Tuesday

THE DAILY WAR!
 
Non-pagan/papal date: 10-16
 
THE HOLY ROMAN
 
The interview took place with an eye toward understanding better B16's address at the general audience of Nov. 30, during which he spoke about the possibility of salvation for non-Christians.
 
B16 talked of the Church's love for the Jewish people when he received the chief rabbi of Rome in audience. "The Catholic Church is close to you and is your friend. Yes, we love you and cannot but love you, 'through the Fathers.'"
(Full text of address)
 
The list of ingredients should include in-depth cultural study of a high scientific profile; reflection on the social and pastoral aspects of Church teaching; and firm rooting in doctrine.
 
EMPIRE OF THE GERMAN NATION
 
After 4 years of stagnation, Germany is showing signs of reclaiming its role as the economic engine of Europe. And much of the credit goes to old-line German companies.
 
Walking a fine line between cooperating in a government coalition and campaigning in state elections, Germany's Christian and Social Democrats are trying to score points by promoting better childcare opportunities.
 
Ronald Reagan's relationship with Margaret Thatcher was legendary: will President Bush replicate it with Angela Merkel? The German ambassador to Washington,  briefing his EU colleagues, said the visit was a success beyond his expectations.
 
Angela Merkel said that she was starting a new strategic partnership with Vladimir Putin  that would go far beyond economic and energy issues.  
 
EUROPE/RUSSIA
 
Merkel's first meeting with Putin prompts a mixed reaction from newspapers across Europe. Leading German dailies compare her diplomatic style favourably with that of  Gerhard Schroeder.
 
Angela Merkel's recent trip to Washington has a lot of people talking about "common values" among conservatives. But a US conservative is a different species from a European conservative. And the neo-cons just don't get it.
 
The defeat of the EU's draft constitution in referendums last year has left the 25-nation organization in limbo.
 
 
MIDEAST/AFRICA/ASIA
 
The conflict over Iran's nuclear program is escalating dangerously now that the country has removed the seals on its uranium enrichment facility at Natanz. As the Europeans fall in line with Washington's tougher stance, Tehran's mullah-controlled regime is threatening the West with disastrous consequences.
 
Britain, France and Germany announced yesterday that they would seek an emergency meeting of the IAEA early next month to have Iran referred to the UNSC - and Russia and China are key to the West's plan.  
 
Members of the UNSC are at odds on how to tackle Iran's nuclear program, Germany said on Tuesday, suggesting a consensus on pursuing sanctions against the Islamic Republic may prove elusive.
 
Angela Merkel arrived in Moscow hoping for a firm offer of support from Vladimir Putin on the subject of Iran. She left Monday wondering what stance, if any, Russia would take.
 
A potential breakthrough in the nuclear stand-off with Iran came last night when the Iranian ambassador in Moscow praised a proposal to move Tehran's uranium enrichment programme to Russia.
 
Deflating the hysteria
As Iran has no record of military adventurism or aggression against any of its neighbors in modern history, there is nothing to suggest that a nuclear-armed Iran would be any less peaceful than any other nuclear states in the region.
 
Israel drafted hundreds of police reinforcements to the West Bank town of Hebron on Monday in a bid to quell what the press is calling a Jewish Intifada, sparked by plans to evacuate settlers.
 
The Israeli cabinet's decision to allow Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem to vote in the forthcoming Palestinian elections seems to have left commentators on both sides unhappy.
 
The stability and prosperity of Nigeria are at stake in its oilfields.
 
HOUSE OF ISRAEL
 
The drought that has gripped parts of Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Missouri since last summer has left some areas more than 20" behind in annual rainfall. No other region in the country has seen a greater drop-off in rainfall than SE Oklahoma.
 
Bush, however, seems to see no limit to his imperial presidency. The administration's behavior shows how high and immediate the stakes are in the Alito nomination, and how urgent it is for Congress to curtail Bush's expansion of power. Nothing in the national consensus to combat terrorism after 9/11 envisioned the unilateral rewriting of more than 200 years of tradition and law by one president embarked on an ideological crusade.
 
While President Bush is trying to hoodwink Americans about taking a firm position to halt the large numbers of aliens illegally entering the nation, the truth is, according to American Free Press sources, the flow of undocumented immigrants is worsening.
 
ECONOMY
 
A militant threat to halt Nigeria's oil exports and Iran's showdown with the West over its nuclear programme added more than 50 cents to crude oil on Monday.
 
Crude oil prices spiked past $65 Tuesday as Iran's nuclear ambitions and an attack on an oil platform in Nigeria kept traders edgy over potential supply snags.
 
The price of gold shot up again at the end of last week. It doesn't seem to want to go down. Maybe it knows something. Or it is just toying with us. That gold has a sense of humor is beyond question. We hear it laughing every time Alan Greenspan opens his mouth.
 
China's government must keep its status as the majority shareholder of state banks to ensure the country's economic and financial security, a senior official said, even as its banks continued to look for investors from abroad.
 
MISC
 
The International Forecaster
The screams of whistleblowers... spying without warrants... law breaking... all a result of the ideology of absolute power...
 
 
#10-16
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