by Marifeli Perez-Stable, Miami Herald, USA - Fifty years ago Cubans rejoiced in the downfall of Fulgencio Batista. Today joy isn't the overriding emotion. Other feelings -- such as apathy, anger, despair and rancor -- dwell in our hearts. Loss and sadness -- over the lives lost, the families sundered, a people's broken faith -- are overwhelming. Only official Cuba revels and marvels over the decades since that long ago Jan. 1.
by Zubeida Mustafa, Dawn, Pakistan - The fact is that the market may be freer today but it actually restricts the options of the poor whose numbers are growing rapidly. According to the Islamabad-based Centre for Research and Security Studies, 49 per cent of Pakistanis fall below the absolute poverty line.
by Claudia Rosett, Forbes, USA - Start following the Iranian connections and it quickly becomes clear that Gaza is just one part of a larger web that we might once have called an axis--of evil, of tyranny, of totalitarian ideology.
by Sanitsuda Ekachai, Bangkok Post, Thailand - We may detest our politicians for putting their self interests first before the nation. We may abhor their blatant greed and total lack of ethics. But the nightmare we've just been through should make everyone realise the danger of impatience and moral superiority under an illusion that politics can be easily cleaned up by just removing one single evil person from the scene.
by Fania Oz-Salzberger, The Age, Australia - So much for conventional war, for the sand-table battlefield. No military strategist in history envisaged this monstrous, deliberate mingling of armed fighters and civilians, this novel doctrine that pitches infantry among infants and babies as barricades. Of course, civilians have always been in the line of fire and conquest, from Troy to Berlin. But no regime ever used its citizens so deliberately as tools to arouse world sympathy, as hostages to modern sensitivities.
by Mona Eltahawy, Globe and Mail, Canada - "Why aren't you, as an Arab lady, writing about Gaza?" The messages started to arrive soon after Israel's bombardment of Gaza had killed close to 300 Palestinians. Implicit was the pressure to tow the party line: Hamas is good, Israel is bad. Say it, say it! Or else you're not Arab enough, you're not Muslim enough, you're not enough.
by Anne Applebaum, Telegraph, UK - Who is the greatest Russian of all time? In the unlikely event that you answered “Stalin”, you would be in good company. One of the 20th century’s most horrific dictators has just come third in an opinion poll conducted by a Russian television station. Some 50 million people are said to have voted.
by Stephanie Nieuwoudt, IPS, Italy - 2007 was a landmark year as, for the first time ever, there were as many people around the world living in cities as there were in rural areas. This has increased the demand for food, water, housing and other basic services in cities. Cities in developing countries are often ill-equipped to deal with these pressures. Governments of developing countries worldwide have recognised the importance of urban agriculture and a number of projects have been initiated to support these initiatives as people flock to the cities.
by Deborah Storie, The Age, Australia - Kevin Rudd, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and US President-elect Barack Obama insist that scaling up the military intervention will make Afghanistan and the world safer. But war can resolve neither Afghanistan's conflicts nor the spectre of global terrorism. More troops and more guns will only plunge Afghanistan further into violence.
by Joan Walsh, Salon, USA - 'Tis the time of year to take stock, and I thought it was worth looking at what I got wrong, and right, in this amazing 12 months. It was a huge thrill and something of a blur for me. As the first presidential race I covered with a blog as well as frequent television appearances, it certainly gave me more chances than ever before to get things wrong, and right. Consider this my accountability moment and also a way of clearing my thinking for the epic four years ahead.
