THE DAILY WAR!
Non-pagan/papal date: 10-18
THE HOLY ROMAN
At the end of yesterday's general audience, B16 announced the publication of his first encyclical, which is entitled "Deus Caritas Est" (God Is Love).
The encyclical Deus Caritas Est is the first such letter by B16. But it is the 294th in a long list of encyclical letters by Roman Pontiffs dating back to B14, whose pontificate stretched from 1740 to 1758.
Here is a translation of B16's address at yesterday's general audience in which he opened the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
Although not presented as an official church position, the Vatican newspaper published an article this week labeling as "correct" the decision by a judge in Pennsylvania last month that the concept of intelligent design could not be taught as a scientific alternative to evolution.
EMPIRE OF THE GERMAN NATION
Revelations that information from German intelligence agents in Baghdad was passed along to Washington while Gerhard Schröder publicly condemned the US-led war in Iraq have caused an uproar in Berlin. The opposition wants a parliamentary investigation. But was it hypocrisy or simply political pragmatism?
(DW: CALLS FOR B.N.D. INQUIRY)
(PAPERS: BERLIN TO SPY ON SPOOKS)
EUROPE/RUSSIA
French dailies give front-page coverage to a parliamentary inquiry into a notorious miscarriage of justice. Austria's papers are concerned by what they see as Chancellor Schuessel's limp performance in Strasbourg, where he has been pitched straight into a tangle over the EU budget. And there are harsh words in Bosnia for a failed attempt to seize a wanted war crimes suspect.
The European Parliament rejected the hard-won budget deal negotiated under Britain's EU presidency.
(GERMAN PAPERS: MIGHT NOT BE SUCH A BAD THING)
The Austrian chancellor has called for new taxes that European citizens would pay directly to Brussels to finance the EU's budget.
The Finance Minister urged the European Central Bank not to raise interest rates again but instead to focus on nurturing growth.
Almost half of Europe's Jews are descended from just 4 women who lived 1,000 years ago, a study says.
MIDEAST/AFRICA/ASIA
The Arab television news network Al-Jazeera broadcast a new audiotape purported to be from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. The tape warns that al-Qaida is preparing new attacks inside the US but offers a truce if the security of Islamic nations is guaranteed.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began a visit to Syria today to consolidate an old alliance made increasingly crucial as both countries face mounting US pressure and the threat of international sanctions.
The US and Europe, stepping up the effort to persuade Russia to refer Iran to the UNSC, have begun assuring the Russians that they have no intention to seek sanctions against Tehran right away.
Europe, backed by the United States, on Wednesday rejected Iran's request for talks on its nuclear program, cranking up international pressure on Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment.
By exaggerating the importance of Iran's nuclear developments, the West is showing up the waning of its power in that region. The situation now has 3 possible outcomes, none favorable to the West.
As the impasse over the Iranian nuclear issue continues with UNSC members at odds on how to proceed, Arab newspapers point to what they see as the West's double standards in hounding Iran while allowing Israel to possess a potent nuclear arsenal.
Unrest in the country's oil-rich delta region helped to drive crude prices this week to $66 a barrel. It could get worse. "The loss of more Nigerian oil could send the price to $80 or $95 per barrel or higher," says a former US assistant energy secretary.
HOUSE OF ISRAEL
President Chirac has said France would be ready to use nuclear weapons against any state which launched a terrorist attack against it.
ECONOMY
Even though the Oracle of Omaha occasionally becomes the Prophet of Impending Doom, the US economy probably merits its annual scold from billionaire clairvoyant Warren Buffett. Don't count on a soft landing for the country's deficit-addicted economy, Buffett reiterated Tuesday.
MISC
In the beginning was the Word. And nothing was ever simple again. That's the message of "Ink and Blood," an engrossing exhibition tracing the evolution of the modern Bible, a document stained with martyrs' blood and scholars' pens through centuries of strife and struggle to control its content.
If you missed Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven when it was released last spring, or were dissuaded from seeing it because of a bad review, then by all means buy it or rent it. It is one of his best films, as good, maybe better than his justly esteemed Gladiator. Moreover, the film contains lessons, with applicability to all wars, that Americans especially would do well to heed before they lose what’s left of their liberty or invade another country.
#10-18
