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

The Toronto Globe and Mail,

on the response to the Gulf oil disaster

Neither the executive branch of the U.S. government nor BP can be proud of the way they have handled the environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. President Barack Obama's escalating tough talk against BP, in particular, is a weak political maneuver that only magnifies his administration's inaction on the big questions that have arisen from the oil spill.

Things are going badly — oil is still gushing and washing ashore, birds are dying and an entire fishery and way of life is at risk — so the public is looking for someone to blame. In a television interview, Obama said he wanted to know "whose ass to kick" — better it be someone else's than his own — and directed his foot at BP CEO Tony Hayward, saying he "wouldn't be working for me."

Obama's rhetoric is unbecoming and ineffective. His apparent anger is rising in direct proportion to demands that he must appear angry. That Obama has yet to even pick up the phone to speak to Hayward shows the extent to which the comments are damage control, albeit not of an environmental kind. ...

With regard to the conditions that allowed the spill to happen, and what should happen to ensure a spill of such magnitude never happens again, Obama has also deferred: to a commission that will report in six months. A full investigation is welcome, but it does nothing to reduce the risk of further disaster now.

Obama's energy policy has been similarly rudderless. ... BP deserves little credit — it has over-promised and under-delivered. But for all of its shortcomings, the U.S. administration has failed to plot a course that shows leadership. ...

Arab Times, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on expelling Israel form the United Nations

It seems the ruling power in Tel Aviv has been afflicted with a variant of mad cow disease; otherwise, how could it be so cruel to unleash such a beastly raid on the "Mavi Marmara," the Turkish flagship of a flotilla carrying medical and humanitarian supplies to the hapless people of Gaza Strip? There were no weapons or military equipment on board the flotilla as Israel has claimed to justify the brutal crime it committed on the pretext of self-defence. It was as if the flotilla which was carrying some 500 unarmed activists from 40 countries had sailed with the sole aim of invading Israel! Israel should know that untenable excuses such as these won't wash with the international community. ...

The UN Security Council held an emergency session on June 1 and invited Lebanon for the meeting to discuss the consequences of the Israeli offensive. The UN Council issued a statement expressing regret for the deaths of peace activists due to the use of extreme force by Israel during the raid which took place in international waters. ... We, the Arabs, demand that the UN Security Council take a serious view of the unjustifiable and unconscionable raid Israel has carried out on the "Freedom Flotilla," impose strict sanctions and push for a resolution to expel the errant and aggression-prone State of Israel from the UN whose laws and conventions are against offensives of all types. ...

We hope that Egypt would ignore the current pact on border crossing regulations in view of Israel's unabashed disrespect for all international pacts and laws the moment it starts to perpetrate crimes against the Palestinians and all those who try to help them. ...

The incident raises a number of questions, chief of which is how could Israel manage to unleash an attack on "Mavi Marmara," the Turkish flagship of a six-boat convoy, flying the flag of Turkey which is a member country of the NATO. The question demands a convincing answer.