GERMANY: Obama’s new Afghanistan plan seems to be a hit with NATO allies. The same people who were opposed to all US actions a few months ago, are now jumping on he banwagon.

“We totally endorse and support America’s new strategy in Afghanistan,” Sarkozy told a joint news conference after talks with Obama. France will contribute to the new U.S. approach with development assistance and more training for police, Sarkozy said.

The China Post, who published that quote, also said that NATO’s ability to affect change in Afghanistan will help re-confirm the relevance of the alliance.

China Post article: Obama brings Afghan plan to NATO allies.

No one is sure what will come of the Obama meeting with Medvedev, but pundits have speculated everything from warm embrace to open hositlity. This is what Russia Today had to say.

About 1/4 of the world’s natural resources are trapped beneath the arctic ice. Russia is laying claim to much of the land on the basis that the Siberian shelf extends beneath much of the Arctic. No one else has a scientific claim, but I think it’s funny when people say they have a scientific claim to land. To my knowledge, very few borders were drawn in the lab.

Cartoon from Outlook Afghanistan

Outlook Afghanistan’s Cartoon Page

Cartoon from China Daily

Countries like Croatia have been trying to get EU approval for years now, focusing much of their budgeting and planning on building a stable enough currency to merge with the Euro. Right now, with the economy of Eastern Europe disintegrating, it is more vital than ever for these countries to be propped up by the Euro. But at the same time, the risk for the EU is that much greater.

China Daily carton: Link