The following are editorial opinions taken from newspapers from around the world that may be of interest to Royal Gazette <$>readers.

The Times, London, on the IRA’s apology:<$>

The apology issued by the IRA to the relatives of “noncombatant” victims during a 30-year campaign will not be greeted with dancing in the streets of Northern Ireland. The claim in its statement that it was never the intention of the Army Council to injure or kill anyone other than a representative of the British state hardly squares with the reality of violence deliberately directed at civilians in Ulster and mainland Britain in an attempt to achieve by force a united Ireland.

The IRA hierarchy is acutely aware that the attitude of this United States administration, amplified further since September 11, is radically different to that enjoyed when Bill Clinton occupied the White House. A blanket apology of the form issued yesterday therefore makes tactical sense, even if received with derision by those to whom it is addressed.

The Guardian, London, on US economy:<$>

...(Federal Reserve Chairman Alan) Greenspan was right to be upbeat about the strength of the real US economy. Consumer spending is holding up quite well, industrial output rose by 0.8 percent in June and he expects the economy overall to expand by 3.5 percent this year. It is the strength of the financial economy that is the problem. The key question is whether the gloom it currently generates, especially from accounting scams, will eventually infect the real economy.

The Sowetan, Johannesburg, South Africa, on muzzling the press in Zimbabwe:

On Monday, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe told reporters in Cuba that the fate of Mr. Andrew Meldrum, an American journalist with the U.K.’s Guardian, would depend on the courts. Meldrum, who was acquitted this week, had been on trial for violating one of the new repressive press laws passed by Mr. Mugabe’s government.

Normally, this would be a reassuring remark. After all, in a constitutional democracy, courts’ rulings are respected. But not in Mr. Mugabe’s Zimbabwe where they have, like other democracy-supporting institutions, been cowed into submission.

In spite of his acquittal Meldrum is now being hounded out of the country as part of a campaign to muzzle the media. As his paper said, even if it were possible for him to stay, it would not be safe. The ex-combatants, Mr. Mugabe’s allies, might just do the trick. The game is up for him - a clear warning to other independent journalists.

Corriere della Sera, Milan, Italy, on the strong euro:<$>

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is not as worried about the strength of the euro against the dollar as he is about how he described as an “irrational exuberance,” the Wall Street boom at the end of the 1990s. That’s because he now has to suggest that it is irrational to be pessimistic about the current slump.

While Greenspan declares that the US stock market will grow, Wall Street’s agony seems to contradict him. Few people still believe in the financial reports compiled by Wall Street listed companies. ...

While Greenspan and US President George W. Bush risk looking like a couple of comedians with their positive declarations, the stock market keeps dropping.

Europe’s situation, however, is not less delicate. European Commission President Romano Prodi expresses delight with the euro’s surging value, but the stock markets are still not showing any benefit and forecasts for European stock markets for 2003 are negative.

Europe, in the wake of the strong euro, now has to prove that its exuberance is rational. Perhaps by showing that public investment counts more than foreign and that income redistribution counts more than high profits. That’s because the world of frenzied enrichment on the other side of the Atlantic doesn’t seem to work.