"The WAR on error"
Pope Benedict XVI yesterday put the brakes on his charm offensive in EU-hopeful, Muslim majority Turkey, stressing Europe's "Christian roots" and taking a strong stand on religious freedoms and minority rights.
Pope Benedict XVI, who spurred anger among Muslims just two months ago, stood Thursday in silent prayer, facing Mecca, alongside a Muslim prelate in one of the world's most important mosques. The image sealed a trip in which Benedict repeatedly underscored his desire to reconcile Christians and Muslims.
The ecumenical character of Benedict XVI's journey to sister Churches in Turkey was further highlighted with his visit to the Armenian Apostolic Cathedral. The Armenian Apostolic Church separated from Rome after the Council of Chalcedon in the year 451, which it was unable to attend because of war. Misunderstandings arose when it came to translating the terms of the Council, thus altering its conceptual comprehension. That, and the political confrontation with Byzantium, caused the schism, though Armenian "Monophysitism" always remained a purely verbal error.
Benedict XVI relaunched in the presence of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I the dialogue on the exercise of the papal ministry, in hopes of pursuing full Catholic-Orthodox unity. The two Christian representatives then signed a Common Declaration in which they launched an invitation to peace and expressed the joy of feeling that they are brothers, renewing the commitment to attain full communion.
(EPB1's homily at divine liturgy)
(EPB1's homily at divine liturgy)
On his first day in Turkey, the pope seemingly supported Turkey's European Union aspirations. On Thursday, though, he emphasized Europe's Christian heritage. So which is it?
Christmas shoppers in Germany are horrified. Across the country, models of Santa Claus in shop windows appear to be giving the Nazi salute. Some chains have already removed them from the shelves.
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has embarked on his 6th Middle East tour. The trip may also include Syria, following an abruptly axed trip in August, his spokesman said. He also said that Germany would carefully observe the situation in the Middle East "and particularly Lebanon" in the coming days.
Germany intends to resurrect the controversial EU constitution by the end of its six-month stint as EU president next year, its ambassador to the UK has said - despite hopes in Britain that the "no" votes in France and the Netherlands had killed off the proposal. Referring to the "constitutional process" rather than the "constitution", Mr Ischinger expressed hope that the Germans would be able to put new proposals to streamline Brussels decision-making by the end of their stint in June. "Germany remains committed to the constitutional process - whether you want to call it a constitution or not is, in my view, a question of presentation. The important thing is the substance of it, and we believe the substance of it is very important - and remains important."
Intelligence brief
In France, many Gaullists and Socialists fear that a new European enlargement to include Turkey would only benefit the Anglo-American "Atlanticist" vision of a weak European Union. In the Netherlands and partly in Italy, Austria and other European member states, some politicians play the populist card when it comes to Turkey, insisting that Turkey maintains a fully non-European character and that its integration would definitively destroy any European common identity in the Union.
The Clash of Civilisations Award for cliché of the week goes to: the Pope’s visit to Turkey being “heavy with symbolism”. Indeed, in Istanbul last weekend, it seemed to me the entire Turkey-EU discussion is now so weighed down with symbolism as to be at risk of collapsing into the Bosphorus. Everybody is hiding behind something symbolic rather than having straight arguments.
The NATO summit, which took place in the Latvian capital of Riga on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, was marked by bitter divisions between the US on the one side and France, Germany, Italy and Spain on the other. The drifting apart of great power interests threatens the very unity of the NATO alliance and augurs conflicts on a scale to match those which erupted in the first half of the last century.
Considering the internal disagreements that preceded it, the NATO summit in Riga was surprisingly amicable. Angela Merkel achieved what she wanted: German troops will remain in Afghanistan's comparatively safe north, although they may help out in the south occasionally.
(German press: What did NATO decide?)
The abysmal failure of NATO countries at the Riga summit meeting this week to commit more troops to Afghanistan will further encourage a countrywide Taliban offensive, and portends much greater interference by neighboring states - all staking their claims as they see the West giving up the ghost on Afghanistan. In the future annals of the spread of Islamic extremism and Al Qaeda, the NATO meeting this week will almost certainly be considered a watershed.
U.N. police in Kosovo fired teargas on Tuesday to disperse ethnic Albanians who smashed the windows of parliament and stoned U.N. headquarters, angry at a delay to their demand for independence from Serbia.
UPI analysis
A recent spat over German participation in a possible stability mission in Sudan's Darfur region underlined how unwilling Europe's governments are when it comes to sending soldiers into yet another crisis region.
The financial ties between the Middle East and Asia are strengthening by the day, creating a phenomenon that the bank giant HSBC calls "east-east" transactions. The traditional destinations for Middle Eastern petrodollars - the United States and Europe - may see some investment money dry up as a result.
The Commander of the Islamic Republic Army's Navy said today that Persian Gulf security is a key issue for both Iran and the world. Referring to the US troop build-up in the region, he said the US would face strategic ambush in the region as there had been such a case in southern Lebanon. He hoped that the Americans would reconsider their policies.
China’s Sinopec Group is near to clinching one of its biggest overseas deals, to develop Iran’s giant Yadavaran oilfield, a top Chinese industry official said yesterday.
Yadavaran, in southwest Iran, is expected to produce 300,000 bpd, about the same amount Iran now exports to China. Iran is China’s third largest oil supplier after Saudi Arabia and Angola.
Yadavaran, in southwest Iran, is expected to produce 300,000 bpd, about the same amount Iran now exports to China. Iran is China’s third largest oil supplier after Saudi Arabia and Angola.
Substitute Friday prayers leader of Tehran Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said on Friday that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's letter to the American people is "praiseworthy and valuable." "The letter is in principle and spirit referring to the fact that we have never been at odds with the American people, rather with the US dictators."
Premier Paranoid Protestant Prophecy Propagandist Preaching Poop...
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed a letter to the "noble Americans" in which he said he was certain that the American people detested the Bush administration's policies and offered to work with ordinary Americans to reverse them. His letter sounds like he was quoting from a Democratic political speech.
A one-sided U.S. policy toward Israel endangers both countries’ interests.
History's "deniers" are many - and all subject to the same folly: faced with overwhelming evidence of catastrophe, they take refuge in fantasy, dismissing evidence of collapse as a symptom of some short-term setback, clinging to the idea that as long as their generals promise victory - or because they have themselves so often promised victory - that fate will be kind.
It is common wisdom that the US dollar is stretched to snapping point by the deficit/debt debacle, but less understood that ageing Europe and Japan are too fragile to absorb the shock of a dollar slide, one that is perhaps already starting. "It's now a matter of competitive devaluations. Countries are all debasing their currencies, so the question is which one debases fastest. Can any finance minister in the world think this is a good moment to buy dollars, but where else do you go? Do you think the euro is a structurally sound currency? I don't. It means buying into Italy, Spain, Portugal, and France with unfunded pensions and energy deficits." Mr Hambro predicts that the rising reserve powers of China ($1 trillion) and Russia ($273bn) will top up their holdings of gold in a slow, relentless switch away from dollar dependence.
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