“The Funeral of a Superstar as a Media Moment,” is the headline in the New York Times. It’s talking about the saturation coverage yesterday’s memorial service. It was solemnly presented on television as a state funeral, says the paper. Some news anchors seemed even a little mortified by their own reverential coverage. One NBC broadcaster Brian Williams said that the public has a way of deciding for itself what matters despite at some times the news media’s better wishes. “This is an event because it is,” he said.

By the time Jackson’s daughter Paris broke into sobs many newscasters cast aside any pretence of covering a news event and joined in the orgy of mourning. On Fox, Shepard Smith commented, “They were days when on the cover of the New York post, he was just Wacko Jacko, but today just moments ago, his daughter reminded us he was also Daddy.”

The Sydney Morning Herald remarks on that seminal moment when his daughter spoke. Its headline reads, “Daughter brings dose of reality to Michael Jackson’s farewell”.

“The world questioned whether he had the right to be a father to three children,” the paper commented.

“I took just a few words from his daughter to remind detractors that in was not just the King of Pop who was lost but a father,” the paper says.

“Fresh unrest rocks Xinjiang,” is the headline in the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post and instead, the paper focuses on the ethnic divisions in the province. “Han feel they’re let down while the Uygurs complain of injustice.”

Han protesters, mostly young people, expressed frustration at the government’s perceived inability to prevent the minority Muslim Uygurs from rioting and attacking Han Chinese. One said, “We are forced to take up arms to protect ourselves.”

“They attacked us. Now it’s our turn to attack them,” said another man as other protesters shook their fists.

At one point, protesters chased a Uygur boy up a tree, with some throwing bricks, sticks and mineral water bottles at him and threatening to kill him. The boy screamed for help, while others called for calm and eventually hustled him to safety.

The situation remains extremely region is extremely tense.

The paper also says that Germany’s Angela Merkel wanted to speak to President Hu at the G8 summit about resolving the dispute peacefully and protecting the rights of minorities. However, Hu has announced that he is now not attending to summit.

The Washington Post reports that Uygur protestors marched on Washington. Rebiya Kadeer, the leader of the World Uyghur Congress based in Washington, spoke to protestors. She has been accused by Beijing of stirring up the violence in Xinjiang. But according to the Washington Post only 100 people were part of the protest that marched on the Chinese Embassy in Washington. That’s a lot less than the 156 who were killed so I would question how influential a small organisation such as the World Uyghur Congress can be.

Moving to the British press where Peter Mandelson is the focus of an article in The Independent entitled, “Lord Mandelson: Whitehall’s Emperor, or just a team player?”

The man who saved Gordon Brown from losing office received a grilling yesterday in the Commons Business Committee. He now occupies one of the most prominent roles ever accorded to a minister with 10 other ministers at his beck and call. His title extends to 36 words; he is First Secretary of State and Secretary for Business Innovation and Skills and as the opposition has pointed out his remit now extends from space to defence sales to universities and further education.

The chairman of the Commons Business Committee questioned if he could oversee such a massive range of portfolios and asked him if he was “this Prime Minister’s Willie?”

This produced guffaws in the Commons but was a reference in fact to Margaret Thatcher’s deputy Willie Whitelaw and her famous comment that ‘every prime minister needs a Willie.”

In any case, Mandelson’s new role is receiving criticism and some say the new and expanded ministry has been set up solely around “one man’s ambitions”.

The Italian press is obviously covering the beginning of the G8 summit today in l’Aquila. The front page of Corriera della Serra picks up on a report in yesterday’s Guardian where it said “Italy is soon to be removed from the G8” and replaced by Spain which has a higher GDP. Berlusconi has responded by saying this was a “colossal blunder by a small newspaper.”

The Times of London reports that Carla Bruni is snubbing Berlusconi’s Rome tour for G8 wives. The wives of the G8 leaders are due to gather in Rome today for a three day visit of Rome and l’Aquila. Bruni will however visit a hospital in l’Aquila. Of course Berlusconi’s own wife won’t be in attendance after filing for recently divorce, claiming that Berlusconi “frequented minors”. Relations between Carla Bruni and Berlusconi have been strained for some time. The Italian-born Bruni is said to have remarked she is happy to have become French, this after a classic Berlusconi gaffe where he commented on Obama’s ‘suntan’!