Venezuela’s Maduro Calls on Obama to Halt US Plan to Assassinate Rival

Venezuela’s acting president urged U.S. leader Barack Obama to stop what he called a plot by the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency to kill his opposition rival and trigger a coup before an April 14 election.

Nicolas Maduro said the plan was to blame his opponent’s murder on the OPEC nation’s government and to “fill Venezuelans with hate” as they prepare to go to vote following the death of socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

Maduro first mentioned a plot against his rival, Henrique Capriles, last week, blaming it on former Bush administration officials Roger Noriega and Otto Reich. Both rejected the allegations as untrue, outrageous and defamatory.

“I call on President Obama – Roger Noriega, Otto Reich, officials at the Pentagon and at the CIA are behind a plan to assassinate the right-wing presidential candidate to create chaos,” Maduro said in a TV interview broadcast on Sunday.

Maduro, who is Chavez’s preferred successor, said the purpose of the plot was to set off a coup and that his information came from “a very good source.”

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Pope Francis Appears For First Angelus

Photo Credit: Telegraph.co.uk

“Thank you for your welcome, and for your prayers,” the first pope from Latin America said from a window of the papal apartment high above the square. “Pray for me,” he added.

Dozens of flags from Francis’s native Argentina were waving in the crowd as the former cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio recited the traditional Sunday Angelus prayer, the first of his papacy.

The occasion has traditionally been a moment to comment on international issues, but Francis instead used the occasion to emphasise his Italian roots.

The former Buenos Aires archbishop, whose father emigrated from Italy’s northwestern Piedmont region, said he chose to name himself after St Francis of Assisi because of his “spiritual ties with this land”. Earlier the pontiff was treated like a rock star on a visit to a parish church. Around 1,000 people thronged a narrow passageway outside the Church of Saint Anna, his local parish church just inside the Vatican gates, as he arrived for mass.

In dramatic contrast with the reserved style of his predecessors, he walked along a hastily constructed barrier reaching deep into the crowd, shaking hands, laughing and joking.

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Controversial Cyprus Proposal Brings Euro Crisis Back Into Focus

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A controversial bailout proposal and bank depositor levy for Cyprus brought the euro-zone’s debt crisis back into focus Monday, causing bond yields to leap, the euro to initially sink against the dollar and Europe’s bank shares to plunge.

News over the weekend spooked the market, after a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout for Cyprus included an unpopular levy on all deposits in the island’s banks.

If the proposal is passed by parliament–Cypriot lawmakers are expected to vote today–this would mark the first time such a strategy has been implemented during the five-year euro-zone crisis.

The European currency was initially hit hard, falling to a three-month low of $1.2882 and the yen resumed its role as a safe-haven asset as it strengthened against the dollar. However the euro started to pare losses one hour into the European session as did other areas of the financial spectrum.

Italian and Spanish bond yields at first climbed sharply and then eased; by 0900 GMT Italy’s 10-year government bond yield was 0.08 percentage points higher at 4.68% and Spain’s bond yielded 5.03% up by 0.13 percentage points, its highest level in 10 days. The Cypriot bailout deal could put the spotlight on Spain’s bond auction, due later in the week.

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Deutsche Bank: Only Jesus Can Save The Eurozone

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Deutsche Bank‘s global head of FX strategy, Bilal Hafeez, recently gave a speech at the annual Deutsche Bank Mittelstand (small and medium-sized enterprises) FX conference in Hamburg, Germany.

The bank’s research department transcribed Hafeez’s speech and sent it out to clients in a note.

The speech focuses on the euro area’s economic woes and the need for the currency bloc to move forward with further integration in order to be economically successful.

Hafeez opens the speech with a reflection on parenting and a child’s years as a “terrible teen.” Then, he makes an interesting comparison to the euro area, complete with a religious allegory.

Hafeez said the euro area needs a role model that people across Europe can respect. “I can only think of one figure that is respected by most Europeans and has never sinned, Jesus!” said Hafeez.

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U.S. Cancels Part Of Missile Defense That Russia Opposed

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The United States has effectively canceled the final phase of a Europe-based missile defense system that was fiercely opposed by Russia and cited repeatedly by the Kremlin as a major obstacle to cooperation on nuclear arms reductions and other issues.

Russian officials here have so far declined to comment on the announcement, which was made in Washington on Friday by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel as part of a plan to deploy additional ballistic missile interceptors to counter North Korea. The cancellation of some European-based defenses will allow resources to be shifted to protect against North Korea.

Aides to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said there would be no reaction until early next week, when they expect to be briefed by American officials. But Russian news accounts quickly raised the possibility that the decision could portend a breakthrough in what for years has been a largely intractable dispute between Russia and the United States. A headline by the Itar-Tass news agency declared, “U.S. abandons fourth phase of European missile defense system that causes the greatest objections from Russia.”

Pentagon officials said that those longstanding objections by Russia played no role in the decision to reconfigure the missile interceptor program, which they said was based on the increased threat from North Korea and on technological difficulties and budget considerations related to the Europe-based program.

“The missile defense decisions Secretary Hagel announced were in no way about Russia,” George Little, a Pentagon spokesman, said Saturday.

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Pope Francis Reaches Out To Jews

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Oded Balilty

Like his predecessor, Pope Francis reached out to Rome’s Jewish community at the very start of his pontificate, pledging to continue to strengthen the increasingly close ties between Catholics and Jews.

Just hours after he was elected the first Latin American pope in history, Francis sent a letter to Rome’s chief Rabbi Riccardo di Segni, saying he hoped to “contribute to the progress that relations between Jews and Catholics” have seen since the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council.

In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, di Segni said the dialogue between Catholicism and Judaism was “complicated” but added that the new pope’s background “gives me trust and hope” that relations will continue to improve.

Other Jewish leaders welcomed the election of a pontiff seen as an ally when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires. Israeli President Shimon Peres said Francis would be a “welcome guest in the Holy Land” while Ronald Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress, said the new pope “always had an open ear for our concerns.”

“By choosing such an experienced man, someone who is known for his open-mindedness, the cardinals have sent an important signal to the world,” Lauder said. “I am sure that Pope Francis I will continue to be a man of dialogue, a man who is able to build bridges with other faiths.”

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Germany Defies Calls For Stimulus

Photo Credit: European University Institute

Germany has ignored calls from its eurozone partners for more economic stimulus by tabling plans to cut spending and balance its budget ahead of schedule on the eve of an EU summit dedicated to growth.

Wolfgang Schäuble, German finance minister, said on Wednesday that his budget for 2014, involving spending cuts of more than €5bn to trim the total below €300bn, was “a strong signal for Europe”.

The plan means Germany will reach budget balance in 2015, a year earlier than required under the “debt brake” written into its constitution.

He described the 2014 spending plan as “growth-friendly consolidation”, intended to prove to the rest of the eurozone that “consistent sustainable budgeting and growth are not mutually exclusive”. Philipp Rösler, economy minister, said Germany’s public finances were the “envy of the world”.

Publication of the budget was deliberately brought forward by a week to bring out the figures before the EU summit, according to German officials. In spite of tough cuts for health, social security and environment, the plan was rushed through the cabinet well ahead of schedule.

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Holy Smoke! The “New World” Finally Gets Its Pope

Photo Credit: Sebástian Freire

The white smoke billowing out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, signaled a changing of the guard for the Catholic Church. Acknowledging the almost half billion Catholics who live in Latin America, the council of Cardinals finally recognized the “new world” by electing Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, as the next Pope.

The 76 year old Argentinian, will be the first non European Pope to be elected in over 1,000 years. He will be known as Pope Francis from now on, indicating he plans to model his life in the same prayerful and humble role as St. Francis of Assissi.

If it’s any indication of his future humility, Cardinal Bergoglio once went to a hospital where sick aids patients lay. He washed and kissed their feet as he said prayers, blessing and expressing his love for them…..He is also well known for his compassion and outspokenness for the poor and downtrodden

Another first is that he is from the Jesuit order, the Church has never had a Jesuit as Pope before.

Other “new world” Cardinals were mentioned as possible candidates for Pope as well, including Irish American Cardinals: New York’s Timothy Dolan, and Boston’s Sean O’Malley.

Cardinal Dolan, particularly would have been well suited to head the Church as he has a stellar reputation for accomplishing tasks, can maneuver through the world of secular politics and is a master at communicating with the media…Strengths necessary as the Church is besieged by a bevy of problems, including outside secular forces and competition from other sects of Christianity….But many other problems the Church faces, are of their own making.

Rumors swirled around the idea of having an American Pope. Some people think too much power is already vested in America and to have an American Pope would be too much. Others said they would be suspicious that an American Pope would be working for the CIA.

Although Latin America accounts for almost half of the population of Catholics in the world, it only has 22 Cardinals out of the approximately 125 elector Cardinals worldwide. So this new Pope signals the recognition that the Churches future growth, for now, lies in the developing parts of the world.

In spite of its problems the Catholic Church is the single largest religion in the world with 1.2 billion members. It is the wellspring of world charity in places where little of that exists and has brought education to millions who would have otherwise been denied a chance to be educated. The Church was also instrumental, under the helm of Pope John Paul, in bringing down the Soviet Unions Iron Curtain that had enslaved millions around the world.

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Ed Farnan is the conservative columnist at IrishCentral, where he has been writing on the need for energy independence, strong self defense, secure borders, 2nd amendment, smaller government and many other issues. His articles appear in many publications throughout the USA and world. He has been a guest on Fox News and a regular guest on radio stations in the US and Europe.

New Pope Francis Called Abortion the ‘Death Penalty for the Unborn’

The archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, has been selected to become the next Pope, leading the Catholic Church. Like his predecessors, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II, he is a staunch pro-life advocate when it comes to abortion.

Last year, then-Cardinal Bergoglio stated, “Abortion is never a solution. We listen, support and understanding from our place to save two lives: respect the human being small and helpless, they can take steps to preserve your life, allow birth and then be creative in the search for ways to bring it to its full development.”

He once called abortion a “death sentence” for unborn children, during a 2007 speech and likening opposition to abortion to opposition to the death penalty.

In an October 2, 2007 speech Bergoglio said that “we aren’t in agreement with the death penalty,” but “in Argentina we have the death penalty. A child conceived by the rape of a mentally ill or retarded woman can be condemned to death.”

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‘I’m Ready To Rain Bullets On The Enemy’: Boy-Leader Kim Jong Un Gets ‘Hard Man’ Makeover As He Poses With Tanks and Threatens US

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North Korea has issued yet another set of apocalyptic threats as the rogue state refuses to back down in the face of war games between the U.S. and South Korea. An official newspaper has quoted a war veteran vowing to ‘rain bullets on the enemy’ while leader Kim Jong Un urged his troops to ‘cut their windpipes’. The 20-something leader has been seen looking increasingly warlike in recent pictures posing next to tanks and guns, prompting speculation he is trying to project a ‘hard man’ image to shore up his authority ahead of a possible new offensive.

North Korea’s army this week officially cancelled an armistice it signed with the South at the end of Korean War. The move makes it more likely that recent tensions, prompted by new UN sanctions as well as the joint military exercises which started yesterday, could bubble over into all-out warfare.

Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of Kim’s Workers’ Party, quoted an 80-year-old veteran of the Korean War supposedly expressed the national mood.

‘I am still keeping a bullet that I failed to fire at a trench in the 1950s because the U.S. imperialists and their stooges signed an armistice agreement,’ he apparently said. ‘Send me to the trench. Give me a rifle. I want to rain bullets on the enemy to my heart’s content.’

Kim himself issued a direct threat to the U.S. and South Korea over their long-scheduled drills on the Korean Peninsula. ‘As the saying goes, a guy who is fond of playing with fire is bound to perish in flames,’ he told troops. ‘All the enemies quite often playing with fire in the sensitive hotspot should be thrown into a cauldron once I issue an order.

‘Once an order is issued you should break the waists of the crazy enemies, totally cut their windpipes and thus clearly show them what a real war is like.’

The leader’s martial attitude in recent photographs is in stark contrast to the laid-back image he attempted to project during the recent visit of former basketball star Dennis Rodman to the pariah nation.

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