Former Secretary of State Eagleburger dies (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, who served under George H.W. Bush in the early 1990s, died on Saturday at the age of 80, a spokeswoman for his family said.

He died in Charlottesville, Va., after a short illness, the spokeswoman said.

Eagleburger headed the State Department from August 1992 to January 1993, capping a diplomatic career that spanned eight presidents, both Democrats and Republicans.

President Barack Obama in a statement said Eagleburger had "helped our nation navigate the pivotal days during the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War" when he led the State Department.

Eagleburger entered the foreign service in 1957, but his career took off when he became an assistant to President Richard Nixon's national security adviser, Henry Kissinger, in 1969.

Self-described as a moderate Republican, Eagleburger was widely regarded as a tough pragmatist in foreign affairs.

After Republicans lost the White House to Jimmy Carter in 1976, Eagleburger was asked to stay on and served as ambassador to Yugoslavia in the Democratic administration.

He also served in the State Department during the Reagan administration, leaving in 1984 to become president of Kissinger Associates, a consulting firm founded by Kissinger.

Bush brought him back to government in 1989 as deputy secretary of state, the No. 2 job, even though he had not been a member of Bush's inner circle of advisers headed by Secretary of State James Baker.

Eagleburger became acting secretary when Baker left to run Bush's re-election campaign in August 1992 and was sworn in officially on December 8, 1992 for the last month and a half of Bush's presidential term.

In 2006 Eagleburger was a late addition to the Iraq Study Group headed by Baker and former Democratic Representative Lee Hamilton that gave a report on the Iraq war to President George W. Bush.

An avuncular, cane-carrying figure who suffered from chronic asthma and a muscle disorder, Eagleburger was a heavy smoker known as crusty, charming and wisecracking.

He named each of his three sons Lawrence -- but all with different middle names. Asked to explain that move he reportedly said: "First of all, it was ego. And secondly, I wanted to screw up the Social Security system."

(Reporting by Dave Clarke, Editing by Vicki Allen)

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Baby-bump Carla ends France's state secret (AFP)

DEAUVILLE, France (AFP) – Her hands cradling her swelling midriff, a visibly pregnant Carla Bruni-Sarkozy posed for pictures as she welcomed G8 leaders' wives Thursday, ending weeks of speculation about France's soon-to-be First Baby.

Wearing an above-the-knee, unbelted white dress and black tailored jacket, the supermodel chanteuse turned wife of President Nicolas Sarkozy smiled as she greeted the wives of the world's most powerful leaders for a separate programme devoted to her pet causes of illiteracy and AIDS.

Bruni, 43, and Sarkozy's Elysee Palace have declined to comment on rumours of her pregnancy throughout weeks of frenzied speculation in France, but with no attempt to hide the bump in Deauville, the ending of a state secret eclipsed the absence even of Michelle Obama and Samantha Cameron.

Photographers who knew even before the summit that they would be craning for a view of "le bump" appeared to get a tacit acknowledgement from Bruni as her elegant hands slid maternally around her swelling middle.

At one stage as she posed with four of the wives, Bruni looked down and gestured to her bump with a maternal flourish.

Svetlana Medvedev, wife of the Russian president, presented the expectant mum with a bouquet of flowers.

Asked by a French journalist how his wife was doing, Sarkozy responded with his now customary mild exasperation, during his official press conference: "Listen, I've just had her on the phone. She seemed in good form. I'll tell her you were asking about her. It won't be a surprise."

For weeks an open secret in Paris, Sarkozy's father last week told the German daily Bild that he was expecting a new grandchild.

Michelle Obama's absence, a surprise to the huge international press corps here, had earlier threatened to overshadow the G8 wives' events.

The crowd-pulling US First Lady bade a very public farewell to President Barack Obama, kissing her husband on the tarmac of Stanstead airport near London as they ended a three-day state visit before the start of the Deaville summit. She was driven away in an SUV, while Obama boarded his plane alone.

The White House offered no details of Michelle Obama's programme, but she sometimes drops off portions of her husband's overseas tours to return home to be with her daughters Malia and Sasha.

Downing Street confirmed the absence from the summit of Prime Minister David Cameron's wife.

"Samantha wasn't planning to come. The baby is still too little for her to travel," a spokesman said, referring to Florence, their third child, born to the Camerons last summer.

There was no such let-up in sight for France's first lady, however, as she embarked on a packed agenda for the wives.

After lunch on the first day of the summit on Thursday, Bruni was taking her guests to visit food producers from the Normandy region before hosting a working session dubbed "together against illiteracy."

In the evening, Bruni and Sarkozy will play host to the other leaders and their spouses for a dinner on the seafront terrace of Le Ciro's restaurant in the elegant Channel seaside resort.

On Friday she will welcome the wives of the African leaders invited to join the heads of the G8 powerhouses at the summit, before hosting a working lunch for another of her causes, protecting mothers and children from AIDS.

Sarkozy is due to run for re-election in April next year, and some political commentators have predicted that a new baby could help boost his disastrous polling numbers as he tries to win back lost support.

Bruni already has a 10-year-old son, Aurelien, from an earlier relationship with the philosopher Raphael Enthoven, and 56-year-old Sarkozy has three sons aged 14, 25 and 26 from two previous marriages.

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Australian boxer's life celebrated at state funeral (AFP)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) – Two thousand mourners said farewell to Australia's former world boxing champion Lionel Rose Monday at his state funeral at Melbourne's Festival Hall, the venue for many of his fights.

Rose, the first Aboriginal boxer to win a world title, died on May 8 aged 62 after a long period of ill-health.

Among the mourners at his funeral were Rose's long-time trainer Jack Rennie, who attended in a wheelchair, former world champion Johnny Famechon and Aboriginal fighter Tony Mundine.

Rose, who suffered a stroke in 2007 that left him partially paralysed and with speech difficulties, won abiding national respect for his achievements.

His life was celebrated and he was hailed by friends as an inspiration to his Aboriginal people and a man of both pride and humility.

"He knew from an early age the challenges facing his family and the Aboriginal community," Aboriginal elder Joy Murphy Wandin told the funeral gathering.

"Lionel's career has been an inspiration for many.

"Lionel also sent a strong message especially to young people around the world to stand up and fight for your rights and aspire to reach your dream."

The service was interspersed with old newsreel clips of his great fights and Rose's subsequent career as a country music singer.

Rose, who outpointed Fighting Harada for the world bantamweight title in Tokyo in 1968 at the age of 19, became a national sports hero and an icon for Australia's indigenous community.

He was named Australian of the Year later that year, the first Aborigine to be awarded the honour and was also appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).

Rose went on to make three successful world bantamweight title defences against Japan's Takao Sakurai, Mexican Chucho Castillo and Englishman Alan Rudkin before he lost the title to Mexican Ruben Olivares in a fifth-round knockout in August 1969.

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