What the world is reading

Commenting on a recent Los Angeles Times report,which disclosed that approximately one federal judicial seat in eight is vacant in the US senate and more are opening up,Dahlia Lithwick says,Perhaps weve been referring to it as the judicial-vacancy crisis for so long that nobody believes its a crisis anymore. Maybe we should upgrade it to a national judicial disaster or the global war on the judiciary. According to her,there is clearly an enthusiasm gap over all things judicial. Whether you support Obamas legislative agenda or abhor it,having well-functioning courts should matter8230;

The Huffington Post

Post 9/11: Unfinished business

Nine years after the 9/11 attacks,Marc. Ginsberg,former US Ambassador to Morocco,questions,Its 9/11 again8230;do you know where Osama bin Laden is? Why not? Why after nine years of the greatest global manhunt in history have we failed to put this mass murderer away for good? And if not bin Laden8230;then why havent we captured his cohort Ayman al- Zawahiri,paraded him down Broadway and deservedly hanged him from the highest flagpole in lower Manhattan by now? He says Al Qaeda Central is still plotting attacks against America in the name of a global jihad. In the past two years,it has proven it is still very capable of mounting centrally-commanded missions,such as the 2009 attempted Delta aircraft Christmas Day attack and the 2010 Times Square attack.

The Global Post

At US Open: Indo-Pak peace message

Even though Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureishi couldnt win the US Open,they sent out a message at the final event. Sonya Fatah says,Tennis aside,the event was significant because of the commitment of Bopanna and Qureishi to restore peace between their respective home nations,India and Pakistan. The duo have been playing together since 2007 under the banner,Indo-Pak Express,and have been promoting their partnership as an example for their warring nations to follow. Fatah says that the duo dont share a common language and/or culture but share a common goal,regardless of the enemies they might make in the process8230; and seemingly regardless of how it might affect their performance in the final. Friday night,on center court at Arthur Ashe stadium,Qureishi made an appeal to New Yorkers to try and connect better with average Pakistanis.

Time

EU against Roma expulsions

The Roma also called gypsiesEuropes largest minorityhave been the centre of attention over the past few weeks because of Frances programme of sending them back to their own countries. Leo Chendrowicz says that amid criticism from the international community,French President Nicolas Sarkozy has forged ahead with the expulsions,sending almost 1,000 Roma migrants back to Bulgaria and Romania. The members of the European Parliament told Paris to immediately suspend all expulsions of Roma,since they amount to discrimination on the basis of race and ethnicity. Chendrowicz says there is little that European institutions can do against a determined government. The EU has no authority to interfere in the internal affairs of governments,as long as they dont impinge on community rights. So EU efforts are of the softer variety. Hungarian MEP Livia Jaroka,whose father was a Roma musician,says Frances actions reveal ugly impulses that the EU has been unable to overcome. I was hoping that Europe would wake up earlier, she says.