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

The Staten Island (N.Y.) Advance,

on the release of 9/11 photos

We all have images of 9/11 burned into our brains. Some of us more than others, depending on our proximity to the World Trade Center on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Even all those who watched the whole thing unfold on TV from miles away will retain vivid mental pictures of that day to the end of their days.

But most of what we remember is from a ground-level perspective. Maybe that's why the aerial photos of the devastation in downtown Manhattan are so stunning. They showed the totality of a scene of horror far below the camera's lens. The photos, taken by a New York Police Department detective from a police helicopter, were made public recently. ...

The question we have is why it took until February 2010 — eight years — for the world to get to see them. The detective who took the shots, now retired, had shared them with friends and a few were published without authorisation in a book.

The detective turned his film and digital images over the 9/11 Commission, which apparently transferred them to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which also investigated the attacks. But it took a Freedom of Information Act request by ABC News to get the photos released to the public. Why? Other than the shock of seeing 9/11 from different angle, there's nothing that would upset anyone any more than the widely broadcast images.

...There's nothing in those photographs that would threaten national security or public safety. ... The best explanation seems to be that this is another example of the federal government's fondness for secrecy, even when it's not necessary in the least.

The Providence (R.I.) Journal,

on Patrick Kennedy stepping down

News that Patrick Kennedy will not seek re-election to his seat in the US House, where he has served since 1995, surprised many people around America, but perhaps shouldn't have. Congressman Kennedy has had many problems to deal with in the past several years. Chief among them is that he has bipolar disorder, which has contributed to, among other things, serious problems with drugs and alcohol. Amid those issues have come the illness and death of his father and chief mentor, the powerful, iconic Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy. ...

These problems would have been a lot for anyone to handle while staying in the merciless game of politics. But, meanwhile, a growing anti-incumbency mood in the electorate, and fading adoration of the Kennedy clan — as the numbers of voters who remain to remember its golden age dwindle rapidly — compounded Mr. Kennedy's challenges in a tough election year.

Patrick Kennedy has helped push through some fine legislation, especially in health care in general and mental health in particular. Further, his well run offices in Washington and Rhode Island have provided very good constituent services even as his growing seniority (he is finishing up his eighth term) and his clout as a member of the powerful Appropriations Committee have helped bring federal funds to the Ocean State.

But given his health and family concerns, Mr. Kennedy is probably wise to bow out of politics, at least for a while. And we're sure that the congressman, who is, after all, only 42, can use his post-Capitol time well, to promote such issues as national health reform. We thank him for his service, even as we can't help but wonder about the future of his famous family in politics.