"The WAR on error"
The forced resignation of Pope Benedict XVI's handpicked choice for archbishop of Warsaw, Stanislaw Wielgus, has exposed divisions within the Vatican, which insiders say have left the pontiff increasingly isolated. "Benedict does not have a decisive temperament and must take into account his age. The initiatives he has taken are meeting with much resistance. For months, Benedict appeared isolated, closed up in his study polishing his speeches, writing his book on Jesus of Nazareth to be published in April or playing the piano."
This week a conservative took over from a socialist as president of the European Parliament and many of its committees changed hands. If this were a normal parliament, presumably there would have been a fiercely contested election or some other basic political shift. Clearly, the European Parliament is not a normal parliament. The result is a paradox: the European Parliament is more important bureaucratically but in a democratic sense remains frivolous. Logically, the EU ought either to increase its powers (for example, by enhancing its role in choosing the commission and its president) or it should cut them back. In the long run the current arrangement—increased influence, but not popular support—is not likely to be sustainable.
A tight race between ultra-nationalists and pro-Western reformers is widely expected in national elections today in Serbia.
As Serbia votes in presidential elections today, the one thing both hard-line nationalists and moderate reformists all warn is that if Kosovo is granted independence in coming weeks, as the UN hopes, the Balkans could be plunged into turmoil again 8 years after NATO forced Serb forces out of the territory.
An energetic and ambitious former spy who says that "guy issues" have clouded crucial Israeli government decisions is being urged to assume the country's premiership as Ehud Olmert's rule appears to be on the brink of collapse.
An empire in its death throes is not a pretty sight. The more desperately its rulers cling to power in the face of impending defeat, the more they hasten its demise. The more its rulers fight to preserve their rule, the more the empire is sacrificed to serve selfish, repressive wants.
Jimmy Carter said that the storm of criticism he has faced for his recent book has not weakened his resolve for fair treatment of Israelis and Palestinians. "I have been called a liar. I have been called an anti-Semite. I have been called a bigot. I have been called a plagiarist. I have been called a coward. Those kind of accusations, they concern me, but they don't detract from the fact the book is accurate and is needed."
Iran's supreme leader is considering a change of policy on the country’s nuclear programme in an effort to defuse growing tension with the West, according to senior sources in Tehran. Alarmed by mounting US pressure and UN sanctions, officials close to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei favour the appointment of a more moderate team for international negotiations on the supervision of its nuclear facilities. Khamenei has ultimate power over Iran’s foreign policy, security and armed forces.
An Iraqi Kurdish source said Friday that Iran is massing troops along its borders with north Iraq.
Iran plans to conduct missile war games during a 3-day period beginning today, state-run television reported.
Just not getting it...
Iran's top nuclear negotiator has declared that the nation's armed forces are ready to face any threat to its nuclear installations, local media reported, amid speculation Washington may be planning a military strike. "The Islamic republic's armed forces are completely ready to confront any probable threats by the enemies." However, he downplayed the possibility of Iranian nuclear facilities being hit, insisting: "Our enemies do not have such power. Our enemies have waged a psychological war in order to make us retreat from our nuclear positions."
It should be unambiguously stated that, in the event of an Israeli nuclear attack against Iran, the US will automatically become an accessory of the aggressor in creating nuclear weapons, their proliferation in the Middle East and their use in an armed conflict that cannot help growing into a big nuclear war.
The Bush/Cheney refusal to obtain additional authorization from Congress for this substantial enlargement of US armed forces in Iraq constitutes an impeachable offense under the terms of Article II, Section 4 of the US Constitution for violating the Constitution’s War Powers Clause and Congress’s own War Powers Resolution. If President Bush and Vice President Cheney are not stopped immediately by means of impeachment, they could readily set off WW3 in the volatile Middle East, Persian Gulf and Central Asia, where two-thirds of the world’s hydrocarbon resources are up for grabs among the United States, Russia, China, and India. The Guns of August indeed.
No soft landing for the economy and the housing market... expecting market corrections. The great sea of liquidity... LNG in the battle for supreme control of the world, bankers squirming from burensome and invasive governtment spy programs, spying on the money, a change in the standings for forclosure misfortunes...
A poisonous mix of inequality and sluggish wages threatens globalisation.
Russian Scientists have become alarmed this past week after an unprecedented massive ‘Superstorm’ hit the entire Northern Hemisphere of our planet causing widespread destruction and death. From record windstorms assaulting Northern Europe and the British Isles; to the destruction of California’s citrus crops; to the devastating snow and ice storms still assaulting the North American continent from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian Maritime Provinces; at no time in recorded history, according to Russian Scientific Reports, has our World experienced such catastrophic weather on such a global scale over such a short period of time.
At last, scientists claim to have found a link between our satellite and human behaviour - like how it governs the size of your dinner.
Here you'll find a month of neural circuit training, a series of free daily exercises that could stretch your mental muscles and expand your cerebral capacity. It's all part of Mind Month from The Times, in association with MENSA.
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