The Periscope Post

The Chicago Tribune Back to the table

After two fractious years, Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are re-opening. “Yes, the odds are steep, as always,” declared The Chicago Tribune, but there is “some reason for optimism.” The paper’s cautiously optimistic outlook was informed by the improved economic and security conditions in Palestine and Israel. But huge hurdles pepper the road to peace: “We’ll see if Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip try to scuttle talks with a barrage of rockets into Israel” and “discover if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ready to confront the hard liners … by agreeing to abandon many West Bank settlements and share sovereignty over part of Jerusalem.” The Tribune forecast no lightening deal, but urged, “there’s a moment here to seize or to miss.”

The San Francisco Chronicle Loosening US sanctions on Cuba long overdue

The San Francisco Chronicle responded to President Obama’s “unduly tentative” steps to dial down the hardline approach to Cuba – by loosening travel restrictions on academic, religious and cultural groups – as “so overdue.” The paper described policy to Cuba since Fidel Castro took power in 1959 as “draconian and counterproductive … severe sanctions have succeeded mostly in keeping Cubans poor and providing the Castros … with a convenient foil for their misery: the United States.” “It’s past time to stop proving them right,” trumpetted The Chronicle.

The Miami Herald – Cuban regime’s rigidity

“Cuba’s attempt to put a kinder, gentler face on the Castro brothers’ hard-line government is beginning to look more and more like a flop,” declared The Miami Herald. In recent weeks, Cuban authorities have released 26 political prisoners but The Herald interpreted it as little more than a smokescreen: “meanwhile, in the shadows, the thugs who do the regime’s dirty work conduct business as usual. Every whisper of protest is stifled by state-sanctioned repression.” The paper flagged up Amnesty International concerns about the treatment of dissidents inside Cuba and called on Raul Castro’s government to guarantee the safety of its citizens.

The Los Angeles Times Iran’s barbaric side

Iran has exposed its “own barbarism, indicted its own judicial system and isolated itself from all civilized nations” over its plans to stone to death Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani for committing adultery, argued The Los Angeles Times. The paper said controversial decision to broadcast Ashtiani’s taped confession had not swayed world opinion one iota, and only served to empathise her “powerlessness.” To The Times, the only upshot of the sad case is that it has “inadvertently achieved something worthy,” – reminding the world that Iran is “cavalier in its disregard for human rights” and deserving of further international censure.