MONITOR: MISCELLANEOUS

South Korean Herald

Tony Blair may be surprised to find his name has become a topic of political discussion in South Korea. Some young lawmakers have instituted a reform campaign, citing Blair as their role model. But the elders dismiss their younger colleagues in their forties and early fifties as too inexperienced to qualify as "Tony Blair'' candidates.

u

Jordan Star

Jordanian women are slowly getting there. If you are a married woman, you will soon be able to get your own passport without the consent of your spouse.

u

The Nation

Pakistan

It is argued that the collapse of our social fabric is reflected in the law and order situation. The recent hold-up of a travel agency, located opposite the office of the Superintendent of Police, by four seemingly educated youths, clearly points towards this painful phenomenon. The most distressing aspect was the inability of the police to give chase to the criminals who disappeared on foot: of the two police vehicles, one suffered a mechanical breakdown and the other was out of petrol.

u

Athlone Observer

Ireland

Poor Derek Davis got an awful roasting for his handling of the Rose of Tralee on TV. Apparently, viewers were upset by his telling one contestant he was able to crack a walnut with his buttocks, and another that some of his old schoolmates had been arrested for "sheep worrying". But was Derek not simply trying to introduce some good old genuine Irish humour into an event about as Irish as the Fourth of July?