Papers sceptical of 'glittering' summit

"How on Earth can we save our world?", is the question posed by the Daily Mirror.

Over the next 10 days, thousands of delegates will try to tackle problems such as improving water and sanitation in poor nations.

But, as The Guardian puts it, they will meet in a glittering citadel where poverty seems to belong to another world.

The Sandton centre in a suburb of Johannesburg is near the old township of Alexandra, a sprawling slum with rubbish-strewn streets.

For the Daily Telegraph, the contrasts between the convention centre and the rest of Africa are impossible to avoid.

The Times tells how the complex - which includes designer shops and restaurants selling champagne and caviar - can be seen from the shacks in the township where 100,000 people live.

Vintage hot air

World leaders will be talking about how to end poverty and famine, it says, but they are unlikely to come face to face with the poor.

A report in the Daily Mail describes how the restaurants around the conference centre were bursting on Sunday.

With a lake of fine wine awaiting delegates, it says, it looks like we are in for 10 days of vintage hot air.

In short, the overwhelming impression is one of indulgence.

The strong criticism of the government's environmental policy by one of its senior advisers, Sir Jonathan Porritt, is interpreted by The Independent as a setback for Tony Blair.

The paper thinks the comments were a stinging attack on his environmental record, while the Mail regards them as scathing.

The Daily Mirror urges Blair to listen to Sir Jonathan and show strong leadership at the summit.

Timely warning

The continuing debate about whether America should invade Iraq has been given added impetus by the former US Secretary of State, James Baker, who has condemned the idea as politically perilous.

The Times believes his comments are a clear signal of a split between President Bush and the senior Republicans who advised his father when he was in power.

The Independent is convinced about the significance of Mr Baker's intervention - saying he is no dove.

It was, argues the Guardian, a timely warning to the White House and the clearest sign yet of the extent of the increasingly destructive internal crisis in the Republican establishment about Iraq.

President Bush forged closer links with Russia in the wake of 11 September, but, as the Times reports, their relationship is now coming under increasing strain.

The White House has condemned Russia's bombing of suspected Chechen rebels in Georgia.

The Independent welcomes the Bush administration's statement - and calls on the president to go further by demanding that the Kremlin ends what it calls a pointless war.

Beach hut

Thousands of people will be heading to seaside resorts such as Bournemouth for a bank holiday day out.

And it seems some people cannot get enough of a good thing.

The Sun features Frank Gould, from south London, who has spent his holiday in Bournemouth for the past 41 years.

He fell in love with the resort when his father took him there in 1961 and since then he has used the same beach hut every year.

Mr Gould is such a fan that he even spent his honeymoon in the town.