The following are editorial opinions from newspapers from around the world which may be of interest to Royal Gazette readers.The Florida Times-Union, on congressional ethicsHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised the “most ethical Congress in history.”

Good for her. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid apparently didn’t get the memo. That’s too bad. USA Today says wives and other close relatives of several members work as lobbyists on Capitol Hill. And, not surprisingly, they’re very effective. In 2005 alone, according to the newspaper, Congress spent $750 million on projects pushed by lobbyists “with relatives on committees that wrote the bills.”

That doesn’t even remotely pass the “smell test.”

Yet, when Sen. David Vitter, R-La., sought to ban spouses from lobbying the chamber, Reid was opposed. Reid said he didn’t necessarily dislike the concept of a ban, but he wanted current members exempt. One has to wonder why he made such a distinction. ... If Pelosi really wants the most ethical Congress ever, she needs to take Reid to the proverbial woodshed.The Examiner, Independence, Mo., on the economyIt’s the good news, bad news merry-go-round with the economy.

Home sales were off sharply in 2006 after five years of boom times that some would call a bubble. When bubbles burst, as they inevitably do, the effects ripple across the economy.

The stock market, on the other hand, has been setting record highs for months, and leading indicators point to modest growth in the months ahead. And what will the Fed do with interest rates?

Automakers are closing plants and cutting jobs. But energy prices — for the moment — are down slightly but still a good deal higher than they were three to five years ago.

So do we zig or zag? The thing is this: Things are pretty good considering how far we are into this recovery. The nation hasn’t slipped into recession, as many had feared, and it looks as if the next downturn is not imminent.

Rarely is all of the economic news good, and yes, there are deep concerns about long-term issues, namely the nation’s enormous trade deficit, chronic government red ink and Washington’s habit of making promises — Social Security, Medicare — it hasn’t yet figured out how to keep for the long term. But as long as things are ploughing ahead — with low inflation and steady job growth — we should count our blessings, at least for today>The Independent, London, on rape allegations in the UK<$>There is a far greater scandal in our criminal justice system than the small number of men who are victims of malicious accusations: the vast number of men who are committing rape and getting away with it. Less than six per cent of rape allegations in the UK result in conviction, one of the lowest rates in Europe. Few would suggest that 94 per cent of allegations of rape are false. This failure by our courts to hold so many to account must therefore be acknowledged as an outrage. It is certainly difficult to prove the charge of rape. But our courts should be doing far better than they are.

... According to a joint report by the Inspectorate of Constabulary and the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, police forces are dismissing rape allegations in nearly one third of cases when they should be investigated further.

The report shines a bright light on where the system is failing rape victims. For instance, it argues there is little consistency in the way forensic doctors are employed to examine victims. Call-out lists and rotas for police officers who have been specially trained to deal with such crimes are poorly managed. Front-line police officers have very little training to deal with the crime before specialists arrive. Proper police work at an early stage is essential to the prosecution case. All of these failures decrease the likelihood of conviction. The police and the prosecuting authorities must be made to understand by the Government that their underperformance will not be tolerated.

... More women than ever are reporting rapes to the police. But anonymous surveys still suggest that only a small proportion of women who have been abused in this way are coming forward. Our criminal justice system is still not securing justice for the victims of rape. Ministers should devote their energies to putting this right before they turn their attention to other problems.