Omar Hassan Ahmed El-Bashir, president of the Republic of Sudan, was received in audience by Benedict XVI in his summer residence at Castelgandolfo. Discussions focussed on the country's political and religious situation, with particular reference to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and to the situation in Darfur.
I am confident that the diplomatic ties between the Slovak Republic and the Holy See, which already enjoy a spirit of goodwill and mutual esteem, will continue to support the integral development of your nation. I assure you that the various offices of the Roman Curia are eager to assist you in the fulfilment of your duties.
Here is the text of an address given by Cardinal Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers, at the annual meeting of European national directors for the pastoral care of migrants.
It's no secret that both the Catholic and Protestant churches in Germany have long faced the problem of shrinking congregations, but has the nation irrevocably turned its back on its religious heritage?
Edmund Stoiber will head a group appointed to make suggestions on deregulation in Europe after he resigns as party chief and Bavarian prime minister. "My belief has always been that Europe has to become people-oriented and less bureaucratic. I'm happy that I can now put that into practice, as citizens and businesses all over Europe will gain a real advantage from the cutting of red tape." Stoiber will head a 15-member panel of experts from politics, science, the economy and lobby groups.
* "Mr Stoiber is a committed European and an outstanding personality of high repute and with more than 30 years of experience at political, legislative and administrative levels. He has personally been involved at the forefront of efforts to improve legislation in Bavaria, Germany and Europe. I am therefore delighted to count on his important contribution to what is a flag-ship project for the Commission." (EDU Boarse)
Germany's political landscape is in upheaval and parties struggle with major problems: Membership numbers are dropping, confidence in politicians is tarnished and voters are becoming wary of politics.
DW-TV spoke to Left Party leader Oskar Lafontaine about globalization, climate change and the goals which his party - made up of former East German communists and disaffected Social Democrats - has set out for itself.
Amid criticism from opposition parties, Chancellor Merkel appealed to Germans in her weekly video podcast on Saturday to support German troops deployed in war-torn Afghanistan.
A verdict on the Microsoft antitrust case, Brussels' plan for a major energy shake-up and the Schengen zone enlargement, as well as the interim report on the European Parliament's reform are the highlights of this week's agenda.
Serbian politicians, even pro-Western ones, say that they worry that a recognition of Kosovo would introduce a new era of Serbian isolation and hostility toward the West - leaving Europe with little sway here. A widespread recognition of Kosovo "could lead to a chain of events with unforeseen consequences, including the loss of Serbia's European perspective."
President Putin called on the West yesterday to drop its "silly Atlantic solidarity" if it wanted improved relations with Russia. He accused America and some of the countries of the EU of harbouring outdated Cold War attitudes that led to distrust, particularly on issues such as energy security and trade. He also warned the West to stop giving Russia blanket lectures on democracy.
Iran's permanent envoy to the IAEA says the UN nuclear watchdog will look at Israeli atomic weapons threat in its General Conference. The conference will give the Middle Eastern states a chance to vent their frustration over Iran being singled out for its nuclear program while the IAEA does not act similarly against Israel. "Issues such as a 'nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East' and the 'threat of Israel's atomic capabilities' will also be on the agenda."
Alan Greenspan has shaken the White House by declaring that the prime motive for the war in Iraq was oil. "I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil."
Earlier this month, the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq announced that it had signed a production-sharing deal with Texas-based Hunt Oil. The move is an indication that Western oil companies, frustrated over the delay in the passage of a national oil law by the Iraqi government, are moving to make deals with regional bodies to get access to Iraq's vast oil reserves.
Kingdom of the South...
A new city is emerging on the banks of the Nile. Khartoum's minarets and historic souks are giving way to glass-encased office blocks and hotels as an oil-fuelled boom reshapes the skyline. Shiny new Japanese cars fill some of the straightest roads in Africa, despite sanctions and the country's pariah status over the genocide in Darfur.
Persia, as Iran was once called, was one of the greatest empires of the ancient world. It is still distinct from the main body of the Islamic world in that it has maintained its language, Farsi, and is of the Shia strain of Islam as is the majority of the population of its neighbor, Iraq.
Iran has said adoption of a new resolution at the Security Council will lead to a revision in its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog. "In case of the adoption of a new resolution against Iran by the UN Security Council, the Islamic Republic of Iran will make a revision in the level of its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency."
The fuel for Iran's nuclear power plant in Bushehr, southern Iran, has been prepared (for delivery by Russian side) but is sealed by the UN nuclear watchdog, it was announced here Saturday evening.
Mystery surrounds last week's air foray into Syrian territory. The Observer's Foreign Affairs Editor attempts to unravel the truth behind Operation Orchard and allegations of nuclear subterfuge. Amid the confusion there were troubling details that chimed uncomfortably with the known facts. Far from being a minor incursion, the Israeli overflight of Syrian airspace through its ally, Turkey, was a far more major affair involving as many as 8 aircraft.
Jon Snow of C4 News grilled the Iranian President on his state's "quest for nuclear weapons" and his alleged "holocaust denial". The interview was so aggressive and one sided, that it recalled the grilling of Tariq Aziz on BBC in the build up to the Iraq invasion in 2003.
General Petraeus will press Gordon Brown to increase the number of British troops patrolling the Iraqi border with Iran when he meets the Prime Minister this week. But British commanders fear that the move carries a serious risk of embroiling the UK in a war with Iran at a time when they want to withdraw from Iraq.
Senior American intelligence and defence officials believe that President Bush and his inner circle are taking steps to place America on the path to war with Iran, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt. Pentagon and CIA officers say they believe that the White House has begun a carefully calibrated programme of escalation that could lead to a military showdown with Iran. Under the theory - which is gaining credence in Washington security circles - US action would provoke a major Iranian response, perhaps in the form of moves to cut off Gulf oil supplies, providing a trigger for air strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities and even its armed forces.
(Cartoon: Dropping a "bomb" on Iran)
US military bases in the continental US (CONUS) will go on special lockdown between September 17 and September 21 under the auspices of Solid Curtain-Citadel Shield '07, a reliable source reported today. Under these exercises, US installations will institute enhanced anti-terror force protection measures, with increased security at all gates. The increased security was so elaborate that base personnel were being warned to expect significant delays at all base entrances. These drills cause acute concern because they occur before the backdrop of widely reported preparations by the Cheney clique to manufacture a new 9/11 and/or a new Gulf of Tonkin incident to be used as a pretext for a US sneak attack on Iran, with an included option for martial law inside the US.
The US has a 14-ton super bomb more destructive than the vacuum bomb just tested by Russia, retired Lt. General McInerney, chairman of the Iran Policy Committee, and former Assistant Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force said. The US has "a new massive ordnance penetrator that's 30,000 pounds, that really penetrates ... Ahmadinejad has nothing in Iran that we can't penetrate."
Bush the Jihadist:
So we have 2 global jihads colliding head on. The collision has transformed world affairs from the cool-headed fixing of deals into an apocalyptic conflict between Good and Evil. "We" are the righteous, while our chosen enemy is "the Axis of Evil" or "the Great Satan" (take your pick) with whom no compromise is possible, and against whom any violence is permissible.
Dawdler in chief:
While many odd things took place that morning, Kress's observation highlights another curious detail: On September 11, 2001, President Bush was running late. This would be of little significance were it not for the fact that this behavior was completely out of character for the president. Bush is not known for dawdling. Bush only appears to have begun acting out of character after 8:15, which happens to coincide with the time the attacks were beginning.
No one knows whether OPEC has read the runes right this time but the market reacted as if nothing had happened: oil broke through the $80 mark on Thursday night. And now that the barrier of $80 has been breached, there is a growing belief that the day of $100 oil is not that far away.
The jitters plaguing financial markets spread to the high street for the first time yesterday as thousands of panicking savers queued to withdraw millions of pounds from Britain's 8th-biggest bank. Many financial institutions have been hit by a sudden shortage of cash and other liquid assets as banks hoard money in anticipation of having to provide finance to complex investment vehicles.
(LX op-ed: Exactly how safe is your money now?)
About a month ago, I wrote an article "Stock Market Brushfire: Will there be a run on the banks?" which showed how the collapse in the housing market and the deterioration in mortgage-backed bonds in the secondary market was creating difficulties for the banking system. Now these problems are becoming more apparent.
The world's investment banks are to reveal a $30 billion hit from bad debts as they unveil results that give the first real insight into the impact of the debt crisis. "It's going to be one hell of a week. The banks' numbers are as important as whether the Fed cuts rates. On top of that, what gets said will have a profound impact. People are spooked, there is a feeling that there are some surprises out there. Clarity is very important right now."
At a meeting of euro-zone finance ministers on Friday in Portugal, the continued strength of the euro was a concern, although finance chiefs said economic growth should hold. France got a deficit scolding.
Across the US, the impact of the turmoil in the housing and credit markets on the broader economy has been relatively modest so far. But many people are preparing to hit some economic headwinds.
Alan Greenspan has said President Bush pays too little attention to financial discipline. In a book to be published next week, Greenspan says Bush ignored his advice to veto "out-of-control" bills that sent the US deeper into deficit.
The US needs an income cap, Gardner posits in the new Foreign Policy, that limits the amount of money a single individual can annually take home to no more than "100 times as much money as the average worker in a society earns in a year." A cap on income and riches, Gardner adds, would raise billions, even trillions, "to begin to solve the problems about which others are writing in this collection of solutions to save the world."
Arctic ice has shrunk to the lowest level on record, new satellite images show, raising the possibility that the Northwest Passage that eluded famous explorers will become an open shipping lane. The waters are exposing unexplored resources, and vessels could trim thousands of miles from Europe to Asia by bypassing the Panama Canal.
A quite popular, avant-garde school of philosophy claims that "God died with Auschwitz." According to this line of thought, a morally perfect, omnipotent God that deeply loves all mankind would never allow something as horrendous and monstrous as the Holocaust to take place. But the Holocaust did occur. Hence, the God of Christianity probably does not exist.
In both Judaism and Islam, fasting as a religious duty is taken to be almost self-evident. So it used to be in Christianity. Today it takes more explaining. The scriptures do insist that fasting has a moral correlative.
Yesterday in Scripture
* "In the 2nd year of King Darius, on the 1st day of the 6th month, the word of YAHWEH came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel..." (Haggai 1:1-13)
* "In the 6th month, ELOHIM sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee..." (Luke 1:26-38)
[WAR: Even though Luke doesn't give the exact day when Gabriel visited Mary, I would say that the verses in Haggai give a possible indication. Just read these 2 accounts and see the parallels: an announcement about a temple being built (the literal one and Yahshua's body), and YAHWEH saying "I am with you" vs. Gabriel saying "YAHWEH is with you."]
=========================
