Must-Reads from Around the World, June 15, 2012

Today we focus on coverage of investigations of official wrongdoing in China, the furor over the political situation in Egypt, and why Germans think Obama has failed

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Mainland Affairs — The South China Morning Post reports that Chinese authorities have launched a new probe into the death of activist Li Wangyang, indicating they no longer believe he killed himself in a hospital. Meanwhile, China’s official Xinhua News Agency announces that Shanxi Province officials apologized to a woman forced to undergo an abortion and that three officials responsible have been relieved of their duties in a case that sparked huge public controversy.

Technocrat Tyranny – As Europe waits anxiously for the next Greek parliamentary elections on June 17, Al Jazeera argues that the “real importance” of these elections is not which party wins, but whether the elected parties “will defeat the unelected,” asserting that the winning politicians will “struggle” to restore “democracy, as opposed to technocracy.”

The View from Berlin — Following a recent poll showing President Obama’s popularity plummeting around the world, Germany’s Der Spiegel declares he has “failed to deliver” and in a five-part essay asks: “Who is responsible for his failure?” The key contenders: a “degraded political dialogue,” the Republicans “strategy for victory,” the “most commercial campaign ever” or “the vanishing center” in American politics. Take your pick.

Family Politics – The Pakistani paper The Nation analyzes the story of a chief justice’s son who has been accused of accepting bribes from a real estate tycoon, and argues that “some thought [should be] afforded to the tycoon, and what might be going on in his family.” The paper notes that the principles upheld by the chief justice are “imported from the West,” whereas the ramifications for the actions of his son are “very Eastern.”

New MoneyThe Independent analyzes the British government’s new plan for solving the country’s double-dip recession crisis, devised by the chancellor and the governor of the Bank of England. The paper calls the plan “ingenious,” but warns that the British must not “expect too much,” given that the scheme is “voluntary.”

Egypt in Uproar — Al Jazeera English provides context to the Supreme Constitutional Court ruling Thursday that the Muslim Brotherhood-led Egyptian parliament must be dissolved and former officials under ex-leader Hosni Mubarak can hold political office. Foreign Policy‘s Mark Lynch gives his analysis: “With Egypt looking ahead to no parliament, no constitution, and a deeply divisive new president… the experiment in military-led transition has come to its disappointing end.”