These are excerpts from newspaper editorials from around the world:

The Palm Beach Post, West Palm Beach, Florida, on leaks:<$>

Republican congressional leaders want it known. They are on the offensive against sleazy leakers!

No, not those sleazy leakers. Not the Dick Cheneys and Karl Roves and Scooter Libbys who were skulking around in the White House. Not the ones who outed a CIA officer in order to discredit her husband for legitimate criticism of the Bush administration’s prewar claims about Iraq’s weapons. No, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert are on a rampage against the sneaky good-for-nothings who told The Washington Post about secret foreign prisons being run by the CIA.

Unfortunately, their ill-planned stunt has failed to catapult the GOP back onto the high ground. For one thing, Republican Sen. Trent Lott said he thinks the leaks about secret prisons might have come from Republican members of Congress or their staff who learned about the topic at a meeting with Vice President Cheney. Darn. They were trying so hard to keep Cheney and leak out of the same sentence.

Then there’s the problem that Sen. Frist presents. He says he wants to get to the bottom of the leak, but he’s not interested in investigating whether the CIA, in fact, is running a secret prison system. Is he worried about torture or perpetual incarceration with no recourse to a legal system? Nope.

GOP leaders want to exploit the new leak to distract the public from the White House leaks. So, naturally, their own credibility sprung another leak.

Los Angeles Times, on Condoleezza Rice in the Mideast:<$>

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has finally demonstrated what a little roll-up-your-sleeves diplomacy can achieve in the Middle East. Tuesday’s agreement between Israel and the Palestinians on opening the borders of the Gaza Strip and allowing freer movement of Palestinians between the West Bank and Gaza reflects Rice’s involvement in advancing the peace process.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government removed settlers and troops from Gaza in August and September after nearly four decades of occupation. But if Palestinians cannot move people and goods from the narrow, seaside strip, the territory will remain an economic sinkhole.

The agreement calls for opening the border with Egypt on November 25. European monitors will supervise border operations, with Israel receiving closed-circuit TV transmissions of the crossings. That is important for Israel’s security, allowing it to guard against the entrance of terrorists and weapons. The deal also will allow Palestinians to travel between the West Bank and Gaza in bus convoys starting in December. Travel between the two territories is needed for a viable Palestinian state, which all sides say is the goal.

The agreement should pay dividends for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who is being challenged by Hamas, the combination political party and terrorist organisation, in January parliamentary elections. Abbas needs to ensure that terrorists do not attack Israelis. Such attacks could lead Sharon to postpone implementation of the agreement. If all goes as planned, Abbas will be able to demonstrate concrete progress to Palestinian voters and hold out the hope of more gains.

The Bush administration criticised President Clinton for being overly involved in the Middle East peace process, then went too far in the other direction. The administration’s success Tuesday should show the president the importance of diplomacy and top-level involvement in issues of great importance to this country. Rice already understands. — AP