EUROZONE/RUSSIA: Rethinking Its Relation With The EU.

WSJ/ By STEPHEN FIDLER/ ANALYSIS/
    Of all the so-called BRICs, only Russia's economy contracted during the West's financial crisis... by 7.9%. That has Russians rethinking their foreign policy, especially towards the EU. Some of  their arrogance is also slipping away. But so far the EU's meetings with Russia have achieved little.

SPAIN SOCCER: Colonies Root For Former Master.

WSJ/ NICHOLAS CASEY And MATT MOFFETT /
" ...during Sunday's World Cup final—pitting Spain against the Netherlands—Spain's murderous rule of Mexico in the last millennium will be forgotten. "If Spain is the Motherland, it's an awful mother to have," says Jamie Abundis, a Mexico City historian. "But the truth is I want them to win."
Tomorrow  "... an unlikely battle cry will hail from the former colonies of Spain: "Vamos España!" Sure, Spain once robbed, raped and raided its way across the Americas. But it also bequeathed a language, religion and culture that still inspire loyalty from Chile to New Mexico."

Wall Street Journal Opines Petrobras Is No "Investor's Bonanza."

No link. Locked Behind WSJournal Pay Wall.

Antonio Regalado of the WSJ writes in a Saturday's "Heard on the Street" item, titled "Banking on Petrobras' Field of Dreams," that Petrobras' huge offshore reserves may not be an investor's bonanza because of Brasil's politics.

He states that Petrobras "has been doing what is best for Brazil's ruling Workers Party" and that the "government will stay in control, hiring operators and paying them in oil" with its 55% control of voting shares.

More On Murdoch, The Media And Newspaper Pay Walls.

NYTimes.

News Corp. To Charge For All Online Content.

From the BBC.

Suffering from steeply falling revenues, News Corps Chairman Rupert Murdoch says it will be charging for access to ALL its web sites by 2010.

Honduran Coup Backlash, WSJ Interview and Backgrounder.

Honduran protesters clashed with police and the military in the country's capital.

The provisional government, installed after the coup, has been rejected by world leaders from Hugo Chavez to Barack Obama.

The acting president defends the golpe... in an interview with the Wall Street Journal."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124628267418867961.html?mod=rss_com_mostcommentart

The WSJ on backgrounds of both presidents by Jose De Cordoba:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124632227606871269.html

The NYTimes summarizes the US position about the coup...and describes Hillary Clinton's recent interaction with now deposed President Zelaya.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/world/americas/30honduras.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

Wall Street Journal Profiles Mexico's notorious "El Chapo."

Few newspaper reports are considered "must reads."

But if you are interested in Mexico's drug wars...today's weekend edition of the " Wall Street Journal" has a must read.

It's a long but easily digestible profile of "El Chapo," Joaquin Guzman Loera, Mexico's most notorious drug trafficer ...by David Luhnow and Jose de Cordoba.

Guzman has been sought for eight years...with a $5 million USD reward for his capture.

In the print edition...this two and one quarter-pager with photos and a map/chart ...profiles the growth of Mexico's drug violence...thru the life story of the fugitive narco folk hero known as "El Chapo"... from his birth in Badiraguato, Sinaloa... to his escape from a luxurious Mexican prison cell in 2001.

It reports that Guzman pioneered the building of underground tunnels to transport drugs under the US/Mexican border...and details the now common gruesome drogista practice of decapitation.

Amazingly... it's now online... and worth the time.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124484177023110993.html