For a Pope who practises and preaches militant Catholicism, Benedict XVI's decision to bow to a small group of protesters and cancel his speech at Rome's leading university seemed curiously out of character. The move this week was at odds with a pontiff who has made dogmatic activism a driving force of his 3-year-old papacy.
Yet, what initially appeared as an unconditional papal retreat has suddenly been transformed into a resounding Vatican victory. Fallout from the university incident has turned Benedict into a martyr for freedom of speech and silenced – at least for now – critics who accuse the Vatican of repeatedly interfering in the affairs of the Italian state. An emboldened Pope could spell more trouble for Prime Minister Romano Prodi's shaky, left-of-centre coalition government.
The rector of Rome's Sapienza University announced that he will re-invite Benedict XVI to visit the institution. He affirmed this after the inauguration ceremony today that was supposed to have included a lecture given by the Pope. During the inauguration ceremony, a professor read the discourse the Holy Father had prepared for the occasion. A standing ovation and students' shouts of "Long live the Pope" followed the reading.
Spaniard Adolfo Nicolas was elected the Jesuits' "black pope," as the head of the largest and perhaps most influential, controversial and prestigious Catholic order is known, in a secret conclave on Saturday. Jesuit superior generals are known as "black popes" because, like the pontiff, they wield worldwide influence and usually keep their position for life -- and because their simple cassock is black, in contrast to the pope who dresses in white.
To judge from its state election campaigns, Germany's governing parties are flirting with recklessness. Germany's leaders say they are eager to put the ugliness of the elections behind them: 2008 is the coalition's "key year", says Chancellor Merkel. But the row over punishment and pay is ominous. The 2 big parties have come to resemble each other. To persuade voters there is a difference, both have shown, in state elections, that they are prepared to flirt with reckless ideas.
Big (Bavarian) Brother...
Bavaria will not wait for planned federal legislation and is to go ahead with controversial plans to permit security officials to monitor personal computers online to check for terrorist internet traffic, the state interior minister said Saturday.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will officially open the 44th Munich Conference on Security Policy, due to take place in Munich from February 8-10. The general theme of the conference will be "a world in disorder" with shifting positions of power. The high profile security conference is widely seen as the top annual gathering of political movers and shakers on global strategic issues.
It is reported that the Lefties do not much want Tony Blair. In Italy, Romano Prodi disapproves of him because he supported Silvio Berlusconi. In Spain, the Socialist government dislikes him so much that the defence minister unguardedly called him "un gilipollas integral", which is too rude to translate. But the Germans seem friendly, and the French even more so.
And he is so good at timing. Even his decision to become a Roman Catholic, though perfectly sincere, comes at the right moment. If he wants a top post in continental Europe, it becomes an advantage.
(Also: Blair for EU president?)
The battle over the EU Reform Treaty has been reignited after an influential committee of MPs said that the document is no different to the defunct EU Constitution. As the Government prepares to debate the treaty in the House of Commons, a report by the foreign affairs select committee concludes that it cedes vital powers to Brussels and that ministers are misleading the public by saying that it does not.
The man who would be president of a new Greater Serbia had his head in his hands. Each time he started to speak, troublesome sidekicks interrupted to quibble over points of historical accuracy, a constant obsession in a country still fixated on grievances of the past.
"Listen," said Andrej Milic, losing patience and tossing a notebook decorated with the face of Vladimir Putin down on the table of his shabby Belgrade office. "It is simple. As the future president of Serbia I will declare war on Kosovo and we will have Russia and China behind us. NATO will be driven out. It will be the Third World War."
(Also: Serb hardliner on brink of power)
(Also: Kosovo showdown looms large)
The Russian pipeline North Stream is on its way. Now Vladimir Putin wants to put a 2nd gas pipeline through Bulgaria. The new project not only competes with the European pipeline Nabucco, but also entrenches Europe's dependence on Russian gas.
Russia's military chief of staff said Saturday that Moscow could use nuclear weapons in preventive strikes to protect itself and its allies, the latest aggressive remarks from increasingly assertive Russian authorities. "We do not intend to attack anyone, but we consider it necessary for all our partners in the world community to clearly understand ... that to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia and its allies [Serbia?!], military forces will be used, including preventively, the use of nuclear weapons."
Egypt has cancelled political talks with senior European Union officials after a European Parliament resolution criticised the state of human rights in Egypt, the Foreign Ministry said. "In light of the negative reaction triggered by the recent European Parliament resolution and the tense atmosphere it has created, the Egyptian side has informed the European Commission that the meeting ... for political consultation between both sides at this stage is inappropriate."
A senior Saudi royal has offered Israel a vision of broad cooperation with the Arab world and people-to-people contacts if it signs a peace treaty and withdraws from all occupied Arab territories. In an interview with Reuters, Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former ambassador to the US and UK and adviser to King Abdullah, said Israel and the Arabs could cooperate in many areas.
"The Arab world, by the Arab peace initiative, has crossed the Rubicon from hostility towards Israel to peace with Israel and has extended the hand of peace to Israel, and we await the Israelis picking up our hand and joining us in what inevitably will be beneficial for Israel and for the Arab world."
(Also: UN warns of humanitarian crisis)
The significance of France's military base in the Gulf
France's announcement this week that it is to open a military base in the United Arab Emirates could mark a strategic shift in its defence policy. It will be France's first permanent base in the Gulf. By drawing its 400 troops from an existing base in Djibouti, it hints at a withdrawal from France's traditional African backyard.
On January 13, an emerging Sunni-Shia nationalist bloc in Iraq signed a groundbreaking agreement aimed at ending Iraq's civil war, blocking the privatization of Iraq's oil industry and checkmating the breakaway Kurdish state. It's a big step forward, and it could change the face of Iraqi politics in 2008.
President Bush has been at war with Turkey since US forces entered Iraq and opened the way to creation of an independent Kurdish state. However, Turkey has refused to confront the US. Instead, Turkey has retreated in the face of US and Kurdish aggression against Turkey. A Turkish failure to confront the US and the Kurds would bring about the collapse of the Turkish state at the hands of the PKK. In short, Turkish PM Erdogan will be forced to confront the US and the PKK.
For centuries, fighting and lawlessness have been part of the fabric of the frontier city of Peshawar. But Pakistan's war with Islamic militants has spilled right into its alleys and bazaars, its forts and armouries, killing policemen and soldiers and scaring its famously tough citizens. There is a sense of siege, as the Islamic insurgency pours out of the adjacent tribal region into the city, one of Pakistan's largest, and its surrounding districts. The Taliban and their fighters now hold strategic pockets on the city's outskirts
Iran says it has today received the 4th shipment of Russian fuel for its nuclear power plant in the southwestern province of Bushehr. Iran is yet to receive 4 other shipments based on a timeline agreed to by Russia, as it needs some 82 tons of fuel to launch the Bushehr reactor. The Bushehr power plant, located on the shores of the Persian Gulf, is expected to become operational during the first 6 months of 2008.
Is Iran threatening Israel or is it the other way around? The Israeli government has said that all options at Israel's disposal are legitimate in crippling Iran. According to Reuters, Israel stated on January 17 that a missile tested by Tel Aviv was "capable of carrying an 'unconventional payload' — an apparent reference to the nuclear warheads Israel is assumed to possess, though it has never publicly confirmed their existence."
Team Bush's latest tactic is to play up a 13-year-old accusation that Iran was responsible for the notorious Buenos Aires bombing that destroyed the city's Jewish Community Center, killing 86 and injuring 300, in 1994. The Bush Administration's manipulation of the Argentine bombing case is perfectly in line with its long practice of using distorting and manufactured evidence to build a case against its geopolitical enemies.
In the June 2007 issue of Commentary, neoconservative icon Norman Podhoretz laid out "The Case for Bombing Iran," in which he argued that "the only prudent–indeed, the only responsible–course" is to "strike" Iran "as soon as it is logistically possible." In a new article for Commentary, titled "Stopping Iran: Why the Case for Military Action Still Stands," he argues that Bush should commence with a "bombing campaign."
Podhoretz isn't alone in his desire to keep pushing for an attack on Iran. Ever since Podhoretz's recent article was released online, right-wing radio host Hugh Hewitt has been promoting it, encouraging his audience to "read the whole thing. Twice." Hewitt has also been asking his guests, including New York Times columnist William Kristol, if they agree with Podhoretz's assessment. Scarily, they do.
(Also: "Israel must bomb Iran for Bush")
Hmmm...
Russian Intelligence Analysts are reporting that Britain's Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and numerous leaders of the United Kingdom's business community were 'targeted' in a failed assassination attempt which instead of downing the aircraft due to take the British Leader on his first state visit to China instead brought down a British Airways 777 from China upon its landing approach to London's Heathrow Airport.
According to these reports, Brown's flight to China was delayed due to Sir Richard Branson's late arrival at Heathrow, as he was one of the many business leaders accompanying Brown to China , and which allowed the British Airways 777 flight from China
(Also: BA pilot "feared all would die)
America as a whole is growing briskly. Between 2000 and 2006 its population swelled by 6.4%, according to the Census Bureau. Yet the expansion has passed many areas by. Two-fifths of all counties are shrinking. In general, people are moving to places that are warm, mountainous or suburban. In parts, the Great Plains are more sparsely populated now than they were in the late 19th century, when the government declared them to be deserted.
Forget rate cuts and stimulus packages. In Wall Street's eyes, the recession is already here and the credit crunch is far from over. This month's huge selloff in the stock market reflects the double-whammy being felt by investors: shrinking economic growth and continued uncertainty over the extent of the subprime mortgage mess. "The damage is done. The house burned down. We now have to rebuild the house. The fed is the fireman. Continuing to squirt water on it doesn't do any good."
Now Bush is going to have to give away the farm just to keep the economy from crashing. Good luck. Clearly, the prospect of a system-wide meltdown in banking, real estate and equities has become a "Road to Damascus" moment for lame-duck George. The economic realities that Bush is facing are the anticipated "hard landing" from a nationwide housing slump coupled with a credit crunch that is strangling the banking and financial industries.
The country is lurching recklessly into a deflationary death-spiral. Many of the banks are simply in "survival mode" trying to conceal the magnitude of their losses from their shareholders while attempting to attract capital from overseas investors to shore up their sagging collateral (via Sovereign Wealth Funds).
Summary: When banks don't lend and consumers don't borrow; the economy crashes. End of story. The whole system is predicated on the prudent use of credit. That system is now in terminal distress. Everyone to the bunkers. Perhaps the whole "inflation-deflation" debate is academic. The real issue is the length and severity of the impending recession. That's what we really want to know. And how many people will needlessly suffer.
The vast dimensions of the financial crisis have become evident even to the most blinkered "free market" ideologues in Washington. The Bush administration is making it clear that its sole concern is to stabilize the financial markets and prevent a chain reaction collapse.
The financial rot goes far deeper than the hundreds of billions already lost in the stock exchange and the subprime mortgage collapse. Economic specialists have begun warning of the danger of a more far-reaching financial debacle.
German press
At the moment, all eyes in the world of business and finance in Europe are on the US. Observers are watching with baited breath to see if the US will plunge into recession as a result of the ongoing subprime crisis, something which would threaten to cause a downturn in Europe too. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and President Bush have announced a plan to rescue the US economy from recession. German commentators chip in with their 2 cents of advice.
These days, the US is playing the role usually assigned to Third World economies, (and) the next year or 2 could be quite unpleasant.
The mother of all write-downs is unlikely to mark a turning-point. And more bodies will doubtless be uncovered when European banks start reporting their year-end results in a couple of weeks.
Wall Street, the flagship of capitalism, has been bailed out by state-backed investors from emerging economies. That has people worried—for good reasons and bad. Sovereign-wealth funds are large and growing fast. Secretive and possibly manipulative, they are almost designed to raise suspicions. That is why the chief threat they pose is of financial protectionism. And it is why today's grand rescue on Wall Street is likely to lead to a backlash in Washington tomorrow.
The other oil shock
Shortages and soaring prices for palm oil, soybean oil and many other types of vegetable oils are the latest, most striking example of a developing global problem: costly food. The Food and Agriculture Organization, an agency of the UN, reported that its index of export prices for 60 internationally traded foodstuffs climbed 37% last year.
A startling change is unfolding in the world's food markets. Soaring fuel prices have altered the equation for growing food and transporting it across the globe. Huge demand for biofuels has created tension between using land to produce fuel and using it for food.
There may be worse inflation to come. Food experts say steep increases in commodity prices have not fully made their way to street stalls in the developing world or supermarkets in the West.
The housing market has a new problem: ageing Americans
In the first years of the 21st century, no area of the American economy has excited more emotion than the property market. First came the excitement of soaring prices. Then spirits came crashing down with the subprime crisis, and now homeowners are agonising over how far values could fall. An even bigger story, however, may be yet to come. America should be bracing itself for the end of the "generational housing bubble." As the country's 78m baby-boomers retire, the report argues, the housing market will change dramatically.
On a quiet Sunday morning in June, Pastor Burrick grabbed his cellphone and dialed 911. When a dispatcher answered, the preacher said a former congregant was in the sanctuary. "And we need to, um, have her out A.S.A.P."
Half an hour later, 71-year-old Karolyn Caskey, a church member for nearly 50 years who had taught Sunday school and regularly donated 10% of her pension, was led out by a state trooper and a county sheriff's officer. One held her purse and Bible. The other put her in handcuffs.
The charge was trespassing, but her real offense, in the pastor's view, was spiritual. Several months earlier, when she had questioned his authority, he'd charged her with spreading "a spirit of cancer and discord" and expelled her from the congregation.
[WAR: "God's government from the top, down" as most COG would say.]
Speakin' of which...
Al Carrozzo would like to see the fragmented groups, as he calls them, of the Churches of God descended from the Worldwide Church of God come together in some form or fashion, so he and Art Mokarow plan a "symposium" to talk about things in Dallas Jan. 30th through Feb. 2nd.
Carrozzo said he does not advocate a return to the "restrictive and stifling" structure of the old Worldwide Church of God, "in which we were not allowed to openly discuss any diversity of opinion." Rather, "I am advocating that we do come together in a spirit of unity and cooperation to openly discuss matters of doctrine, prophecy, archaeology and spiritual maturity." Christians should model themselves after the "pattern we see in the early New Testament ekklesia in which there was an autonomous structure which allowed for all to participate."
He optimistically hopes his efforts will serve as the beginning of the process of "the restitution of all things" as mentioned in Acts 3. The symposium's format will feature presentations of specific teachings and points of view. "Then we would have a Q&A session followed by a presentation from a different or opposite view, followed by another Q&A."
Today in Scripture
"In the 9th year, in the 10th month on the 10th day, the word of YAHWEH came to me: 'Son of man, record this date, this very date, because the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day." (Eze 24:1,2 / Jer 39:1; 52:4 / 2Kings 25:1)
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