One Thing After Another

"Brown, particularly, appeared to make an effort to move beyond the leaders' frosty first meeting in July."

Here's the transcript of their short joint news conference.

James Gerstenzang writes in the Los Angeles Times: "On a day when the head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency said Tehran was making only slow progress toward production of material suitable for nuclear weapons, Bush and Brown joined in denouncing the Iranian government."

Michael Abramowitz writes in The Washington Post that Brown also met with the three leading presidential candidates. And yet, "[i]f Brown is looking beyond Bush, he did not show it at the news conference: He seemed more effusive about him than he did last summer at Camp David, where his demeanor was widely interpreted in Britain as an effort to put distance between himself and the president.

"'The world owes President George Bush a huge debt of gratitude for leading the world in our determination to root out terrorism and to ensure that there is no safe haven for terrorism,' Brown said in his opening remarks."

Dana Milbank writes in the Washington Post: "Unpopular wars and economic crises have dragged both men to standings not seen since the World War II era: Bush is now the most consistently unpopular president since Truman, and Brown's support has plunged faster than Neville Chamberlain's after he appeased Hitler.

"And so it was, perhaps, inevitable, that the beleaguered pair would start off their news conference talking about Winston Churchill and the 'Special Relationship.'"

Climate Watch

AFP reports: "Leading players in talks to forge a pact for tackling climate change took the lash on Thursday to President George W. Bush's new blueprint for global warming, with Germany mocking it as 'Neanderthal.'

"At a ministerial-level meeting of major carbon emitters, South Africa blasted the Bush proposal as a disastrous retreat by the planet's number-one polluter and a slap to poor countries.

"The European Union -- which had challenged the United States to follow its lead on slashing greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020 -- also voiced disappointment.

"His proposals 'will not contribute to the fight against climate change,' EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas told AFP, adding he hoped the US would 'reconsider its options and policies.' . . .

"In a statement entitled 'Bush's Neanderthal speech,' German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said: 'His speech showed not leadership but losership. We are glad that there are also other voices in the United States.'"