● LIBERATION Chirac parlant Iran, c?est de la bombe

«Polémique honteuse». Jusqu?ici donc, tout allait bien... Mais, lundi, lors d?un entretien avec des journalistes du Nouvel Observateur, de l? International Herald Tribune et du New York Times, tout a dérapé. Jacques Chirac leur a déclaré que si l?Iran possédait l?arme atomique ce ne serait «pas tellement dangereux». Jugeant que «ce qui est dangereux, c?est la prolifération», il a estimé que, si l?Iran envoyait une bombe (sur Israël, comme il le sous-entend), «elle n?aura pas fait 200 mètres dans l?atmosphère que Téhéran sera rasé». Un point de vue en contradiction avec les positions officielles de la France qui, à l?instar, de ses partenaires occidentaux chargés de ce dossier au sein de l?Onu, exige que l?Iran suspende son programme d?enrichissement d?uranium. Conscient de sa bourde, il a tenté dès le lendemain, mardi, de corriger ses paroles en invitant à nouveau ces journalistes à l?Elysée afin de «préciser sa pensée». Et, lorsque les trois journaux qui s?étaient mis d?accord sur une date de publication commune de cet entretien ont publié hier leurs informations, l?Elysée a dénoncé «une polémique honteuse». Avec dans son collimateur les «médias américains qui n?hésitent pas à faire feu de tout bois contre la France». Que s?est-il réellement passé entre Chirac et la presse lundi et mardi ?

C?est d?abord une certitude en cette fin de mandat : Jacques Chirac ne devrait jamais sortir de ses fiches...

● THE TELEGRAPH Steel & Shilpa keep UK busy

It needed someone in authority to link the names of the two Indians who are dominating the news ? Shilpa Shetty and Ratan Tata ? and the Financial Times did just that today. Although there is much more appetite for the statuesque «Bollywood babe» in the British media, the 70-year-old chairman of the Tata group is also receiving his fair share of the media spotlight. While police are investigating claims that the word, «Paki», may have been directed against Shilpa while she was on Celebrity Big Brother despite Channel 4?s earnest denials, British journalists are also starting to investigate the kind of house the head of the Tata empire has been running. The consensus today is that in buying Corus at 608p a share Tata has proved himself to be a bold and brave man. Whether he has been foolish only time will tell, the analysts predict. The leader in the Financial Times, «India steals a march in the steel industry ? But the logic of sector consolidation is unproved», acknowledges: «There have been bigger takeovers than Tata Steel?s £6.2 billion acquisition of Corus, its Anglo-Dutch peer. But few have been so momentous ? it is the first large foreign acquisition by an Indian company ? while at the same time reliant on such a risky industrial strategy.» It also concedes: «Tata does, however, have a strategy.» It points out that «Tata thinks globalisation will mean that customers such as car manufacturers want to buy steel in lots of different countries, which would give a company that can supply in Europe as well as in India a business advantage.» It is not known if Tata has considered making Shilpa his brand ambassador. It is one of the ironies of victory that having escaped incarceration in one house, Shilpa is now holed up in another, although it is a «luxurious mansion» in Esher, Surrey. There, newspapers, magazines and TV networks are throwing hundreds of thousands of pounds to say what she told The Telegraph ? for free ? on the night she came out. Shilpa was today giving yet another «exclusive» interview to Sky News, which Ratan Tata may find comforting.

● USA DAILY The insane President

George W Bush is criminally insane. He has lied to the American people and to the people of the world one too many times for good taste. And, he has cost far too many innocent Americans and foreigners their lives from his wars as he continues to lie about his reasoning for this state of affairs with no feelings at all for his victims. He has manifested the same cold, detached lack of respect for human life as a deranged inmate on death row in a federal prison.

As is true of all insane people who are well educated President Bush has been very clever about the reasoning behind his acts of blatant genocide against humanity. And, all along he has directed the literal torture of American citizens and foreigners alike with no concern at all about violating the human rights of people around the clock with unconstitutional eavesdropping, harassment, beatings and murders. This is what happens when a man has delusions of grandeur in dealing with his place in this world. Bush appears to think he is another Napolean who has been given a divine mission to have his military troops storm across the world in acts of self-perceived heroism while devastating his homeland with more and more tyrannical acts on a daily basis.