European press review

Several papers suspect that the UN General Assembly's opening session in New York brought no major changes to the opposing camps in the Iraq crisis.

In Germany, a court ruling revives the issue of wearing the Muslim headscarf to school, and the Pope's health is a cause for concern.

When Bush met Schroeder

Germany's Die Welt welcomes what it describes as the provisional end of a "dangerous crisis" following Wednesday's meeting between Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and US President George W Bush.

Both sides have finally come to accept that this is in nobody's interest Die Welt

The paper argues that what it calls the "rift" between the US on the one hand and France and Germany on the other during the Iraq crisis posed a threat to the foundations of the UN.

"Both sides have finally come to accept that this is in nobody's interest," it says.

But the paper warns that each side still believes it knows best what constitutes justified preventive military action.

"Things must not be left there," it says.

The Sueddeutsche Zeitung, for its part, believes that the public expressions of friendship by the two leaders were just for show.

Friends reunited?

Paris's Le Figaro carries a front-page report on Wednesday's talks in New York between the French, German and Russian leaders.

The meeting, the paper says, reunited those it calls "the three members of the former peace camp", and was especially devoted to the Iraq question.

It quotes Mr Chirac as saying that it is "totally clear and undeniable" that "there is not a shadow of a difference between the German and French positions" on Iraq.

President Bush, it recalls, said after meeting Mr Schroeder that the differences been Washington and Berlin had been "smoothed over". But "he said nothing of the kind after his meeting with the French president on Tuesday", the paper stresses.

Home and away

In France, Le Monde notes what it calls a "striking contrast" between France's position on the world stage and the situation on the domestic front.

One, it says, is represented by "a strong-willed head of state" capable of defending his "world vision", while the other is illustrated, as the paper puts it, by "an indecisive prime minister unable to define the choices" confronting French society.

"The fact remains", the paper stresses, that Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, "as he himself never ceases to underline, is just the faithful executor of the policies laid down" by President Jacques Chirac.

It would be "good common sense", it suggests, if Mr Chirac "were to take the trouble of mapping out a (domestic) course for France as he wishes to do for the world".

Clashing symbols?

If this issue should not be debated in parliaments, then what is the purpose of parliaments? Berliner Zeitung

Germany's Berliner Zeitung praises as "exemplary" a ruling by the country's highest court that schoolteachers cannot be banned from wearing Muslim headscarves unless regional laws authorise such bans.

Reading the ruling, the paper says, "can make you a happy citizen again".

It points out that "in a country of immigration such as Germany, the issue of different religions is becoming more pressing with every passing year".

"If this issue should not be debated in parliaments, then what is the purpose of parliaments?" it asks.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, however, chides the judges for, as the paper puts it, "dodging the issue".

The paper sees a contradiction between the headscarf ruling and a previous ruling by the same court limiting the right of the state to put up crucifixes on classroom walls.

But the Sueddeutsche Zeitung rejects the comparison on the grounds that wearing the headscarf is not, as it puts it, "an official act but rather a personal expression of religious belief".

A commentary in Austria's Die Presse offers a different way out: "Since we are already talking so much about the autonomy of schools and schools with different profiles," the paper says, "why do we not leave the decision to every individual head teacher?"

An ailing pope

The cancellation follows indications that the pope's physical condition in general has deteriorated significantly International Herald Tribune

The Paris-based International Herald Tribune is one of many papers noting that Pope John Paul II missed his regularly scheduled public appearance on Wednesday, "at a time of increased concern over his health".

"In this instance," the paper says, "the cancellation follows indications that the Pope's physical condition in general has deteriorated significantly."

In Switzerland, a concerned Tribune de Geneve wonders if the pope "has made provisions", as the paper puts it, "for a mechanism for his own impeachment" should he become totally incapacitated.

"And even then," the paper wonders, "who would take the initiative?"

Smelly residents

The Ukrainian tabloid Segodnya reports that the authorities in the capital Kiev have vowed a clampdown on rearing cows, pigs and goats in the city's flats.

"Complaints from neighbours, who are unhappy with bad odours emanating from the animals, have forced the authorities to intervene," the paper says.

It notes that there are approximately 3,000 pigs, 500 cows and about 1,000 goats sharing the city with 2.6 million human inhabitants.

The latter view animal breeding in their homes as a way of making ends meet, the paper adds.

The European press review is compiled by BBC Monitoring from internet editions of the main European newspapers and some early printed editions.