11.   Small convoys of Israeli soldiers began arriving inside Israel later as soldiers in tanks and jeeps honked horns, waved brigade banners and kissed the soil of their homeland.

12.   Soldiers in tanks and jeeps honked horns, waved brigade banners and kissed the soil of their homeland.

13.   The pope arrived Saturday from Cameroon and delivered his traditional blessing of kissing the soil of a country he visits for the first time.

14.   The pope kissed Croatian soil held up to him in a bowl.

15.   This time, church organizers say, he will kiss South African soil when he arrives Saturday at Johannesburg International Airport.

16.   Although he kept up his punishing programme of overseas trips, he gave up on his practice of kneeling to kiss foreign soil on his arrival.

17.   Because of his hip operation, the pope cannot bend down to kiss the soil of South Africa, his custom when visiting a country for the first time.