THE HOLY ROMAN ...
Joseph Ratzinger was never one to sugarcoat his opinions, no matter whom they offended. To those who objected to his verdicts, the cardinal simply responded that the truth is never comfortable.
A November trip by Pope Benedict XVI to Turkey will be "a new step forward" in inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue, the Vatican Secretary of State predicts.
Oh, how sweet...
The Holy See proposes to believers of various religions, in particular to Hindus, that they overcome terrorist hatred with love.
... EMPIRE OF THE GERMAN NATION
The troubles facing European aircraft maker Airbus has the German government in an uproar. To avoid forfeiting its influence over the transnational company and losing jobs, Berlin plans to invest in parent company EADS itself.
EUROPE/RUSSIA
Poland's conservative Law and Justice party revived a coalition agreement with populist and far-right parties, three weeks after the previous ruling alliance broke up amid a squabble.
The European Union's three newest members are in political and economic disarray.
MIDEAST/AFRICA/ASIA
Wrangling over the distribution of Iraq's oil wealth is "definitely causing problems on the ground" but the entire topic is taboo in polite DC circles. "Nobody in Washington wants to talk about it. They don't want to sound like freaks talking about blood for oil."
The U.N. sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear test are a declaration of war, and the country will "deal merciless blows" if the nation's sovereignty is violated, the North's central government said.
North Korea's apparent test of a nuclear weapon has changed the security situation in Asia. SPIEGEL spoke with Yan Xuetong, Professor for International Studies at Peking's Qinghua University, about what went wrong.
POUNDING PERSIA
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad believes Iran will be victorious in its nuclear row with the West because he is "in relation with God," while President Bush is inspired by Satan.
Iran is not a threat to any country in the egion but wants to guarantee regional security in cooperation with neighboring countries, said the Air Force Commander.
HOUSE OF ISRAEL
With oil as their weapon, an emerging cabal of nations threatens America.
Poor Paranoid Protestants...
American elections in which no president is chosen are usually hum-drum affairs interesting only to policy wonks. Not 2006. Though not on any ballot, the question voters will be answering is: Has the religious right peaked?
Top White House political advisers embraced evangelical supporters publicly to get their votes while mocking them privately as "nuts" and "goofy," according to a new book by David Kuo, the former No. 2 man in President Bush's so-called "faith-based" initiatives program.
Cardinal Keith O'Brien said he backed Scotland’s independence from the United Kingdom, predicting that independence would come “before too long,” for his country.
ECONOMY
Corporate America is deliberately destroying the middle class to support its globalized greed.
Marxism is dead, but the struggle between rich and poor has taken on new life - even in America.
Asia is fast developing into an economic powerhouse, with China and India gradually transforming themselves into the new masters of the universe. Meanwhile, the West faces the prospect of losing the globalization game, as European labor is devalued - by the millions.
MISC
The foremost duty of a citizen, especially in dangerous times, is to think. Remembering and imagining are not thinking. Emotional reactions or ideological reactions are not thinking. Belief in the "word magic" of labels is not thinking. Faith is not thinking. Thinking is the use of reason to determine the truth as best we can. To do that, we have to shuck emotions, desires and wishes and look at the world in its nakedness as it is, not as we wish it were or as someone else has told us it is.
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