The Sydney Morning Herald
Neo-cons move on but the tough stance stays
Recent appointments raise questions about US policy, writes Michael Gawenda in Washington.
As George Bush and Condoleezza Rice flew to Rome for the Pope's funeral, John Bolton, their choice as the next US ambassador to the United Nations, had more earthly political issues on his mind.
Bolton is at the centre of a fierce debate over the direction of US foreign policy, with even some moderate Republicans openly questioning his nomination.
Bolton, the undersecretary of state for arms control, is the most militant unilateralist and the most outspoken critic of the UN in the Administration.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Neocons-move-on-but-the-tough-stance-stays/2005/04/08/1112815727712.html
Elite Israeli force to spearhead Gaza pullout
April 9, 2005
Israel's army and police have set up an elite force to deal with violent opposition to this northern summer's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank, security officials said, confirming a newspaper report.
Confrontations between settlers and troops are expected during the dismantling of 21 settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Middle-East-Conflict/Elite-Israeli-force-to-spearhead-Gaza-pullout/2005/04/08/1112815728680.html
The greatest farewell in history
He was the Pope who changed the world and yesterday the world came to his church for one of the biggest funerals in history.
About a thousand current and former leaders from 100 nations and up to 5 million pilgrims packed Rome to pay homage to John Paul II, while an estimated 2 billion more watched the event on televisions across the globe.
To the sound of St Peter's bells and the applause of thousands of pilgrims, the Pope made his final journey into St Peter's Square, carried by 12 pallbearers in a simple wooden coffin, plainly adorned with a cross and the letter M for Mary.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/The-greatest-farewell-in-history/2005/04/08/1112815730233.html
Mass grief and opportunists
… Popes can be whatever you want to make of them. As cynically manipulative as ever, George Bush rushed to enlist this pontiff, post mortem, in his global fight for freedom, smoothly ignoring John Paul's outspoken opposition to the second Iraq war.
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Vatican spin doctors with an eye on posterity claimed the Pope's dying words were: "I searched for you. Now you have come to me. I thank you." This seems unlikely, given that his last public appearance produced only a strangled croak.
To my heathen mind, the Vicar of Christ, laid out in his crimson robe on the bier in St Peter's, looked like an avuncular department store Santa Claus. The embalming must have been first class, although according to the BBC the Vatican would say only that the body had been "prepared".
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Mike-Carlton/Mass-grief-and-opportunists/2005/04/08/1112815725596.html
New Zealand Herald
Charles and Camilla finally tie the knot
A young fan waits outside Guildhall for Charles and Camilla to tie the knot. Picture / Reuters
09.04.05 UPDATED 10.53pm
WINDSOR, England - British heir to the throne Prince Charles finally marries Camilla Parker Bowles on Saturday, his lover for the past 35 years who will be forever blamed for destroying his marriage to Princess Diana.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119653
Australia gives famous painting to Charles and Camilla
09.04.05 6.40pm
CANBERRA - A landscape painting by Australian artist Fred Williams will be Australia's official wedding gift to Charles and Camilla.
Prime Minister John Howard said Williams (1927-1982) was considered one of Australia's greatest landscape artists who captured a unique vision of the essence of the Australian landscape.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119606
Iran's Khatami denies handshake with Israeli leader
10.04.05 6.45pm
TEHRAN - Iran's President Mohammad Khatami strongly denied that he shook hands with Israeli President Moshe Katsav at Pope John Paul's funeral, the official IRNA news agency said on Saturday.
Katsav earlier said he shook hands with Khatami and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the funeral on Friday, when hundreds of international dignitaries gathered in the Vatican to pay homage to the late Pope.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119608
Charles in new PR disaster for shaking hands with Mugabe
Britain's Prince Charles (L) sat next to Zimbabwean finance minister Herbert Murerwa (C) and Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe (R) during the Pope's funeral. Picture / Reuters
09.04.05 11.30am
By Cahal Milmo
Prince Charles was last night embroiled in yet another public relations disaster, hours before his wedding, after he shook hands with the Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe at the funeral of Pope John Paul II.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119570
Rape of Afghanistan's forests bodes disaster
09.04.05
by Nick Meo
Before the outbreak of war in 1979, Afghanistan was famous for its unspoiled woodlands filled with wildlife. An unbroken belt of natural pistachio forest stretched across the north, giant 300-year-old cedars filled the mountain valleys of the east, and even the arid hills of the south were well-timbered.
Twenty-five years of war later, the extent of the country's environmental disaster is becoming frighteningly clear.
In 1977 satellite imaging found 55 per cent of Badghis Province was covered with woodlands. Now almost nothing shows up.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119471
Court orders demolition of Berlin Wall memorial
09.04.05 1.00pm
By Tony Paterson
BERLIN - A court ordered the demolition of a controversial Berlin Wall memorial yesterday - six months after the 120-meter-long copy of the former East-West barrier was put up in the German capital to mark the collapse of Communist rule in the city.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119580
US murderer could go free because of court badges
09.04.05 1.00pm
SAN FRANCISCO - A convicted murderer could be released from prison after 11 years because of a ruling that found it was wrong for family members to wear badges with an image of the victim during his trial.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119574
Jet made to land near Rome after report of bomb
09.04.05 1.00pm
ROME - An Italian Air Force fighter has forced a diplomatic jet with a reported bomb on board to land near Rome, where world leaders have just attended the funeral of Pope John Paul, an Air Force official says.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119582
The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
Scott Base
Some cloud
-27.0°
Updated Saturday 09 Apr 8:59PM
The weather at Glacier Bay (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
34 °F / 1 °C
Partly Cloudy
Humidity:
87%
Dew Point:
30 °F / -1 °C
Wind:
Calm
Pressure:
29.67 in / 1005 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds (AGL):
Few 3800 ft / 1158 m
end
