Jewish and Muslim representatives congratulated Benedict XVI for his 80th birthday.
On his 80th birthday, Benedict XVI received in audience the Metropolitan of Pergamum, who delivered a letter from Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople.
President Putin spoke in favor of closer ties between Moscow and the Vatican in an unusually warm greeting to Pope Benedict XVI on his 80th birthday. "I warmly remember our recent meeting in the Vatican. It has confirmed that Russia and the Holy See have similar views on a wide range of international issue and modern problems faced by the mankind today."
In what could be a sign of an important upcoming announcement, Pope Benedict XVI convened a surprise meeting on Saturday with the leaders of the Roman curia. Although the Holy See has not revealed the nature of the meeting, several Vatican analysts said the pope has prepared two important documents that merit the opinion of curial officials.
The director of the Holy See's Press Office confirmed this week that Pope Benedict XVI will meet with President Bush on June 9th or 10th and with the former president of Iran, Mohamed Jatami, on May 4th.
Here is the statement delivered by the Holy See's permanent observer to the UN, at the 40th session of the Commission on Population and Development of the UN Economic and Social Council. The topic was the changing age structures of populations and their implications for development.
Italian historian and professor Gian Maria Van of the Sapienza University of Rome said the "black legend," which claims that Pope Pius XII did not help the Jews during WW2, was originally spread by the Soviets during the years of the conflict.
German enterprises are enhancing their positions in the international competition of buying out competitors. For years, the proportion of German takeovers abroad has been superior to the number of foreign takeovers in Germany. In 2006, German enterprises invested nearly twice as much capital abroad, than was invested by these countries enterprises in Germany. The German Ministry of Economics announced that it will continue - "with all bluntness" - to support German economic hegemony in Europe.
The governor of Baden-Württemberg wanted to deliver a dignified eulogy at the funeral of an ex-governor. But in his speech, he claimed his predecessor was against the Nazi's ideology. A glance in the history books shows otherwise.
A leading Christian Democrat politician has said he is sorry for statements made at a funeral for a Nazi-era judge last week. But Germany's Central Council of Jews says the guarded apology does not go far enough.
Our newly arrived columnist says it is dishonest to pretend that the EU is unable to work.
The British and Dutch prime ministers have said the EU does not need a "whole new constitution", just limited changes to existing treaties.
Chancellor Merkel will meet today with eurosceptic Czech President Klaus to discuss the possible revival of plans for a European constitution.
France's "non" vote to the EU constitution has made the subject of Europe a political hot potato in the presidential campaign. Where do the candidates stand when it comes to Brussels?
The EU is belatedly grasping the riskiness of its dependence on Russian gas, but it is disunited and short of ideas for how to reduce it.
German press...
Russian authorities cracked down heavily on opposition protests over the weekend, arresting the anti-Putin camp's leader, Garry Kasparov, and hundreds of other demonstrators in violent clashes. German commentators voice their concern about the oppressive path Russia is taking and ask: What is it that has Putin so scared?
Nearly one-third of the estimated 260,000 Holocaust survivors here are now living in poverty.
[WAR: Then what has happened to the BILLIONS of dollars that have been extorted from other countries and companies?! Who has it, and what purposes is it being used for?!]
The crash between two military helicopters in Iraq late on Saturday evening raises the question as what Britain's special-forces are doing in northern Iraq. Initial reports suggested that the two killed were from the Royal Air Force and the British Army. But subsequent accounts state that at least one of the dead was a member of Britain's elite Special Air Service (SAS) unit engaged in a "covert operational mission" in the north of the country.
For centuries, Najaf has been a key shrine city and center of worship for much of Iraq's people. But for centuries, Iraq's Ottoman and Arab rulers rarely considered Najaf part of their own history. It was always considered a troublesome outpost of the enemy: Iran. They were right, for the most part. Historically and culturally, Najaf has long been under Persia's sway. But so has much of Iraq.
It took Europe months to get American support for its strategy of negotiating with Iran. Tehran's latest announcement that it can enrich uranium on an industrial scale shows that the EU course has failed.
France's National Front Leader Jean-Marie Le Pen condemned a possible US attack against Iran in an electoral speech delivered in Paris late Monday.
Venezuelan President Chavez warned the US that if it attacks Iran, the cornerstones of its empire all over the world will collapse. Chavez said that the Americans had better forget about their plans, given that such an attack will be a grave wrong-doing and will have disastrous consequences for the US.
Regional government is making a stealthy comeback.
The billionaire investor George Soros has added his voice to a heated but little-noticed debate over the role of Israel's powerful lobby in shaping Washington policy in a way critics say hurts US national interests and stifles debate. "The pro-Israel lobby has been remarkably successful in suppressing criticism," wrote Soros. Politicians challenge it at their peril and dissenters risk personal vilification, he said.
In recent years, awareness of the Jewish-Zionist role in the war, of the reality of Jewish-Zionist power, and of its hold on US policy, has grown everywhere – an awareness that, once grasped, is obvious and confirmed anew each day with the unfolding of events. "A Jewish cabal have taken over the government in the United States and formed an unholy alliance with fundamentalist Christians… There is far too much Jewish influence in the United States."
An upbeat spirit of solidarity and enthusiasm marked the IHR meeting on Saturday evening in Irvine, California.
The details that are beginning to emerge fill the criteria that this could very well be another government black-op that will be used as justification for more gun control and turing our schools into prisons, festooned with armed guards, surveillance cameras and biometric scanning to gain entry.
In what seems to be a deliberate ploy to link disgraced talk show host Don Imus with Rosie O'Donnell and the 9/11 Truth Movement, Matt Drudge is promulgating a now confirmed hoax which suggested that Imus was fired because he was about to expose secrets about the 9/11 attacks.
The dollar hovered near a record low Monday against the euro after the 13-nation currency climbed to within 1 cent of its all-time high, while the pound backed down from a 14-year record.
The dollar dipped in Asia today as momentum for its advance petered out after it failed to climb above the key 120 yen mark.
The Federal Reserve is cranking up its anti-inflation rhetoric, markets have pared expectations for rate cuts and the dollar is by no means a funding currency.
Eating large quantities of cured meats like bacon could damage lung function and increase the risk of lung disease. High levels of nitrites are used in cured meats such as bacon as preservatives, anti-bacterial agents and colour fixatives.
In a scene eerily reminiscent of the attack of the "most foul, cruel, and bad tempered" rabbit in the cult movie "Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail," an elderly Austrian woman required hospital treatment after being attacked by what was described as a 'crazed hare.' Police were forced to shoot the rampaging beast before it could hurt anybody else.
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