Bulletin – through the service of the Associated Press – provides our readers with a roundup of recent editorials from around the globe. This week the focus is on the situation in Afghanistan, but the topics also include the wearing of yellow stars by anti-vax protesters in Springfield, Missouri, the extreme heat in California and how the IMF should deal with Belarus.

The former cricket star Imran Khan is waving a Pakistan flag after his team won the World Cup in 1992. Today, he is the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Commenting on the Taliban takeover in neighbouring Afghanistan he said that the Afghans ”have broken the shackles of slavery”. The Wall Street Journal warns that he ”may rue what he wished for”. Photo: Steve Holland/AP/TT

The Taliban takeover could lead to a reckoning for Pakistan, writes Wall Street Journal.

Editorial Roundup: Afghanistan, Pakistan, anti-vax protesters, extreme heat, and Belarus

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland is looking at a more difficult relationship with two allies, the United States and Israel, after lawmakers approved separate bills — on foreign ownership of media and affecting the property rights of Holocaust survivors’ families — which the Polish government had been warned to drop.

The European Union also slammed the media bill on Thursday as undermining media freedom, adding to pre-existing strains between Warsaw and Brussels from the EU’s perception of democratic backsliding in member nation Poland. 
 The bills passed the lower house of the Polish parliament on Wednesday, and still require approval of the president, who supports the right-wing party that has governed the country since 2015. 
 The two proposals threaten to further isolate Poland, whose geographic position in Central Europe has often left it at the mercy of stronger neighbors. Poland’s membership of the EU and NATO and its relationship with the U.S. are considered key guarantees of the country’s security. 
 One of the bills that passed would push Discovery Inc., the U.S. owner of Poland’s largest private television network, to sell its large and popular Polish network, TVN. It follows the state broadcasting authority’s ongoing refusal to renew the license for TVN’s all-news station TVN24, which expires in September. 
 Discovery accused Poland of violating a U.S.-Polish investment treaty, and said it notified the Polish government on Thursday that it was initiating legal action at an international arbitration court over the ”discriminatory campaign.” 
 ”We are deeply committed to safeguarding our investment in Poland and its people, defending the public’s interest in independent media and the rights of freedom of expression,” said Jean-Briac Perrette, the president of Discovery International, adding that ”we will aggressively defend our rights.” 
 The other bill in an administrative amendment which would result in former owners, including Holocaust survivors and their descendants, from regaining property expropriated by the country’s communist regime. 
 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement late Wednesday about what he called the ”troubling legislation.” 
 ”These pieces of legislation run counter to the principles and values for which modern, democratic nations stand,” Blinken said. 
 Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki responded Thursday by suggesting the U.S. officials do not understand the Polish bills and should analyze them more closely. 
 On the media bill, Morawiecki said: ”We do not have any intentions regarding a specific television channel. It is just about tightening the regulations so that there is no situation in which companies from outside the European Union would freely buy media in Poland.” 
 The media bill triggered nationwide protests Tuesday. Among the participants expressing fear that their right to independent information was under attack were older Poles who remember the censorship of the communist era. 
 By contrast, the law which would affect the former property owners — both Jewish and non-Jewish — got almost no media coverage in Poland. But it sparked a fast and angry response from Israel, with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid saying it ”damages both the memory of the Holocaust and the rights of its victims.” 
 The EU Commission said it will follow the media issue very closely while the head of the EU’s top watchdog for democratic values, Vera Jourova, tweeted that the foreign ownership bill sends a negative signal. 
 ”Media pluralism and diversity of opinions are what strong democracies welcome, not fight against,” Jourova wrote. ”We need a #MediaFreedomAct in the whole EU to uphold media freedom and support the rule of law.” 
 European Parliament President David Sassoli also weighed in on the media vote, calling it ”very worrying” and said if it comes into force, ”it will seriously threaten independent television in the country.” 
 Michael Roth, a German government member in charge of European affairs, said ”democracy and the rule of law need critical and free media like the air to breathe. Laws should protect a colorful, diverse media landscape and not restrict it — and that everywhere in the EU.” 
 The development looked to many like a crucial move in a step-by-step dismantling of the democratic standards that Poland embraced when it threw off communism in 1989. 
 Hungary had already set the trail for such an illiberal political direction, and the EU has shown little ability so far to do much to ensure adherence to its values either there or in Poland, both previously models of democratic transformation. 
 After communism ended more than three decades ago, many foreign investors entered Poland’s media market. Poland’s ruling party, led by the country’s de facto leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has long seen this as a problem and sought to ”repolonize” the media. The party argues that keeping Polish entities in control of the media is a matter of national security and that such regulations are in line with Western European standards. 
 However, the party’s critics see the efforts to nationalize media as a pretext for silencing independent voices. The effort is well on its way. Soon after winning power in 2015, Law and Justice transformed tax-funded public media into a party mouthpiece. Last year the state oil company bought a large German-owned private media group and has since moved to change the editors.

A media bill would force Discovery Inc to sell off a Polish network.

Media, Holocaust bills test Poland’s ties with US, Israel

Bulletin – through the service of the Associated Press – provides our readers with a roundup of recent editorials from around the globe. This week the topics ranges from the much reported IPCC climate report to Apples recent push to create tools for scanning users phones for suspect data, as well as the inexperience of governments in dealing with cryptocurrencies. The inequality between countries when it comes to covid-19-vaccine is also discussed, as well as border control.

Apple is ditching the privacy of users when policing porn, and it’s disappointing, writes LA Times.

Editorial Roundup: Climate report, Apple policing porn, vaccine inequalities, crypto, border control

TOKYO (AP) — The Tokyo Olympics have ended, but it’s still vacation season in Japan, and many people are ignoring government pleas to avoid travel and stay away from bars and restaurants even as the coronavirus spikes at record levels.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is pinning his hopes on vaccinations, which started slow but now are making good progress. How this race between shots and disease finishes may determine Suga’s political future, not to mention the health of tens of thousands. 
 Suga seems optimistic vaccines will win, but with only about 36% of the population fully vaccinated, experts say the virus’s highly infectious delta variant is pulling ahead. They are urging the government to put more teeth in its weak state of emergency. Japan has managed the COVID-19 pandemic better than many countries, without the kind of restrictive lockdown used in other nations, but some believe that may now be needed. 
 Japan’s daily coronavirus cases have topped 10,000 for more than a week, and the total has doubled in the past four months to exceed 1 million. Tokyo’s daily caseloads tripled during the Games that ended Sunday. And as hospitals fill up, nearly 20,000 infected people are isolating at home, over 10 times more than a month ago. 
 On Friday, Tokyo reported 5,773 new cases, surpassing the previous record of 5,042 set last week. 
 Suga has stressed the progress of the vaccine rollout despite its late and slow start. 
 More than 80% of Japan’s elderly population of 36 million have completed their vaccinations since they started getting shots in mid-April. Suga says high inoculation rates among seniors have contributed to a significant decline in the number of elderly patients, serious cases and deaths, relieving strain on the medical system. 
 ”This clearly shows the vaccine efficacy,” Suga said, pledging to accelerate vaccinations among younger people. ”The most effective way to slow the infections and minimize serious symptoms would be to give everyone two shots as soon as possible.” 
 Serious cases are now mostly among people in their 50s or younger, who are still largely unvaccinated. So far, 14 million — less than 20% of those aged 12 to 64 who are eligible for shots — have been fully vaccinated, according to Taro Kono, the minister in charge of vaccinations. 
 Suga said his goal of fully vaccinating all willing elderly people by the end of July has been mostly achieved. As he pushes to inoculate younger people, Suga aims to fully vaccinate 40% of all those 12 years and older by the end of August, and to complete shots for all those who wish to do so by October or November. 
 But vaccines alone might not be enough, experts and officials say. 
 ”With the ongoing surge accelerated by the delta strain, it is extremely difficult to deal with the infections just by promoting the vaccines,” Kono told a recent online program. He noted that young adults in their 20s and 30s account for about half of daily cases and urged them to stick to social distancing, mask wearing and handwashing. 
 Japan’s delayed vaccinations began in mid-February, with medical workers getting the first shots. The pace, initially slowed by logistical bungling, inefficiency and shortages of vaccine supplies, dramatically picked up in May, and the number of daily shots has since risen beyond 1 million, meeting Suga’s ambitious target. 
 Officials expect the vaccination pace will slow when young adults get their turn because of their reluctance to get jabs, in part because of false rumors about side effects. Many of them also think they are less likely to develop serious symptoms. 
 For Suga, who has been criticized for forcing through the Games despite strong local opposition, showcasing the relative safety of the Olympics and Japan’s vaccination progress may be key to his political survival. Suga has repeatedly said there is no evidence of the virus spreading from the Olympics, and organizing officials agree. While some 400 positive cases were reported inside the Olympic ”bubble” from early July until the closing ceremony, that positivity rate is only a fraction of Tokyo’s overall, they say. 
 Suga said his government is urgently tackling the surge of infections, but his government has repeated the same set of unpopular emergency measures that mainly target bars and restaurants, requiring them not to serve alcohol and close early. Department stores, entertainment facilities and other non-essential businesses are also requested to close at 8 p.m. 
 Though businesses that comply receive a daily compensation of up to 200,000 yen ($1,800) and those that defy could be fined, thousands are staying open later than 8 p.m. The authorities can stiffen the requests to orders and eventually impose fines on those who defy, but punishment is rare amid growing criticism that the measures unfairly target eateries. 
 Measures aimed at the public, including masking, disinfecting and avoiding non-essential trips, are only requests, and many people still roam around, go to restaurants, gather in parks and streets to drink and commute on packed trains. 
 Economy Revitalization Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, also in charge of virus measures, noted this week that large infection clusters have been detected in classrooms, department stores and ”pachinko” pinball parlors, and asked that people avoid traveling during the summer vacation season. 
 Despite increased support for the Games thanks to a record 58 Japanese medals, post-Olympic media surveys show support ratings for Suga’s government dropped below 30%. 
 ”The government should come up with measures on the premise that people won’t listen to its requests,” former Osaka governor and political critic Toru Hashimoto said on a television talk show this week. ”Many people think it doesn’t make sense that only they have to keep restraining their activity even though the government forced through the Olympics.” 
 The state of emergency is no longer working, some say, because measures have dragged on and people are tired of following the government requests. 
 ”If the infections continue to escalate, we may have to start discussing the possibility of legalizing a lockdown,” said Dr. Shigeru Omi, the government’s top medical adviser. ”Political leaders did not send a unified, powerful and clear message” to persuade the public to cooperate in order to slow the virus’ spread.

People wearing face masks to help protect against the spread of the coronavirus walk under the scorching sun in the Ginza Shopping district Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, in Tokyo. Photo: Eugene Hoshiko/AP

Only 36 percent of Japanese fully vaccinated.