Italy votes against austerity leaving EU in turmoil

Three years of German-led austerity and budget cuts aimed at saving the euro and retooling the European economy was left facing one of its biggest challenges as Italian voters' rejection of spending cuts and tax rises opened up a stark new fissure in European politics.

Spain's Bankia loses €19 billion in 2012

Spanish bank Bankia has lost 19 billion euros in 2012, according to a today’s announcement. Bankia received last December 18 billion euros in eurozone aid to restructure by closing branches and cutting jobs.

Why The United Kingdom Won’t Abolish Its Monarchy

Monarchy. It’s an internationally celebrated institution and in the UK, many regard it as what puts the ‘Great’ into Great Britain. Despite the Monarchy’s profound popularity and the many political and cultural advantages it offers, there are a few (and we mean a few) who advocate a republican Great Britain.

Monarchy has so much to offer to this country and indeed many other countries. Let’s first start by

UK PM's party humbled in vote as anti-EU party surges

(Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron's ruling Conservative party was humiliated in an election in England on Friday after it was defeated by a scandal-ridden coalition partner and pushed into third place by an anti-EU party.

EU leaders agree historic cut in long-term budget

European Union leaders for the first time in the bloc's history agreed to a cut in spending as they thrashed out a seven-year budget Friday in marathon talks in Brussels, Belgium.

The deal, which covers the period from 2014 to 2020, will limit actual EU spending to €908 billion ($1.2 trillion), with a spending ceiling of 959 billion euros. 

The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, had initially proposed a 5% increase to its budget for the seven-year period, to about €1 trillion ($1.4 trillion).European Council President Herman Van Rompuy hailed the deal reached Friday -- after talks he said were the longest of his presidency -- as balanced and oriented toward future competitiveness and growth.

"It was no easy task," he said, "but it was worth working for."

The Multiannual Financial Framework, as the seven-year budget is known, must still be approved by the European Parliament.

The compromise agreement is not the perfect deal for all 27 EU member states, Van Rompuy said, but it is realistic and shows that European leaders are facing up to their responsibilities at a time of economic difficulties across the region.

The focus of the budget is on growth and jobs, he said, with funding directed toward such areas as education, research and development, tackling youth unemployment and improving transport networks.

It also maintains development aid for the poorest nations of the world, Van Rompuy said, and will allow the EU to remain engaged with vital global issues such as climate change and nuclear safety.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the body would have preferred an outcome closer to the original proposal it put forward.

But, he said, "It must recognize that the political deal made now was the highest possible that heads of government could reach."

After difficult negotiations, the budget is "not perfect but offers a basis for negotiations with the European Parliament," he said. "It was a marathon but it was a marathon for very important results."

A previous summit in November collapsed without a deal amid deep divisions over EU spending at a time of wide austerity.

The budget wrangling comes as the continent struggles with serious economic challenges that have reverberated globally.

The European Union's yearly spending amounts to about 1% of the region's annual economic output.

Most funding comes from member-state contributions. Germany is the largest contributor, providing about 20% of the total budget. Other net contributors include Britain, France, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden.

Britain was among the nations pushing for cuts to spending, with Prime Minister David Cameron insisting that the EU "should not be immune from the sorts of pressures that we have had to reduce spending, find efficiencies and make sure that we spend money wisely."

France was keen to protect the budget for agriculture, which was spared further cuts in the new deal.(JP)

Too tired to go on, Pope Benedict resigns

The spiritual leader of 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI, surprised the world Monday by saying he will resign at the end of the month "because of advanced age."

It's the first time a pope has stepped down in nearly 600 years.

"Strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me," said Benedict, 85, according to the Vatican.

The news startled the Catholic world and led to frenzied speculation about who would replace him, including a debate about the merits of naming a pontiff from the developing world, where the church continues to grow, versus one from Europe, where it has deep historical roots.But that decision will not be made by Benedict, who will leave his post at 8 p.m. on February 28, said the Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman.

"Before Easter, we will have the new pope," he said.

While Benedict won't be directly involved in his successor's selection, his influence will undoubtedly be felt. He appointed 67 of the 117 cardinals that -- as of Monday -- are set to make the decision.

The number of electors could drop to 115, as two cardinals will turn 80 in March, when their age makes them ineligible to cast a vote. More than two thirds of whatever the final number must agree on the next pope, a decision that will be announced to the world in the form a puff of white smoke emerging from a chimney in the Vatican.

CNN Senior Vatican Analyst John Allen said that means the next pope, no matter where he is from, will probably continue in Benedict's conservative tradition, which has seen the church take a firm line on issues such as abortion, birth control and divorce.

Resignation 'not a decision he has just improvised'

The pope, born Joseph Ratzinger, will first head to the pope's summer residence before he likely retires to a monastery and devotes himself to a life of reflection and prayer, Lombardi said. He won't be involved in managing the church after his resignation.

In a sign of just how rare an event this is, church officials aren't sure what the pope will be called after he leaves the office.

One possibility, Allen said, is "bishop emeritus of Rome."

While not quite unprecedented, his resignation is certainly historic. The last pope to step down before his death was Gregory XII, who in 1415 quit to end a civil war within the church in which more than one man claimed to be pope.

Benedict took months to decide that he wasn't up for the job anymore, Lombardi said.

"It's not a decision he has just improvised," the Vatican spokesman said.A family friend in Regensburg, Germany, told CNN that Benedict had been thinking resigning for some time because of his age. He had discussed the decision with his older brother, the Rev. Georg Ratzinger, according to the friend, who asked not to be named because he does not speak for Georg Ratzinger.

Several years ago, Benedict had suggested he would be open to resigning should his health fail, Allen said. But no one expected him to do so this soon.

Jannet Walsh, a CNN iReporter from Murdock, Minnesota, counts herself among those "shocked" by the news of his resignation. But she said it was an admirable decision because he seemingly recognized that he could not adequately "carry out his office as pope" given his health.

"The resignation of the pope is actually a very selfless act, and it should be applauded," Walsh said.

Benedict's legacy

Joseph Ratzinger was born and raised in Germany, where he briefly served in the Hitler Youth, despite his objections, and the German military during World War II. He then established himself as a leading theologian, professor and local Catholic leader before rising up the Vatican ranks.

He was dean of the College of Cardinals in 2005 when he became the sixth German to be picked as pope, albeit the first since the 11th century. At the time, the church was facing several pressing issues, including declining popularity in parts of the world and a growing crisis over the church's role in handling molestation accusations against priests around the world.

Given his age at the time -- 78 -- he was widely seen as a caretaker pope, a bridge to the next generation after the long tenure of John Paul II, a popular, globe-trotting pontiff whose early youth and vigor gave way to such frailty in later years that he required help walking and was often hard to hear during public addresses.

As an aide to John Paul, Benedict served as a strict enforcer of his conservative social doctrine. To no one's surprise, he continued to espouse a conservative doctrine after taking the office himself. He frequently warned of a "dictatorship of relativism."

"In a world which he considered relativist and secular and so on, his main thrust was to re-establish a sense of Catholic identity for Catholics themselves," said Delia Gallagher, contributing editor for Inside the Vatican magazine.

Not everyone embraced this conservatism. CNN iReporter Egberto Willies, a former Catholic, said positions such as opposing the distribution of condoms to curb the AIDS epidemic in Africa shows how "outdated" the church under Benedict was.

"This is a pope that was so conservative that many of his values simply, in today's world, made no sense," said Willies, a resident of Kingwood, Texas.

Bill Donohue, of the conservative U.S. Catholic League, credited Benedict for working to reduce friction among adherents of various faiths, something that was a key part of John Paul's mission as well.

"The pope made it clear that religious freedom was not only a God-given right, it was 'the path to peace,'" Donohue said.

But Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, offered a different take. He referenced a 2006 speech Benedict made in which he quoted from 14th century Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus saying the Muslim Prophet Mohammed brought into the world "things only evil and inhuman." These remarks spurred protests by Muslims worldwide and an apology from the pope.

"This sadly meant the hard work of his predecessor Pope John Paul II was tarnished and required extensive work to rebuild ties between Christianity and Islam," Shafiq said. "That is something he has tried to do over the past eight years, and we do wish it could have started better than it did."

In his tone, demeanor and actions, Benedict was notably different from his predecessor. Where John Paul wowed crowds around the world with his mastery of numerous languages, Benedict's influence will be felt through his writings, part of his training as a college professor, Gallagher said.

Allen called Benedict a "great teaching pope."

Praised, criticized for actions regarding sex abuse

Benedict became pope at the height of the molestation scandal involving Catholic priests, with complaints of sexual abuse and lawsuits over the issue tearing at the church and threatening its moral standing around the world.

In 2008, he acknowledged "the shame which we have all felt" over abuse reports and said those responsible for the "evils" should face justice. Two years later in 2010 -- the same year that he issued new rules aimed at stopping abuse -- he said abusive priests "disfigured their ministry" and brought "profound shame and regret" on the church.

The new rules included allowing church prosecution of suspected molesters for 20 years after the incidents occurred, up from 10 years previously. The rules also made it a church crime to download child pornography and allowed the pope to remove a priest without a formal Vatican trial.

"No one did more to successfully address the problem of priestly sexual abuse than Joseph Ratzinger," Donohue said.

But others -- such as Barbara Blaine, president of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests -- say the opposite is true.

"I would hate for him to be remembered as someone who did the right thing because from our perspective, Pope Benedict's record has been abysmal," Blaine said.

In 2010, The New York Times reported that church officials, including Ratzinger, had failed to act in the case of a Wisconsin priest accused of molesting up to 200 boys. The Times reported that church officials stopped proceedings against the priest after he wrote Ratzinger, who was at the time the cardinal in charge of the group that oversees Catholic Church doctrine.

Ratzinger never answered the letter, according to the Times, and church officials have said he had no knowledge of the situation. But a lawyer who obtained internal church paperwork said at the time that it "shows a direct line from the victims through the bishops and directly to the man who is now pope."

Also in 2010, the Times reported that the future pope -- while serving as the archbishop in Munich -- had been copied on a memo informing him that a priest accused of molesting children was being returned to pastoral work. At the time, a spokesman for the archdiocese said Ratzinger received hundreds of memos a year, and it was highly unlikely that he had read it.

Victims' groups are pressing the International Criminal Court to prosecute Benedict in the sex abuse scandal and say the resignation won't change that, according to Pam Spees, of the public policy law firm Center for Constitutional Rights, which is helping SNAP pursue the case.

In a statement issued Monday, Blaine said the church should choose a new pope dedicated to preventing sexual abuse by priests.

"For the church to truly embody the spiritual teachings of Jesus Christ, it must be led by a pontiff who demands transparency, exposes child-molesting clerics, punishes wrongdoers and enablers, cooperates with law enforcement and makes true amends to those who were hurt so greatly by Catholic priests, employees and volunteers," she said.

For others, the next pope must be someone who not only can satisfactorily address this scandal and other issues, but he also must be able to speak to all Catholics and others -- especially younger people -- in a way that resonates with them.

"I know that my grandparents think of the whole church a little bit differently than my generation does," said Kaleigh Forst, a student, in New York City. "I feel like we could use somebody maybe a little younger, that has a new perspective."

World, Catholic leaders express surprise, admiration

Whatever his past, few expected Benedict to announce he was stepping down, including world and Catholic leaders, who voiced admiration for his decision and the man himself.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, himself a Catholic, said he thought the pope set "an incredibly high standard" by understanding his own limitations and how they might affect the church.

"The decision reinforces for me as a practicing Catholic that this is a man of great integrity and looking out for what he believes is in the best interest of our church," Biden said. "I admire him for it."

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Benedict "will be missed as a spiritual leader to millions." Cameron's Irish counterpart, Enda Kenny, praised Benedict for decades of leadership and service, as well as his decision to resign.

"It reflects his profound sense of duty to the Church, and also his deep appreciation of the unique pressures of spiritual leadership in the modern world," Kenny said in a prepared statement.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols, the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, said the decision "shocked and surprised everyone."

"Yet, on reflection, I am sure that many will recognize it to be a decision of great courage and characteristic clarity of mind and action," he said.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Bishops, said he was startled, and sad, to see Benedict resign

"It's like watching your own Dad get old and admit he's not up to all the duties that being the head of a family involves," Dolan said. "And there's a somberness, there's a sadness there." (JP)

Russian lawmaker's body found in barrel of cement

A Russian lawmaker found stuffed in a barrel of cement last week may have been killed over unpaid debts, investigators said on Monday.

Russian meteor blast injures at least 1,000 people, authorities say

Moscow (CNN) -- A meteor streaked through the skies above Russia's Urals region Friday morning before exploding with a flash and boom that shattered glass in buildings and left about 1,000 people hurt, authorities said.

British parliament passes bill legalizing same-sex marriage.

Published February 05, 2013

Associated Press

LONDON – British parliament passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage Tuesday.
Prime Minister David Cameron and other senior British officials threw their support behind a gay marriage bill ahead of a key Parliament vote on the divisive topic.
The bill enables same-sex couples to get married in both civil and religious ceremonies, provided that the religious institution consents. The proposals have divided opinion among members of Cameron's Conservative Party and dozens of them are expected to vote against the bill later Tuesday.
In a last-minute statement, Cameron -- who did not attend the debate -- said passing the bill is "an important step forward" for Britain.
"I am a strong believer in marriage. It helps people commit to each other and I think it is right that gay people should be able to get married too," he said. "This is, yes, about equality. But it is also about making our society stronger."
Despite stronger-than-expected opposition within the Conservative ranks, the bill is expected to pass with support from most lawmakers in the left-leaning Labour Party and Liberal Democrats party.
Officials have stressed that all religious organizations can decide for themselves if they want to "opt in" to holding gay weddings. However, the Church of England, the country's official faith, is barred from performing such ceremonies unless it changes its laws.
The bill would also allow couples who had previously entered into civil partnerships to convert their relationship into a marriage.
Critics say the proposals would change long-standing views about the meaning of marriage. Some Conservatives also fear the proposals would cost the party a significant number of votes in the next election.
"Marriage is the union between a man and a woman, has been historically, remains so. It is Alice in Wonderland territory, Orwellian almost, for any government of any political persuasion to seek to come along and try to re-write the lexicon," Conservative lawmaker Roger Gale said.
In a letter published Tuesday in the Daily Telegraph, senior Conservatives including Foreign Secretary William Hague and Home Secretary Theresa May urged fellow party members to support the proposal.
"Marriage has evolved over time. We believe that opening it up to same-sex couples will strengthen, not weaken, the institution," they wrote. "This is the right thing to do at the right time."
If passed, the bill's provisions would come into effect in 2015, ahead of the next British general election

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/02/05/uk-lawmakers-to-vote-on-gay-marriage-bill/#ixzz2K7i7C9sb

Falklands will be under our control within 20 years, says Argentina

The Falklands Islands will be under Argentinian control within 20 years, the South American country's foreign minister, Héctor Timerman, has said in an interview with the Guardian.

Sweden is no longer neutral, drones are ‘totally illegal’ – Norberg

Robles: How does Sweden officially explain that they allow these installations? And do you think all these maneuvers are designed to intimidate Russia or to try to exercise sovereignty on the Arctic?

Russia denies bullying Ukraine into its customs union

Moscow, which recently slammed Kyiv with a huge gas bill, said Monday (4 February) that an arrangement could be found. A Russian diplomat explained that the deal would not necessarily require Ukraine to join Moscow's proposed Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan. 

According to statements by a high-ranking Russian diplomat, Moscow does not link the lowering of gas prices to Ukraine with the country’s customs union membership.

The European Commission has warned Ukraine that its possible customs union agreement with Russia is incompatible with the Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) it wants to sign with the EU.

Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan agreed in June 2009 to form a customs bloc and seek joint accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The move was opposed by the European Union and the United States, as it was expected to delay Russia's own WTO bid. Russia joined the WTO last summer, after a 19-year long wait.

Ukrainian media quoted the Russian ambassador to Kyiv, Mikhail Zurabov, saying that the disagreement over a $7-billion (€5.2-billion) bill which Russia recently presented to Ukraine won’t need to go to court. The bill was presented as part of a 'take-or-pay’ clause according to which Ukraine has to pay even if it hasn’t imported the gas.

Hungarian Jews flee to Austria Leader of Vienna's Jewish community says anti-Semitism in Hungary is causing influx of Jewish immigrants

 The leader of Vienna’s Jewish community says anti-Semitism in Hungary is causing an influx of Jewish immigrants to Austria.

Oskar Deutsch said he was pleased people were coming, but that the circumstances forcing Jews to leave Hungary were deeply troubling.