Puh-leaze...
Already in the 1st century, popes exercised their primacy over the other Churches, Benedict XVI says. He explained this on Wednesday at the general audience, which he dedicated to Pope St. Clement of Rome, the 3rd successor of Peter.
The Moscow Patriarchate has pointed to the importance of the meeting to take place on March 13 between President Putin and Pope Benedict XVI for consolidating the position of Christianity in the world. "I believe the meeting between the Russian president and the head of the Vatican to be important because at the time of globalization today the European and global communities are increasingly loosing their identities based on traditional norms of ethics and morality. I believe President Putin can lend his support to the policy pursued by the Vatican in today's ideological dialogue with Europe as it increasingly moves away from the Church."
But it's a good pain...
One of the most senior Italian members of Opus Dei, the ultra-conservative Catholic movement, has advocated the use of a vicious spiked chain designed for self-torture in the name of God.
During filming for a BBC production on the possibility there could be a wider conspiracy in the OKC bombing, a former investigator for the FBI in the case said he has learned troubling facts that lead him to believe there are others involved in the mass murder of 168 persons – a mass murder the FBI appears to walking away from. On the BBC show, Coulson revealed that he shared widespread suspicions about the former Panzergrenadier from Berlin who was head of security and military training at Elohim City. "There's lots of questions. Who he is? Who he works for? And does he work for someone in the United States? Does he work for the federal government, or does he work for a government overseas… I don't know the answer to it. What I do know is he wasn't just bumming around."
Enlargement has emerged as a topic of controversy surrounding the EU's 50th anniversary declaration, with Chancellor Merkel proposing a five-chapter citizen-friendly text which is likely to contain a vague reference to a new EU treaty.
EU leaders are gathered in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to talk about the future of the climate. But not all are looking into the same crystal ball.
German press
As EU leaders meet to discuss measures to combat climate change begins, German commentators are divided as to the role Germany and Europe should take.
Since Romania's entry into the EU at the beginning of this year, 800,000 Moldovans have applied for citizenship - fully 20% of the country. Moldova now accuses Romania of harming its national security.
Just what has come over the Saudis? For as long as anyone can remember, the House of Saud has been a model of discretion and reticence in its dealings with the outside world. Whenever the royal family has found itself having to deal with some unpleasant local difficulty, its time-honoured response has been to reach for the chequebook and buy its way out of trouble. No publicity, no fuss. Well, that was then. Nowadays, if you look at any of the key issues affecting the region, you'll invariably find the Saudis spear-heading some bold initiative to find a solution. So why this frenetic bout of activity?
Iraqi forces didn't use poison gas against the Kurds, but Iran did, pointing out that Iraq did not possess mustard gas, and this was also mentioned in a report published by the Pentagon in 1989 and confirmed by "The New Yorker" newspaper.
An Iranian former spy chief is being debriefed by Western intelligence officials after defecting, sources claimed yesterday. Speaking to The Washington Post, the sources said Ali Reza Azkari turned himself over to foreign spy agencies and was providing intelligence about Iran's close links with Hizbollah, the Shia militia from Lebanon. One of the sources said Mossad coordinated his defection although there was no official confirmation from the Jewish State.
Former Iranian Deputy Defense Minister Ali Rez Asgari left Turkey for an undisclosed location in Europe with a false passport with the help of Western officials, the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported today. A former colleague told the newspaper that Asgari took with him documents and maps that shed light on Iran's military and the Revolutionary Guards' links to Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad, the "Mahadi Army" and the "Badr Corps".
Contradicting news accounts that a former top Iranian military official was in the custody of the US or one of its allies, a senior US official told ABC News the US doesn't know where he is.
The disappearance of an Iranian official and ongoing espionage activities undermine efforts to forge agreement with Iran on the nuclear issue.
Ambassadors of 6 major powers held another exploratory meeting Thursday to narrow differences on proposed new sanctions aimed at reining in Iran' nuclear ambitions. The envoys of the Security Council's 5 permanent members plus Germany held a 45-minute session at Britain's UN mission in New York but did not produce a text.
A battered Cheney could still hold more sway than almost any previous vice president at full strength, analysts and political scientists say.
Secretary of State Rice's hiring this month of the prominent and prolific neoconservative analyst Eliot Cohen has Washington foreign policy watchers puzzling more than usual over what it may signal.
The European Central Bank raised its benchmark interest rate a quarter percentage point, to 3.75%, as it made clear that it was willing to tighten credit even further — possibly by this summer — in a humming European economy that could generate higher inflation.
This week a new movie launches in theatres called 300. 1,500 years ago a Persian Emperor named Xerxes roamed his part of the earth battling, conquering, and doing general emperor-like things to the armies and countries that got in his way. A Spartan General and King named Leonidas took 300 fighting men and placed them and himself between Persia's 600,000 advancing troops and the area where the larger Greek army was formulating a defense. That initial battle would be 300 men against 600,000. The odds didn't look promising...
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