The following are excerpts from editorials in overseas newspapers:<$>The Egyptian Gazette, Cairo, on US involvement in Sudan:<$>

Over recent months, the Darfur crisis has been vying with chronic Mideast problems such as Palestine and Iraq for global attention. The humanitarian dilemma in the Sudanese province has assumed serious dimensions after the UN Security Council resolution providing for the dispatch of international peacekeeping forces to Darfur to protect its inhabitants from reportedly wide abuses. The Khartoum government has understandably balked at the motion, which it sees as an infringement on national sovereignty. The US, meanwhile, is seen drumming up international support for the dispatch of the UN troops. Washington, whose image has been dented in the Middle East over the past years, looks bent on piling up more pressure on Sudan to comply with the UN resolution. The White House has recently brandished the stick of sanctions against Sudan.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, now touring the region, has warned the Sudanese government of dire consequences if it blocked access for the international troops. Washington does mean business with its questionable agenda on Sudan. At the weekend, Qatar, the UN Security Council’s only Arab member, has disclosed that the world organisation is mulling penalties against top Sudanese officials, including President Hassan al-Bashir, for alleged involvement in atrocities in Darfur. Given the US-led mounting pressure, the Khartoum government may eventually give in. But this would not provide a panacea to the Darfur problem. Some locals have vowed jihad (holy war) against what they see as invaders. In view of simmering tensions in the region, immediate efforts must be made in order to hammer out a formula, which will ensure respect for Sudan’s territorial integrity and at the same time save lives of Darfuris in danger.

Yomiuru Shimbun, Tokyo, on North Korea:

North Korea’s announcement Tuesday that it will conduct a nuclear test at an undisclosed future date suggests that Pyongyang is further escalating its desperate brinkmanship as the net put up by the international community around it tightens.

A nuclear test by North Korea would pose an extremely serious threat to peace and security in the region. The international community can hardly overlook such a situation.

Using China’s leverage over North Korea will be indispensable to coax Pyongyang back to the six-party talks with the aim of urging it to exercise restraint and pressing it to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

Abe plans to visit Beijing on Sunday to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao and then travel to Seoul on Monday to hold talks with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.

The summit meetings will be a good opportunity for Japan to reestablish bilateral relations with the two countries, with which Japan has been unable to hold top-level talks recently. We hope Abe will make every possible effort to take effective and concrete measures to dissuade North Korea from conducting a nuclear test.