St. Peter's profession of faith continues to be a guarantee of Christian unity, says Benedict XVI. And he reaffirmed his "commitment to fulfill the will of Christ, who wants us to be united."
The reception of Benedict XVI's letter to Chinese Catholics will say as much about the status of the Church there as the letter itself, says an expert on China-Vatican relations.
(VIS: Explanatory note on letter)
(Zenit: Beijing responds to B16 letter)
The Temptation in the Desert and the Kingdoms of This World. James V. Schall, S.J. on Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth.
Twomey offers in his book a unique double-presentation of the man, Pope Benedict XVI - a "theological portrait" that encompasses both an overview of the writings, teachings and thought of the brilliant theologian and spiritual writer, as well as the man himself, and his personality traits and how he communicates with others.
Did they let it happen?...
As a Scottish criminal review commission reopens the Lockerbie case, attention is expected to be drawn to a German investigation in the terrorist attack - a trail officials here described as "cold" after the jumbo jet bombing, which killed 270. A decision announced last Thursday by Scotland's Criminal Cases Review Commission to open a new judicial investigation into the 1988 terrorist attack that led to the crash of a Pan Am jumbo jet over the Scottish village of Lockerbie, could soon create an embarrassing situation for German authorities.
Here's an excerpt from my "BND in OKC" paper...
Getting away with murder
"Slowly, world leaders are waking up to a malaise Israel has been fighting for years: international terrorism. Yet German acquiescence and other weak links still enable the bombers to strike with virtual impunity. On Thursday, June 27, . . while the news spotlight focused on Lyons [for the G7 meeting], German officials quietly loaded an apparently unremarkable passenger onto an international flight. His name: Hafiz Kassem Dalkamoni. His destination: Damascus. [He] had served half of a 15-year sentence for trying to blow up an American military train.
"More interestingly, he is widely suspected of planning the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 . . . Scottish investigating officials naturally sought to question [him], but the German authorities, they claim, blocked their efforts. . . Many of the people closest to the investigation are certain Iran initiated and paid for the bombing, hiring Kalkamoni's arrested-then-freed German-based terror cell . . . Jim Swire, spokesman for the Lockerbie relatives, has said: 'We firmly believe that Dalkamoni and his gang were the prime movers, but the Germans are determined to conceal the truth.'
"In terms of preventive security measures, the U.S., amazingly, remains among the offenders -- continuing to place responsibility for the safety of foreign-bound passengers in the hands of private security firms . . . But in terms of failing to thwart the states that sponsor terrorism, it is several Western European countries that are the major culprits, with Germany at the head of the pack. The the fury of the U.S. administration, they have consistently undermined Washington's efforts to contain the biggest terrorism exporter of all, Iran. . . And the secretive deportation of Dalkamoni is only the most recent blatant example of German complicity with the Teheran regime.
"Dalkamoni is not the only Lockerbie suspect that Germany has turned loose, presumably to plot more violence. The suspected Lockerbie bomb maker himself, Marwan Khreesat, one of the 13 other PFLP-GC members arrested with Dalkamoni in October 1988, was freed by German police . . . And Dalkamoni's leading accomplice, Abdel Ghadanfar,...was also quietly let out in mid-sentence and deported to Syria last year." (The Jerusalem Report, 8-22-96)
"More interestingly, he is widely suspected of planning the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 . . . Scottish investigating officials naturally sought to question [him], but the German authorities, they claim, blocked their efforts. . . Many of the people closest to the investigation are certain Iran initiated and paid for the bombing, hiring Kalkamoni's arrested-then-freed German-based terror cell . . . Jim Swire, spokesman for the Lockerbie relatives, has said: 'We firmly believe that Dalkamoni and his gang were the prime movers, but the Germans are determined to conceal the truth.'
"In terms of preventive security measures, the U.S., amazingly, remains among the offenders -- continuing to place responsibility for the safety of foreign-bound passengers in the hands of private security firms . . . But in terms of failing to thwart the states that sponsor terrorism, it is several Western European countries that are the major culprits, with Germany at the head of the pack. The the fury of the U.S. administration, they have consistently undermined Washington's efforts to contain the biggest terrorism exporter of all, Iran. . . And the secretive deportation of Dalkamoni is only the most recent blatant example of German complicity with the Teheran regime.
"Dalkamoni is not the only Lockerbie suspect that Germany has turned loose, presumably to plot more violence. The suspected Lockerbie bomb maker himself, Marwan Khreesat, one of the 13 other PFLP-GC members arrested with Dalkamoni in October 1988, was freed by German police . . . And Dalkamoni's leading accomplice, Abdel Ghadanfar,...was also quietly let out in mid-sentence and deported to Syria last year." (The Jerusalem Report, 8-22-96)
A Russian rocket sent a German reconnaissance satellite into orbit, a military spokesman said Tuesday. A total of 5 satellites will ultimately comprise the SAR-Lupe system, which will be Germany's first satellite-based reconnaissance system, allowing high-resolution radar images night and day, according to German officials.
One day before an important government strategy session on energy, Chancellor Merkel faced increased pressure Monday from her own camp to reverse course on closing Germany's nuclear power plants, despite public opposition, as a way to help fight global warming.
Germany's foreign minister is struggling to appease opposition within the Social Democratic Party to the German deployment in Afghanistan. But his strategy could create new risks.
DW-World spoke to law professor Ulrich Battis about the political power of the Federal Constitutional Court before its ruling concerning the deployment of 6 Tornado reconnaissance jets in Afghanistan.
The new EU treaty will mean "transfers of sovereignty" from Britain and Gordon Brown is right to hide the fact from the public, an EU leader admitted yesterday.
Poland to the rescue?...
A nationalist party in the Polish government coalition vowed to fight to prevent a new EU treaty from being ratified, saying the charter went against Polish family values and national interests. The League of Polish Families is the first party in Poland to announce outright rejection of the treaty.
The European Commission and the newly minted Portuguese EU presidency has dismissed Poland's attempts to reopen a key part of a new agreement on a future union treaty as a "misunderstanding" and warned member states generally that unanimous deals cannot be re-opened just days after being agreed.
The European Commission has criticized EU member states for once again lagging behind in implementing EU internal market laws.
On the eve of June 23, after very difficult negotiations, the European Union's leaders struck a deal that opens the way to a new European treaty. The German EU semester has, therefore, ended with a compromise that enables Chancellor Merkel to claim a diplomatic success, but the compromise's details show that European political integration has probably reached impassable limits.
As Kosovar leaders mull declaring unilateral independence for the breakaway Serbian province, German and EU leaders appear headed for conflict with Washington. Bush says he would recognize Kosovo if it declares self-determination, but EU leaders fear an outbreak of violence.
Bush and Putin struck a relaxed tone after their recent meeting in the US, where both presidents searched for middle ground on the contentious issue of a US missile defense system in Europe.
All of the declarations of mutual admiration and claims of "warmth" between Putin and the Bush clan notwithstanding, the Kennebunkport mini-summit only underscored the continuing conflict between US imperialism and Russia. This conflict is rooted in the mounting concerns within Russia's new ruling elite over the threat posed by US militarism to its own financial and geo-strategic interests.
Jordan has been quietly purchasing real estate surrounding the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in the hope of gaining more control over the area accessing the holy site, according to Palestinian and Israeli officials.
A suicide bomber killed 9 people including 6 Spanish tourists when he drove his car into the site of an ancient temple in Yemen. Witnesses said a car drove through a gate and then exploded at the Queen of Sheba temple in northeastern Yemen, which was built about 3,000 years ago.
China's biggest oil company CNPC has reached a deal with Sudan to search for oil and gas in the north of the country on the coast of the Red Sea. China is Sudan's top foreign investor and also supplies it with weapons.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman denied 'ridiculous and false claims' of the US officials concerning arrest of a foreign citizen in Iraq and his relation with Iran. "Unfortunately, the US statesmen are in the habit of repeating false and ridiculous claims without presenting any documents."
The spokesperson of EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana dismissed a western news agency report on statements attributed to Solana as "wrong interpretation". She was referring to a dispatch by the British news agency Reuters "Solana suggests Iran behind Gaza and Lebanon attacks". "We don't deal with suggestions. We are not in a business of suggestions. People take out sentences out of context to spin."
A US military official leveled new accusations against Iran, asserting Iranian government involvement in a January, 2007 attack that killed 5 American soldiers in Iraq. Behind this diplomatic offensive, however, prominent sections of the political establishment favor military action against Iran. Unsubstantiated allegations of involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, together with accusations that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program, are being prepared as potential pretexts for any such decision.
What's in a name?...
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman asserted that the Iranian government has in effect declared war on the US. "The fact is that the Iranian government has by its actions declared war on us." As a result, "The United States government has a responsibility to use all instruments at its disposal to stop these terrorist attacks against our soldiers and allies in Iraq, including keeping open the possibility of using military force against the terrorist infrastructure inside Iran."
[WAR: "The town of Aczib will prove deceptive to the kings of Israel." (Micah 1:14). "Acziyb = #392 'Akziyb (ak-zeeb'); from 391; deceitful (in the sense of a wintertorrent which fails in summer); Akzib, the name of two places in Palestine. / #391 = 'akzab (ak-zawb'); from 3576; falsehood; by implication treachery. KJV-- liar, lie."
"She (Judah's Canaanite wife) gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him." (Gen 38:5). Kezib = #3580 Keziyb (kez-eeb'); from 3576; falsified; Kezib, a place in Palestine.]
New details about his secret mission to expand the power of the president show that Cheney, at the end of his career, refuses to loosen his grip.
President Bush's commutation of the 30-month prison sentence of I. Lewis Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, is a monument to the lawlessness of the Bush administration and the utter corruption of the American ruling elite. It is one more expression of the government's brazen contempt for both the law and the American people.
America's national holiday is the 4th of July, the anniversary of public promulgation of the Declaration of Independence. The 4th of July, like many other government holidays, is surrounded by numerous myths.
The French Prime Minister attempts to put his stamp on a government that has been rendered nearly invisible by the dominant leadership of President Sarkozy. France now has a president who is determined to make maximum use of the executive power. Left-wing media are depicting the PM as a chamberlain serving in the shadow of "Tsarkozy 1", as the hyperactive President is known.
The dollar fell to a 26-year low against the British pound Monday ahead of an expected rate hike by the Bank of England later this week. The dollar also dropped to within a cent of its all-time low versus the euro, as rising global interest rates made the currency less attractive to investors.
Great Plains wheat-cutting teams, once filled by Texas and Dakota farm kids, now rely on foreigners for as many as half the workers who cut grain sold to Archer Daniels Midland Co., Cargill Inc. and other companies.
We asked 3 writers, 3 scientists and 2 broadcasters to answer 6 basic scientific questions, and their answers appear to confirm the arts/science divide.
I just got e-mail! I can't believe it! It's so great! Here's my handle. Write me! It's so easy. It's so friendly. It's a community. Wheeeee! I've got mail!
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