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

The Warren Tribune-Chronicle, Ohio, on North Korea's nuclear ambitions

North Korea probably will test another nuclear weapon soon, President Obama's coordinator for policy on weapons of mass destruction predicted Friday.

There is no reason to doubt Obama aide Gary Samore's assessment particularly in view of the world community's failure to do anything meaningful to punish North Korea for its recent test firing of a medium-range missile.

At first glance, Samore's policy prescription for the United States does not sound appealing. "We'll just wait," he said in answer to a question about how Obama would respond to a new nuclear weapons test.

But Samore may have a good point. He explained that he believes a nuclear weapons test would convince other nations to support new sanctions against North Korea. He added that Chinese leaders are "very, very angry at the North Koreans".

We hope so. Because unless something is done to stop North Korea's steady march toward nuclear missile capability, that country soon will pose a threat to peace — and perhaps to millions of lives.

Obama and his diplomats, in choosing the "just wait" strategy, need to work intensively behind the scenes to mobilise international anger at the threat from North Korean aggressiveness. Enlisting China in a serious campaign to stop Pyongyang's technological mobilisation may well be the most promising avenue of action.

Beijing needs to be convinced that it is not in China's interests to allow North Korea to proceed with its weapons build-up.

Los Angeles Times,

on the swine flu response

It looks like health authorities and the public can breathe a sigh of cautious relief (covering their mouths, we hope) as new information indicates that although the flu formerly known as swine spreads easily, its severity appears on par with that of most other flu viruses.

That's not to trivialise the H1N1 strain or any other; influenza kills an average of 36,000 Americans a year. That's all the more reason why the diminished alarm doesn't present government officials with an opportunity to relax.

Instead, they should build on lessons learned and work on bridging gaps in the nation's public health network. ...

Where the nation's response most needs improvement is with long-term public policy. Legislation and public education campaigns should foster healthy individual actions — having people stay home when they first start feeling sick, for instance, or getting them to wash their hands frequently. ...

The greatest danger would be complacency about the toll taken by flu. Epidemiologists warn that even if this outbreak proves milder than expected, the virus could return in a more dangerous form in the fall.

Hopefully, by that time a vaccine will be available. Health authorities, meanwhile, should use the current sense of urgency to call for common-sense policies that will keep us all safer.