Benedict XVI received in audience the Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, accompanied by members of the Sovereign Council. The Order of Malta, recognized by Pope Paschal II in 1133, is the fourth oldest religious order in the Church.
The Vatican on Saturday bid farewell to Tony Blair as British prime minister, wishing him well in what it said were his plans to work for Middle East peace and interreligious dialogue. A Vatican statement made no mention of the conversion rumors and the press office called the audience a normal meeting between the pope and a government leader. The statement, issued after the talks said there was a "frank" assessment of the international situation, including such "delicate" themes as the Middle East conflict and the future of the European Union.
Angela Merkel's golden days as the "Miss World" of international politics face an abrupt and bruising end after this weekend as her Left-wing partner in the forced marriage of Germany's grand coalition government prepares for divorce.
Germany has stepped up its anti-terrorist measures. Top German officials said suicide bombers could carry out attacks within the country and that the security situation was more serious than it had been since 2001.
The German press slammed Poland and Britain for putting obstacles on the road to the deal reached on guidelines for a new EU treaty at the bloc's summit this week.
EU leaders have expressed measured approval of a draft treaty to reform EU systems agreed at a summit in Brussels.
(LX: Treaty Q&A)
Mrs Merkel is to be congratulated on securing agreement to a framework for a new treaty to reform how Europe works. But the denial of its constitutional significance and the complacent way in which the framework document views European citizens suggests that ratification may not be wholly easy. Already the calls for a referendum have started in the UK. There will soon be a plague of them all over Europe.
(LT op/ed: Brown must call a referendum)
(LX op/ed: Now a vote on Europe)
On Thursday, the leaders of the EU gathered to re-enact not one but several historic battles.
The French government will seek to put a Gallic stamp on efforts to resolve the conflict in Darfur on Monday when it hosts a hurriedly arranged meeting of foreign ministers and officials.
China will send more than 200 troops to Sudan's Darfur region to help a joint AU-UN peacekeeping force, its special envoy said in Khartoum. China, a major investor in Sudan's oil sector, has blocked sending U.N. peacekeepers to Darfur without Khartoum's consent.
A top Iranian security official said on Saturday that there was "zero chance" of a US attack on Iran to thwart its nuclear ambitions. "America's arrogant power is the only foreign threat against Iran's national security but Iran's resistance and capability has neutralised all US strategies for a regime change or behaviour change in Iran."
President Bush is notorious for issuing statements taking exception to hundreds of bills as he signs them. This week, we learned that in a shocking number of cases, the Bush administration has refused to enact those laws. Congress should use its powers to insist that its laws are obeyed. The Bush administration's disregard for these laws is part of its extraordinary theory of the "unitary executive." This theory has no support in American history or the Constitution, and is a formula for autocracy.
The office of Vice President Dick Cheney has refused to comply with an executive order issued by President Bush 4 years ago, requiring all executive branch offices to cooperate in regular reviews of their security procedures for handling documents. According to Cheney, the office of the vice president is not "an entity within the executive branch," as specified in the language of the executive order, because the vice president serves constitutionally as the presiding officer of the US Senate, with a tie-breaking vote, and therefore has legislative power as well.
God's path to a healthy future (part 2)
It's very sad that a majority of our society looks up to the pharmaceutical industry as though they are gods with divine intellect, especially Christians who should be on better spiritual guard. The derivation of the word "pharmaceutical" comes from the Greek word "pharmakeia," which means sorcery and witchcraft. You need to start seeing with spiritual eyes to fully understand the implications of what's going on in the area of medicine. The pharmaceutical industry is the devil's playground. Drug companies are practicing their magic arts with a witches' brew of concoctions on an unsuspecting public.
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