Sunday, March 31, 2013
Pope calls for world peace in first Easter speech
Pope calls for world peace in first Easter speech
Pope Francis appeared before a crowd of an estimated 250,000 people to deliver his first Easter Sunday speech since being elected pontiff, during which he made a strong appeal for world peace.
Pope Francis stood before an audience of more than 250,000 people to give his first Easter Sunday speech since he was elected to the papacy, during which he called for world peace, urged respect for the environment and pushed for a diplomatic solution to the crisis on the Korean peninsula.
In his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) address, he also appealed for a resumption of peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, an end to the civil war in Syria and political solutions to conflicts in several African countries.
Formally known as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina, Pope Francis has made the environment an early hallmark of his pontificate, condemning the “iniquitous exploitation of natural resources” and urging his followers to be “guardians” of creation.
Francis delivered his message from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica – the same spot from where he first appeared to the world as pope after his election on March 13 – to a crowd estimated by the Vatican at more than a quarter of a million people.
VATICAN
WORLD’S FIRST JESUIT POPE MAKES CHURCH HISTORY
“Peace in Asia, above all on the Korean peninsula: may disagreements be overcome and a renewed spirit of reconciliation grow,” he said, speaking in Italian.
North Korea said on Saturday it was entering a “state of war” with South Korea. Tensions have been high since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered a third nuclear weapons test in February, breaching UN sanctions and ignoring warnings from North Korea’s sole major ally, China, not to do so.
People thronged the open jeep that carried Pope Francis around at the end of a Mass. He stopped to accept a jersey with his “Bergoglio” name on it from fans of an Argentine football club and to comfort a handicapped man.
Francis, who has brought a more simple and personal style to the papacy, said the message of Easter is that faith can help people transform their lives by letting “those desert places in our hearts bloom”.
Guardians of creation
“How many deserts, even today, do human beings need to cross?! Above all, the desert within, when we have no love for God or neighbour, when we fail to realise that we are guardians of all that the creator has given us and continues to give us,” he said.
Earlier, at a Mass in a square bedecked by more than 40,000 plants and flowers, he wore relatively simple white vestments, as opposed to his predecessor Benedict, who preferred elaborate robes.
The huge crowd spilled out of St. Peter’s Square and into surrounding streets. They included many who had come to see a pope counted on to rehabilitate a Church marred by scandals to do with sexual abuse of children and allegations of corruption.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Boris Berezovsky death: Chemical hazard police give house all-clear
Boris Berezovsky death: Chemical hazard police give house all-clear
Mr Berezovsky told a journalist from Forbes magazine that his life had lost its meaning
The home of the late exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky has been given the all-clear after it was searched by police for chemical, biological and nuclear material.
A cordon around his Berkshire house has now mostly been lifted.
Mr Berezovsky, 67, was found dead on Saturday and police are currently treating his death as unexplained.
He emigrated to the UK in 2000 after falling out with Russia's president, and was granted asylum in 2003.
'Nothing of concern'
Mr Berezovsky's body was reportedly found in a bath at the house in Ascot on Saturday afternoon. An ambulance was called to his house at 15:18 GMT.
His body remained at the property while the search - described by police as a precaution - was carried out.
Supt Simon Bowden, of Thames Valley Police, thanked residents for their patience and apologised for the inconvenience.
"However, we needed to ensure that all precautions were taken prior to entering the property.
Steve Rosenberg: "The Russian media has been describing him as 'the great schemer' and 'an evil genius'"
"I am pleased to say the CBRN [Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear] officers found nothing of concern in the property and we are now progressing the investigation as normal," he said.
Boris Berezovsky amassed a fortune in the 1990s after the privatisation of state assets following the collapse of Soviet Communism.
He survived numerous assassination attempts, including a bomb that decapitated his chauffeur.
In 2003 he was granted political asylum in Britain on the grounds that his life would be in danger in Russia.
The tycoon's wealth is thought to have considerably diminished in recent years, leaving him struggling to pay debts in the wake of costly court cases.
Litvinenko's friend
In 2011, Mr Berezovsky reportedly lost more than £100m in a divorce settlement. And, last year, he lost a £3bn ($4.7bn) damages claim against Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich.
In an informal interview with journalist Ilya Zhegule on the eve of his death, and published on Forbes' Russian language website, Mr Berezovsky reportedly said his life no longer made sense and spoke of his desire to return to Russia.
"There is nothing that I wish more today than to return to Russia," he is quoted as saying.
"I had underestimated how dear Russia is to me and how little I can stand being an emigre.
"I have changed my opinion on a lot of subjects. I had a very idealistic idea on how to build a democratic Russia. And I had an idealistic idea of what democracy is in the centre of Europe.
"I underestimated the inertia of Russia and greatly overestimated the West."
On Saturday a Kremlin spokesman said that Mr Berezovsky had recently written to Mr Putin, saying he wanted to go home.
Some police cordons have remained in place around Mr Berezovsky's property at Titness Park in Ascot
Mr Berezovsky was a close friend of murdered Russian emigre and former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko, who died in 2006 after he was poisoned with the radioactive material polonium-210 while drinking tea at a London meeting.
Without naming Mr Berezovsky, the Kremlin has accused its foreign-based opponents of organising the assassination. It was thought that Russia was, in part referring, to Mr Berezovsky.
He denied the allegation and accused Mr Putin of personally being behind Mr Litvinenko's death. A former Russian intelligence officer, Andrei Lugovoi, has refused to attend the Litvinenko inquest, saying he will not receive "justice" in Britain.
Russian media have described Mr Berezovsky's death as "the end of an era".
On its website, the pro-Kremlin paper Komsomolskaya Pravda describes Mr Berezovsky as having been "clever, cunning, resourceful... a master of chaos".
Meanwhile, Novaya Gazeta - which is normally critical of the Kremlin - described him as someone who "viewed Russia as a chess board", albeit one on which "only he would be allowed to move the pieces".
Mr Berezovsky told a journalist from Forbes magazine that his life had lost its meaning
The home of the late exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky has been given the all-clear after it was searched by police for chemical, biological and nuclear material.
A cordon around his Berkshire house has now mostly been lifted.
Mr Berezovsky, 67, was found dead on Saturday and police are currently treating his death as unexplained.
He emigrated to the UK in 2000 after falling out with Russia's president, and was granted asylum in 2003.
'Nothing of concern'
Mr Berezovsky's body was reportedly found in a bath at the house in Ascot on Saturday afternoon. An ambulance was called to his house at 15:18 GMT.
His body remained at the property while the search - described by police as a precaution - was carried out.
Supt Simon Bowden, of Thames Valley Police, thanked residents for their patience and apologised for the inconvenience.
"However, we needed to ensure that all precautions were taken prior to entering the property.
Steve Rosenberg: "The Russian media has been describing him as 'the great schemer' and 'an evil genius'"
"I am pleased to say the CBRN [Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear] officers found nothing of concern in the property and we are now progressing the investigation as normal," he said.
Boris Berezovsky amassed a fortune in the 1990s after the privatisation of state assets following the collapse of Soviet Communism.
He survived numerous assassination attempts, including a bomb that decapitated his chauffeur.
In 2003 he was granted political asylum in Britain on the grounds that his life would be in danger in Russia.
The tycoon's wealth is thought to have considerably diminished in recent years, leaving him struggling to pay debts in the wake of costly court cases.
Litvinenko's friend
In 2011, Mr Berezovsky reportedly lost more than £100m in a divorce settlement. And, last year, he lost a £3bn ($4.7bn) damages claim against Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich.
In an informal interview with journalist Ilya Zhegule on the eve of his death, and published on Forbes' Russian language website, Mr Berezovsky reportedly said his life no longer made sense and spoke of his desire to return to Russia.
"There is nothing that I wish more today than to return to Russia," he is quoted as saying.
"I had underestimated how dear Russia is to me and how little I can stand being an emigre.
"I have changed my opinion on a lot of subjects. I had a very idealistic idea on how to build a democratic Russia. And I had an idealistic idea of what democracy is in the centre of Europe.
"I underestimated the inertia of Russia and greatly overestimated the West."
On Saturday a Kremlin spokesman said that Mr Berezovsky had recently written to Mr Putin, saying he wanted to go home.
Some police cordons have remained in place around Mr Berezovsky's property at Titness Park in Ascot
Mr Berezovsky was a close friend of murdered Russian emigre and former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko, who died in 2006 after he was poisoned with the radioactive material polonium-210 while drinking tea at a London meeting.
Without naming Mr Berezovsky, the Kremlin has accused its foreign-based opponents of organising the assassination. It was thought that Russia was, in part referring, to Mr Berezovsky.
He denied the allegation and accused Mr Putin of personally being behind Mr Litvinenko's death. A former Russian intelligence officer, Andrei Lugovoi, has refused to attend the Litvinenko inquest, saying he will not receive "justice" in Britain.
Russian media have described Mr Berezovsky's death as "the end of an era".
On its website, the pro-Kremlin paper Komsomolskaya Pravda describes Mr Berezovsky as having been "clever, cunning, resourceful... a master of chaos".
Meanwhile, Novaya Gazeta - which is normally critical of the Kremlin - described him as someone who "viewed Russia as a chess board", albeit one on which "only he would be allowed to move the pieces".
Leftist Bersani asked to form new Italian government
Leftist Bersani asked to form new Italian government
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano has asked Luigi Bersani (pictured), head of the country's left-wing coalition, to form a government. February’s elections produced no clear winner; the political deadlock has revived fears of new economic woes.
Italy's leftist leader Luigi Bersani was asked to form the country's next government on Friday after last month's elections left no clear winner in the eurozone's third largest economy.
President Giorgio Napolitano, who has been trying to resolve the political deadlock, called ex-communist Bersani to a meeting at 1600 GMT.
Napolitano gave Bersani a tentative mandate to investigate the possibility of forming a government after the centre-left narrowly won the February 24-25 elections, but failed to secure a majority in the upper house.
Leftist Bersani asked to form new Italian government
Leftist Bersani asked to form new Italian government
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano has asked Luigi Bersani (pictured), head of the country's left-wing coalition, to form a government. February’s elections produced no clear winner; the political deadlock has revived fears of new economic woes.
Italy's leftist leader Luigi Bersani was asked to form the country's next government on Friday after last month's elections left no clear winner in the eurozone's third largest economy.
President Giorgio Napolitano, who has been trying to resolve the political deadlock, called ex-communist Bersani to a meeting at 1600 GMT.
Napolitano gave Bersani a tentative mandate to investigate the possibility of forming a government after the centre-left narrowly won the February 24-25 elections, but failed to secure a majority in the upper house.
Pope Francis meets predecessor Benedict XVI at Castel Gandolfo
Pope Francis meets predecessor Benedict XVI at Castel Gandolfo
In what is thought to be the first meeting between two popes in at least 600 years, Pope Francis came face-to-face with his predecessor, Benedict XVI, at the Castel Gandolfo papal residence near Rome on Saturday.
Pope Francis flew in to a papal residence near Rome on Saturday for a meeting with "pope emeritus" Benedict XVI -- an unprecedented encounter in the history of the Catholic Church.
Both men were in the white vestments reserved for popes as Benedict has been allowed to continue wearing his papal robes even after his resignation and is still addressed as "Your Holiness".
Francis took a helicopter to the lakeside Castel Gandolfo summer residence where Benedict has been living since stepping down last month.
Benedict came to greet him and Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi pointed out that in the car Francis sat on the right -- "the classic place for the pope" -- while Benedict sat on the left.
In the palace chapel, Lombardi said Benedict had offered Francis the place reserved for popes but that the pontiff had turned it down saying "We are brothers." They ended up kneeling side by side.
The talks round off a historic few weeks at the Vatican after Benedict became the first pope to resign in over 700 years and only the second to do so by choice in 2,000 years of Church history.
The last pope to resign -- Celestine V in 1294 -- was locked up and perhaps killed off by his successor Boniface VIII. There is no record of the two ever meeting post-resignation.
Cardinals in a conclave last week elected Francis -- Latin America's first pontiff and the first non-European pontiff in nearly 1,300 years.
The Vatican said Benedict followed television news coverage of Francis's election from Castel Gandolfo.
Saturday's talks were private and very little is likely to emerge about their content -- with any number of urgent issues for a troubled Roman Catholic Church possibly on the agenda.
The two leaders of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics are both preoccupied with issues ranging from rising secularism in Western countries to the reform of Vatican bureaucracy to the ongoing scandal over the sexual abuse of children by clerics.
The two men -- Francis is 76 and Benedict is 85 -- have very different styles but important core similarities on matters of doctrine and ways forward for the Church after Benedict's often difficult eight-year pontificate.
Francis has paid homage to Benedict and has called him twice since becoming pope.
Analysts say Francis will rely heavily on the theological legacy of the former pope.
Benedict, just before his momentous resignation, also pledged allegiance to whomever his successor might be.
He has said he will live "hidden from the world" as a "simple pilgrim" on life's last journey and is expected next month to move back and live in a former nunnery on Vatican grounds in a life of prayer and academic research.
But the Vatican has said he could also provide "spiritual guidance" to his successor when they live a stone's throw from each other -- an unprecedented and delicate situation for the Church.
-- 'Papacy rooted in Benedict's teachings' --
Benedict is living temporarily in Castel Gandolfo with his secretary Georg Gaenswein -- who confusingly is also the head of his successor's papal household -- and with the four housekeepers who looked after him when he was still pope.
Francis, formerly Jorge Bergoglio, has known Benedict for a long time.
At the 2005 conclave, Bergoglio was the "runner-up" to Joseph Ratzinger, the future Benedict XVI, and represented a more socially progressive current among the cardinals. But reports at the time indicated that he pulled out of the race.
While Ratzinger was reserved in public, Bergoglio is more spontaneous and people-friendly and has shunned some of the trappings of papal office.
Ratzinger was more a follower of tradition and never liked innovation.
But the two are very alike on doctrine and several of Francis's remarks in the first days of his papacy have been borrowed from his predecessor.
Both are opposed to gay marriage, abortion and euthanasia -- in line with the rest of the Catholic leadership.
"This papacy will be rooted in Benedict's teachings," Samuel Gregg from the US-based Acton Institute religious think tank said earlier.
"For the past 25 years, he has been the main intellectual force in the Church," he said.
Francis's popularity is being seen with bitterness in some quarters in the Vatican, where the memory of Benedict still shines strongly, unlike the many ordinary Catholics who have said they prefer the new pope's more direct style.
Postcards have gone on sale around the Vatican in recent days showing a smiling Francis next to a picture of the ever-popular John Paul II -- with no depiction of the pope in between, Benedict.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Madrid Games worth billions to Spain
MADRID: Hosting the 2020 Olympic Games in Madrid would provide a 3.87-billion euro ($ 5.0-billion) boost to the Spanish economy and generate 83,000 full-time jobs, Madrid bid organizers said yesterday.
French Minister Steps Down in Swiss Bank Investigation
Just hours after an announcement that he would be investigated on charges of tax fraud and money laundering, Budget Minister Jérôme Cahuzac resigned from the French government on Tuesday evening, though he insisted he had done nothing wrong.
Rejection of Deposit Tax Scuttles Deal on Bailout for Cyprus
Lawmakers rejected a 10 billion euro bailout package on Tuesday, sending the president back to the drawing board to devise a new plan that might still enable the country to receive a financial lifeline while avoiding a default that could reignite the euro crisis.
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