Cardinal Francis George said he was as surprised as everyone else when Pope Benedict XVI announced he was stepping down, saying he saw the pontiff briefly last week in Rome and ?there was not the slightest indication in my mind.?
But George added during a news conference that Benedict "looks like a man who?s feeling the weight of his years.?
The cardinal, who will return to Rome to elect a new pope, said Benedict's public role was a particular burden.
"It the public role that the most effort for him and takes the most energy from him," George said, calling Benedict an introvert. "He gets tired in big crowds. . .The teaching, the decision-making [is] relatively easy in comparison to the public role."
Earlier, in a statement, George said Benedict "placed the will of God for the good of the church before every other consideration" when he decided to resign.
"He has taught with clarity and charity what God has revealed to the world in Christ, he has handed on the apostolic faith, he has loved all of God?s people with all his heart," George said in a statement. "He has now shown great courage in deciding, after prayer and soul-searching, to resign his office at the end of this month. ? "With the gratitude of sons and daughters in our hearts, we ask the Lord to bless him and give him strength, as we begin to pray now for the one who will succeed him as Bishop of Rome, Successor of Peter and Vicar of Christ."
Benedict shocked the world by saying he no longer had the mental and physical strength to cope with his ministry, in an announcement that left his aides "incredulous" and will make him the first pontiff to step down since the Middle Ages.
The German-born pope, 85, admired as a hero by conservative Roman Catholics and viewed with suspicion by liberals, told cardinals in Latin that his strength had deteriorated recently. He will step down on Feb. 28 and the Vatican expects a new Pope to be chosen by the end of March.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the pope had not decided to resign because of "difficulties in the papacy" and the move had been a surprise, indicating that even his inner circle was unaware that he was about to quit.
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Raila Odinga, the frontrunner in Kenya's presidential election, taunted his rival Uhuru Kenyatta in a debate on Monday, asking how he would be able to rule from the Hague, where Kenyatta goes on trial shortly on charges of crimes against humanity.
The presidential television debate - the first ever held in the country - failed to produce a clear winner, but gave an early taste of what is expected to be a highly-charged contest to run East Africa's economic powerhouse.
Former finance minister Kenyatta has been summoned to appear at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague a month after the March election to face charges he helped direct ethnic clashes that erupted after a disputed 2007 vote.
If Kenyatta wins this election, his first presidential trip could be to appear in the dock in the Netherlands, alongside his running mate, William Ruto, who has also been charged over the violence. Both deny wrongdoing.
"It will pose serious challenges to run a government by (the internet phone service) Skype from the Hague. It is not practical," said Kenya's current prime minister Odinga who has a narrow lead over Kenyatta according to polls.
During the debate between all eight presidential candidates, Kenyatta played down the challenge posed by the global court.
"If Kenyans choose to elect me, it means they have confidence in my ability to address the ICC issue and lead the country. I will be able to clear my name at ICC and at the same time implement my manifesto," Kenyatta told the moderator.
The March 4 poll will be the first under a new constitution and the first since the 2007 violence that killed more than 1,200 people.
All sides have promised there will not be a repeat of the ethnic tensions that fuelled the bloodshed and the candidates on Monday denied their support was based on tribal allegiance.
"NO CLEAR LOSER"
"I don't think there was any clear loser," said Kenyan politician Abdikadir Mohamed, an analyst at the debate.
Lawyer Paul Muite, one of the lower-ranked candidates by most polls, said President Mwai Kibaki and Odinga, the two rivals in the 2007 vote, should face charges at the ICC.
Martha Karua, the only female candidate, accused politicians of leading "poor" Kenyans to fight in the last vote.
"Politicians do not fight. They shake hands and laugh, as you have seen us doing here. They should not be allowed to call on Kenyans to rise against each other," said the lawyer and former cabinet minister.
The debate was widely followed on Twitter, with the hashtag #KEDebate13.
"I think if anything it made my decision clearer. It gave me a chance to confirm about what I believed about the candidates," said Angela Kamuyu, a university student.
Interest in the debate flagged badly as candidates resorted to well-worn rhetoric on how they would tackle insecurity, government corruption, a tattered health system and education.
"First part of debate interesting, dealt with real issues. Second part downright boring. Overall: debate did not take us forward or backwards," political scientist Mutahi Ngunyi said on the online messaging service.
A second and final debate will be held on February 25, focusing on the economy, land, devolution and foreign policy.
Kenya's High Court will rule on Friday in a case in which rights groups have filed a suit challenging Kenyatta and Ruto's suitability for elected office, given their charges at the ICC.
(Additional reporting by Njuwa Maina; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama on Tuesday signed an executive order seeking better protection of the country's critical infrastructure from cyber attacks that are a growing concern to the economy and national security.
The long-expected executive order, unveiled in the State of the Union speech, follows last year's failed attempt by the U.S. Congress to pass a law to confront continuing electronic attacks on the networks of U.S. companies and government agencies.
The order, which does not have the same force as law, directs federal authorities to improve information sharing on cyber threats ? including some that may be classified ? with companies that provide or support critical infrastructure.
Cyber attacks in recent months targeted a succession of major U.S. companies and government agencies, adding fuel to the debate about how the government and the private sector, which runs most of the critical U.S. infrastructure, can best protect sensitive information.
Obama's order directs government officials, led by the secretary of homeland security, in the next year to create standards to reduce cybersecurity risks. The government will offer incentives to encourage companies to adopt them, but because it lacks legal enforcement power, adoption of the so-called Cybersecurity Framework will be voluntary.
To help companies protect themselves, the order also will set up a program to ease delivery of classified cyber threat information to eligible companies. It also calls for expedited security clearances for some company employees who deal with critical infrastructure.
The executive order carries no power to compel companies to reciprocate or to exchange cybersecurity information among themselves.
That is one reason why the White House hopes Congress this year will attempt to revive a cybersecurity bill that failed last year.
"This does not eliminate the need for legislation," said one senior administration official. Another official called the executive action a "down payment" on new legislation.
Last year's bill, which also included liability protection for companies, is expected to be reintroduced on Wednesday, according to its author, Republican Representative Mike Rogers, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee.
"We agree that our biggest barriers to bolster our cyber defenses can be fixed only with legislation," Rogers said earlier on Tuesday.
His legislation last year passed the House of Representatives but not the Senate, largely because of concerns about protecting private information, particularly when it comes to sharing private data with the government.
Obama's executive order requires government officials to comply with and routinely assess privacy standards and civil liberties protections.
(Reporting by Alina Selyukh; Additional reporting by Joseph Menn in San Francisco; Editing by Marilyn W. Thompson and Eric Beech)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama plans to release a long-awaited executive order aimed at improving the nation's defenses against cyber attacks as early as Wednesday, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The order, drawn up after Congress failed to pass cyber defense legislation last year, is meant to improve the protection of critical industries and infrastructure from cyber intrusions.
Concerns about cyber attacks, which have hit a succession of major U.S. companies and government agencies in recent months, also could be raised by Obama in his annual State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday evening.
One of the White House's major goals is to improve information-sharing about attacks among private companies, and between companies and the government.
"Our biggest issue right now is getting the private sector to a comfort level so they can report anomalies, malware, incidents within their network" without undue fear of being "outed" as victims, said FBI Executive Assistant Director Richard McFeely, head of the Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch.
The order is expected to give the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the lead role in protecting critical U.S. infrastructure, according to a government official who had seen a final draft of the order's executive summary.
DHS will be tasked with setting up a system for sharing cyber threats with private industry and be responsible for protecting critical infrastructure, the official said. Most of the critical U.S. infrastructure is run by private industry.
"We know the executive order isn't going to go as far as legislation could or will go, but it's a good start," the official said.
Some Republicans had wanted the Department of Defense to play the lead role instead of DHS.
Cyber security experts say the executive order - which does not have the same force as a law - is a step in the right direction and indicates Obama takes the problem seriously.
"I think this can fairly be described as a down payment on legislation," said Stewart Baker, former National Security Agency general counsel and a past assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security.
Stewart said he thought the executive order would make a difference in policy and practical terms "but whether it will provide practical protection from cyber attacks is still in doubt."
The executive order will make it easier for people at private companies to get security clearances so classified information can be shared, according to earlier drafts that were leaked and posted online.
It will also make companies work with the National Institute of Standards and Technology to come up with sector-specific standards for cyber security and will then require companies to engage with their regulators to decide how those standards are implemented.
"Companies aren't going to, at first, be required to do anything. These are voluntary standards, except for a few critical infrastructure companies," said James Lewis, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"If you're regulated, the regulator will be able to say, 'Here are some new standards.' If you're not regulated you won't be touched at all."
(Reporting By Steve Holland, Deborah Charles and Joseph Menn. Writing by Warren Strobel; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Todd Eastham)
Nine years ago, I went to Rome, and as part of my tour, went to Vatican City to check out the historic Vatican Museum, St. Peter?s Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel. While waiting in queue for the museum, I was approached by a woman who was pleading with all of the foreigners in quick Italian. I spoke basically no Italian (if she was asking to order a coffee, I may have picked that up?), but was still interested in attempting to discern her plea. Exasperated, she pulled back a scarf that was covering her head and revealed massive open wounds in her scalp, most likely from ringworm. I was physically disgusted and also filled with pity, so I dug into my pockets and slipped what euro coins i had into her palm, quite freaked out. Minutes later, I was allowed entry, with a prepurchased ticket, into the museum where thousands of ?priceless? works of art from before, during, and after the renaissance are stored. The walls and even the ceilings were covered in the works of Rapheal, Rembrandt, and countless lesser known, yet still astonishing creators of beauty. In between these pieces of art, the church had plastered the walls and ceilings in gold and gold leaf, giving the entire interior of the building (which was quite extensive) an opulent yellow glow. That day I learned basically all I needed to learn about catholicism.
Bavarian politicians are planning a revamp of a tiny politics college founded as a "democracy school" in Munich by the Americans after World War II, hoping to turn it into an attractive partner for the city's universities.
Munich's Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) has long been threatening to end decades of cooperation with the state-financed, quasi-independent HfP politics college, wrote the S?ddeutsche Zeitung on Monday.
The Hochschule f?r Politik (HfP), which was established in 1950 by the Americans as a school to teach democratic principles in the post-war period, has become a bit of a laughing-stock in recent years, wrote the paper. For one, the school, which is financed by the Bavarian state parliament rather than the Federal government, does not have any permanent professors, but relies on visiting lecturers.
Secondly, rival political science teachers at LMU have complained that the sixty-year-old HfP college is teaching outdated content, and there have even been personal rifts between staff at the two institutions, the paper said.
"We can't be made responsible for checking up on the HfP," said Edgar Grande, director of the LMU's GSI political science faculty told a session of Bavarian state parliament last summer, and added that he saw "no grounds for cooperation" between the two institutions.
Now, faced with its closure, Bavarian state parliament is working on a plan to completely revamp and redefine what it sees as its "own" college, to make it into a serious, worthy and attractive partner for Munich's universities.
"It's about making clear that cooperation with the HfP can be beneficial for both sides," Michael Piazolo of the Bavarian Freien W?hlen told the paper. "We want to make the bride so pretty that there are as many admirers as possible."
Suggestions so far include changing the name to the "Bavarian School of Public Affairs" and employing fixed term professors to teach focused, practical subjects such as political science designed for application in management, administration or business.
With the new focus, politicians are hoping not only LMU but also Munich's Technical University will jump at the chance to be wedded to the new-look college.
Underage youth drinking concentrated among small number of brandsPublic release date: 11-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Tim Parsons tmparson@jhsph.edu 410-955-6878 Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
First national survey examining brand preferences among underage youth
A relatively small number of alcohol brands dominate underage youth alcohol consumption, according to a new report from researchers at the Boston University School of Public Health and the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The report, published online by Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, is the first national study to identify the alcohol brands consumed by underage youth, and has important implications for alcohol research and policy.
The top 25 brands accounted for nearly half of youth alcohol consumption. In contrast, adult consumption is nearly twice as widely spread among different brands. Close to 30 percent (27.9%) of underage youth sampled reported drinking Bud Light within the past month; 17 percent had consumed Smirnoff malt beverages within the previous month, and about 15 percent (14.6%) reported drinking Budweiser in the 30-day period:
Rank, Brand Reported Use in Previous 30 Days Among Underage Youth
1. Bud Light 27.9%
2. Smirnoff Malt Beverages 17.0%
3. Budweiser 14.6%
4. Smirnoff Vodkas 12.7%
5. Coors Light 12.7%
6. Jack Daniel's Bourbons 11.4%
7. Corona Extra 11.3%
8. Mike's 10.8%
9. Captain Morgan Rums 10.4%
10. Absolut Vodkas 10.1%
Of the top 25 consumed brands, 12 were spirits brands (including four vodkas), nine were beers, and four were flavored alcohol beverages.
"For the first time, we know what brands of alcoholic beverages underage youth in the U.S. are drinking," said study author David Jernigan, PhD, CAMY director. "Importantly, this report paves the way for subsequent studies to explore the association between exposure to alcohol advertising and marketing efforts and drinking behavior in young people."
Alcohol is responsible for 4,700 deaths per year among young people under the age of 21. More than 70 percent of high school students have consumed alcohol, and about 22 percent engage in heavy episodic drinking. At least 14 studies have found that the more young people are exposed to alcohol advertising and marketing, the more likely they are to drink, or if they are already drinking, to drink more.
The researchers surveyed 1,032 youth ages 13-20 via an Internet-based survey instrument. Respondents were asked about their past 30-day consumption of 898 brands of alcohol among 16 alcoholic beverage types, including the frequency and amount of each brand consumed in the past 30 days.
"We now know, for the first time, what alcohol brands and which companies are profiting the most from the sale of their products to underage drinkers," said lead study author Michael Siegel, MD, MPH, professor of Community Health Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health. "The companies implicated by this study as the leading culprits in the problem of underage drinking need to take immediate action to reduce the appeal of their products to youth."
###
This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth monitors the marketing practices of the alcohol industry to focus attention and action on industry practices that jeopardize the health and safety of America's youth. The Center was founded in 2002 at Georgetown University with funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Center moved to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2008 and is currently funded by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For more information, visit www.camy.org.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Underage youth drinking concentrated among small number of brandsPublic release date: 11-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Tim Parsons tmparson@jhsph.edu 410-955-6878 Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
First national survey examining brand preferences among underage youth
A relatively small number of alcohol brands dominate underage youth alcohol consumption, according to a new report from researchers at the Boston University School of Public Health and the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The report, published online by Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, is the first national study to identify the alcohol brands consumed by underage youth, and has important implications for alcohol research and policy.
The top 25 brands accounted for nearly half of youth alcohol consumption. In contrast, adult consumption is nearly twice as widely spread among different brands. Close to 30 percent (27.9%) of underage youth sampled reported drinking Bud Light within the past month; 17 percent had consumed Smirnoff malt beverages within the previous month, and about 15 percent (14.6%) reported drinking Budweiser in the 30-day period:
Rank, Brand Reported Use in Previous 30 Days Among Underage Youth
1. Bud Light 27.9%
2. Smirnoff Malt Beverages 17.0%
3. Budweiser 14.6%
4. Smirnoff Vodkas 12.7%
5. Coors Light 12.7%
6. Jack Daniel's Bourbons 11.4%
7. Corona Extra 11.3%
8. Mike's 10.8%
9. Captain Morgan Rums 10.4%
10. Absolut Vodkas 10.1%
Of the top 25 consumed brands, 12 were spirits brands (including four vodkas), nine were beers, and four were flavored alcohol beverages.
"For the first time, we know what brands of alcoholic beverages underage youth in the U.S. are drinking," said study author David Jernigan, PhD, CAMY director. "Importantly, this report paves the way for subsequent studies to explore the association between exposure to alcohol advertising and marketing efforts and drinking behavior in young people."
Alcohol is responsible for 4,700 deaths per year among young people under the age of 21. More than 70 percent of high school students have consumed alcohol, and about 22 percent engage in heavy episodic drinking. At least 14 studies have found that the more young people are exposed to alcohol advertising and marketing, the more likely they are to drink, or if they are already drinking, to drink more.
The researchers surveyed 1,032 youth ages 13-20 via an Internet-based survey instrument. Respondents were asked about their past 30-day consumption of 898 brands of alcohol among 16 alcoholic beverage types, including the frequency and amount of each brand consumed in the past 30 days.
"We now know, for the first time, what alcohol brands and which companies are profiting the most from the sale of their products to underage drinkers," said lead study author Michael Siegel, MD, MPH, professor of Community Health Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health. "The companies implicated by this study as the leading culprits in the problem of underage drinking need to take immediate action to reduce the appeal of their products to youth."
###
This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth monitors the marketing practices of the alcohol industry to focus attention and action on industry practices that jeopardize the health and safety of America's youth. The Center was founded in 2002 at Georgetown University with funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Center moved to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2008 and is currently funded by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For more information, visit www.camy.org.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Public release date: 11-Feb-2013
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