Pope Benedict hit by new Church child abuse allegations

The Pope is facing allegations he was responsible for delaying Church action against a paedophile priest – the first time he has been accused so directly.

The allegations stem from a letter signed by Benedict XVI in 1985, when he was a senior Vatican official.

Associated Press said it had obtained the letter, signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, resisting the defrocking of offending US priest Stephen Kiesle.

The Vatican says he was exercising due caution before sacking the priest.

Cardinal Ratzinger – who was at the time the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – said the “good of the universal Church” needed to be considered in any defrocking, AP reported.

Series of scandals

Vatican officials say the letter was part of a long correspondence and should not be taken out of context.
… Continue Reading

US and Russia to sign nuclear arms treaty

US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, are due to sign a landmark nuclear arms treaty in the Czech capital, Prague.

The treaty commits the former Cold War enemies to each reduce the number of deployed strategic warheads to 1,550 – 30% lower than the previous ceiling.

It also limits the number of deployed “launchers” – ballistic missiles and heavy bombers – to no more than 700.

The deal replaces the expired Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start) of 1991.

The new limits must be implemented within seven years of the treaty coming into force.

After it was agreed, President Obama hailed the deal as the most comprehensive weapons control agreement in nearly two decades.

“With this agreement, the United States and Russia – the two largest nuclear powers in the world – also send a clear signal that we intend to lead,” he said.
… Continue Reading

Kyrgyzstan opposition sets up ‘people’s government’

The opposition in Kyrgyzstan says it is setting up a “people’s government” after deadly clashes left dozens dead.

An opposition leader and former foreign minister, Roza Otunbayeva, told the BBC that new defence and interior ministers had been appointed.

The whereabouts of President Bakiyev are not clear but reports say that he has flown out of the capital, Bishkek.

Protests at rising prices, corruption and the arrest of opposition leaders had erupted in three cities.

Ms Otunbayeva said the interim government would remain in power for six months and draw up a new constitution.

Kyrgyzstan is a strategically important Central Asian state and houses a key US military base that supplies forces in Afghanistan. Russia also has a base there.

Ms Otunbayeva said these military bases could continue as before.
… Continue Reading

Obama limits US nuclear arms use

President Barack Obama’s administration has unveiled a defence policy to significantly narrow the circumstances in which the US would use nuclear arms.

But its Nuclear Posture Review warned that countries breaking the rules would remain potential targets.

The US strategy document also raised concerns about a “lack of transparency” in China’s nuclear programme.

The review comes two days before Mr Obama and his Russian counterpart sign a landmark nuclear arms reduction pact.

The deal, agreed last month, commits Russia and America to big cuts in nuclear warheads and is to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start), which expired last December.

The far-reaching Nuclear Posture Review, published on Tuesday, outlines plans for “achieving substantial further nuclear force reductions” beyond the new treaty.

Every president since 1991 conducts such a review – the last one took place in 2001 at the start of George W Bush’s administration.
… Continue Reading

7.7-magnitude quake strikes Indonesia

(CNN) — A tsunami watch was in effect for Indonesia after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake rattled the nation early Wednesday, according to geological officials.

The temblor struck 125 miles from Sibolga, situated on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The quake hit at a depth of 19.3 miles at 5:15 a.m. (6:15 p.m. ET, Tuesday) USGS said.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

A destructive, widespread tsunami is not expected, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said, but a local tsunami could affect coastal areas within 62 miles (100 kilometers) of the quake’s epicenter.

Scientists said they do not expect the tsunami to affect the West Coast of North America.

Scientists are monitoring data from ocean buoys to determine whether the earthquake already generated a tsunami, said geophysicist Gerard Fryer of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
… Continue Reading

US anger at Peshawar consulate attack

The US has expressed “great concern” over a deadly assault by militants on the American consulate in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar.

The Pakistani Taliban say they carried out the attack, which left three guards and four militants dead.

A gun battle erupted between security forces and militants after a series of blasts, which damaged buildings.

The raid came hours after 43 people died in a suicide attack just to the north-east, near the Swat Valley.

The bomber targeted a crowded rally held by a Pashtun nationalist party in Timergara, Lower Dir.

Investigators suspect it was co-ordinated with the Peshawar raid, in which attackers tossed grenades into the consulate compound.

There were no reported US casualties and it is not clear if the US building suffered any damage.

Police said it began when four heavily armed men in two cars tried to reach the consulate, which is in a heavily fortified area.
… Continue Reading

We all want to change the world

Dealing with climate change might mean tinkering with the oceans and the atmosphere. Those who could do so would like the regulations to be clear

IN 1975 scientists expert in a new and potentially world-changing technology, genetic engineering, gathered at Asilomar, on the Monterey peninsula in California, to ponder the ethics and safety of the course they were embarking on. The year before, they had imposed on themselves a voluntary moratorium on experiments which involved the transfer of genes from one species to another, amid concerns about the risk to human health and to the environment which such “transgenic” creations might pose. That decision gave the wider world confidence that the emerging field of biotechnology was taking its responsibilities seriously, which meant that the Asilomar conference was able to help shape a safety regime that allowed the moratorium to be lifted. That, in turn, paved the way for the subsequent boom in molecular biology and biotechnology.

Another bunch of researchers, accompanied by policy experts, social scientists and journalists, gathered in Asilomar between March 22nd and 26th, hoped for a similar outcome to their deliberations. This time the topic under discussion was not genetic engineering but geoengineering—deliberately rather than accidentally changing the world’s environment.
… Continue Reading

Launch pad

Apple’s iPad will help persuade consumers that a tablet is a must-have

GIVEN all the hype ahead of the arrival of Apple’s new tablet computer, the debut on April 3rd of the iPad in America was perhaps inevitably going to feel like something of an anti-climax. There were long lines at the company’s stores before daybreak and, as the doors opened, would-be buyers were met with rapturous applause from Apple staff. But many reports suggested that by mid-morning the fervour had died down in most places. At the Apple store in San Francisco late on Saturday afternoon, it almost felt like any other shopping day—except, that is, for the small scrum that had formed around the table where iPads were being tested.

Not that this means Apple’s latest innovation is destined to be a flop. The devices on sale this week are WiFi-only iPads; many people will be waiting for the mobile-wireless ones that are due to go on sale in late April. Moreover, customers were able to order iPads online from mid-March for home delivery beginning April 3rd, which meant they didn’t need to traipse to a store. And Apple agreed to let Best Buy, a big electronics retailer, offer iPads on the same day as its own stores, which siphoned off some traffic from Apple’s outlets. Your correspondent was able to pick up his own iPad from a Best Buy store mid-morning without even having to queue for it.
… Continue Reading

South Africa tension grows after Terreblanche killing

Tension is growing in South Africa after the killing of white supremacist Eugene Terreblanche, with President Jacob Zuma calling for national unity.

Mr Zuma called on political leaders to think before making public statements.

The remnants of Mr Terreblanche’s AWB party said the killing was a “declaration of war” and vowed revenge.

It blames Julius Malema, head of the ruling ANC’s Youth League, for inflammatory actions, including singing a song about killing white farmers.

Mr Terreblanche, 69, was attacked on Saturday evening at home on his farm near the town of Ventersdorp, North West province.

‘Sad moments’

Mr Zuma knows that such a prominent killing could rapidly trigger racial violence, if not handled sensitively, says the BBC’s Karen Allen in Johannesburg.
… Continue Reading

Nine Chinese rescued after week trapped in mine

Nine miners have been rescued from a flooded coal mine in northern China where 153 people have been trapped for a week, Chinese state TV has said.

TV pictures showed the miners being taken in ambulances to hospitals amid jubilation from rescuers.

Some 3,000 people have been working round the clock to try to pump out the water to reach those trapped.

The Wangjialing mine in Shanxi province flooded after miners broke a wall into an abandoned shaft.

The last sign of life had been the sound of tapping on Friday.

Now officials say there are hopes that more workers can be rescued alive.

Eyes covered

Shortly after midnight on Monday (1400GMT on Sunday), the first survivor was brought to the surface.
… Continue Reading