Today's Story Line
As the Elian Gonzalez case pauses in a dramatic standoff, our reporters in far-flung places gather world opinion on the outcome. Quote of note: "I have not met anyone who thinks Elian should live with his uncles in Miami." - an editorialist with the Times of India.
Good deeds can bring unintended consequences. A German stonemason who volunteered to repair vandalized Jewish tombstones found himself the target of an anti-Semitic attack. But word of the incident galvanized community support against hate crimes.
Israel finds itself in a political dilemma, as the Chinese leader makes a first-ever visit to the Jewish state.
Faye Bowers, Deputy world editor
REPORTERS ON THE JOB
VIEW OF HISTORY: After Lucian Kim's interview with Otmar Kagerer, he walked over to the Jewish cemetery in Weissensee, Europe's largest. "I wandered among the graves, many of them in a neglected state," Lucian says.
From the size of their memorials, one can read the varied positions Jews once held in German society: from the very rich to the very poor. Most striking, however, was a separate memorial ground, where Jewish World War I veterans are buried under uniform tombstones, marking rank and the battlefield where they fell. "To me it drove home again just how completely assimilated - and patriotic - Jews in Germany felt before the Nazis came to power in 1933," says Lucian
CULTURAL SNAPSHOT
THEY'RE OFF: Participants dive into Sydney's Farm Cove yesterday, for the swim leg of World Cup triathlon - the official test event for the 2000 Olympics.
Competitors swim 1.5 kilometers (1 mile), then cycle 40 kilometers (25 miles), before finishing with a 10-kilometer (six-mile) run around the heart of Sydney's central business district.
The triathlon is debuting in this year's Olympics.
Australians Michellie Jones won the women's event, and Peter Robertson won the men's event.
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