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

Haaretz, Tel Aviv, Israel, on a Saudi peace initiative:

Belatedly, the country's leaders have woken up to the potential importance of the recent proposal by the Saudi crown prince that in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from the territories and the establishment of a Palestinian state, Arab states would sign peace treaties with Israel and conduct normal diplomatic and commercial ties with the Jewish state. The first to find this rare Saudi initiative both interesting and positive was Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit suggested inviting Crown Prince Abdullah to Israel. President Moshe Katsav proposed he go to Saudi Arabia. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he would try to find channels of communication with the Saudis to learn more details about the plan "and to make clear to them Israel's position." ...

By definition, since the crown prince has had no direct communication with Israel, these positions should be regarded as opening positions in a dialogue that might yet take place. ...

The prime minister, who promised to bring peace and security, must undertake a sincere and serious examination of the significance of the Saudi initiative and its ramifications. Sharon regards a leader's determination and cool-headedness in the face of a violent enemy as the test of leadership. But as Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Rabin each demonstrated, a creative and unexpected diplomatic initiative can also be the test of destiny for a leader.

The Independent, London, on the Zimbabwe presidential election:

Less than two weeks before the voters of Zimbabwe go to the polls, it appears to be dawning on President Robert Mugabe that brutal intimidation, censorship of the media and rabid "anti-imperialist" bombast may not be sufficient to guarantee him re-election. This is one inference — perhaps the most hopeful one — that can be drawn from the arrest yesterday of the country's main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai. ... The evidence on which the charges are based seems equally spurious. It is contained in a mysterious video broadcast on Australian television, which purports to show Mr. Tsvangirai in talks to arrange the "elimination" of Mr. Mugabe. The video, which bore all the hallmarks of having been heavily edited, if not doctored, has been extensively replayed and reported in the state-controlled Zimbabwe media.

Again, the aim appears to be not to prevent Mr Tsvangirai from competing for the presidency, but to discredit him with the voters; to do everything to render the opposition unelectable, while still going through the motions of an election. ... The glimmer of hope in Zimbabwe's pervasive political gloom is that the voters may be courageous enough to scorn the coercion. The more desperate the actions of Mr. Mugabe, the more brightly that hope shines through.

Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo, on the 2002 Winter Olympic Games:

It was initially hoped to be an event to lift the dark shadows cast by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States and to extol reconciliation and peace among the peoples of the world.

However, something went wrong. The Olympics Games have become tainted with distrust and suspicion. The Olympics' raison d'etre will be questioned unless drastic reform measures are taken to solve all the problems that came up one after another during the games.

After a French skating judge admitted being pressured by the president of her nation's figure skating federation to rank a Russian pair first, more trouble followed. Judges were successively suspected and protested against in snowboarding, short-track speed skating and cross-country skiing. ...

It should be reaffirmed that the Olympic Games are not an entertainment event but an athletic meeting. The commercialism and expansionism inherited from the days of former International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch call out for urgent review.