Thursday, November 28, 2013

28/11/13 06:37 from Top Stories - Google News Sydney Morning Herald Greenpeace activist Colin Russell granted bail

» Greenpeace activist Colin Russell granted bail - Brisbane Times
28/11/13 06:37 from Top Stories - Google News
Sydney Morning Herald Greenpeace activist Colin Russell granted bail Brisbane Times Australian Greenpeace activist Colin Russell has been granted bail, the last of the Arctic 30 to leave detention in Russia on hooliganism charges. Mr Rus...

» CIA official outed in drone investigation
28/11/13 08:53 from CNN.com - World
A Pakistani political party official has publicly named two U.S. CIA officials in connection with a police murder investigation into a drone strike.



28/11/13 03:51 from WSJ.com: World News Silvio Berlusconi lost his seat in Italy's Senate, marking the culmination of nearly four months of furor following his conviction for tax fraud and dealing a blow to the man who has dominated Italian politics for nearly two decades.

» Italy's Berlusconi Loses Senate Seat
28/11/13 03:51 from WSJ.com: World News
Silvio Berlusconi lost his seat in Italy's Senate, marking the culmination of nearly four months of furor following his conviction for tax fraud and dealing a blow to the man who has dominated Italian politics for nearly two decades.

It's time to pack up and go!



New York Times-2 hours ago

» Does This Trunk Come in Red?
26/11/13 13:57 from WSJ.com: World News
Vladimir Lenin's role in Russian history carries a lot of baggage, but a two-story designer suitcase has this week eclipsed his long shadow over Red Square.

» Louis Vuitton Trunk Ordered Removed
27/11/13 06:35 from WSJ.com: World News
Russia's presidential administration has ordered the removal of a giant Louis Vuitton suitcase after an outcry over its location at the historical heart of Moscow.


M.N. comments: They don't want to go yet; they need larger suitcases: there is a lot of packing to do...

Last Update: 11.28.13 

Published on
11/26/13 2:34 PM Atlantic Standard Time

See also: Reuters: 


William E. Pomeranz

Russia: Where has all the money gone?

Russia needs new sources of revenue, yet seems unwilling to make the hard economic and political choices to make this happen. Instead of opening up the business sector, Putin continues to put the squeeze on it.  Commentary 


Hamid Karzai - News Review

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Illinois same-sex couple set to be first to wed - NTV 27/11/13 02:23 from Top Stories - Google News | Lesbians, prostitutes the target of Nigeria's Sharia vice squad 27/11/13 03:49 from Uploads by AFP

» Lesbians, prostitutes the target of Nigeria's Sharia vice squad
27/11/13 03:49 from Uploads by AFP
Lesbians, prostitutes the target of Nigeria's Sharia vice squad In Nigeria's northern city if Kano, enforcers of Sharia law patrol the streets looking for evidence of un-Islamic behaviour -- homosexuality, western haircut... From...

» Illinois same-sex couple set to be first to wed - NTV
27/11/13 02:23 from Top Stories - Google News
ABC News Illinois same-sex couple set to be first to wed NTV The Supreme Court has agreed to consider dismissing free-speech claims against two Secret Service agents for their role in a 2004 protest in Oregon against President George W. ...


Guantanamo Detainees 'Trained As CIA Agents'

» Guantanamo Detainees 'Trained As CIA Agents'
27/11/13 04:13 from Sky News | World News | First For Breaking News
The secret programme was deemed a worthwhile risk as prisoners helped the US find and kill al Qaeda operatives, a report says.

Housing data brightens U.S. economic growth outlook - R



27/11/13 07:09 from Reuters: International TBILISI (Reuters) - Five years after it fought a war with Russia, Georgia is preparing to defy its former Soviet masters again by initialing an accord on strengthening ties with Europe

» Five years after war, Georgia defies Russia over Europe
27/11/13 07:09 from Reuters: International
TBILISI (Reuters) - Five years after it fought a war with Russia, Georgia is preparing to defy its former Soviet masters again by initialing an accord on strengthening ties with Europe. 


Despite Russia's concerns, Tbilisi will initial the accord on deepening trade and other cooperation with the EU on Friday at a summit in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius.
It expects to sign the final agreement next year and hopes Moscow will adopt a warmer policy towards it as it tries in the long term to join NATO and the EU.
"I think that in the long run it's in Russia's interests to resolve political disputes between our countries," he said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stepped up pressure on former Soviet republics hoping to move closer to Europe on Tuesday by warning that they would face "years of economic turmoil", including higher unemployment and lower living standards.
Moldova, another former Soviet republic, is also defying the warnings and will initial an agreement on closer ties with the EU in Vilnius.

Ukraine had been expected to sign an association agreement in Vilnius, allowing it to join a free trade area with the bloc. But after months of Russian warnings over gas supply cuts and trade restrictions, Kiev changed its mind last week and said it would rebuild economic ties with Moscow instead.
M.N. comments: Putin's policy of opposing the European integration trend for the Western part of FSSSR is irrational and short-sighted. It is another sign of neo-stalinist isolationism and "Great-Russian ("Veliko-Russkiy") nationalism, chauvinism and insecurity. If anything, Russia will eventually benefit from this trend because in due time it will be extended to herself, not formally, by the paper agreements, but effectively and factually. This trend should be hailed and encouraged, especially in regard to Ukraine and other nearby countries. 
Think about "zis", Wolodimir; and think hard: "zis" is a very serious issue. 

See also:  EDITORIAL - NYT: Vladimir Putin Clings to the Past - November 20, 2013

» Ukraine Still Without Support Deal With Russia
27/11/13 06:56 from WSJ.com: World News
Ukraine hasn't reached a final deal on potential financial support from Russia after abandoning a pact with the EU but plans to hold talks early December.


Tuesday, November 26, 2013

26/11/13 10:48 from Uploads by AFP Global gangs target Australian pupils as drug mules Australian authorities warn that high school students are being recruited by international drug syndicates to help them bring illicit substances into the cou... From: AFP news agency Vi...

» Global gangs target Australian pupils as drug mules
26/11/13 10:48 from Uploads by AFP
Global gangs target Australian pupils as drug mules Australian authorities warn that high school students are being recruited by international drug syndicates to help them bring illicit substances into the cou... From: AFP news agency Vi...

26/11/13 17:41 from WSJ.com: World News A pair of American B-52 bombers flew over a disputed island chain in the East China Sea without informing Beijing, U.S. officials said, in a direct challenge to China and its establishment of an expanded air-defense zone



"Zis is my water!" 
"Drink it up then; put up or shut up, you..."

» U.S. Jets Challenge China's Air Defense Zone
26/11/13 17:41 from WSJ.com: World News
A pair of American B-52 bombers flew over a disputed island chain in the East China Sea without informing Beijing, U.S. officials said, in a direct challenge to China and its establishment of an expanded air-defense zone.



"I said so!"



"And I did so!" 

» US sends B-52s over China-claimed waters - USA TODAY
26/11/13 17:34 from Top Stories - Google News
NDTV US sends B-52s over China-claimed waters USA TODAY NAHA, OKINAWA, Japan — An American carrier battle group and a flotilla of Japanese warships will arrive Wednesday near a vast stretch of ocean claimed by China in what is shaping up...


» US Bombers Fly Over China's Air Defence Zone
26/11/13 16:50 from Sky News | World News | First For Breaking News
The US flies two B-52 bombers over China's controversial new Air Defence Identification Zone during a training flight.


» US B-52s flew over China's newly declared air zone, official says - CNN
26/11/13 16:30 from Top Stories - Google News
NDTV US B-52s flew over China's newly declared air zone, official says CNN (CNN) -- Two U.S. military aircraft flew into China's newly claimed and challenged air defense zone over the East China Sea, a U.S. official said, an acti...


» Defying China, U.S. aircraft fly over East China Sea without notification
26/11/13 16:07 from Reuters: International
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two unarmed U.S. B-52 bombers on a training mission flew over disputed islands in the East China Sea without informing Beijing, Pentagon officials said on Tuesday, defying China's declaration of a new airspace defe...


» U.S. Flies B-52s Into China’s Expanded Air Defense Zone
26/11/13 15:22 from NYT > International
Two long-range American bombers have conducted what Pentagon officials described as a routine training mission through international air space recently claimed by China.


» US bombers fly into China’s defence zone
26/11/13 15:08 from FT.com - World
America insists that it will continue to operate in what it considers to be international air space despite a Chinese declaration over the zone in the East China Sea


» China Sends Aircraft Carrier to South China Sea for Training
26/11/13 14:18 from Voice of America
China has sent its only aircraft carrier on a training mission in the South China Sea, where Beijing is engaged in tense territorial disputes with several of its neighbors. State media say the Liaoning departed Tuesday from its home port...


26/11/13 12:32 from WSJ.com: World News Pope Francis laid out his first major mission manifesto since becoming the head of the Catholic Church, calling for the Church to renew its focus on the poor and launching an attack against global capitalism

» In Major Document, Pope Francis Presents His Vision
26/11/13 12:32 from NYT > International
In the pope’s first significant piece of written work, Francis called on Christians to create a more compassionate church that champions the poor.


Pope Francis called for
Vincenzo Pinto/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

In Road Map, Pope Urges Battle for Poor

Pope Francis on Tuesday presented a vision for his papacy, urging Catholics to create a more compassionate church in an increasingly secular and money-oriented society.



The New York Times



November 26, 2013

In Major Document, Pope Francis Presents His Vision



VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis presented the vision for his papacy on Tuesday, calling on Catholics to battle what he called the “globalization of indifference” to create a more compassionate church that champions the poor as it works to achieve social justice in an increasingly secular and money-oriented society.
Called “Evangelii Gaudium,” (the Joy of the Gospel), the document offers the Roman Catholic Church a road map of sorts for navigating the complexities of the modern world, with the Gospel as a compass for what the pope called “a new phase of evangelization, one marked by enthusiasm and vitality.”
The document, a papal pronouncement known as an apostolic exhortation, was the first major written work Francis has created since he was chosen eight months ago to lead the 2,000-year-old church.
It challenges the church to “abandon the complacent attitude that says: ‘We have always done it this way,'” to find novel, “bold and creative” ways to speak to the faithfuland to make the church more meaningful.
The 84-page document is essentially a compendium of what Pope Francis has said in dozens of speeches and sermons since he became pope in March. “It is the fruit of personal reflection,” the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said at a news conference. “There is coherence between the words of the documents and the actions of the pope.”
An apostolic exhortation does not define Church doctrine, and the document makes clear that some issues – like abortion, or the ordination of women – are not up for discussion.
But there is an acknowledgment too, that the world has changed, and that the church must change with it. It is time, Pope Francis said, for “still broader opportunities for a more incisive female presence in the Church,” in particular “in the various other settings where important decisions are made.”
The local church must have greater say in decision-making, and the renewal of the church can only gain strength if it begins from the bottom up, the pope said.
Bishops and priests on the ground have a better sense of the needs of the faithful, as well as their frustrations, and parishes should become a critical part of the church’s evangelization and outreach. A parish should be a point of “contact with the homes and the lives of its people,” and not a “useless structure out of touch with people or a self-absorbed cluster made up of a chosen few,” he wrote.
» Pope Criticizes Economic Inequality
26/11/13 12:32 from WSJ.com: World News
Pope Francis laid out his first major mission manifesto since becoming the head of the Catholic Church, calling for the Church to renew its focus on the poor and launching an attack against global capitalism.


Using unusually blunt language, he sharply criticized the market economy. "Just as the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill' sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say 'thou shalt not' to an economy of exclusion and inequality, wrote the pontiff in the 224-page document known as the Apostolic Exhortation.

"Such an economy kills," wrote Pope Francis, denouncing the current economic system as "unjust at its roots" and one "which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation." Such a system, he warns, can give birth to a new "tyranny," which "unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules.".

» Pope Francis denounces 'trickle-down' economic theories in critique of inequality - Washington Post
26/11/13 16:20 from Top Stories - Google News
Telegraph.co.uk Pope Francis denounces 'trickle-down' economic theories in critique of inequality Washington Post Pope Francis on Tuesday sharply criticized growing economic inequality and unfettered markets in a lengthy paper ou...

» Pope wants big Church changes
26/11/13 12:52 from CNN.com - World
Pope Francis calls for renewal, major changes in the Roman Catholic Church -- from the top down.


» Pope attacks 'tyranny' of markets in manifesto for papacy - Reuters
26/11/13 11:34 from Top Stories - Google News
Washington Post Pope attacks 'tyranny' of markets in manifesto for papacy Reuters VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis attacked unfettered capitalism as "a new tyranny" and beseeched global leaders to fight poverty and...


» Pope Francis attacks 'tyranny' of markets - Hindustan Times
26/11/13 12:11 from Top Stories - Google News
Montreal Gazette Pope Francis attacks 'tyranny' of markets Hindustan Times Pope Francis called for renewal of the Roman Catholic Church and attacked unfettered capitalism as "a new tyranny", urging global leaders to fig...

Pope urged Vladimir Putin to protect human dignity - romereports.com | Pope Francis And Putin Meet For First Time 26/11/13 05:13 from Sky News | World News | First For Breaking News | Pope Meets Putin At The Vatican - RFERL





Pope meets with Russian president Vladimir Putin, urging him to protect 'human dignity'


Published on Nov 25, 2013
Vladimir Putin made his way to the Vatican on Monday afternoon, to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican\'s Apostolic Palace. During their 35 minute meeting the Pope urged Vladimir Putin to protect human dignity. As a gift, the president gave the Pope an Byzantine icon of Our Lady of Tenderness.

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Визит в Ватикан http://www.kremlin.ru

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» World Briefing | Europe: The Vatican: Putin Meets the Pope
25/11/13 20:53 from NYT > Europe
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia met with Pope Francis in the Vatican on Monday, and their first encounter was primarily focused on the Middle East.     

» Putin and the pontiff: Not as odd a couple as you might think - Christian Science Monitor
26/11/13 15:47 from Top Stories - Google News
Christian Science Monitor Putin and the pontiff: Not as odd a couple as you might think Christian Science Monitor They made a distinctly odd couple, but Pope Francis and Vladimir Putin found common ground yesterday when they met at the V...


» Berlusconi breaks with government ahead of Italy Senate showdown
26/11/13 15:10 from Reuters: International
ROME (Reuters) - Silvio Berlusconi's center-right party declared on Tuesday it would vote against Italy's 2014 budget, confirming its break with the ruling coalition a day before the Senate moves to expel the media tycoon over a tax frau...


» Pope Francis And Putin Meet For First Time
26/11/13 05:13 from Sky News | World News | First For Breaking News

The Pope and Vladimir Putin discussed the Middle East and problems faced by Christians as they met for the first time.


Pope Francis And Putin Meet For First Time: 
"Fess up, boy!" 
"What the f... does he want from me?!" 

Free Pussy Riot! Free Pussy Riot! Free Pussy Riot! 














Pope Meets Putin At The Vatican

"And now we can lock horns, Pa-pa'!" 
"You better be sure whom you are trying to play with, you little devil!" 

TEXT SIZE 
Pope Francis has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It was the first time the Russian leader has met with the pontiff.

The Vatican said in a statement that during the 35-minute audience, the two discussed "the urgency of favoring concrete initiatives to a peaceful solution to the [Syria] conflict that will favour the path of negotiations."

Putin is also scheduled to meet with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano.

On November 26, Putin will travel to Trieste for talks with Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta.

It is Putin's first trip to Italy since he visited as prime minister in 2010.
Based on reporting by AFP and AP
Will Francis go to Moscow? Russian Orthodox size up new pope