History

French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, best known for his contention that the Nazi gas chambers were ``a detail of history'', faces his worst political crisis ever this weekend the bust-up of his National Front. His onetime would-be successor Bruno Megret, slight, intense and 21 years his junior, has convened a rebel party conference in southern Marignane that will produce a second National Front.

But while the move will create more confusion for voters on France's already tortured political map, Le Pen is unlikely to emerge the loser in the short-term or become a `detail of history' of the French extremist right. The big,blustery politician has a history of populist support built on a charisma that the 49-year-old Megret, with his quiet ways and shy speech, will find difficult to match.

Polls released since `Brutus' Megret openly challenged `Caesar' Le Pen for the Front's top seat last December give the 70-year-old leader of France's third biggest party the lion's share of grassroots support.

Argument

Dale BUMPERS, a former Democratic senator who gave the CLOSING argument for the defence in President Bill Clinton's trial, combined humour, passion and political savvy to try and convince his former colleagues not to impeach the President. Bumpers, who left the Senate at the beginning of the year, electrified his former colleagues who have listened for six days to painstakingly developed arguments by a brigade of lawyers.

Impeachment would be a cruel and unusual punishment for the charges brought against the President, Bumpers said. ``You're here today because the President suffered a terrible moral lapse, amarital infidelity. Not a breach of the public trust, not a crime against society,'' an emotional Bumpers told the senators after reminding them of his 25-year friendship with Clinton. ``You can't convict. You can't convict,'' repeated Bumpers.

The Senate can vote to reprimand the President or hand the matter over to a prosecutor for Clinton to be tried when his term ends, the former senator pointed out. ``But if you vote to convict, you can't be sure what's going to happen," said Bumpers. Impeaching Clinton is ``dangerous to the political process'' and he should be acquitted and allowed to serve the remaining two years of his term, argued Bumpers, who has been called the White House's secret weapon.

Visiting

Hundreds of Roman Catholic bishops from throughout the Americas joined thousands of faithful converging on Mexico City on Thursday to welcome Pope John Paul II on his fourth visit to this passionately devout nation. Among them were several dozen totonaco Indians from the rugged mountains ofMexico's Sierra Norte, preparing for a rough, six-hour weekend pilgrimage over treacherous roads for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the Pope.

Tickets to the Pope's appearances this weekend are scarce, with each parish receiving between a handful and 100, so the totonacos chosen to go considered themselves blessed already. ``May the Pope help me to support my family,'' said Susana Tirzotirzo, 21, selected along with 800,000 others across the continent to see John Paul celebrate a Sunday mass at a Mexico City racetrack. Mexicans feel a special closeness to the Pope -- and the Pope to Mexico -- because of his devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe, whose image adorns everything from construction sites to government offices.