THE DAILY WAR!
Non-pagan/papal date: 10-15
THE HOLY ROMAN
Here is a translation of B16's address Sunday when praying the Angelus with people gathered in St. Peter's Square.
If it is enough to seek peace with good will to be saved, of what use is Christianity? This is the question posed after B16's address during the Nov. 30 general audience, in which he spoke about the possibility of salvation for non-Christians.
Protesting what they see as the growing interference of the Roman Catholic Church in domestic politics, tens of thousands of Italians took to the streets here over the weekend in support of abortion rights, while demonstrators in Rome gathered to endorse the legalization of same-sex unions.
EMPIRE OF THE GERMAN NATION
Embarrassed and angered by FIFA's cancellation of a World Cup opening gala over concerns it would ruin the pitch at Berlin's Olympic stadium, German political leaders offered alternate locations. Bavarian state premier Edmund Stoiber offered Munich's Olympic stadium, which will not be used for soccer because Munich has a new stadium.
Angela Merkel travels today to Moscow, where she will put her own mark on Germany's long and complex relationship with Russia.
DW-WORLD spoke with Harald Leibrecht, Free Democrat parliamentarian and member of the foreign affairs committee, about the German-Russian relationship.
Press review
Newspapers in Europe and the US were full of praise for Angela Merkel following her first visit to Washington and her candid style during wide-ranging talks with President Bush.
EUROPE/RUSSIA
German papers today examine a shift in relations with the US and Russia after Angela Merkel's visit to Washington, and ahead of Monday's talks in Moscow. Meanwhile, plans for a permanent police presence in France's schools receive a cool reception in the French press.
For 88 years Montenegrins shared the fate of Serbia in war and in peace. Today they want to try alone in the international political scene. Is there any risk that the independence of Montenegro reopens the Pandora’s Box in the Balkans?
Pope’s shooter disappeared after exiting Turkish prison, may be caught by ex-KGB agents.
MIDEAST/AFRICA/ASIA
The Israeli media are debating whether Ariel Sharon has fallen victim to some Orthodox Jews who allegedly put an ancient Kaballistic curse on him. A group of 20 men gathered at a cemetery on the night of July 23, 2005. They gathered to put Pulsa da-Nura (“Lashes of Fire”), an ancient Kaballistic curse, on Ariel Sharon.
Iran said Sunday that it would sponsor a conference to examine the scientific evidence supporting the Holocaust. "Western democracies have slammed all those who don't see eye-to-eye with the Zionists regarding the myth of the Holocaust."
Iran stepped up its defiance of international pressure by warning of soaring oil prices if it is subjected to economic sanctions. Iran's economy minister said the country's position as the world's 4th-largest oil producer meant such action would have grave consequences. "Any possible sanctions from the west could possibly, by disturbing Iran's political and economic situation, raise oil prices beyond levels the west expects."
Senior officials from Europe, America, Russia and China will meet in London today to devise a joint strategy to restrain Iran's nuclear programme. But as Iran threatened retaliation, including hints that it could seek to drive up the price of oil, cracks began to emerge among western leaders.
Iran's huge reserves and oil and gas would undermine any attempt to impose direct trade sanctions to curb its nuclear program, Germany's deputy foreign minister said in comments broadcast on Sunday.
Ahmadinejad and the clerics who run Iran know one thing that Western leaders also know but will not say: There is nothing the West can do because Iran has a bargaining chip - petroleum - that puts it out of reach.
Saudi Arabia broke its silence yesterday in the growing row between the West and Iran by warning Tehran that its nuclear ambitions could bring disaster to the region.
Iranian commentators argue that it would be unfair to refer Tehran to the UN Security Council over its decision to resume nuclear research. They also accuse the West of mounting a media campaign against Iran and urge the country's leaders to reply in kind.
Israel could launch a missile attack on Iran in the upcoming spring, the Director of the Russian Political Research Institute said.
The neocons have insistedfor years that the first shots of what they call "World War IV" have already been fired, and we are in for a new cold war (the previous one was WWIII) that is bound to turn hot. Now Niall Ferguson, the British exponent of a new American Empire, has come up with a scenario in which he envisions how the heavy fire might begin – one that reveals, in its fictionalization of entirely plausible events, all the assumptions and arrogance of a superpower infected with a fatal hubris.
Sudan's military dictator is likely to become chairman of the African Union and the continent's face to the world despite waging war in Darfur. President Omar al-Bashir, who seized power in a coup and harboured Osama bin Laden for 5 years in the 1990s, will host a meeting of African leaders in Sudan next Monday.
HOUSE OF ISRAEL
Why are the Democrats disgracing themselves and disgusting decent people with such tactics? Why are they desperate to kill the nomination of Sam Alito? The answer, in a word, is abortion.
The dark and dirty secret of the Republican Party is that it is only nominally pro-life. Given the history of the last 33 years, voting for vocally pro-life Republicans has proven to be as ineffective a way to stop the slaughter as voting for abortionette Democrats would have been.
Dictatorships seldom appear full-fledged but emerge piecemeal. The US regards itself as a land of democracy and civil liberty but, in fact, is an incipient dictatorship. It is paradoxical that American democracy is the likely casualty of a "war on terror" that is being justified in the name of the expansion of democracy.
This year, you can hardly throw a stone in any direction without hitting an economist who tells you why the dollar will continue to be strong. Our advice: throw it good and hard. The world is full of surprises. In the financial world, there are so many of them that we are surprised when we are not surprised. Last year, investors were surprised when the dollar didn't fall. This year, we may be surprised by how much it does.
The Mexican military has little regard for the border as troops have entered the US 216 times over 9 years, according to a Department of Homeland Security document and a map of incursions.
ECONOMY
Some economists also worry that the central bank will come under pressure to contain inflation arising from its purchases of foreign currency. Others argue that the government's policy of investing an estimated 70% of its reserves in US dollar-denominated assets is selling China short and amount to a massive transfer of wealth from one of the poorest countries on earth to the richest.
Latin American central bankers are learning to be careful what they wish for. Five of the 10 top-performing currencies in 2005 were Latin American ones. For many in the region, the currency gains have shattered perceptions that the dollar provides a haven against inflation and devaluation.
MISC
Changes to diets over the last 50 years may be playing a key role in the rise of mental illness, a study says.
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