The following are editorial opinions from newspapers from around the world which may be of interest to Royal Gazette readers.

The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J.,

on presidential candidate records

The federal government knows presidential candidates will be the target of extraordinary scrutiny, even snooping.

And federal agencies also know they have a duty to release all information on the candidates that properly can be made public while safeguarding any data that cannot. ...

The State Department fell down badly with its weak response to the workers who improperly accessed passport files of Republican candidate John McCain and Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton — and by making only a very belated acknowledgement of the file-peeping. ...

The National Archives, meanwhile, has shown it takes its information-handling duties seriously indeed. ...

The general rule is that requests are answered in the order they are received. Beyond that, simple requests are put in one line while complex ones. ...

Ideally, the archives would have more workers, so requests could be answered in less time. But short of hiring an army of new help, the archives should stick to its current approach.

The existing rules properly treat everyone the same, whether the requester is a massive media outlet, a college researcher or an average Joe or Jane. It's hard to get more democratic than that.

The State Department should match that commitment to ensuring that the rules are followed.

Asahi Shimbun of Tokyo,

on the US financial situation

The financial meltdown in the United States is deepening and the turmoil in financial markets continues. A strong uncertainty has developed, with concerns of how long the situation of falling stock prices and a weakening dollar will remain throughout the world and whether a global recession is on the horizon. ...

However, this crisis will not be solved simply by slashing interest rates. The root of the problem is a collapsed housing bubble that has led to capital shortfalls at many banks and securities firms. Unless that is corrected, the financial system will continue to be paralysed.

Banks' self-supporting efforts by reinforcing capital will not be enough, and the government will eventually have to inject public funds to solve the problem. ...

However, if major financial institutions declare bankruptcy, financial markets throughout the world will fall into chaos. Financial authorities have no choice other than to prevent such bankruptcies. ...

In today's world, where massive amounts of money move freely across national borders, central bank leaders should be in close contact with each other to quickly deal with disorder in financial markets.

Concerns about worldwide inflation are also rising. It is not necessarily ideal for many countries to ape each other by slashing interest rates. The central banks in each country have to make their own difficult decisions.

In light of the teetering global economy, Japan must appoint the next BOJ governor as soon as possible.