DENMARK

DENMARK

Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten, Viby, Feb. 10: Charles Darwin was born 200 years ago ... and on Nov. 24, it will be 150 years since he published his work on the origin of species and natural selection.

His theories causing shock and arousing resistance and dismay (at that time) is understandable.

However, it is not understandable, but only shameful and deeply depressing that even now we find so much opposition in many parts of the world to the scientifically documented process of evolution.

Middle Eastern fables

In Darwin’s days, it was generally accepted that the final and scientific truth about life and its origins was found in a collection of Middle Eastern fables that were thousands of years of old and ... in edited form had been given a divine status.

It was understandable then, because we didn’t know better.

However, it is neither understandable, nor acceptable that — 150 years after “The Origin of Species” was published — we are forced to listen to claims that evolution is just one theory among many, and that Darwinism was merely an ideology or philosophical direction.

It should be obvious to everyone that evolution is not philosophy, religion or a theory. Quite simply: It is fact.

NORWAY

Bergens Tidende, Bergen, Feb. 10: The international effort in Afghanistan is struggling uphill. It is time to change strategy. It is impossible to win a military victory in Afghanistan. On the contrary, we have to concede that it is the enemy that has been on the offensive recently.

In the fall, it will be eight years since the U.S.-led force went into Afghanistan. The goal was to capture Osama bin Laden, crush al-Qaida, and overthrow the Taliban regime. The last item went relatively well, and many believed the most important goal had been achieved.

Dubious alliances

But that’s when the problems started. Invading forces had to enter dubious alliances with various warlords. The elected government, with President Hamid Karzai in the lead, mainly controlled Kabul.

Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, a British commander ... has called for negotiations with the Taliban. That was brusquely rejected by the Karzai regime in Kabul. Now the tone is different.

BRITAIN

The Times, London, Feb. 11: Morgan Tsvangirai will be sworn in today as Zimbabwe’s new Prime Minister. But neither he nor his party, nor the millions who voted for them in last year’s elections, should be in any doubt about who wields real power in the country they have tried and so far failed to change. That man is still Robert Mugabe.

Cruel mismanagement

It has taken a decade of cruel mismanagement to turn this country of extraordinary natural wealth into a humanitarian disaster. More than 3,400 people have died of cholera since August, excluding those uncounted because they live in rural areas beyond the reach of aid agencies or government. Only 6 per cent of Zimbabweans have jobs. Most of those who do not subsist on ground maize imported from South Africa. Hyperinflation has sidelined the local currency in favor of barter and scarce U.S. dollars.

Mr. Tsvangirai’s first international appeal will be for a rapid increase in the amount of foreign aid reaching Zimbabwe.

Donor governments must, therefore, be clear about their ground rules. The condition for releasing the large-scale, coordinated Western state aid that Zimbabwe so urgently needs must be the removal of its illegitimate and murderous leader and his henchmen, and their replacement with a genuinely new government that reflects the clearly expressed desires of its people.