Newspapers : 15th September (en)

Pope seeks to heal Sarkozy rift. Henry Samuel, The Telegraph (en)

Medvedev: ‘I make the big decisions for Russia’. Mary Dejevsky, The Independent (en)

It could be serious next time. Mike Harvey, The Times (en)

Putin fails to dispel doubts over Medvedev. Stefan Wagstyl, The FT (en)

Europe wants IT trade pact back on table. Alan Beattie, The FT (en)

UK recession has started, says CBI. Chris Giles, The FT (en)

EU bankers assess exposure to credit crisis. Tony Barber, The FT (en)

Stagflation threat dwindles. Editorial, The FT (en)

Christopher Caldwell: France only wants to know. Christopher Caldwell, The FT (en)

Russians face $45bn debt backlog. Rachel Morarjee and David Oakley, The FT (en)

Wolfgang Münchau: Sarkozy’s economic reform has come unstuck. Wolfgang Münchau, The FT (en)

NATO Envoys Will Offer Their Support in Georgia. Judy Dempsey, The NYT (en)

Nato head attacks EU’s Georgia deal. James Blitz, The FT (en)

" ... Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Nato’s secretary-general, said the agreement provided no grounds for the revival of the Nato-Russia relationship.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr de Hoop Scheffer complained that Russia – which has pledged to withdraw from buffer zones inside Georgia that adjoin South Ossetia and Abkhazia – is being permitted to retain a military presence inside the two breakaway regions.

... “The option of keeping Russian forces in South Ossetia and Abkhazia is not acceptable" ... "

Analysis: European military budgets still far surpass China and India. Thomas Harding, The Telegraph (en)

" ... Europe's top five defence spenders have an annual budget of £120 billion, compared to China's £35 billion and India's £15 billion ......

Russia's invasion of Georgia showed that the former superpower is still at least a generation behind in technology terms compared to the highly advanced Western armies. In spite of Russia's huge increase in defence spending, now estimated at £35 billion, it cannot match the sophistication of Europe and America's forces from vehicles to jets and missiles ...

... China's research and development, part based on industrial espionage and reproducing Russian technology, has surged forward, with spending increasing threefold in the last decade.
... India has opted for largely buying-in technology rather than developing its own indigenous defence manufacturing ... "

EU lines up cash for failed treaty. Nicola Smith, The Times (en)

" ... It plans to spend £6.2 billion on promoting itself as a “global player” next year and 22% more on justice and home affairs to pay for new powers under the still-unratified treaty, in a budget set to be agreed by Brussels in December.
The £6.2 billion will be used to promote EU interests across the world from Latin America to Africa, the Caribbean and Russia, with £243m spent on EU embassies and an £11m information budget to help sell Europe’s new role as a global heavyweight ..."

Hackers break into CERN computer network. Mike Harvey and Mark Henderson

" ... The work of the scientists was not derailed and insiders scoffed at claims that the hackers were “one step away” from the systems controlling the experiment itself ... The hackers appear to have targeted the computer system of the Compact Muon Solenoid Experiment, one of the four detectors that will be analysing the progress of the experiment ...

Afghanistan Is in Its Worst Shape Since 2001, European Diplomat Says. Alison Smale, The NYT (en)

" ... One of the most experienced Western envoys in Afghanistan said Sunday that conditions there had become the worst since 2001 ... The envoy ... especially criticized the growing number of civilian deaths in attacks by American and international forces ... Mr. Vendrell warned that the situation was precarious among the Pashtun tribes who live mainly in southern Afghanistan, bordering Pakistan. He also said that the Taliban-led insurgency had spread not only to the east but also close to Kabul and, in pockets, to the north and west, hitherto relatively peaceful ...

...Because the country faces a number of problems — the rising cost of food and fuel ... Afghanistan could be facing “a very cold winter” that threatened to become “a very hot winter for all of us,” he said ... "