her gender alone that can save her.