These are excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers from around the world that may be of interest to Royal Gazette readers:

The Herald, Rock Hill, South Carolina, on University of North Carolina freshmen reading the Quran (August 28):<$>

Many of the 4,200 incoming freshmen and transfer students at the University of North Carolina now have a different or at least better informed view of Islam and its holy book, the Quran. Considering that one of the functions of a university is to introduce students to new ideas, that’s a good thing.

UNC-Chapel Hill has the dubious distinction of having sponsored one of the most controversial freshman orientation programmes in history. ...

If the situation had been reversed, if all students had been required to read “Approaching the Bible,” some undoubtedly would have objected. Muslim students might have complained that the sessions promoted Christianity. ...

We suspect, however, that those who did the work and earnestly participated in the discussions came away a bit more enlightened about one of the world’s major religions, one practised by millions around the globe. And the benefit of that is obvious.

Star Tribune, Minneapolis, on arrest of “deadbeat dads” (August 26):<$>

Federal agents arrested dozens of “deadbeat dads” last week in a national crackdown on the thousands of divorced and separated parents who shirk their obligation to pay child support. That’s a welcome step against an age-old problem. But what about the “dead broke” dads? Researchers estimate that perhaps one-third of the parents who fail to pay child support are themselves poor or unemployed, and that’s one reason enforcing support orders always has been such a vexing challenge. ...

There’s an equity issue too. Because the vast majority of adults on welfare are single mothers, the welfare-to-work revolution has amounted to a crackdown on poor, single women. As a matter of fairness, the same logic should be applied to the fathers: Society will insist that they take more responsibility for their behaviour and their children, but it will offer them the tools to make that possible.

That’s the philosophy behind an experiment called Parents’ Fair Share, conducted in several counties around the nation during the 1990s. Poor, noncustodial parents who had fallen behind on their child-support orders received skills training, job counselling and new incentives to pay their obligations. ...

Congress has considered expanding this tactic nationwide, but a “Fathers Count” bill that passed the House last year failed to pass the Senate. If Congress and the Bush administration are serious about child support and welfare reform, they should see that bill signed into law this year.

The Guardian, London, on Iraq (Augist 26):

For months, (Prime Minister) Tony Blair has repeated a mantra. Military action against Iraq is not imminent. We are not yet at the point of decision. We should not get ahead of ourselves. Debate, when it comes, can only take place at some unspecified time in the future. The phrases are familiar. Mr. Blair’s mantra was never satisfactory in the first place.

But in the light of the debate that has burst out in the United States, Mr. Blair’s continuing failure to speak for British and European interests on Iraq has become irresponsible and indefensible.

America’s debate is public, intense and high level. If Monday’s speech by Vice President Dick Cheney means what it says (which one has to assume it does), the administration has made up its mind to act and now seeks support for war. It follows that Britain has its own choices to make.

If Mr. Blair stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the US over Iraq, he will be putting his government and all his political aspirations at risk. It is time to stop fudging, time to enter the debate, time to speak for Britain’s true interests, and time to openly oppose a pre-emptive strike on Iraq. On this issue, it is time for Britain to break publicly with the US.