Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers around the world:

April 6

The Jerusalem Post on the Catholic church sex scandal:

It took three days for Pope Benedict XVI’s personal preacher to realize his folly. On Good Friday, Father Raniero Cantalamessa said he was thinking about the Jews in this season of Pessah and Easter, because “they know from experience what it means to be victims of collective violence and also because of this they are quick to recognize the recurring symptoms.”

Callously, astoundingly, the veteran preacher, who has held his position since Pope John Paul II’s era, was not sympathizing with the real victims of the sex scandal rocking the Church. Not the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of children who have allegedly been molested by a sexually rapacious clergy over the decades. These were not the “victims of collective violence” Cantalamessa had in mind. Nor was his talk of “recurring symptoms” an allusion to the sex scandals that have surfaced recurrently in the Catholic Church. No, Cantalamessa was reserving his compassion for his fellow clergymen and his boss, who are being rightly censured for failing to stop the abuse and punish the sex offenders.

By Easter Sunday, Cantalamessa had repented.

“If against my every will and intention I hurt the sensibility of Jews and the victims of pedophilia, then I am sincerely sorry and I apologize,” the preacher told Corriere della Sera. …

Since becoming the 265th pope in April 2005, Benedict has inadvertently hurt Jews while trying to reach out to more conservative _ and some downright anti-Semitic _ elements in the Church. …

The pope must confront the depravities of his Church, wherever they appear, whether they be child molestation or rabid anti-Semitism. A continued failure to do so undermines his moral legitimacy and the respect of the Catholic faithful worldwide.

On the Net:

http://www.jpost.com

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April 7

China Daily, Beijing, on China-India relations:

To mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and India, top leaders of the two countries recently displayed strong political will to shelve differences and push bilateral ties to new heights. The ongoing visit by India’s Foreign Minister Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna to Beijing is important for officials from both sides to carry out dialogue, build trust and establish cooperation.

China regards its relationship with India as one of its most important bilateral ties. The growth in their relationship in the past 60 years have made it possible for the two most populous countries to forge ahead with a long-term strategic partnership.

The two developing but emerging economies have been regarded as bright spots bringing hope of a full global economic recovery. …

By cooperating on regional and international affairs, the two countries will better safeguard each of their interests and those of the developing world at large.

The call for China and India to play a bigger role in the world has been growing. The call will be better answered if the two neighbors leave behind their past friction and look to the future. The two countries will be better positioned on global affairs if they could stand united.

On the Net:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn

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April 7

The Star, Toronto, on U.S. nuclear policy:

By breaking with George W. Bush and downgrading the role the vast U.S. nuclear arsenal plays in the nation’s defense, U.S. President Barack Obama has surrendered nothing of America’s superpower status. His policy, unveiled at the Pentagon, is far more likely to strengthen U.S. security by reinforcing global efforts to combat nuclear proliferation and terrorism.

Those who fretted that Obama’s Nuclear Posture Review would leave the U.S. weaker than before ought to be reassured. It flatly reaffirms that nuclear forces will “continue to play an essential role” in deterring foes for a long time to come.

However, the NPR does nudge the U.S. a welcome few steps closer to the long-term vision Obama outlined in Prague last year of “a world without nuclear weapons.” It is a decisive and healthy break with the Bush era’s excessive reliance on the bomb as an instrument of foreign policy in the anxious years after the 9/11 attacks. …

In the Obama administration’s view, as codified in the NPR, Russia and China are no longer the enemy. America’s “top priority” is now to prevent al-Qaida or other terror groups from obtaining nuclear materials and to stop rogue states such as Iran and North Korea from building bombs and the means to deliver them. … “

On the Net:

http://www.thestar.com

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April 7

The Times, London, on U.S.-Afghanistan relations:

President Hamid Karzai’s astonishingly crude attacks on the U.S., after President Barack Obama’s first visit to Kabul, make patent the breakdown in relations between the two men. In a deliberately mendacious misreading of U.S. policy and strategy in Afghanistan, Karzai accused the West of perpetrating a “vast fraud” by trying to deny him victory in last year’s presidential election. He said that Afghans would trust their leader only if he showed he was not a puppet. And he gave a warning that if “foreign pressure” continued, he might even join the Taliban. …

It is clear that the prickly and mercurial Afghan president was humiliated by Obama’s six-hour nighttime visit and furious not only at being ordered to do more to confront the corruption in his government but at the subsequent U.S. disclosure of Obama’s frosty meeting. Karzai knows that Afghans have an atavistic mistrust of foreigners and an instinctive resentment of foreign forces, however committed they are to ending the misery, poverty and violence that Afghans have endured for the past 30 years …

Washington has made its frustration clear. The U.S. wants changes in place by September, when Afghans vote for a new parliament. It now has a shrewd grasp of Afghanistan’s tribal politics. Karzai may soon find that, caught between the Taliban and NATO, he is eminently dispensable.

On the Net:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk

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April 2

Star-News, Wilmington, N.C., on offshore oil and gas exploration:

As the Obama administration opens parts of the East Coast to energy exploration, let’s hope the president keeps those words in mind.

President Barack Obama has generally been opposed to offshore drilling, and the move is seen as a concession to Republicans as the president tries to craft a comprehensive energy bill that focuses on renewable energy.

Even those who support offshore drilling will find little in this bill to get excited about. The areas being opened for drilling _ including waters off North Carolina _ are not especially promising. For example, the tracts opened off Virginia are estimated to hold 130 million barrels of oil. That’s how much the U.S. imports from all foreign suppliers in two weeks. …

In North Carolina, the most likely sites for exploration are off the Outer Banks region, which is almost completely reliant on tourism and is home to an especially fragile ecosystem and a large commercial and recreational fishing industry …

Even if offshore wells were up and running, there has been little interest in building petrochemical processing facilities in North Carolina. So don’t count on an economic boon for North Carolina coastal counties. Meanwhile, the damage caused by a spill could be devastating to local economies … “

On the Net:

http://www.starnewsonline.com

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April 5

Chicago Tribune on new airline passenger screening policy:

The attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day was a catastrophe that was only narrowly averted. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian, allegedly boarded the Detroit-bound plane from Amsterdam with a bomb hidden in his pants. But when he reportedly tried to set it off, it failed to detonate.

In the scary aftermath, the Department of Homeland Security imposed broad new security rules requiring extra screening of incoming travelers from 14 countries, most of them largely Muslim, including Pakistan, Nigeria, Libya and Saudi Arabia. This was a frantic attempt to head off another possible attack.

Three months later, the administration has replaced the emergency plan with a more targeted approach. Recently, DHS announced that it will implement new measures on all international flights coming to the United States.

Instead of scrutinizing everyone from certain countries, security personnel will focus on travelers who match intelligence information about potential threats. Even if authorities lack the name of an alleged plotter, they hope to be able to catch him through information such as physical features, age or past travels. By including all countries, DHS intends to prevent extremist groups from circumventing detection by avoiding those 14 nations. …

Relying more on intelligence is a sound idea. But it requires sound use of information as well as the good investigative work needed to supply it. In the Christmas Day episode, it was not the policy that fell short so much as the people charged with carrying it out.

This looks like a better system. To improve our safety, though, it will need better execution.

On the Net:

http://www.chicagotribune.com

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April 7

The Providence (R.I.) Journal on government response to record-setting floods:

No one knows yet with any precision the full scale of property damage from the floods in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and eastern Connecticut. It’s probably in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and, we suppose, could even top $1 billion.

But far more important, of course, is the question of saving lives. And on that, we can be grateful that calm, well-informed and prompt leadership by the three states’ governors _ Donald Carcieri, Deval Patrick and Jodi Rell _ and valiant and fast work by law enforcement, fire, rescue and other personnel, in the public and private sectors, including the National Weather Service and private forecasters, and the news media, kept the threat of loss of life to a minimum.

Indeed, while reports are still coming in, as of this writing there were no deaths directly attributed to the storm in the flood’s epicenter _ Rhode Island. The accuracy and timeliness of warnings (aided by the electronic communications revolution of the past few years) were at the core of this achievement.

It could have been much, much worse, as awful as it was. It would be good to remember that as we continue to try to clean up the mess.

“We are facing a major problem,” said Farooq, a senior executive at Marvel Gloves Industries, which produces 3 million pairs of gloves a month, most used in industrial production in India. “Despite importing gloves we are not able to meet demand.”

The run on gloves began five months ago, said Farooq, whose customers include Ford and Nissan.

It’s been driven by a record rebound in manufacturing, spurred in part by government stimulus, which has led India out of the Great Recession faster than many imagined possible.

So abundant is the optimism that India’s Finance Ministry, led by Pranab Mukherjee _ not a man given to hyperbole _ has made a bold assertion: India could soon overtake China’s growth rates.

“It is possible for India to move into double-digit growth and even become the fastest growing economy in the world within next four years,” the Ministry said as part of an economic survey released in February.

The catch: bridging the chasm between the possible and the probable.

Given the growing productivity of Indian workers and large working age population, it’s certainly possible for India’s economy to speed up, say economists and businesspeople.

But in practice, overtaking China would require fundamental changes in the way India does business. Creaking or nonexistent infrastructure and cumbersome government bureaucracy are drags on businesses large and small. And few think the bureaucratic and political hindrances that make it hard to execute even the best-laid plans will be removed anytime soon.

Also in doubt is how much faster growth will benefit the mass of Indians who’ve seen little or no gain from the country’s much lauded economic rise since liberalization began in the early 1990s.

So far, the economic makeover has worsened income inequality in India, and despite five years of near nine percent growth, over 450 million people struggle by on less than $1.25 a day. A similar problem of widening inequality also blights China, which has grown an average of 9.7 percent a year over the past three decades.

But higher levels of business investment in the past decade have raised profits and wages and in turn produced a large pool of corporate and household savings that was unimaginable in India 10 years ago.

“The productive capacity of the economy has gone up,” said former International Monetary Fund economist Renu Kohli. “My only caveat is that as far as implementation and execution of projects and policies is, India is a slow mover. It doesn’t move at the speed China does.”

Financing isn’t the problem, nor lack of good ideas, she said.

“The constraint lies in procedural issues, land acquisition and the capacity of even private participants to execute those projects without delays,” she said. “For that to change, it’s not entirely clear what a budget or change in policies can bring about.”

India’s top spending priorities in its new budget, released Feb. 26, are social programs and infrastructure. Next fiscal year, the government plans to spend 1.37 trillion rupees ($30 billion) on social programs and 1.7 trillion rupees ($37.9 billion) on infrastructure.

The mix reflects the ruling Congress party’s general approach _ ramp up economic growth with pro-market policies and then redistribute the spoils through a massive hodgepodge of social spending, subsidies and employment guarantee programs.

Many say that to sustain growth in the long-run, the nation must do a better job of enriching millions of people at bottom of the heap.

India’s fortunes are less coupled to global markets than export-dependent China’s, but they are linked to the rural economy. Putting more money in the hands of the poor and near-poor has helped bolster domestic demand.

The programs that helped most _ farmer loan waivers worth over $15 billion, a massive rural job guarantee program, and higher minimum prices for rice and wheat _ were implemented in the run up to last year’s national elections. But they ended up shielding a large part of the economy from the global meltdown, said Himanshu, a professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, who goes by one name.

Unless rural incomes rise, India could face a bottleneck in domestic demand, said Himanshu.

“Sixty percent of our population is still working in agriculture,” he said. “Even the corporate sector is now saying that for growth what you require is growth at the bottom because that’s your market.”

Giving farmers a more certain future as India’s economy industrializes could also speed progress. Farmers concerned about losing their land in exchange for promises of jobs and one-time cash payments, which quickly get spent, have stopped or slowed the development of mines, power plants, factories and special economic zones.

Naushad Forbes who directs Forbes Marshall Pvt. Ltd., a large Indian manufacturing company, wishes the government would take a more encompassing approach to helping “Bharat,” or the rural poor.

“India’s economy is coupled to ‘Bharat’,” he said. “We have to as a country, as we mature, move away from the budget being a list of giveaways to something more holistic,” he added.

Fixing India’s clogged ports, sweeping power blackouts, inadequate roads and overstretched airports would also be a huge boost to productivity.

Goldman Sachs has estimated that India may need $1.7 trillion over the next decade to double its electricity capacity, increase the length of paved roads by half and substantially expand railway, port, airport and irrigation networks.

Spending that money well could prove challenging. The Delhi School of Economics surveyed 894 infrastructure projects between 1992 and 2009 and found that time overruns ranged from 61 percent of projects in the power sector to nearly 100 percent of railway, health and family welfare projects. Most were caused by government administrative delays.

India’s new budget did please some circles _ analysts and investors, who praised Mukherjee for his fiscal discipline and productive spending priorities.

Given the manufacturing boom, the enlightened policymaking and all the road-building that’s going on, why doesn’t Farooq, the glove maker, just ramp up production in India instead of relying on imports to meet rising demand?

“There are certain constraints,” he said. “We need to take a lot of procedures and approvals. We need to take the right land, import the machines, train the people. It will take a long time.”

Besides, he said he’s getting fed up with the number of public holidays in India.

“By the time you start production, you have some festival for a particular religion or caste.”

“Last week only, there were three holidays.”

So where does Farooq get those 1.5 million pairs of imported gloves each month?

Chiefly, China.

The agreement was reached during a visit by Prime Minister Bruce Golding and private sector representatives who are in China in search of economic aid.

Projects include affordable-home construction and the renovation of a shoreline leading to Kingston’s international airport that was severely damaged by hurricanes Ivan and Dean in 2004 and 2007.

Foreign Affairs Minister Kenneth Baugh did not specify whether the money was a donation or a loan in a statement issued Thursday. It is unclear when the projects will get under way.

Jamaica and China established diplomatic ties nearly 40 years ago.

World Map

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti _ Aid workers hoping to distribute food, water and other supplies to a shattered Port-au-Prince are warning their efforts may need more security Friday as Haitians grow increasingly desperate and impatient for help.

United Nations peacekeepers patrolling the capital said people’s anger is rising that aid hasn’t been distributed quickly, and the Brazilian military warned aid convoys to add security to guard against looting.

“Unfortunately, they’re slowly getting more angry and impatient,” said David Wimhurst, spokesman for the Brazilian-commanded U.N. peacekeeping mission. “I fear, we’re all aware that the situation is getting more tense as the poorest people who need so much are waiting for deliveries. I think tempers might be frayed.”

The U.N. World Food Program reported Friday that its warehouses in the Haitian capital had been looted since Tuesday’s cataclysmic earthquake. It didn’t know how much of its pre-quake stockpile of 15,000 tons of food aid remained.

A spokeswoman for the Geneva-based agency, Emilia Casella, noted that regular food stores in the city also had been emptied by looters.

Bound for Haiti, 82nd Airborne brigade and a Navy carrier are part of US relief effort

WASHINGTON _ Some 800 infantry soldiers and a Navy aircraft carrier are bound for Haiti to aid the massive relief effort under way, the first major influx of U.S. troops since the catastrophe struck.

The troops, expected to arrive Friday, were a clear sign that President Barack Obama was intent on rescuing the ravaged nation, despite the strain that such a vast undertaking would invariably take.

“To the people of Haiti, we say clearly and with conviction, you will not be forsaken,” Obama said. “You will not be forgotten. In this, your hour of greatest need, America stands with you.”

Military personnel began trickling into Haiti on Wednesday to restore operations at the airport and join the relief effort. An early assessment team has outlined an urgent requirement for helicopters to ferry supplies and victims, as well as equipment to purify water and clear road debris.

A primary challenge is the badly damaged seaport that will make it difficult for ships _ carrying the kinds of mass amounts of supplies and helicopters needed in a natural disaster _ to offload their equipment. Likewise, the small airport at Port-au-Prince was described as congested and chaotic with civilian flights canceled and planes stranded without the ability to refuel.

Official says as many as 8 officers could face punishment for Ft. Hood shooting rampage

WASHINGTON_ As many as eight Army officers could face punishment for failing to do anything when the alleged shooter in the Fort Hood rampage displayed erratic behavior early in his military career, a U.S. official says.

The officers supervised the suspect when he was a medical student and during his work as an Army psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates was expected to refer findings on the officers to the Army for further inquiry and possible punishment. The report on what went wrong in the case of Army Maj. Nidal Hasan is expected to be released Friday.

The official said Thursday that a Pentagon inquiry finds fault with five to eight supervisors who knew or should have known about the shortcomings and erratic behavior of Hasan, who’s accused of killing 13 people at the Texas Army base on Nov. 5.

The official described the confidential report on condition of anonymity because it has not been made public.

Democrats break logjam on tax dispute, reach for final deal on health care bill

WASHINGTON _ President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats stand within days if not hours of striking final deals on historic health care legislation after key labor unions won concessions and pledged their support.

“We are on the doorstep of accomplishing something that Washington has been talking about since Teddy Roosevelt was president, and that is reforming health care and health insurance here in America,” Obama told rank-and-file House Democrats on Thursday during a visit to the Capitol complex.

As he spoke, heads of the nation’s leading labor unions were announcing a deal to resolve a highly contentious dispute over Obama’s desire to tax high-cost insurance plans to help pay for the health legislation. Unions had objected strongly, saying union workers ultimately would pay the 40 percent levy, and House Democrats backed the unions. But labor bowed to the White House demands after extracting agreements that would significantly soften the blow of the tax.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said that, assuming the deal and other labor priorities hold, labor will be behind the final bill.

“We will endorse it, and we’ll do that proudly,” he said.

Hudson River miracle passengers, crew gather for 1-year anniversary, celebration of survival

NEW YORK _ It should have been a death knell: “Brace for impact.”

But a year after 155 people lived through the water landing of the incapacitated US Airways Flight 1549 in the middle of the frigid Hudson River, many of them are gathering to celebrate the anniversary of their unlikely survival.

On Friday, Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger is expected to join other crew and passengers to revisit the site where he deftly set down his Airbus A320 on Jan. 15, 2009, after it crossed paths with a flock of Canada geese that disabled its engines.

The group, which will include First Officer Jeffrey Skiles and the plane’s three flight attendants, is to gather in the morning for a breakfast to thank first responders and the Greater New York and Northern New Jersey chapters of the American Red Cross.

In the afternoon, they will meet with boat crews and other rescuers to board one of the passenger ferries that plucked them from the icy water. Together, they’ll return to the place where they made their escape.

China tries to keep Google conflict from damaging business confidence, ties with Washington

BEIJING _ China tried Friday to keep its censorship row with Google from damaging business confidence or ties with Washington, promising good conditions for foreign investors but giving no sign it might relax Internet controls.

U.S.-China trade and economic ties will not be affected by any Google Inc. decision to withdraw from China, said Commerce Ministry spokesman Yao Jian at a regular briefing. However, he insisted foreign companies must obey Chinese law.

“China will still strictly adopt a policy of openness and offer a good investment environment,” Yao said. “We emphasize that foreign companies including Google should all follow international standards and respect local law and regulations and local culture and customs to shoulder social responsibility.”

The loss of such a high-profile company would be an embarrassment to communist leaders, who want to make China a technology leader. But the ruling party sees control over information as critical to maintaining its monopoly on power.

U.S.-Chinese ties are periodically strained by disputes over trade, human rights and U.S. support for self-ruled Taiwan, claimed by Beijing as its own territory. But the two sides maintain dialogue in a series of forums and say they want constructive relations.

Columbia social scientist says outlawing marriage creates added mental health issues for gays

SAN FRANCISCO _ A Columbia University social scientist says California’s voter-enacted ban on same-sex marriages contributed to the social stigma that makes gay men and lesbians more susceptible to depression, suicide and substance abuse.

Testifying in the federal trial to decide if Proposition 8 violates the U.S. Constitution, Ilan Meyer said the measure sent a message of “You are not welcome here” to gay people by erecting a barrier to a “desirable and respected” institution.

“People in our society have goals that are cherished by all people, that are part of the social convention,” Meyer said. “We are all raised to think there are certain things we want to achieve in life, and this Proposition 8 says if you are gay or lesbian, you cannot achieve this particular goal.”

The trial, the first in a federal to examine the constitutionality of state gay marriage bans, is scheduled to resume Friday with testimony from Michael Lamb, a Cambridge University psychologist who will discuss gay and lesbian parenting and the benefits to children of allowing same-sex couples to marry.

During Thursday’s session, Howard Nielson Jr., a lawyer for the measure’s sponsors, mounted an exhaustive cross-examination, using Meyer’s own research showing that black and Latino gays had fewer mental health problems than white gays to try to undercut the professor’s assertion. Meyer had hypothesized in his study that black and Latino gays would have more mental health issues because of their dual minority identities.

Treasury Secy. Geithner defends secretive AIG bailouts as another committee joins probe

WASHINGTON _ Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner responded to a rising chorus of questions about controversial bailout deals Thursday, defending decisions that funneled billions to Wall Street banks.

Geithner said the “backdoor bailouts” of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and others were necessary and agreed to appear before a House committee probing his handing of the $182 billion rescue of American International Group Inc.

Geithner said he will appear at a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Affairs later this month to discuss the matter.

Hours earlier, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee said his panel also will investigate bailout decisions Geithner signed off on when he was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The New York Fed paid billions to banks to satisfy financial commitments AIG had with them. The deals might have cost taxpayers billions more than necessary because Geithner declined to demand concessions from the banks, an earlier watchdog report said.

Kimmel tweaks Leno, NBC over late-night dispute; NBC sets shows for post-Leno prime time

LOS ANGELES _ Jimmy Kimmel stepped into NBC’s late-night fray on Jay Leno’s turf, taking comic aim at him and NBC on “The Jay Leno Show.”

Appearing by satellite Thursday for Leno’s “Ten at Ten” question-and-answer segment, the ABC late-night host was asked to relate his best prank ever. Kimmel replied that he told a guy five years ago that he’d give him his show, and “then I took it back.”

It was a thinly veiled reference to Leno’s agreement in 2004 to surrender “The Tonight Show” to O’Brien in 2009, after 17 years as host.

NBC, which is ending Leno’s prime-time show, wants to return him to 11:30 p.m. EST by bumping O’Brien and “Tonight” to midnight, a plan O’Brien has rejected. The network was in talks with both hosts.

Kimmel also joked that Leno had “$800 million, for God’s sake,” and advised him to leave other hosts’ shows alone.

‘Goof ball’ goes before the judge: Wizards’ Gilbert Arenas charged with felony gun possession

WASHINGTON) _ Ever since he first acknowledged keeping guns in his locker, NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas has publicly employed the “goof ball” defense, claiming he wasn’t aware of the law, meant no harm and never takes anything seriously.

The NBA and the Washington Wizards had a far more serious response. Now it’s time to see how it plays before a judge.

Arenas is scheduled to appear in court Friday to answer a felony charge of carrying a pistol without a license, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. The charge was filed Thursday in D.C. Superior Court in an “information,” a document that indicates Arenas has reached a plea deal with prosecutors.

The three-time All-Star has acknowledged storing four unloaded guns in his locker at the Verizon Center, saying he wanted to keep them away from his young children and didn’t know it was a violation of the city’s strict gun laws. He says he took them out of the locker Dec. 21 in a “misguided effort to play a joke” on a teammate.

The charge was made hours after the teammate, Javaris Crittenton, had his northern Virginia apartment searched by police looking for a silver- or chrome-colored semiautomatic handgun with a black handle. The search warrant indicated police were investigating crimes that include brandishing a weapon. No evidence was seized, according to court documents, and Crittenton has not been charged.