● <B>THE JAKARTA POST

Local disaster agency's role in spotlight</B>

The National Disaster Management and Refugee Coordination Board (Bakornas PBP) in Indonesia is laden with red tape and needs to reform if it wants to better help disaster victims, social worker says. The number of casualties in Yogyakarta might not have been as high if the disaster had been handled more professionally in the first days afterward according to them. They said reform would mean replacing untrained bureaucrats with paid professionals, who were given the authority to coordinate with government agencies. The European Union's team and Saudi Arabian rescue workers have also noted coordination difficulties in aid relief efforts.

● <B> THE HINDU

Rahul Mahajan serious ; Pramod Mahajan?s Secretary Moitra dead</B>

Pramod Mahajan's son, Rahul was in serious condition in the Apollo Hospital while the late BJP leader's Secretary Vivek Moitra died of suspected poisioning after a mysterious late night party in which «strangers» were believed to have been present. Exactly a month after Mahajan's death, 26-year-old Rahul was in a serious but stable condition in the ICU on life support system with his vital parameters functioning normally. «Whether the poisioning happened because of stale eatables or some poisonous substance was mixed with the food (they had) cannot be said at the moment,» spokesman of the hospital Karan Thakur said.

● <B>THE NEW YORK TIMES

For Bush, talks with Iran were a last resort</B>

After 27 years in which the United States has refused substantive talks with Iran, President Bush reversed course on Wednesday because it was made clear to him ? by his allies, by the Russians, by the Chinese, and eventually by some of his advisers ? that he no longer had a choice. During the past month, according to European officials and some current and former members of the Bush administration, it became obvious to Mr. Bush that he could not hope to hold together a fractious coalition of nations to enforce sanctions ? or consider military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites ? unless he first showed a willingness to engage Iran's leadership directly over its nuclear program and exhaust every nonmilitary option.

● <B>L?EXPRESS

Villepin passe en deuxième année

Le 1er juin, un an et un jour après son arrivée à Matignon, c'est un Villepin bien modeste qui, de Chartres, a tenu sa conférence de presse mensuelle. N'envisageant nullement son départ, Dominique de Villepin ne détient «pas de remède miracle» contre le chômage. Alors il mise sur «la constance des efforts» gouvernementaux dans les douze mois à venir pour faire encore baisser le taux de chômage, a-t-il expliqué lors de sa 11e conférence de presse mensuelle, qui s'est exceptionnellement tenue en province, à Chartres.

● <B>THE MIRROR

Blair's part in Haditha

History is repeating itself, as tragedy. Civilians were gunned down by American troops in the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam war 40 years ago. Civilians were allegedly cut down by US marines «blinded by hate» in the massacre at Haditha, Iraq, seven months ago. Prosecutions for murder may follow, as they should. The stench from the bodies of men, women and children slaughtered in scenes out of an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie will cling to the Bush presidency forever. And by extension, to the shabby cloak of moral authority wrapped around Tony Blair. Unlike American voters, British electors have noticed. That's why Labour's vote fell by 1,172,517 in last year?s election. A million people rejected the military premier, who is too ashamed to collect the Congressional Medal of Honour for his collaborationist valour.