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BEIJING, (AFP) - China said it would not send a representative to Pope John Paul II's funeral in Rome to protest the presence of Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian at the event. "The Chinese side will not send a delegation to the funeral, this is my clear-cut answer," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said. He further added that Chen's intention to attend the funeral was aimed at trying to create "two Chinas on the global stage." "Chen Shui-bian will go to the Vatican to attend the funeral of the pope, but his real purpose is to engage in secessionist activities aimed...

List of Dignitaries Planning to Attend Pope John Paul II's Funeral The Associated Press Published: Apr 5, 2005 Dignitaries planning to attend Pope John Paul II's funeral: ALBANIA: President Alfred Moisiu, Prime Minister Fatos Nano. ARGENTINA: Vice President Daniel Scioli, Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa. AUSTRIA: President Heinz Fischer, Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, Parliament Speaker Andreas Khol. AUSTRALIA: Gov. General Michael Jeffery. BELGIUM: King Albert II, Queen Paola, Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. BRAZIL: President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. BRITAIN: Prince Charles, Prime Minister Tony Blair. BULGARIA: President Georgi Parvanov. CANADA: Prime Minister Paul Martin. CHILE: Foreign Minister Ignacio Walker. COLOMBIA: Vice...

Dignitaries planning to attend Pope John Paul II's funeral: ALBANIA: President Alfred Moisiu, Prime Minister Fatos Nano. ARGENTINA: Vice President Daniel Scioli, Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa. AUSTRIA: President Heinz Fischer, Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, Parliament Speaker Andreas Khol. BELGIUM: King Albert II, Queen Paola, Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (search). BRITAIN: Prince Charles, Prime Minister Tony Blair. BULGARIA: President Georgi Parvanov. CHILE: Foreign Minister Ignacio Walker. CZECH REPUBLIC: President Vaclav Klaus (search), Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda. ESTONIA: President Arnold Ruutel. FINLAND: Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen. FRANCE: President Jacques Chirac and his wife, Bernadette. GERMANY: Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, President Horst Koehler. HUNGARY: President...

This is a WorldNetDaily printer-friendly version of the article which follows. To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43013 Wednesday, February 23, 2005 Swiftvet author threatened with lawsuitKerry fund-raiser angered by new book on nuclear Iran Posted: February 23, 20059:19 p.m. Eastern By Art Moore © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com Picking up where he left off with best-seller "Unfit for Command," author Jerome Corsi once again is entering a maelstrom with the impending publication of a book that blows the whistle on U.S. politicians and activists allegedly on the take from Iran's radical Islamic regime. New York Daily News columnist Lloyd Grove plans to...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Sen. John Kerry, whose baffling explanation of votes on Iraq war funding hurt his 2004 White House bid, said on Tuesday he would back President Bush's new $81.9 billion request for Iraq and Afghanistan. "I think we're in a very different situation," Kerry told reporters. "I'm going to vote for this ... I think this money is important to our being successful and to the completion of the process." The Massachusetts senator, who failed in his bid to unseat Bush last November in an election focused on national security, defended his decision to not back the...

PARIS, Jan 31 (AFP) - The Iraqi elections showed "the strategy of terrorist groups partly failed," French President Jacques Chirac told his US counterpart George W. Bush by telephone Monday, officials in Paris said. The Sunday poll was "an important stage in the political reconstruction" of Iraq, Chirac told Bush in the 15-minute conversation, according to presidential spokesman Jerome Bonnafont. The French leader said the turnout and technical organisation of the elections was "satisfactory," he added. Between 60 and 75 percent of registered voters were estimated to have cast ballots. The result of the elections would not be known for...

World leaders praise Iraqi poll World leaders have praised the conduct of Iraq's first multi-party elections for more than 50 years. President Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair - the leaders of the two nations which led the invasion of Iraq - hailed them as a resounding success. And UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Iraqis should be encouraged to take control of their own future. After what officials said was a higher turnout than expected, the next few days will be spent counting votes. Preliminary results are expected in about six days, with a full result not due for...

PARIS - Sen. John Kerry [related, bio] will meet Friday with French President Jacques Chirac, U.S. and French officials said. The Massachusetts Democrat who lost the November election to incumbent President Bush [related, bio] has relatives in France and speaks French. Kerry's stop in Paris was part of a trip to Europe and the Middle East, the U.S. Embassy in Paris said Thursday. Kerry was also to meet with French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier. The senator's office in Washington did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Why is this man there and what is he doing? Isn't he supposed to be at work...ya know...Congress...it's IN SESSION!

US Senator John Kerry said Saturday after talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad he is hopeful that strained US-Syrian relations can be improved. Assad in return assured Kerry he is interested in dialogue with Washington. The former Democratic presidential candidate, who arrived in Damascus Friday, met for two hours with Assad before meeting separately with Foreign Minister Farouk a-Sharaa. The talks centered on the situation in Iraq and how to prevent militants from entering Iraq through Syria. "I think we found a great deal of areas of mutual interest, some common concerns and some possibilities for initiatives that could be...

LONDON (AP)World leaders saluted Secretary of State Colin Powell on Monday, with some expressing regret at the departure of a figure who had sought international consensus through his multilateralist views. All said they hoped for constructive ties with his successor.

Putin pleased with Bush victory Vladimir Putin (left) and George W Bush stand firm against terror Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent congratulations to George W Bush on his re-election as US President. Mr Putin said he hoped to strengthen relations between Russia and the US during Mr Bush's second term. The relationship between the two has grown since the 11 September attacks, with Russia becoming a firm partner in the fight against terror. Mr Putin wants to see "increasing bilateral co-operation in the fight against international terrorism". In his message to the president, he said: "I expect that in...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- French President Jacques Chirac, an intractable opponent of U.S. actions in Iraq, congratulated President George Bush Tuesday on his reelection. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush spoke to Chirac about the importance of working together on common challenges "and he talked about how he'd continue to reach out to European friends and allies," but additional details were not disclosed. Chirac was one of eight leaders to call the president Tuesday morning. The others were the leaders of Denmark, Indonesia, Georgia, Romania, Thailand, Egypt and Slovakia. U.S.-French relations soured last year when France led international...

Howard refuses to congratulate Bush Nicholas Watt, political correspondent Monday November 8, 2004 The Guardian Michael Howard deepened his feud with the White House yesterday when he pointedly refused to offer the traditional post-election congratulations to George Bush. Angered by a White House edict banning him from meeting the president - as punishment for criticising Tony Blair over Iraq - Mr Howard said it would be wrong for him to express any view on the poll. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph the arch-Atlanticist was asked whether he was pleased that a fellow rightwinger had beaten a liberal. He...

Manmohan Singh rang up US President George W. Bush last night to congratulate him on his re-election.The Prime Minister stressed his desire to work with Bush on “a robust, bilateral agenda”, adding that he wanted to strengthen Indo-US cooperation in various fields.Singh had written a congratulatory letter to Bush on Thursday, inviting him to visit India at an early date. The Prime Minister termed the proposed visit as a “milestone” in bilateral relations.Details of the telephone conversation are not known, but Singh had made it clear in his letter that his government attached a lot of importance to Washington.snipBut...

European Leaders Lavish President Bush With Faint PraiseGeorge Bush's closest allies in Europe greeted his re-elections as a boost to the war on Islamic extremism but most European leaders barely managed to conceal the sense of disappointment they shared with most of the public across the continent.A few strong Bush supporters such as Italian Prime Minster Berlusconi and Russian President Vlaimir Putin expressed genuine pleasure at his victory, but leaders of other nations including Germany, France and Spain, matched their own explanations with calls for a less unilateral approach from Washington. Swedish Prime Minster said Europe would 'continue to criticize...

Democratic challenger John Kerry conceded the 2004 U.S. presidential election on Wednesday, handing George W. Bush a second term in the White House . President George W. Bush told Sen. John Kerry in a phone call on Wednesday that he was an "admirable, worthy" opponent who should be proud of the presidential campaign he ran, the White House said. Commenting the re-election Polish head of state said no change of the US policy towards Poland can be expected Aleksander Kwasniewski hailed the re-election of George W Bush as “good news for Poland” “I do not remember any former US president...

PARIS (Reuters) - World leaders at odds with George W. Bush are hoping he will change his policies to rebuild global trust shattered by the Iraq (news - web sites) war, but his strengthened mandate means they could be the ones left making the changes. From Asia to Europe, foreign leaders mixed congratulations for Bush with calls for him to soften what they regard as U.S. unilateralism in world affairs. But foreign governments also know that Bush's defeat of Democratic challenger John Kerry (news - web sites) is likely to reinforce his belief that he got it right over Iraq...

PARIS -- European allies alienated by President Bush's first four years in power offered Wednesday to let bygones be bygones, saying they want to work with the new administration and seeking, right from Day 1, to get the new White House to listen more to overseas opinion. French President Jacques Chirac, in a congratulatory letter, said he hoped Bush's second term "will be the occasion for strengthening the French-American friendship." "We will be unable to find satisfying responses to the numerous challenges that confront us today without a close trans-Atlantic partnership," wrote Chirac. He addressed the letter to "Dear George."...

German Leader Seeks New Start From Bush By GEIR MOULSON, Associated Press Writer BERLIN - Germany's interior minister said it was time to put aside differences with the United States over Iraq look to the future as President Bush won a second term, but another senior official reiterated Wednesday that German troops will not join the coalition there. Ties between the two countries were strained by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's vehement opposition to last year's U.S.-led war in Iraq, although the two governments since have moved to repair relations. "America is a very important partner, if not the most important one...