Pope Shenouda III, the head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox church, criticised Pope Benedict today over a Vatican document asserting Catholic primacy, saying his pride in Catholicism was making him enemies. "The man makes enemies every time. In his first statements a few months back, he lost all the Muslims. And now this time, he lost a lot of the Christian denominations because he has begun to err against Christians themselves."
There is something rather annoying about the German economy. It is the object of endless lectures about taxes and wages that are too high, welfare and pension benefits that are too generous, east German states that have become subsidy junkies and a labour market that is irredeemably sclerotic. Yet it always bounces back. It is, in short, a place that seems to work in practice but not in theory.
Does President Sarkozy really intend challenging a piece of EU orthodoxy which lies at the heart of the grand bargain that led to Europe's economic and monetary union? If you want to understand why Sarkozy makes some of the leading lights in the EU feel uneasy about the future, you must look at the past. So much about the French president is exciting and unfamiliar, in Brussels as elsewhere. It therefore seems odd to find that the big concern of some veterans is that Sarkozy will drag Europe back into old quarrels they thought they had settled long ago. This sense of déjà vu may cause EU leaders some nasty headaches.
President Sarkozy is stirring up the EU with controversial economic proposals and attacks on the European Central Bank's monetary policies. Critics say they're endangering the bloc's financial fundaments. France seems to be carving out its own path away from the general consolidation course that other EU members states are following, dealing a blow to the new found faith in the pact. EU diplomats have warned of France "opening the flood gates" because EU budget offenders such as Italy or the Czech Republic could then follow the French example.
EU policymakers say dealing with an increasingly assertive, energy-rich Russia is the 27-nation bloc's biggest foreign-policy challenge.
Russia on Saturday suspended its participation in a key European arms control treaty that governs deployment of troops on the continent, the Kremlin said. President Putin signed a decree suspending Russia's participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty due to "extraordinary circumstances ... which affect the security of the Russian Federation and require immediate measures," the Kremlin said in a statement. The law takes effect immediately. The treaty is seen as a key element in maintaining stability in Europe.
The White House has simply pushed the Russians too far, almost certainly because here as in Iraq, it has completely misread and misunderstood the realities and simply plowed on with its own simplistic and confrontational initiatives. Thus President Bush has damaged relations, perhaps seriously, with Putin's Russia for no good purpose at all.
Hmmm...
Israel is keeping an official silence on why Prime Minister Olmert paid a secret visit to Jordan, where he met King Abdullah II. Israel's Channel 2 TV reported that Olmert went secretly to Jordan on Wednesday. But it was not clear why he helicoptered there, what they discussed and why the visit was considered secret. The Prime Minister's Office would not comment on the report.
Former Prime Minister Shimon Peres is to be formally inaugurated as the president of Israel. Polish-born Mr Peres has held almost every senior cabinet position, and in 1994 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the Oslo peace accord.
Now that a year has passed since the start of the Lebanese-Israeli war, or strictly speaking, Israel's war against the Shiite group Hezbollah, many in the Middle East are worried about the likelihood of new hostilities, mainly between Syria and Israel. Though governments may not want war, extremists may leave them no other option. Their aim is to ignite a major conflict the Middle East and the rest of the world. It remains to be seen whether the lessons of the past year's war will prevent Israel and others from falling into the trap.
Paranoid Protestant Premier Prophecy Propagandist...
Israel will not just meekly fade away into destruction. And it certainly won't die alone, even if it has to destroy itself in the process of nuking the Middle East.
Iraqi lawmakers insisted they will proceed at their own pace in approving a controversial oil law - a key plank for uniting the country's warring sects - despite growing US pressure.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said there is no "stop or suspension" in Iran's peaceful nuclear activities. "Iran's nuclear activities are continued within a codified and precise framework and are free from political ups and downs."
As you may know – unless you rely on the corporate media for your news, of course – the US Senate unanimously declared that Iran was committing acts of war against the United States: a 97-0 vote to give George W. Bush a clear and unmistakable casus belli for attacking Iran whenever Dick Cheney tells him to. This vote is the clearest signal yet that there will be no real opposition to a Bush Administration attack on Iran.
The vote demonstrates once again that the differences between the White House and the Democrats are purely tactical. What unites all factions of the American political establishment is their defence of the strategic and economic interests of US imperialism in the Middle East. What was significant about Wednesday's vote was the willingness of the entire US Senate to endorse the pretext for a new war. It is a clear signal that the Democrats would rapidly fall into line with any military adventure in Iran. At stake is the control of the region's oil and gas. Any back down or compromise over Iran would leave America's Asian and European economic rivals holding all of the stakes in that country's resources. Likewise any US retreat from Iraq would leave the field open for other powers to fill the vacuum. The alternative is a macabre and reckless gamble that a war against Iran would establish US domination over the region as a whole.
Deep in the Congolese jungle is a band of apes that, according to local legend, kill lions, catch fish and even howl at the moon. Local hunters speak of massive creatures that seem to be some sort of hybrid between a chimp and a gorilla. Their location at the centre of one of the bloodiest conflicts on the planet, the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has meant that the mystery apes have been little studied by western scientists. Reaching the region means negotiating the shifting fortunes of warring rebel factions, and the heart of the animals' range is deep in impenetrable forest.
Professor Norman Golb, of the Jewish History and Civilization department at the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute, does not believe that the scrolls were authored by the ancient Jewish Essene sect, a pacifist group, as most experts believe, arguing instead that the scrolls were authored by a variety of Jewish residents of Judea who fled the Roman Army in 70 C.E.
Quote du jour
Be honest now—what is your image of (Yahshua) as a man? "Isn't he sort of meek and mild?" a friend remarked. "I mean, the pictures I have of him show a gentle guy with children all around. Kind of like Mother Teresa." Yes, those are the pictures I've seen myself in many churches. In fact, those are the only pictures I've seen of (Yahshua). As I've said before, they leave me with the impression that he was the world's nicest guy. Mister Rogers with a beard. Telling me to be like him feels like telling me to go limp and passive. Be nice. Be swell. Be like Mother Teresa. I'd much rather be told to be like William Wallace. (Wild at Heart , p. 22)
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