From ancient times the liturgy of Easter day has begun with the words: "Resurrexi et adhuc tecum sum" - I arose, and am still with you; you have set your hand upon me. In the incarnation, the Son of God became one with human beings - with Adam. But only at this moment, when he accomplishes the supreme act of love by descending into the night of death, does he bring the journey of the incarnation to its completion.
Christ is risen! Peace to you! Today we celebrate the great mystery, the foundation of Christian faith and hope: Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified One, has risen from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures.
As Christians gather to celebrate Easter, I'd like to take this opportunity to shed some light on the Islamic perspective of Jesus (peace be upon him).
Media and religion often have an uneasy relationship. It's not that journalists ignore religious topics, it's just that quality coverage is frequently lacking. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, recently called certain discrepancies to the media's attention.
Hundreds of inhabitants of a northern Polish town are on the sharp end of a legal battle rooted in Germany's WW2 defeat, a case that has revived barely buried fear and hatred.
America may not applaud the EU's next 50 years as warmly as its first 50.
A key leader in Kosovo has accused Russia and Serbia of conspiring to rob it of statehood ahead of a crucial UN vote on handing the territory its independence. Lufti Haziri is the deputy prime minister of Kosovo, and led its negotiating team in talks to draw up a final status plan for the fractious Balkan province which has been a crucible of conflict for centuries.
Hundreds of thousands of supporters of the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr took to the streets of two Shia holy cities in Iraq today and protested against "US occupiers". The rally was called by Mr Sadr, who said in a statement yesterday that his militia followers should redouble efforts to drive US forces out of Iraq, describing them as "your arch-enemy".
In equating Iraqi society with pure evil, Bush has taken a critical step towards a classic Manichaean confrontation in the Middle East. He ardently wants both to "free Iraq" from its evil society, and to "protect ourselves" from it as well.
Pope Benedict XVI made a much more realistic (and less self-serving) observation on the situation in Iraq during his Easter Sunday in his annual "Urbi et Orbi" Easter Address. Benedict is a charitable realist. He does not condemn Iraqi society, as Bush does. Benedict has put his finger on the crux of Bush's flawed and simplistic gnosticism. Iraqi society is not pure evil. Nor is America – which Bush sees personified in himself as the "Decider" – pure good. The claim might serve a useful propaganda purpose, but it is dangerous if taken seriously.
Bells were rung at all schools throughout the country this morning to mark the 'Great National Nuclear Feast'.
The release of the 15 British sailors and marines captured by Iran has robbed the US of a pretext to attack Iran, but the US has not given up plans to attack Iran militarily, president of the Academy for Geopolitical Problems Colonel General Leonid Ivashov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. "Preparations to strike Iran's strategic facilities continue. Three major groups of US forces are still in the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. Altogether, they have up to 450 cruise missiles on alert. Combat nuclear weapons may be used for bombing. If Iran strikes back at Israel with missiles, Tel-Aviv is likely to use nuclear weapons on Iran. (Such a) development of the situation would undermine stability not only in the Middle East, but also in the entire world."
Bush's contempt for Congress only has deepened since the Democrats won control of Capitol Hill. His apparent disdain for Supreme Court rulings has been given less notice. Ordinarily, a president with a habit of lawlessness would be impeached.
While other politicians might spin some facts in a policy debate or tell a fib about a personal indiscretion, President Bush and Vice President Cheney act as if they have the power and the right to manufacture reality itself, often on matters of grave significance that bear on war and peace or the future of the nation.
Oil prices fell today amid relief over last week's release of British sailors detained by Iran, but concerns over the tight US demand-supply balance and other geopolitical issues supported prices.
Gold prices broke through key resistance levels last week, rising to a 5-week high near $675 an ounce, based on strong fundamentals and growing bullish sentiment. But will this 6-year old bull market in commodities and gold continue? That is the question.
A £2 billion project to answer some of the biggest mysteries of the universe has been delayed by months after scientists building it made basic errors in their mathematical calculations. The mistakes led to an explosion deep in the tunnel at the Cern particle accelerator complex near Geneva in Switzerland. It lifted a 20-ton magnet off its mountings, filling a tunnel with helium gas and forcing an evacuation. It means that 24 magnets located all around the 17-mile circular accelerator must now be stripped down and repaired or upgraded.
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