Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
Bavaria's Christian Social Union may lose its absolute majority in the state's parliament for the first time in almost 40 years, forcing it to find a coalition partner, a poll suggested. Five months before regional elections in Bavaria, the CSU this week scored 44% in a survey of voting intentions.
Bavaria's Finance Minister Erwin Huber and Prime Minister Guenther Beckstein have drawn criticism within the party and the media over policy bungles since the duo took over from Edmund Stoiber last September. Three-term premier Stoiber helped the CSU garner 61% of the vote in the last election in 2003.
The head of Germany's foreign intelligence agency (BND) has come under fire over admissions his employees monitored e-mails exchanged between a minister in the Afghan government and a Spiegel journalist. He will likely keep his job, but the scandal is expected to shake up the organization.
(And: Spying row rocks Germany)
Porsche's bid to take sole control of Volkswagen has been slammed as a "dangerous superpower fantasy" by German union leaders and provoked furious resistance from the state of Lower Saxony, in the drawn-out battle over the fate of Europe's biggest car-maker.
Germany will delay opening the country's borders to cheap labour from eastern Europe until 2011. The executive committee of the conservative Christian Democrats approved pushing the deadline to open Germany's borders back 2 years, from 2009.
[Europress] [Russopress]
The European Union has no plans to abolish England, officials in Brussels insisted after 2 British newspapers accused the EU of wanting to "wipe England off the map." "There are no secret plans to carve up the continent in a way that makes England disappear. There is no goal of creating a United States of Europe," a European Commission spokeswoman said.
EU officials denied absolutely the existence of any such official maps, saying that the tabloids' stories were based solely on the existence of long-standing cooperation projects between administrative regions of different member states.
Both Denmark and the lower house of Germany's parliament on Thursday ratified the EU's new treaty, just a day after Portugal approved the document. The Danish parliament passed the document with 90 votes in favour and 25 against, although 64 deputies from the 179-seat parliament were absent.
The Lisbon treaty is set to be examined to see if it breaches national laws in 2 member states, raising the risk that the 1 January 2009 deadline for the document to come into force across the EU will be delayed. The Czech Senate on Thursday voted in favour of asking the constitutional court to check whether the treaty is in line with Czech law.
The key issues that the senators asked the court to check include the transfer of certain powers to EU institutions, the shift of decision-making among member states from unanimous to majority voting, as well as the legal implications of adopting the Charter of Fundamental Rights - with the charter causing the most concern among Czech lawmakers.
Germany's court is also set to examine the treaty. After the lower house of parliament strongly endorsed the charter on Thursday, conservative MP Peter Gauweiler (CSU) repeated his intention to bring the treaty before the country's constitutional court. "What Brussels is supposed to get in powers is not compatible with our democratic principles."
He is expected to formally present the complaint after the upper house has ratified the treaty next month. The court case could delay signature of the treaty by President Koehler – the signature is needed as the final step of ratification.
In a major shift in policy, Poland, long considered a close ally of the US, wants the European Union to beef up its military role by having its own independent planning headquarters and more say over military issues, according to the Polish defense minister. But he said Poland would maintain its traditionally strong pro-US stance.
Two months after Kosovo declared independence, thousands of foreign experts are ready to descend on its capital to shape Europe's youngest republic into a constitutional state -- although its status is still disputed. Soon the EU will take over, and its team can expect a country ruled by corruption and organized crime.
Israel's ambassador to the UN on Thursday called former President Carter "a bigot" for meeting with the leader of the militant Hamas movement in Syria.
US intelligence officials on Thursday were showing members of Congress a videotape and other evidence supporting their case that Syria was building a nuclear reactor with North Korean assistance before it was bombed by Israeli planes last year.
Syria has denied the administration's allegations, and the videotape apparently was just a collection of still photos from inside the facility.
Political commentator Steve Clemons suggests that "Cheney's minions are pushing Congress to sponge up Israeli intelligence assessments about purported Syria-North Korea cooperation on a now destroyed, alleged nuclear site. There are many who doubt Israel's assessments in the US intelligence community. A consensus has built that North Korea and Syria were cooperating on some machine tool operation to retrofit increasingly sophisticated short range missiles with new capacity, perhaps air burst capacity that could potentially deliver biological or chemical agents."
According to one official, "We don't have any independent intelligence that it was a nuclear facility -- only the assertions by the Israelis and some ambiguous satellite photography from them that shows a building, which the Syrians admitted was a military facility."
The last thing the Israelis want is for the tactical details of their audacious raid to become public, particularly as they may need to use the same techniques again in the not-too-distant future.
The US satellite photographs presented to Congress yesterday demonstrated that the Syrian facility had been entirely reduced to rubble by the accuracy of the Israeli air strikes. And unless there is a radical change of policy soon in Tehran, the likelihood is that the Iranian programme will suffer a similar fate.
The Bush administration quietly signed an agreement to supply the United Arab Emirates with nuclear fuel and technology amid concerns Iran's continued enrichment of uranium will spur nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.
The decision to go ahead with the UAE nuclear program also follows Treasury Department talks with UAE Sovereign Wealth Funds, positioning the federation of 7 Gulf states to make further investments in US financial institutions this year.
The Iraqi government is following up its US-backed campaign of terror against the Shiite Sadrist movement and its Madhi Army militia in Basra with moves to open up the country's oil and gas resources for exploitation by transnational conglomerates.
The list of companies highlights the predatory motives behind the 2003 invasion and the subsequent international support for the occupation. The operations against the Madhi Army in Basra have been used to tackle a number of obstacles to large-scale corporate involvement in the oil industry.
Muqtada al-Sadr is considering setting aside his political ambitions and restarting a full-scale fight against US-led forces — a worrisome shift that may reflect Iranian influence on the young cleric and could open the way for a shadow state protected by his powerful Mahdi Army.
Pakistan's foreign ministry has said it has lodged a "strong protest" with NATO and the Afghan military after a border skirmish left a Pakistani soldier dead. During the battle, NATO forces fired shells and carried out an incursion into the Bajaur tribal region, it said. NATO has not been granted permission to pursue militants over the frontier.
(And: Pakistan fury at NATO raid)
While the crisis in Darfur simmers, the larger problem of Sudan's survival as a state is becoming increasingly urgent. Old tensions between the Arabs of the Nile River valley, who have held power for a century, and marginalized groups on the country's periphery are turning into a national crisis.
Engagement with Khartoum may be the only way to avert another civil war in Sudan, and even that may not be enough.
President Ahmadinejad will make a brief visit to Pakistan next week to meet the neighbouring country's new government, the foreign ministry said. He will fly in to Pakistan on Monday for a few hours as part of a whistlestop tour of South Asian nations, which will also include India and Sri Lanka.
Iran, Pakistan and India are all in talks to build a multi-billion dollar project to transport Iranian gas across the subcontinent.
The upcoming visit to India by Iran's President 'will increase tension' between the US and India which are already at odds over Iran. Ahmadinejad's visit is aimed at deepening relations between India and Iran and promoting nuclear and energy cooperation.
Iran and Venezuela have signed 15 cooperation pacts in different areas, particularly the industrial and economic sectors in Caracas. The agreements were on energy, housing, construction of a cement factory, sugar factories, dairy machinery, aluminum and plastic manufacturing machinery.
Hardening position towards Iran, the US Secretary of State Gates says Iran may be to blame for the killing of US servicemen in Iraq. "What the Iranians are doing is killing American servicemen and women inside Iraq.''
The promotion of General Petraeus is another ominous sign that the Bush administration may attack Iran. "Iran has fueled the violence in a particularly damaging way through its lethal support to the special groups," Petraeus testified to Congress in early April.
Bush could justify an attack on Iran's military or nuclear facilities by claiming to protect U.S. troops in Iraq against Shiite militias with links to Tehran.
The chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff has said he is "extremely concerned" about Iran's role in Iraq, which he says could grow more destructive. In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Admiral Michael Mullen said the US would maintain a presence in the Gulf in an attempt to deter Iran from taking any military action.
"I think it's important to ratchet up the pressure as much as we can on Iran ... internationally, financially, diplomatically ... without taking the combat option off the table."
Breaking...
A ship contracted by the US Military Sealift Command has fired at least one shot toward an Iranian boat, a US defense official said. Other details were not immediately available.
(And: Oil jumps above $119)
Latest arrest exposes Israel's 5th column in the US
Whenever the subject of Israeli spying in the US comes up, the journalistic handle is always the same: the infamous Jonathan Pollard. His ghost hovers over the increasingly troubled "special relationship" – and he isn't even dead yet.
Pollard had top-secret clearance and was able to procure a long list of documents for his Israeli handlers, but what baffled – and alarmed – top intelligence officials was that he had known the titles and in some cases the serial numbers of specific documents.
These could only have been provided by someone in a much higher pay grade – a top official privy to ultra-sensitive, need-to-know secrets. This was the basis for the long-standing suspicion that Pollard was but the outer layer of a deeply-entrenched Israeli spy ring.
What is striking about all this is the sheer size and ambitious scope of the Israeli underground in America. Pollard, Kadish, Rosen, Weissman, Franklin, that holder of "very senior security positions in the Clinton and Bush White Houses" – all worked in tandem with, and sometimes inside of, the aboveground Israel Lobby.
These 5th columnists are bold to the point of brazenness and have operated relatively freely up until now. Their ability to cover their tracks – and cry "anti-Semitism" in answer to rude inquiries as to the treasonous nature of their activities – has so far served them well: their luck, however, may be running out, along with Uncle Sam's patience.
American Jews have formed a new pro-Israel lobby "J Street" as an alternative to traditional organizations that they assert have often been impediments to progress in the Middle East because of their generally reflexive support of Israel.
For many who follow the intense and complex world of lobbying on Middle East issues in Washington, there is little doubt about the role J Street hopes to play in domestic US politics - upsetting or at least diluting the influence of groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the formidable lobby that has long been the dominant voice of American Jewry with regard to US Middle East policy.
The group's founders say they will provide something else that does not exist - financial support from American Jews for candidates whose views are not in line with AIPAC's.
John McCain is a man of physical courage and personal honor. He's also a warmonger, with little concern for those who would die in his military adventures. The Democrats won't say that. But it's the truth.
German press
After the Pennsylvania primary, it looks like the struggle between presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will be a fight to the death. Commentators writing in Germany's main newspapers Thursday were unanimous in expressing their dismay that the bitter battle for the Democratic nomination would continue, with many warning that the duel to the death could only harm the Democrats, and warning it's going to be a long, hot summer.
(Cartoon: He can't close the deal!)
Talk show host Rush Limbaugh is sparking controversy again after he made comments calling for riots in Denver during the Democratic National Convention this summer. He said the riots would ensure a Democrat is not elected as president, and his listeners have a responsibility to make sure it happens. He cited Al Sharpton, saying the Barack Obama supporter threatened to superdelegates that "there's going to be trouble" if the presidency is taken from Obama.
President Chavez harshly criticized the US administration again after the unauthorized passing of the USS George Washington along the coast of Venezuela. He promised to bury the USA in the 21st century.
"When Americans appear near our shores with their navy, the George Washington aircraft carrier, one should not forget that it happens at the time when we together with Brazil are creating the Defense Council of South America. In this century we will bury the old empire of the USA and will live with the American nation like with a brotherly nation, because over 40 million of its citizens live below the poverty line."
Deutsche Bank, the biggest German bank, said today it would be interested in acquiring the German activities of Citigroup if the US banking giant wanted to sell them. Financial Times Deutschland said Citigroup could also sell other operations in Europe that might interest Deutsche Bank, adding that Citigroup was expected to make a decision by early May.
The euro has suffered its sharpest drop in 4 years as a blizzard of weak data from Germany, Belgium, France, and Spain spark fears that economic contagion may be spreading from the Anglo-Saxon world to Europe.
An economist at Dresdner Kleinwort, said Europe would soon be engulfed by the twin effects of a "collapse in export volumes" and a slow motion credit squeeze. "The wheels are coming off the eurozone economy."
Key governors of the European Central Bank began to back away from their hawkish stance of recent weeks, clearly disturbed by the market perception that they are mulling a rate rise to choke off price rises.
The ECB president went out of his way yesterday to brief journalists that "sharp" currency moves had "possible implications for financial and economic stability", a coded threat of co-ordinated intervention by world central banks. The comments caused a 2nd scramble for dollars in mid-day trading as speculators rushed to cover "short" positions against the greenback.
Which would you rather face: a recession and house price crash or years of soaring '70s-style inflation? Two options; one nasty dilemma for the Bank of England.
This is the debate which will determine how painful the coming months are for families throughout the country, and could set the UK on the road to either another boom in house prices or, at the other extreme, a dismal Japan-style depression.
The finances of many states have deteriorated so badly that they appear to be in a recession, regardless of whether that's true for the nation as a whole, a survey of all 50 state fiscal directors concludes. The situation looks even worse for the fiscal year that begins July 1 in most states.
It takes 2 parents to earn what one did only a few generations ago. Something's gone very wrong.
China's booming economy could be running out of steam – literally. At the end of a cold and stormy winter, the country has just 12 days of coal reserves at most power stations. Some provinces, including Hebei, bordering Beijing, have less than a week's coal left. China relies on burning coal for 70% of its electricity.
The New York Times recently told its more wealthy readers to consider buying a rural cottage, or even log cabin, to ride out the water and food riots that militarised police forces are preparing and training for, and now the Wall Street Journal recommends its readers to begin stockpiling rice and cereals, not only to fend off hunger but as an investment opportunity.
The age of cheap and plentiful food, at least from supermarkets, is clearly over. The psychological impact for most Americans of seeing food riots in their towns and cities will be immense, and destructive.
We need to stop worshipping the golden calf of the so-called free market and embrace, instead, the principle of food sovereignty. Every country and every people have a right to food that is affordable. When the market deprives them of this, it is the market that has to give.
(Op-ed: Food crisis - but it's no surprise)
While soaring food prices—driven by financial speculation in commodities, the increasing diversion of grains for bio-fuel production and other factors—have affected every country in the world, clearly the impact has been greatest in the most oppressed countries, where people are forced to spend the bulk of their incomes on food and are faced with the threat of starvation. This crisis did not emerge overnight, but has been maturing over the course of years, and it will persist.
[CFR Opinion Roundup][Newseum][Global Incident Map][Earthweek][Day-Night Map][Tonight's Sky][Moon phase]
A 4,500-year-old cypress tree in Iran's southeastern province of Yazd is to be soon protected as one of the world's biggest living organisms.
Today in Scripture
"Early on the 1st day of the week [18th day of the 1st month], while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance..." (John 20:1-23 / Mark 16:2-8 / Luke 24:1-52 / Mat 28:1-15)
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