THE HOLY ROMAN (visiting the) EMPIRE OF THE GERMAN NATION
Here is a Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI gave during the ecumenical celebration of Vespers in the cathedral of Regensburg. The meeting was attended by representatives of the various churches and ecclesial communities of Bavaria, in particular, representatives of the Lutheran and Orthodox churches.
Here is a Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered today in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Old Chapel.
In a provocative speech citing the concept of jihad and referencing the Muslim prophet by name, Benedict sends the world a signal that it's time for hard questions —not hugs and handshakes.
At a time when the entire world is suffering from war and violence, Pope Benedict 16th, has sent an arrow in the hearts of all Muslims by uttering anti-Islamic remarks.
Just a matter of time now. Nothing brings out the killer in jihadis like accusing them of being killers.
Following this morning's meeting with priests and permanent deacons in the cathedral of Freising, the Pope travelled by car to Munich's Franz Joseph Strauss international airport, where he departed by plane to Rome.
Juan Manuel Mora has headed Opus Dei's communications for the past 15 years from Rome. ZENIT interviewed Mora about his vision of Opus Dei.
In a decision Chancellor Angela Merkel called historic, the German cabinet agreed Wednesday to send 2,400 air and naval troops to join what will be a 15,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. "This is not an intervention like any other," Merkel said. "Germany is no longer a spectator in the region."
The German government has been vigorously pushing for a military engagement in the crisis region. It is seeking to both support, and partly replace, Washington in its self-appointed role as world policeman. At the same time, European powers detect a chance to establish their presence in a region which has long been dominated by the US.
German ships will patrol Lebanese waters and leave the "buffer zone" between Israelis and Islamic militants to other nations. But some politicians and commentators still think the devil lurks in the details.
EUROPE/RUSSIA
Serbia toughened its stand on Kosovo Tuesday as parliament decided that a planned new constitution would refer to the disputed province as an "integral" part of Serbia, regardless of U.N.-led negotiations on whether to grant it independence.
MIDEAST/AFRICA/ASIA
Henry Kissinger warned that Europe and the United States must unite to head off a "war of civilizations" arising from a nuclear-armed Middle East.
HOUSE OF ISRAEL
Two years before the 2008 presidential election, Newt Gingrich, the former Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, is trying desperately to grab the national spotlight by declaring he'd be a lot tougher than George W Bush in prosecuting what he calls "World War III".
ECONOMY
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urged China to undertake a broad range of economic changes and said the country's failure to overhaul its currency system could raise the threat of a protectionist backlash.
Financial markets have failed to price in the risk that any one of a host of threats to economic stability could materialise and deliver a massive shock to the world economy, the International Monetary Fund has warned.
