Companies Need Carbon Certainty Uncertainty over plans to introduce a national carbon-emissions trading scheme could limit investment in energy production in the face of growing demand, environmental analysts have reported.... Read Full Article Bankruptcy Court Asked To Sanction Countrywide In an escalation of legal trouble facing Countrywide Financial Corporation, federal regulators asked the courts to sanction the company for abusing the bankruptcy system.... Read Full Article Credit Turmoil Hits Banks Funding Delta’s Offer For Sainsbury The proposed takeover of J Sainsbury could be in doubt after it emerged that the three banks funding Delta Two’s £10.6 billion offer have been forced to go back to their credit committees... Read Full Article Human Shield To Defy Kangaroo Killers Wildlife activists are preparing to become human shields to prevent a cull of more than 400 kangaroos in Australia’s capital city in a slaughter that has drawn international condemnation.... Read Full Article Razing Farms For Factory Creates Battleground In India A plan to turn fertile farmland into an automobile factory has ignited crippling demonstrations and violent conflicts.... Read Full Article |
Pope Calls For Peace And Celebrates ConversionsVATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI led prayers for peace on the holiest day of the Christian year at a rainy outdoor Mass here on Easter Sunday, exulting conversions to the faith hours after the Vatican highlighted the baptism of Italy’s most prominent Muslim. Alessandro Bianchi/ReutersPope Benedict XVI delivered the benediction on Easter Sunday. In a prayer before thousands of soaking pilgrims and tourists at St. Peter’s Square, the pope noted that the disciples had spread the message of Christ’s resurrection — celebrated Sunday — and as a result “thousands and thousands of persons converted to Christianity.” “This is a miracle, which renews itself even today,” he said. Days after Osama bin Laden issued a threat against Europe that included an accusation that the pope was involved in a “new Crusade” against Islam, Magdi Allam, an Egyptian-born writer protected by Italian bodyguards because of his criticism of radical Islam, was baptized by the pope Saturday night and received his first holy communion. The news about Mr. Allam, a secular Muslim who is married to a Catholic, was confirmed by a Vatican news release an hour before the baptism. “It was the most beautiful day of my life,” Mr. Allam, 55, a deputy editor at Italy’s largest daily newspaper, Corriere della Sera, wrote Sunday in a column. “The miracle of the resurrection of Christ reverberated in my soul, freeing it from the shadows of a preaching where hate and intolerance toward he who is different, toward he who is condemned as an ‘enemy,’ prevailed over love and respect for your neighbor.” Mr. Allam said that he would take a new middle name, “Cristiano,” Italian for Christian. Easter culminates the busiest week of the year at the Vatican. Scores of Masses and ceremonies mark the period in which Jesus Christ was arrested, crucified and, two days later, resurrected. According to tradition, the 80-year-old pope prayed for peace in troubled parts of the world. He cited Darfur in Sudan, Somalia and “the tormented Middle East, especially the Holy Land, Iraq, Lebanon.” He also mentioned Tibet, a delicate issue for the Vatican, which is working to improve ties with China, amid unconfirmed reports of direct talks here last week between Chinese and Vatican officials. “How often relations between individuals, between groups and between peoples are marked not by love but by selfishness, injustice, hatred and violence,” the pope said. “These are the scourges of humanity, open and festering in every corner of the planet, although they are often ignored and sometimes deliberately concealed; wounds that torture the souls and bodies of countless of our brothers and sisters.” Though it was hard to hear him because of the sound of rain falling on umbrellas, the pope, under a canopy in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, delivered Easter greetings in 63 languages. Tag CloudExternal InformationAdditional InformationGirl boxers are a knockout at the Taleban’s former stadium of death...Federal Judge Calls Rendition Process ?Outsourcing?... Fuel cuts poised to black out Gaza Strip again... Squad Leader Charged in Killings of 24 Iraqi Civilians... Where Am I?News Main Page - Business - Pope Calls For Peace And Celebrates Conversions |
i8news.com |