Reports about plans of imminent reunification of the Anglican and Catholic Churches under the Pope are largely exaggerated, said the two chairmen of the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission.
Better late than never, there appeared recently unusual warnings from former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, who wrote, in an article in Die Zeit, about the loss of "decency and morality" on the part of the financial managers of private venture-capital companies, and about the "predatory capitalism," which brings with it "global risks". Schmidt warns in clear words, on manifold grounds, of a possible crash of the system, and that there is presently no institution that can protect Germany from this danger. In fact, Germany finds itself in mortal danger, because of the inexorably onrushing financial collapse.
Germany's Muslim population is becoming more religious and more conservative. Islamic associations are fostering the trend, particularly through their work with the young - accelerating the drift towards a parallel Muslim society.
A passionate debate has emerged in France over the challenge posed by EU law to national sovereignty, focusing on the question of whether the ultimate legal authority lies with the French constitution or with the European Court of Justice. Although the supremacy of EU law over national law has been well-established, the status of national constitutions has been less clear not only in France but also elsewhere, including Germany. Germany's constitutional court is also set to rule whether a revised version of the planned EU constitution is compatible with the German constitution once a new EU text is agreed.
Earlier this month, the EU announced ambitious environmental goals and current EU President Angela Merkel has made the issue of climate change a priority. But even as Germany forges ahead, many EU countries are lagging. EU environmental policy could suffer.
The leaders of Germany and France will meet this week to try and resolve the latest eruption of tensions at EADS, the parent company of Airbus, which wants to shed thousands of jobs in Europe. At the heart of the French-German dispute are differing views of what constitutes fair burden-sharing.
(Der Spiegel: Airbus restructuring plans delayed)
(Der Spiegel: If Airbus is selling - who's buying?)
Any attempt by the international community to deny Kosovo independence will set off "a new Balkan war," a senior Kosovar negotiator cautioned yesterday.
They were deported in 1944. They began returning in the early 1990s. And now, they are tired of waiting around. The Tatars in Crimea want their land back now.
German press on...
As expected, the talks in Jerusalem on Monday between Israeli Prime Minister Olmert and Palestinian President Abbas yielded no concrete results. But talking is a good start say German commentators.
With carrier battle groups crowding the Gulf, and with the Bush administration beating the battle drum to a degree not heard since the buildup to the Iraq war, one can only conclude that either this is a demonstration of coercive diplomacy par excellence, or that the US is going to attack Iran. President Bush and the Pentagon continue to deny "for the umpteenth time" that an attack is being planned. They say that diplomacy is in play. But that is what they said about Iraq long after the decision to go to war had already been made.
Given that US foreign policy is, to a large degree, driven by domestic politics, the motive on the part of the administration to escalate provocative covert actions inside Iran has never been greater. With Scooter Libby likely to be convicted and Fitzgerald's sights increasingly turned on Cheney, the War Party, cornered, has every reason to lash out in one last desperate bid to save its political skin. Fitzgerald, by all indications, is coming for Cheney. After the trial but before the sentencing, Fitz will make a strenuous effort to "flip" Scooter and use his testimony to target the vice president. The Fitzgerald probe is a dagger pointed at the dark heart of the administration, the OVP, and the climactic moment of this epic battle is fast approaching. A cornered rat is dangerous.
The steady climb to higher spring gasoline prices is under way and a repeat of last year's $3 a gallon is a strong possibility.
The threat of a global blowup of major hedge-fund losses in the mortgage-based credit derivatives market, was brought to light on Feb. 13-14 in both public reports and private bank advisories. "The Great Unwind" was the ominous forecast of one bank report on the hedge-fund sector, and London's Financial Times reported Feb. 14 that the market for derivatives contracts based on sub-prime mortgages in the US, had "exploded."
Managing globalization
In countries around the world, globalization has been blamed for increasing inequality, extinguishing local culture, enabling transnational crime and a host of other evils — with varying degrees of justification. But could globalization be a cause for another ill wind, that of war itself? The rapid growth of economies like the US, aided by globalization, could also contribute to conflict if demand for raw materials increased faster than supply. "There is a new scarcity and scarcity is always a cause of conflicts."
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