"The WAR on error"
The Pope is about to publish a book about Jesus. In so doing, he will share his deepest convictions about Jesus Christ. The Pope regards this book as extremely important, even urgent. He has little time left. And yet, he is not publishing it as a papal encyclical. This is the striking point. He is not making the book that he is working on with all his strength, as the final great work of his life, a part of the papal magisterium. So this new book is not "dry-as-dust theology" but a heartfelt plea to people around the world, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, Christian and non-Christian, to consider the central question of all, which Jesus asked of his disciples: "Who do men say that I am?"
Here is a translation of an article published last week in the semi-official Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, entitled "18 Centuries of History: The Bodmer Papyrus 14-15 (P75) Arrives in the Vatican Apostolic Library."
Not a lot of attention has been paid in London to the traumas of the Bavarian government but the current upheavals - stemming from the eclipse of its strongman minister-president Edmund Stoiber - may be a pointer to where European as well as German politics are going. Stoiber was an acquired taste: an elegant, thin-lipped lawyer, "more Prussian than Bavarian", and a world apart from his mentor, Franz-Josef Strauss. Stoiber leaves office in September, with a vacuum behind him. Catholic Europe has got a Bavarian pope, which rather gets in the way of Strauss's Bavarian-German-world role.
Ambitious plans by Chancellor Merkel to revive the defunct EU constitution have set Britain on a collision course with Berlin and most of the EU's 27 member states.
Discussing the European constitution at a recent informal meeting, a high-ranking German politician suddenly veered off topic and onto the merits (and drawbacks) of "3-speed Europe." Talk of 2-speed, 3-speed, multi-speed or any other bicycle gearing mechanism is strange now, when all eyes are supposed to be on ratifying the constitution. Talk of "core Europe", and various other slogans, is almost as old as the institutions of Europe—and has never come to anything.
Next month, the European Union will mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, establishing the European Economic Community, the forerunner of today's EU. Half a century later there are new realities, new priorities, and there is a new Europe as well. But, sadly, there is no new EU. Instead, today we see the same old EU: still committed to the idea of "ever-closer union"; still with a greater focus on itself rather than the world outside, and still determined to press ahead with a new European Constitution.
But Strasbourg is much more than a government seat; it is a university city, as well as a prosperous intersection of cultures, histories, gastronomy and architecture. Perched at the crossroads of France and Germany, Strasbourg was torn between the two for centuries. French from 1681 to 1871, the town remained a "free city," a vestige of the Holy Roman Empire that gave Strasbourg the freedom of self-government.
Israel's outgoing chief of staff is expected to give evidence to a commission of inquiry into the conduct of last summer's Lebanese war that could seal the fate of Ehud Olmert. Political analysts believe the general's testimony before the Winograd Commission may lead to Olmert's resignation.
Senior defence sources have voiced fears that an imminent push by the US in Afghanistan will force British soldiers to adopt an overly aggressive approach that will damage relations with ordinary Afghans and play into the hands of the Taliban.
A Saudi newspaper reported that US Commanders are plotting a coup to overthrow the elected Iraqi government of Prime Minister al-Maleki - on the pretext that violence in Iraq is spiraling out of control.
Bush administration officials acknowledged Friday that they had yet to compile evidence strong enough to back up publicly their claims that Iran is fomenting violence against US troops in Iraq.
President Ahmadinejad said yesterday that the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution (February 11) marks the day for proving Iran's inalienable right to access nuclear energy and declaration of the nation's participation in the trend of national progress.
The mysterious death last month of a top Iranian nuclear physicist involved with the Islamic Republic's current effort to enrich uranium was the work of Mossad, the Israeli security service, a leading US intelligence company claims.
The Russian Foreign Minister said yesterday that US officials assured him in meetings in Washington this week that the US does not have plans to launch military action against Iran.
America's military chiefs are at loggerheads with the country's diplomats and spies over tactics for confronting Iranian agents in Iraq over their role in lethal attacks on US forces. It is fuelling fears among some US diplomats - shared by Britain and its European allies - that hawks within President Bush's administration are preparing the ground for military action against Teheran before he leaves office.
There's nothing new about a little turbulence in the so-called special relationship between Britain and America. But few periods in this closest of strategic partnerships have been as strange and troubled as the present one. In the past, Britain's most valuable contribution to the special relationship has been as the trusted partner who says "yes, but". Whether Mr Blair was too eager to please or Mr Bush too arrogant to listen, all this president ever heard was "yes".
The prime minister is damaged goods and whatever happens in the remaining weeks of his premiership, he will remain so.
His London trip was not the first time that Mr Sarkozy has tried to seduce the French with an Anglo-Saxon foray. In September he jetted to Washington to see President Bush. This provoked consternation and derision in equal measure from the Socialist Party, and has fed its election campaign ever since. An economic adviser to Ségolène Royal, the Socialist presidential candidate, recently called Mr Sarkozy "an American neo-conservative with a French passport".
Hell on Earth?...
Germany is already governed by a woman. In America and France women are trying to seize the presidency from men. Are we ready for a triumvirate of Iron Ladies?
When the great, the good and the media assembled in Davos for the World Economic Forum, one topic dominated the financial agenda—risk. Nowadays, the banks have parcelled out the risk to hedge funds, pension funds and insurers. But has risk gone out the front door, only to come in the back, because of the banks' trading and financial relations with those same counterparties?
It seemed so simple and familiar: Spring forward, fall back. For 20 years, that's what Americans — and their technology — have done with their clocks on the first Sunday in April and the last Sunday in October. No longer. When few people were paying attention in August 2005, Congress lengthened daylight-saving time by four weeks in the name of energy efficiency. The change starts this year — on March 11 — and it has angered airlines, delighted candy makers, and sent thousands of technicians scrambling to make sure countless automated systems switch their clocks at the right moment.
Among white-tailed deer, there are bucks and there are does. But hunter Joe Stokes bagged something in between. He shot a hermaphrodite. "I don't think I've ever said that word before. I had to look it up to spell it."
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