Here is the introductory text of the 13th Plenary Session of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences on the theme "Charity and Justice in the Relations Among Peoples and Nations."
The Holy See and Israel will resume negotiations in May to finalize a economic-juridical agreement, the Italian ANSA news agency reports. The negotiations are intended to produce a final agreement on the economic and juridical rights of Church institutions in the Holy Land - an agreement that was promised as part of the "fundamental accord" that paved the way for Vatican recognition of Israeli in 1993.
A mysterious golden pot discovered in a Bavarian lake in 2001 has been the focus of interest for archaeologists, art dealers - and now the German and Swiss police. Its convoluted history involves Nazi cults, treasure hunters and modern-day profiteers.
The mood in ChancellorMerkel's shaky left-right government soured Thursday as the ruling parties scrambled to score points on charged issues at each other's expense. "The CDU/CSU and the SPD are united by just one thought: when might be the right time to leave the coalition, citing a reason that could be made plausible?"
The fall of the hard-hitting capitalist Klaus Kleinfeld was organized by the prominent members of the supervisory board, including Josef Ackermann of Deutsche Bank and Gerhard Cromme. The move has jeopardized Siemens by making it vulnerable to aggressive foreign hedge funds. The driving force behind the putsch didn't come from the expected source - the trade unions who oppose his harsh Anglo-American style of management -- but rather from the crème de la crème of the German business world.
(German press: "Siemens is in shock")
This year's April has been the driest in the last 100 years in Germany, the German Weather Service has announced.
Italy is considering imposing a state of emergency due to an unseasonable drought which is threatening agricultural production. But while the arid conditions might be a result of climate change, poor infrastructure is also to blame.
Germany has sent the 27 EU member states a questionnaire on what to do about the bloc's stalled constitutional treaty to kick-start an intensive series of talks.
I am clutching in my hot, trembling hands the most extraordinary document I have come across in 8 years of Euro-politics. It is a letter from the German Chancellor to her fellow EU heads of government. In it, she proposes a scheme to bring back the European Constitution under a new name - or, as she artlessly puts it, "to use different terminology without changing the legal substance". The leaking of this letter is calamitous for the Euro-federalists.
It's a phenomenon seen across Europe: Deep anxieties over security and unemployment have fed a sharp shift to the right, forcing mainstream politicians to embrace policies that just a few years ago would have seemed the exclusive terrain of ultranationalist forces.
Why Tony, Angela and Nicolas are barking up the wrong tree in trying to avoid consulting the citizens.
Berlin, Brussels and London are quietly hoping that Nicolas Sarkozy, the centre-right candidate in the French presidential elections, will win on 6 May. According to a report in today's Financial Times, Chancellor Merkel, Tony Blair and Jose Manuel Barroso, the head of the European Commission, have privately discussed the idea of forming a "strategic partnership" with Mr Sarkozy.
(The Economist: Seconds away, round 2)
Binyamin Netanyahu called upon English-speaking Israelis to take action to overthrow Prime Minister Olmert's government. Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Likud's new Anglo division at the party's Tel Aviv headquarters, Netanyahu said that immigrants from English-speaking countries brought new ideas, dynamism and dedication to Israel.
Some 25,000 Jews still live in Iran and many say that President Ahmadinejad's fiery anti-Israeli rhetoric is about politics, not religion.
What might the president do with his new power to declare martial law? How many pipe bombs might it take to end American democracy? Far fewer than it would have taken a year ago. The Defense Authorization Act of 2006 empowers President Bush to impose martial law in the event of a terrorist "incident," if he or other federal officials perceive a shortfall of "public order," or even in response to antiwar protests that get unruly as a result of government provocations.
The euro reached an all-time high against the dollar today as weak US economic figures reinforced worries about a widening disparity between growth in Europe and the US. The 13-nation euro also hit a new high against the Japanese yen.
At issue is how indexes are calculated. There are at least 3 ways that major indexes are calculated, and the choice of one or the other can make a big difference.
Face the ugly truth. Don't get fooled by the stock market. Unjustified and mounting economic inequality is planting the seeds for global economic conflict.
The USDollar is exposed, soon to be hung out to dry, with the kick over the edge being upcoming Euro Central Bank rate hikes. The busted Bretton Woods II myth represents a missing crucial support pillar for the broken USDollar. A powerful gold and crude oil rally is soon to be unleashed. The gold push will be unwanted, but demanded by a weak USDollar. The oil push will be secretly ordered.
A panel discussion of the American Handel Festival 2007 certainly had an explosive issue: Michael Marissen's thesis that "Messiah" and more specifically the "Hallelujah" chorus — perhaps the most sacrosanct and beloved totem in Western music, rivaled only by the "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's 9th Symphony — conveys malice toward Judaism.
Nota bene...
Today in Scripture
"Six days before the Passover, Yahshua arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Yahshua had raised from the dead..." (John 12:1-11)
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