Pope Benedict received the faculty and students of the 11th Vatican Observatory Summer School in an audience. The Vatican Observatory was founded in 1891 at the papal summer residence—Castel Gandolfo—and is one of the oldest astronomical institutions in the world.
On Friday, Archbishop Ender, apostolic nuncio to Germany, and Edmund Stoiber, minister president of the Free State of Bavaria, exchanged the instruments of ratification of an additional protocol to the Concordat with Bavaria of March 29, 1924. The instruments of ratification "regulate certain questions concerning the teaching of theology, both in faculties of Catholic theology in State universities and in other teaching centers in Bavaria."
A fund set up by the German government to compensate Nazi-era forced laborers has finished its last payments to victims. The remaining money in the fund will be used for reconciliation projects.
Ver.di and some other German unions want Chancellor Merkel to impose Germany's first nationwide minimum wage, and her government is aiming for a decision by mid-June.
German press...
It's time for "Miss World" Angela Merkel to return from the grand theater of global diplomacy to the vaudeville of domestic politics, say German media commentators. Her junior coalition partner, the Social Democrat Party, is fuming at her foreign policy success and starting to boo her party's "neo-liberalism."
COG prophecy cookie crumbles...
José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, predicted Monday that agreement would eventually be reached on a stripped-down EU constitution, which he acknowledged could not include symbols of statehood such as a flag or an anthem if it were to win approval. Underlining that a "United States of Europe" was an unrealistic goal, he conceded that allowing some European governments like Britain to opt out of the most sensitive parts of the treaty could be the only way to get it passed. "The rationale of European integration today is not creating a United States of Europe. ... The EU does not pretend to be a state and it will not be in the foreseeable future."
[WAR: Some may take my comments as slams against the COG "prophets" and ministers on a personal level, but my aim is not to them as individuals, or their character (their fruits will prove them out) - rather it's to their faulty speculations and predictions that were mostly made from the viewpoint of the WW2-era, which was mostly based on Allied propaganda. They were "passionate predictions" that seemed very plausible and possible at the time, but have since been proven wrong by reality and 20/20 hindsight.]
Austria and Slovakia have become the latest member states to join an informal group of governments promoting social Europe and the balance between economic freedom and social rights. The group - now with 11 members - was set up in February this year at a meeting in Paris where a 2-page long declaration was signed in which they argue that the 27-country bloc should be more than just an internal market.
For years, Americans have been hearing about economic stagnation in Europe, as well as stubbornly high unemployment, inflexible labor markets and a deep-rooted aversion to reform. The truth is that Europe is back and very much so. The EU has expanded over the past three years, bringing nations on its Eastern and Southern fringe into the European mainstream. The revival of Western Europe is by no means a threat to the US. On the contrary, achieving strong, sustainable economic growth in Europe has been a major goal of Washington's international economic agenda.
A clash of civilizations between the West and Islam would be the "consequence" if France's President Sarkozy succeeds in blocking Turkey's EU membership, the European enlargement commissioner said. "Turkey is an anchor of stability in the most unstable region of the world, in the wider Middle East."
There is no Iranian missile or nuclear threat to Europe. There is no possibility of such a threat for a decade. President Putin knows there is no such threat. That being the case, the Russians asked themselves what the true purpose of the proposed antimissile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic might be. They have decided that the missile defenses are intended to consolidate American "control" of Eastern Europe and to demonstrate the supremacy of American power.
Recent disinformation by the western media about Russia starting a new Cold War not only masks the threat of a US Anti-Ballistic Missile shield deployment but, as always, projects the blame on the victim, Russia. The US missile shield must be understood in the context of its geo-strategic nuclear deployment. Far from being defensive, its ultimate purpose is to obtain such an unassailable advantage over any other nuclear power as to be able to threaten any would-be opponent with nuclear extinction if it were not to comply with the wishes of the US.
On Tuesday, President Putin gave an hour and a half-long press conference which was attended by many members of the world media. The contents of that meeting - in which Putin answered all questions concerning nuclear proliferation, human rights, Kosovo, democracy and the present confrontation with the US missile defense in Europe - have been completely censored by the press.
As the American people continue their headlong rush towards the abyss, in blindingly following the horrific whims of their War Leaders, and as more of the World begins to burn around them, they should, perhaps, take the full measure of Putin's words. As the brutal flames of Total World War edge closer to the US
Former Prime Minister Shimon Peres, running in this week's election for president of Israel, has been accused by some here of invoking the name of God to pander to the crucial religious vote.
Members of Israel's Labor Party are voting today in a run-off election for a new leader, who will help decide whether Prime Minister Ehud Olmert can hold together a viable coalition as opponents seek to topple his government.
Palestinian gunmen have opened fire at the home of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader, and the offices of President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, in a surge in violence that has killed at least 20 people since Saturday. It is the fourth day of gun battles in Gaza that have brought Palestinians closer to civil war in a raging power struggle between Islamist Hamas and secular Fatah, partners in a 3-month-old unity government.
Hamas's armed wing threatened in an unprecedented ultimatum on Tuesday to storm security headquarters controlled by the rival Fatah faction in Gaza City unless they are evacuated by 1100 GMT.
Powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr warned Turkey over its bombardments of Iraqi villages in the northern region of Kurdistan aimed at flushing out Kurdish rebels, in attacks that threaten greater instability in the region.
UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen has warned that the Middle East could see full-scale war. "The picture which emerges is very dark, and apparently getting darker. So there are reasons for real concerns in the international community."
Sudan has secretly worked with the CIA to spy on the insurgency in Iraq - an example of how the US has continued to cooperate with the Sudanese regime even while condemning its role in the killing of tens of thousands of civilians in Darfur.
Iran, Pakistan and India are likely to sign an agreement for a tri-nation gas pipeline costing over $7-billion by end of next month.
Iran's Oil Minister said that despite all barriers created by certain powers, Tehran has always carried out its responsibilities in ensuring energy supply security, through constantly moving in that direction regardless of political and regional conflicts.
A former Iranian defense minister dismissed as "baseless" a report quoting him as saying Iran would attack Gulf countries used as a launch pad for a US strike on Iran. "We consider the oil facilities of Arab nations just as important as Iran's oil refineries." He described regional Arab countries as Iran's "real friends." "There was no interview and the news is fake and unreal."
The UN atomic agency's chief warned of a "brewing confrontation" over the Islamic Republic's uranium enrichment program. "I am increasingly disturbed by the current stalemate and the brewing confrontation - a stalemate that urgently needs to be broken, and a confrontation that must be defused.
On Monday, Fox News asked Neocon William Kristol about Lieberman's remarks. Kristol also said that an anti-war Democratic congressman had recently called him and said he would support tougher measures against Iran, suggesting the possibility of a bipartisan consensus for military action.
The wild card is the neoconservatives' long-standing alliance with Israeli Zionists. The neoconservatives still have a death grip on the discredited Bush regime. Jim Lobe describes the extensive international organization that the neoconservatives have put into place for the purpose of orchestrating an attack on Iran. The neoconservatives have put the elements of their plan in place. They have powerful naval forces on station off Iran's coast. They have convinced President Bush that only by attacking Iran can he prevail in Iraq.
Global military spending reached $1.2 trillion last year - 37% more than a decade ago. The US maintains by far the world's largest military budget.
The great rains that drenched parched eastern Australia for 3 days and nights took 9 lives and caused an estimated £50 million of damage. Even as the worst-hit towns and rural settlements north of Sydney began the clean-up in yesterday's sunshine, forecasters said that the drought was far from over.
Economic discussion in the US is trapped in ancient ruts. Both right and left are stuck in old habitual ways of thinking. Neither shows inclination or ability to think independently of ideology. For a country beset with economic problems, this is problematic.
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