Merkel spoke privately for 45 minutes with the pope at the Apostolic Palace, after exchanging cordial greetings in German. Her Christian Democrat party depends heavily on support from Protestant and Catholic voters, and the chat and photo opportunity could be a welcome campaign boost for a leader largely identified by Europe's economically suffering citizens as a champion of debt reduction, including painful austerity across much of the continent.

For its part, the Vatican is eager for allies in its campaign to win over more Catholics. Francis was leading a sort of pep rally for the faith in St Peter's Square Saturday evening, attended by about 150,000 people. Most were from Europe but many came from the pope's native South America. They sang and prayed during an hours-long gathering ahead of the pope's appearance.

On Thursday, Francis blasted what he called a "cult of money" in a global financial system that ends up tyrannizing, not helping, the world's poor. Francis, who is Argentine, has picked up on campaigns by the two previous popes, the Polish John Paul II and German Benedict XVI, to reinvigorate what the Catholic church sees as flagging religious enthusiasm on a continent with Christian roots, including dwindling numbers of churchgoers in much of Western Europe.

"I see continuity in the missionary aspect, in becoming aware of the importance of Christianity for our Christian roots," said Merkel, adding that the "simple and touching words" of Francis, who was elected pontiff two months ago, are already reaching people. The Vatican also uses papal visits with major leaders to seek allies in lobbying on behalf of Christians who face discrimination and in some cases physical violence in parts of the world.

"Jolie has had a very difficult personal history with a number of partners, including a lesbian relationship, estrangement from her father, adopting as a single parent, global fame as the world's most beautiful woman, and intense scrutiny of her personal life by the media. Her case is obviously unique. While it is clear that she is brave and determined, it is far from clear that other women should take her as a role model."

Money should be made to “serve” people, not to “rule” them, he said, calling for a more ethical financial system and curbs on financial speculation. Countries should impose more control over their economies and not allow “absolute autonomy”, in order to provide “for the common good”. The gap between rich and poor was growing and the “joy of life” was diminishing in many developed countries, the Argentinian Pope said, two months after he was elected as the successor to Benedict XVI.

“While the income of a minority is increasing exponentially, that of the majority is crumbling,” said Francis, who as archbishop of Buenos Aires visited slums, opted to live in a modest flat rather than an opulent Church residence and went to work by bus. In poorer countries, people’s lives were becoming “undignified” and marked by violence and desperation, he said. Francis made the strongly-worded remarks in his first major speech on finance and the economy, during an address to foreign ambassadors in the Vatican.

It underlined a reputation he has established in the last two months for showing deep concern for the plight of the poor and vulnerable. “The worship of the golden calf of old has found a new and heartless image in the cult of money and the dictatorship of an economy which is faceless and lacking any truly human goal,” Francis told the ambassadors.

It seems we were not the only ones who read this justification somewhat skeptically: so did Russia. And in a historic event, the Russian Pacific fleet, for the first time in decades, crossed the Suez Canal and entered the Mediterranean, direction Cyprus' port of Limasol (hi Cyprus - Russia will be arriving shortly) in what is now the loudest implied warning to the US and Israel amassing military units across Syria's border that Russia will not stand idly by as Syria is used by the Israeli "Defense" Forces for target practice.

“The task force has successfully passed through the Suez Channel and entered the Mediterranean. It is the first time in decades that Pacific Fleet warships enter this region,” Captain First Rank Roman Martov said. This is what is also known as dropping hints, loud and clear.

A new analysis of the 2011 census shows that a decade of mass immigration helped mask the scale of decline in Christian affiliation among the British-born population – while driving a dramatic increase in Islam, particularly among the young. It suggests that only a minority of people will describe themselves as Christians within the next decade, for the first time.

Meanwhile almost one in 10 under 25s in Britain is now a Muslim. The proportion of young people who describe themselves as even nominal Christians has dropped below half for the first time. Initial results from the 2011 census published last year showed that the total number of people in England and Wales who described themselves as Christian fell by 4.1 million – a decline of 10 per cent.

But new analysis from the Office for National Statistics shows that that figure was bolstered by 1.2 million foreign-born Christians, including Polish Catholics and evangelicals from countries such as Nigeria. They disclosed that there were in fact 5.3 million fewer British-born people describing themselves as Christians, a decline of 15 per cent in just a decade.

Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, said the long-term reduction of Christianity, particularly among young people, was now “unstoppable”. “The time has now come that institutional Christianity is no longer justified, the number has dropped below critical mass for which there is no longer any justification for the established Church, for example, or the monarch going through a religious ceremony at coronation. The expressions of optimism by the church are just completely misplaced.”

While the official line from US elite such as Bernanke remains that 'gold is not money' it appears that increasingly other nations would disagree, as Cohen admitted, "in large measure what we're seeing is private Iranian citizens buying gold as a protection against the falling value of Iran's currency." It would seem somewhat self-evident that the US is admitting, by attempting to embargo this gold flow, that outside the US, the Dollar is becoming increasingly irrelevant; and that for many countries the petrodollar no longer exists, having been replaced by 'Petrogold'.

The billionaire boss of CQS, one of London’s biggest hedge funds, has written to investors warning them that France could trigger another more dangerous phase of the debt crisis and rock the fragile global recovery. In a note to investors, Mr Hintze has said: “While Cyprus has stolen the news headlines of late, I am concerned that the eurozone’s problems could soon turn to the ‘core’, and in particular the focus could be on France.”

He added: “A loss of confidence in France would shift the eurozone’s troubles to a higher plane. France lies not only at the core of the eurozone, but is also one of the original architects of the European Union. Clearly, a loss in confidence in France would likely have far-reaching consequences; its impact on the EU, the broader global economy and markets.”

Mr Hintze, a Tory donor and leading philanthropist, said that rising social unrest, especially among young people, could hamper the French government’s ability to push through “deeper economic reforms that are required.” “A reflection of growing discontent among the youth can be seen in the rise in car burnings,” Mr Hintze has said in a note to investors. “Figures released by the French Minister of the Interior recorded 1193 cars having been burned over a two-day period on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, with the annual number somewhere around 42,000 to 60,000.”

The discontent, which is being fuelled by rising unemployment, is leading to a “strong revival” in smaller political parties, including the National Front, he argued. Meanwhile, the approval rating of President Francois Hollande has crashed from 61 percent at his election a year ago to 27 percent today. As a result France, which desperately needs economic reforms, could languish in political paralysis instead.

This means even less focus on the economy, spending, jobs, etc. Congress itself will be consumed with endless hearings and investigations while corporate and globalist lobbyists (unaccountable to public pressure) will push trade unvetted legislation through right under our nose. Obama’s former Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel wasn’t the first person to suggest “Never let a good crisis to go waste.” Hillary and Bill Clinton both said it. Trilateral Commissioners Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski were probably the first in modern history to verbalize it. The point is, it’s not a new idea. It is a central theme in the globalist playbook and history bears it out: “Ordo ab Chao” – Order from Chaos.

Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote, “However crudely and primitively, man has always sought to crystallize some organizing principle that would, by creating order out of chaos, relate him to the universe and help define his place in it” ('Between Two Ages: America’s Role in the Technetronic Era', page 31). Indeed, chaos is viewed as opportunity by the global elite and thus, America is ripe for wrenching change thanks to the chaos that is upon us.

British economists are disputing among themselves as to whether or not England had a double dip recession. They did, but after revisions to the 2012 numbers were released, they didn’t. The Brits are famous for these kind of meaningless debates. Unemployment has risen to 7.9 percent while the rate of jobless youth stands at 20.7 percent. The actual state of the eurozone economy simply does not support the political rhetoric and wishful thinking that we hear from the media. Europe is still a mess and there is no real sign of relief. Until countries in Europe can shrink public and private debt, their downward spiral will continue.

The corresponding downward pull on the US economy is still evident and will also continue.

MPs and energy experts have raised fears motorists have been “taken for a very expensive ride”, after officials searched the offices of BP and Shell for evidence of price-rigging. The companies are suspected of distorting the oil price since 2002, meaning drivers have potentially been ripped off for more than 10 years. Over that time, petrol prices have risen dramatically by more than 80 per cent to around 135p per litre.

European investigators, who raided the London offices of BP and Shell, said the alleged price-rigging could have had a “huge impact” on the cost of oil, including the price of fuel for consumers. The investigation into market-fixing already has echoes of the Libor scandal, which saw the banks falsely report key interest rates used to calculate mortgages. It cost several British banks hundreds of millions of pounds in fines.