The following are editorial opinions from newspapers from around the world which may be of interest to Royal Gazaette readers.

The Register-Mail in Galesburg, Ill., on Obama's campaign and race

As Barack Obama gets closer to becoming the first black candidate to receive a major party nomination for president, America's racial lines grow more pronounced.

Obama's effort to keep his race from being a campaign issue has failed. From Bill Clinton's dismissal of Obama as another Jesse Jackson (a black candidate who can win states with a black majority) to the incendiary and racially divisive words of Obama's former pastor, Obama's race has become an issue. ...

In Obama's speech in Raleigh, North Carolina, ... he called for unity among the Democratic party and the country.

"Don't ever forget that we have a choice in this country. We can choose not to be divided; that we can choose not to be afraid; that we can still choose this moment to finally come together and solve the problems we've talked about all those other years in all those other elections."

Unity will require hurdling the racial divides of the past. And with each primary, those chasms are further exposed.

Journal Star, Peoria, Illinois,

on Hillary Clinton's campaign

Experts? We don't need no stinkin' experts!

Some may find presidential aspirant Hillary Clinton's keepin'-it-real-with-the-common-man act endearing, but it's really just pandering.

Defending her proposal to suspend the federal gas tax this summer to provide relief at the pump, she said on a Sunday morning political talk show that it didn't matter that most everybody who actually knows anything about the subject thinks it's an awful idea that will inevitably backfire. "Well, I'll tell you what, I'm not going to put my lot in with economists," she said.

Well, of course not! Who would actually consult and cavort with those high-falutin', elitist brainiacs? Certainly not an Ivy League-educated attorney, like herself.

On the one hand, if Clinton has all the answers herself, about everything, and won't be seeking the advice of economists on the economy — or generals on the military, or doctors on health care issues, or lawyers on the law, or teachers on education, etc. — then perhaps that should disqualify her for the White House.

On the other hand, if she's misleading Americans about that because she wants votes in blue-collar states where it's popular to think the white collars are the source of all that's wrong with America — essentially exploiting class friction for personal gain — then maybe that should disqualify her, too. ...

The Dallas Morning News, Texas,

on the weak dollar

It's simplistic to blame higher oil prices on China's insatiable demand for oil and America's love affair with the automobile. ...

But one of the biggest reasons for the pain at the pump can be found in your wallet. A weak US dollar increases the cost of oil and other imports for American consumers.

For months, the Fed had aggressively slashed interest rates to stimulate the US economy. But that came at a cost. Lower interest rates also weakened the dollar against other currencies and, likewise, increased energy expenses in family budgets. With oil prices at well over $120 a barrel, the dollar's impact on soaring energy prices is no longer an afterthought.

The more people spend on basic transportation, the less they save or spend on other goods and services. Meanwhile, higher energy costs drive up the cost of manufacturing and shipping, which eventually trickles into the prices that consumers pay in stores. This cycle leads away from a broad-based economic recovery, not toward one.

Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke is right to suggest a pause in the Fed's string of interest rate cuts. ...

The Fed clearly needs to stem the dollar's decline, assuming the economy specifically the housing and credit markets allows it to hold the line on future rate cuts. ...

The Buffalo News, New York,

on Myanmar

Untold numbers of citizens in Myanmar are dying because an isolated government for too long refused to allow disaster aid in from other countries, for fear it would lose face in front of the populace. That cold calculation, which put power ahead of people, piles outrage upon tragedy. The Myanmar junta deserves global condemnation — after the tragedy on Myanmar's people is eased.

The United Nations must take the lead in breaching the artificial barrier imposed by the military leaders of what's also known as Burma. The junta relented ... but only to the extent of allowing in supplies but not workers. US Navy ships that could help are still banned from sending aircraft into the storm-ravaged regions. ...

Political tensions in Myanmar already were high before the cyclone hit, as the country had a vote scheduled ... on a referendum to decide whether to adopt a new constitution. The government claims it will open the possibility of elections by 2010, but critics — including the US State Department — aren't expecting that. Perpetuation of the existing military junta in Burma seems to be the government's intent.

Other countries may be going along with this political madness in hopes of benefiting from Myanmar's rich natural resources and oil. Experts say that has led China and India, for example, to hesitate in criticising the regime. Security Council members Russia, China and South Africa have gone so far as to depict a French proposal to deliver international aid without the junta's permission as meddling in a domestic crisis.

Meanwhile, people die. With leaders and friends like these, the Burmese don't need enemies.

The Washington Post,

on Bush's trip to the Middle East

The occasion of Israel's 60th-anniversary celebrations has drawn President Bush into a Middle East trip he would be better off not taking. Rather than consolidating achievements or clearing a path for his successor, the president's tour of Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia will serve to illustrate how much has gone wrong in the region for the United States on his watch — and how unlikely he is to reverse the tide in his final months.

In Israel, Mr. Bush will face the crumbling Israeli-Palestinian peace process he attempted to launch last year; in Saudi Arabia, he will find a regime that has been deaf to his pleas to help with soaring oil prices or support the Iraqi government.

In Egypt, Mr. Bush will meet a ruler, Hosni Mubarak, who not only defied the president's "freedom agenda" but also forced the administration to retreat to its old policy of backing corrupt autocracies.

Then there is Lebanon, where what was once one of the administration's clearest achievements is unravelling. ...

There's not much Mr. Bush can do about these multiple reverses during his tour, and it's not clear he will even try very hard.

... Mr. Bush's best hope may be that his successor embraces his Middle East agenda — and proves more successful in carrying it out.