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

Newsday, Long Island, New York, –on US consumer product safety

If you're worried about the safety of your kid's toys and the other items you buy, then you should really be worried about Nancy Nord. She's the acting chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission but, for the top cop on that busy beat, her actions of late have been a bit odd.

After a summer and autumn in which hazardous products — such as lead-tainted toys from China — have turned up on the nation's store shelves with disquieting regularity, Nord opposed a bill that would double the commission's budget over time, and allow her to hire much-needed inspectors.

Nord said later that it wasn't the budget increase she opposed, but rather other provisions in the legislation to protect whistle-blowers and make it easier for the government to go public with reports of faulty merchandise.

Nord also has taken trips worth thousands of dollars paid for by the industries that make the 15,000 types of consumer products that she regulates.

She may be delivering what (President) Bush wants. He has a penchant for putting people at the helm of regulatory agencies who don't like regulation. But if he covets credibility with consumers, or wants to protect the public, Bush needs to put someone in charge of product safety who is bullish about the job. Someone other than Nancy Nord.

Chicago Sun-Times,–on Giuliani and Robertson

The way we figure it, even if Pat Robertson's endorsement isn't enough to get Rudy Giuliani elected president, their bizarre partnership could lead to a memorable sitcom.

Robertson's backing brings to Giuliani a sizeable chunk of the Christian conservative movement, however splintered it now is, including his daily Christian Broadcast Network audience of 900,000.

In return, Giuliani will play to conservatives with his hawkish foreign policy and staunch support for torture, domestic surveillance and the death penalty. He also has pledged to appoint conservative jurists if given the chance. Ultimately, Giuliani and Robertson becoming strange bedfellows may not be so strange, considering their shared gift for peculiar behaviour. Is Rudy still staging those mid-speech cell phone calls from his wife? Is Pat going to try to upstage pollsters with more political prophecy? With Robertson channeling God for Giuliani, exit polls may never be the same.

The Dallas Morning News, –on the price of oil

"I am sorry to say this, but we are headed toward really bad days," a prominent energy economist told Time magazine last week. ...

That was no alarmist talking. It was Fatih Birol, the chief economist for the International Energy Agency, an oil industry organisation whose annual World Energy Outlook report is widely considered a reliable indicator of petroleum supplies.

Dallas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens is one of the petroleum experts who believes that world oil production has peaked. Others, including the International Energy Agency, believe that the current shortage is critical but manageable with necessary adjustments in both production and consumption, as well as investments in research and development.

Whether the world supply of oil has absolutely peaked or is not rising to meet demand because of human folly, there's going to be a lot less of the black stuff around in the near future. And that's going to hurt.