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

Los Angeles Times –on the Congo atrocities

For more than a decade, rebel soldiers from Rwanda have committed atrocities in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo with almost complete impunity. They kidnap children, murder men and are conducting a strategic campaign of raping and torturing women. In August, the United Nations confirmed that members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or FDLR, and another militia were responsible for hundreds of rapes in the Walekali region — and rape is a tepid word for the brutal attacks. ...

Human Rights Watch, the Enough Project, Women for Women International and many other groups, working with Africa-based organisations such as Friends of the Congo, have sustained awareness of a crisis that otherwise would be remote and unseen by much of the world. ...

Increasingly, activism and art have become partners. This month, the group honoured Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage before a performance of her searing drama "Ruined," about three Congolese rape survivors living in a brothel. In New York, a series of Congo-related films recently kicked off Congo Week.

The arrest and indictment of one FDLR leader will not halt years of conflict ... Nor can one play, a handful of films or the work of several charities bring peace to Congo. But taken together, they offer hope.

Chicago Tribune –on the fiscal woes across the world

With garbage piling up, gas stations running dry and scattered violence in the streets, France hardly looks like a role model for the U.S. these days.

But at least French officials are trying to deal with their biggest fiscal woes. Those crippling strikes and protests come in response to a necessary plan to cut back public entitlements, including a two-year increase in the nation's minimum retirement age.

In a marked contrast to America's free-spenders, Europeans are taking an axe to their government excesses. A continent known for nanny states is making the tough decisions that we need to make. ...

If the UK, France and other European nations can figure out a fair approach for reining in spending without wiping out their economies, they will show us the way.

In our hearts, we want it all. Political leaders tell us we can have it all. But our brains and our guts know better. ...

Illinois is a perfect example. At the rate we're going, our state pensions will pay out their last dollar in 2018, according to at least one reliable estimate. ...

Watch what's happening in Europe. And understand that if we continue to do nothing, the old world's pain will hit us, too.