Pope Benedict commemorated Palm Sunday with a call for people not to let their day-to-day lives get in the way of a search for God.
Reality strikes!...
Pius XII, the wartime pontiff often condemned as "Hitler's Pope", was actually considered an enemy by the Third Reich, according to newly discovered documents. Several letters and memos unearthed at a depot used by the Stasi show that Nazi spies within the Vatican were concerned at Pius's efforts to help displaced Poles and Jews. In one, the head of Berlin's police force tells Joachim von Ribbentropp, the Third Reich's foreign minister, that the Catholic Church was providing assistance to Jews "both in terms of people and financially". A report from a spy at work in the Vatican states: "Our source was told to his face by Father Robert Leibner [one of Pius's secretaries] that the greatest hope of the Church is that the Nazi system would be obliterated by the war."
[WAR: Read it 'n weep all you COG wanna-be prophets! Y'all can't even get history right, so how in the the world can you know for sure about the future - specifically what's going to be happening in Germany and "Europe"?!]
Just a few weeks ago, Gabriele Pauli was the rising star of German politics, emerging from the obscurity of the provinces to wreck the career of one of the nation's principal power-brokers, Bavarian Premier Edmund Stoiber. Now, a few short weeks later, her own career is in trouble. Although Stoiber's retirement this September is no longer in doubt [?], he has lunged to the kill, telling supporters he had been right all along to warn against his afflictor.
A mission of 60 businesses from Bavaria, led by state Governor Edmund Stoiber, visited Vietnam from Mar. 27-29 to seek business and cooperation opportunities.
A small group of EU states has splintered from the EU and US position that the UN should swiftly give "supervised independence." Slovakia, Romania and Greece raised objections to the so-called Ahtisaari plan for Kosovo independence at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Germany, with diplomatic sources also saying that Spain and Italy harbour reservations about the Kosovo blueprint.
Jordan's King Abdullah II on Saturday urged Germany, as holder of the EU presidency, to play the "hoped-for role" in efforts aimed at advancing the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, according to an official statement. He urged Germany "as EU chairman to convince Israel to seize this opportunity."
Chancellor Merkel today urged Middle East states to seize the moment and revive the stalled peace process as she met Israeli and Palestinian leaders. "We are going through a period where we feel that things are moving. There is a window of opportunity... The Arab world is ready to talk about the Mideast conflict and its solutions. There is a real chance of reaching a breakthrough and we must grasp it."
President Bashir has become weaker, analysts agree, and rumors of a coup are buzzing in the capital. "He is much weaker," said prominent Islamist leader Hassan Turabi, a onetime ally of Bashir. Turabi, who spent most of his career either at the top echelon of Sudanese politics or jailed as a "traitor," has witnessed and orchestrated his share of coups and uprisings. He said the time is ripe again. Turabi is attempting to unify the major opposition parties against Bashir and recently called for massive anti-government protests, saying public frustration with the current regime is at an all-time high.
In Darfur practically everyone is a black African Muslim. The population is divided between nomads and settled farmers. Darfur is the site of a very messy civil war. It is somewhat similar to the disaster that the U.S. has caused in Iraq except that America is less directly involved.
The Association of Iranian Jews here on Sunday renewed its commitment to defend the national interests of Iranians. "In obedience to the instructions of Jesus [?!], in the new Iranian year, which has been declared year of national unity and Islamic solidarity, Iranian Jews voice their readiness to defend all national interests of Iranians and to observe the guidelines set by Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Khamenei) for the sake of strengthening national unity and solidarity in the fight against present-day pharaohs."
A top Iranian army official warned Arab states neighbouring Israel against a "Zionist suicide attack" in the summer. "I warn Islamic brothers and leaders in countries neighbouring the occupied land that they are seriously threatened by this Zionist suicide attack." He predicted that an Israeli attack would start from Lebanon and Syria and proceed to Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
The fate of the 15 British marines and sailors held in Tehran may depend on the outcome of a power struggle between two of Iran's top generals. According to an Iranian military source, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards has called for them to be freed. Major-General Safavi is said to have told the country's Supreme National Security Council on Friday that the situation was "getting out of control" and urged its members to consider the immediate release of the prisoners to defuse tension in the Gulf. However, Safavi's intervention was reportedly denounced by another senior general at a meeting of high-ranking commanders yesterday.
President Bush has condemned Iran's "inexcusable behaviour" after its capture of 15 Royal Navy personnel. The US leader added that he would "strongly support" the British government over the crisis.
I'll begin with a question. Is Iran an aggressor or a victim? If you've answered aggressor then may I suggest you take a moment to reflect. Unfortunately, the fabricated scenario that led us into Iraq is at play again. And once again we're being suckered into being accepting of a neoconservative plan designed to ensure America's domination over this region's oilfields and maintain Israel as the sole nuclear power in the Middle East.
Jimmy Delshad promised in Farsi-accented English to faithfully serve as mayor. And Delshad, who is Jewish, chose a Holocaust survivor to swear him in. Going off script, Delshad said from the lectern, "Don't let anybody doubt the Holocaust, because if you do, I'll buy you a one-way ticket to Auschwitz."
The ongoing crisis between Iran and Britain over the arrest of 15 British sailors who violated Iranian territorial waters, may trigger a rise in crude oil prices, according to an energy expert at the German Institute for Economic Research. "The oil price will develop towards the $70 mark and won't drop again." She warned that a military escalation in the Middle East could spark a major energy crisis.
Devastating diseases are killing off vast numbers of bees across the country, threatening major ecological and economic problems. Honeybee colonies have been wiped out this winter at twice the usual rate or worse in some areas. Experts fear that, because honeybees are responsible for 80% of all pollination as they collect nectar for the hive, there could be severe ecological problems with flowers, fruit and crops failing to grow.
Church of England traditionalists, wearied by the battles over homosexuality in the church and the clergy, are about to take it on their spiritual chins once again when a leading "gay" cleric will tell listeners to BBC Radio 4 that Christianity's traditional teaching on Christ's crucifixion for the sins of mankind is "repulsive," "insane" and makes "God sound like a psychopath."
The first "flying saucers" could not cover long distances, and Americans had to use submarines to deliver those saucers to the Soviet shores. The Pentagon was testing the 3rd generation of flying saucers when the Soviet Union just started development of similar mechanisms. A correspondent of Pravda is going to break the secrecy requirement and publish a story told by a former engineer of an enterprise where UFO components were manufactured.
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