Reading between the lines, and thinking outside the box . . .
The secret of Benedict XVI's theology is not just in his extraordinary knowledge, but in the fact that he lives what he believes, says the bishop in charge of the publication of his "Complete Works."
The writings of Joseph Ratzinger, the bishop said, "unite scientific knowledge of theology to the figure of a living and lived faith." Bishop Muller called Benedict XVI "one of the great theologians to arrive to the See of Peter" and "one of the most significant intellectuals of the 20th and 21st century."
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II responded to a letter from Benedict XVI, expressing satisfaction with growing collaboration between the Churches.
The Russian religious leader expressed his "joy at the growing perspective of the development of good relations and a positive cooperation between our two Churches." "The solid base of this is in our common roots and our converging positions regarding many of the questions that today afflict the world."
Italy's highest court has ordered Germany to pay compensation to families of victims of a Nazi massacre in Tuscany, threatening to spark a diplomatic row between the countries.
The verdict, the first of its kind in Italy, paves the way for thousands more claims by families of people killed, injured or deported to German labour camps during ww2.
Germany said that it would not pay, arguing that under international law it was immune from such a prosecution. But the relatives could obtain a court order for the seizure of German state property in Italy in lieu of payment.
Last week witnessed unprecedented events in the history of post-war Germany. Never before has a law been enacted so quickly.
Prosecutors have raided the offices of a troubled German financial institution, and Berlin will have to spend billions to bail out the largest state bank in Bavaria. The financial crisis in Germany is far from over.
Chancellor Merkel opposes an expansion of the Group of Eight to embrace nations such as India and China. But she was "open" to expanding the group at certain times on certain topics so that all the relevant nations or regional organizations were part of the discussion.
A new online encyclopedia of European culture, called "Europeana," is set to debut in November. It's a rival to the Google Library Project, but also something else -- the start of a vast digital backup copy of what's in Europe's libraries, museums and national film collections.
Le Monde has the real story of President Sarkozy's speech to the European Parliament we all missed yesterday, which is that Sarkozy effectively suggested to continue as EU president for the euro zone for another year.
The logic behind the argument is as follows: Russia's invasion of Georgia and the financial crisis led to a common understanding that the EU currently needs a strong leadership. The Irish No vote to the Lisbon Treaty means that there is no quick fix for this in the near future.
The altering presidencies are to be replaced, by what is subject to a roadmap to be worked out by Sarkozy's presidency in December. One option would be an elected president, the far more easier option is to let Sarkozy continue to preside but at the euro zone level.
It would circumvent the (widely feared) Czech and the Swedish EU presidency in 2009 until the next eurozone country, Spain, takes over in 2010. In principle Jean Claude Juncker, the current president of the informal Eurogroup, would also qualify for the job, but the proposal of a Eurogroup presidency is seen as a de facto coup d'etat by Sarkozy against the Ecofin, writes Wolfgang Proissl in the FT Deutschland.
France did not coordinate this subject with Germany, awaiting now the verdict of Angela Merkel.
German press review
President Sarkozy on Tuesday made a plea for an "economic government" for the euro zone. It was not well received. German politicians and commentators alike have blasted Sarkozy's idea.
What a difference a day makes. President Sarkozy made headlines on Tuesday with an ambitious speech before the European parliament in Strasbourg during which he called for a common "economic government" across the euro zone.
On the morning after, however, as the first reviews come in, it's clear that the response to Sarkozy's attention-grabbing performance has not exactly been what he'd hoped for.
Nowhere more so than in Germany, where politicians, experts, and editorial boards have joined to issue a blistering critique of not only the French president's proposals, but also of his motives and theatrics.
Pavel Globa, a well-known astrologist, predicts that Russia will successfully extricate from the current financial crisis, although it is not going to happen soon.
Russia, the astrologist said, will suffer a lot less in comparison with the US and the EU. The latter may even collapse, Globa said.
The West will suffer from a major crisis in 2 years, which will subsequently result in the change of the world order.
Fears of another gas supply crisis and frustration over wood, meat and fish trade loom large in a new EU analysis of Russia relations, which takes a soft line on the Georgia conflict but warns of "disturbing" new violence in North Caucasus.
Israeli President Shimon Peres has endorsed the "spirit" of a broad Arab initiative as an "opportunity" that can bring peace to a Middle East, still torn by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The remarks were another step in Peres' efforts to jump-start a 2002 Saudi proposal for comprehensive peace in the region.
When Israelis observe the Jewish holiday this week with their annual prayers for rain, they might be pleading just that bit harder as the country experiences the worst drought in its 60-year history.
Iraqi deputies voice concern over a US conspiracy to stage a coup in a bid to force Iraqi officials into signing a controversial security pact. The coup aims to disturb security in the country and put authorities under pressure to sign the US-proposed deal, members of the Iraqi Parliament said.
The US wants the so-called Status of Forces Agreement signed before the end of President Bush's term in office.
A suspected US missile strike has killed at least 8 students at a religious school in NW Pakistan, witnesses say.
Even if Iran were to withdraw from the non-proliferation treaty today, the likelihood of the Islamic Republic assembling even a single nuclear weapon in the near future is low, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammed ElBaradei, said.
Preempt the preemptive?...
Senior Tehran officials are recommending a preemptive strike against Israel to prevent an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear reactors, a senior Islamic Republic official told foreign diplomats 2 weeks ago in London.
Tehran has warned that any attack on the country would be 'insanity' because in this case the war would be extended beyond Iran's borders.
"Iran will not be confined to its borders in responding to any aggression against its territory," Fars news agency quoted Brig. Gen. Zolqadr a senior military official, as saying on Wednesday.
"If aggressive powers wage a war against Iran, certainly they will not be able to determine when the war will end and it will be up to the Iranian nation to determine such a war's outcome."
Bacevich's new book The Limits of Power attempts a deeper historical and theoretical examination of the US's current woes, suggesting that the excesses of recent foreign policy are far more deeply rooted in the US character than its critics have been willing to acknowledge.
America is dying. Propped up by false hope, America is now falling like a house of cards. It is self-destructing and bringing the rest of the world down with it.
For the past month, a long-demonized word has been increasingly injected into political discussion in the United States — socialism.
The federal bailout of Wall Street — despite the hysteria of the House Republicans — has nothing to do with socialism. The measures could be more correctly characterized, not as nationalization of the banks, but as privatization of the US Treasury, turning over its vast resources to billionaires and speculators.
The charges of "socialism" demonstrate the degree to which the eruption of financial crisis has confused and frightened the political representatives of the ruling elite.
It is tempting to say yes. Barack Obama is enjoying whopping leads in three major polls including one in which he is ahead by 14 points. (But) Obama could yet be tripped up by a late surprise...
Surprise!...
Barack Obama has suspended his campaign for at least 2 days to go to Hawaii, purportedly to visit his ailing grandmother. But the sudden trip to the 50th state coincides with an aggressive campaign by Obama nemesis Andy Martin to legally compel Hawaiian authorities to release birth records that Obama has refused to make public.
The sudden Obama decision to visit Hawaii has triggered broad skepticism, coming as it does in the critical last 2 week of the close election campaign.
But Martin says the real reason for Obama's emergency trip is to stop his own pursuit of birth records, including an emergency writ to the Hawaii Supreme Court to request expedited handling after a previous filing to demand that the State's Department of Health release the records.
Police departments in cities across the country are beefing up their ranks for Election Day, preparing for possible civil unrest and riots after the historic presidential contest.
Some worry that if Barack Obama loses and there is suspicion of foul play in the election, violence could ensue in cities with large black populations.
Asian markets have continued the worldwide plunge in share prices.
The gilded age of hedge funds is losing its luster. The funds, pools of fast money that defined the era of Wall Street hyper-wealth, are in the throes of an unprecedented shakeout. Even some industry stars are falling back to Earth.
For 6 years the world has been borrowing dollars to bet on property, oil, metals, emerging markets, and every bubble in every corner of the globe. This has been the dollar "carry trade", conducted on a huge scale with high leverage.
Now the process has reversed abruptly as debt deflation - or "deleveraging" - engulfs world markets. The dollars must be repaid. Hence a wild scramble for Greenbacks which has shaken the global currency system and shattered assumptions about the way the world works.
The spectacular dollar rebound has geostrategic implications.
(And: THE DOLLAR IS BENEFITING)
The world is heading for a nasty, protracted recession that marks the beginning of the end of America's dominance of global finance, according to leading economist Nouriel Roubini.
"It's the beginning of the decline of the US financial empire. The Great Depression ended in a massive war. I hope that's not going to happen but it's pretty ugly now," said Professor Roubini, an academic and former US Treasury adviser.
He expects a global recession to last for at least 2 years and said the current crisis could lead to a "massive, ugly war."
When President Bush hosts a world financial summit in the coming weeks, one of the least multilateral American presidents in decades will set in motion what could result in a full reordering of the global financial system.
As US residents struggle to make sense of the dramatic downturn in the economy, scholars and clergy are revisiting a 22-year-old pastoral letter written by the US Catholic bishops promoting an economic policy that reins in unbridled consumerism and a lust for material riches and advocates the theology of sharing the wealth.
As the price of oil roared to ever higher levels in recent years, the leaders of Venezuela, Iran and Russia muscled their way onto the world stage, using checkbook diplomacy and, on occasion, intimidation.
Now, plummeting oil prices are raising questions about whether the countries can sustain their spending — and their bids to challenge US hegemony. For all 3 nations, oil money was a means to an ideological end.
Iran today called on OPEC to slash oil production by 2 million barrels a day to halt a steep slide in prices.
Other oil ministers of OPEC also said output cuts had to be on the table during their meeting Friday — but were well aware that if production is tightened too much, the resulting price spikes could further dent shaky world economies.
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