USA - Roman Catholic Church officials in Milwaukee vigorously shielded pedophile priests and protected church funds from lawsuits during a decades-long sex abuse scandal, according to hundreds of documents released on Monday.
VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II has cleared the final obstacle before being made a saint, awaiting just the final approval from Pope Francis and a date for the ceremony that could come as soon as December 8, a Vatican official and news reports said Tuesday. The ANSA news agency reported that a commission of cardinals and bishops met Tuesday to consider John Paul's case and signed off on it. A Vatican official confirmed that the decision had been taken some time back and that Tuesday's meeting was essentially a formality.
USA - Pork has become the most popular and profitable commodity this year as hog futures gained 19% surpassing all other commodities. Supported by stable demand and limited supply the price of pork futures has performed the best on the Dow Jones-UBS commodity index, the Wall Street Journal reports.
CHINA/RUSSIA - China will join Russia later this week for its largest-ever naval drills with a foreign partner, underlining deepening ties between the former cold war rivals along with Beijing's desire for closer links with regional militaries.
USA - It probably seemed like a good idea to Federal Reserve officials at the time. But their decision to stick Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke out on live television two weeks ago to explain how the Fed aims to scale back and eventually end its massive economic stimulus program, without having the message in a well-parsed policy statement he could hide behind, backfired badly.
INDONESIA - Rescue operations are under way after a 6.1 magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia's Aceh province, flattening houses and causing landslides. Officials say at least 22 people were killed and more than 200 injured by the quake, which struck the western tip of Sumatra Island on Tuesday. One report said six children were killed and 14 trapped under debris when a mosque collapsed in Central Aceh. Indonesia is located on one of the most seismically active regions on earth.
GERMANY - Recent revelations about the NSA’s broad surveillance of German phone and Internet communications have fueled major concerns in the country, as Federal Prosecutors say they are preparing criminal charges against US and British spies involved.
USA/EUROPE - The ‘biggest bilateral trade deal in history’, reached at the G8 Summit, is possibly at risk as rapport between the US and EU quickly degenerates over leaks which reveal the US allegedly spied on EU diplomats. The trade relationship, valued at hundreds of billions of dollars, could boost economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic, and potentially be a key factor in ending the economic downturn.
EUROPE - Germany's EU partners are accusing Chancellor Angela Merkel of campaigning for re-election this year at Europe's expense. Even her government's center-right allies within the bloc are needled by Berlin's sudden resistance to Brussels.
GERMANY - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has compared US spying to Cold War tactics and Brussels wants EU facilities checked for American eavesdropping equipment. Concern is growing the scandal could seriously damage trans-Atlantic relations.
UK - Channel 4 is to broadcast the Muslim call to prayer during Ramadan this year, it revealed yesterday. It is believed to be the first time a mainstream British television channel has broadcast the Islamic call to prayer. Starting next week, the broadcaster will transmit the morning call to prayer daily for the 30 days of Ramadan.
EGYPT - Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has rejected the army's 48-hour ultimatum to resolve the country's deadly crisis, saying it will only sow confusion. President Morsi insists he will continue with his own plans for national reconciliation, a presidential statement said early on Tuesday. The army has warned it will intervene if the government and its opponents fail to heed "the will of the people". President Morsi's opponents accuse him of putting the Brotherhood's interests ahead of the country's as a whole.
UK - Back in April 2012 we first suggested - to loud jeers by the "pundits" who were convinced there is no chance in hell of it happening - that Goldman's take over of the world's central bank triumvirate: the NY Fed (Bill Dudley), the ECB (Mario Draghi) and the Bank of England, would soon be completed with Mark Carney taking over the world's oldest central bank located on Threadneedle street. Today, this process has concluded and we have photographic evidence. Behold Goldman's Mark Carney attending his first BOE Monetary Policy briefing (don't miss Michael Cross, Head of Foreign Exchange, and Executive Director for Markets, of Fleecebook fame sitting on the lower left).
USA - As the Senate passes sweeping immigration reform, many have been caught up in the surface debate about whether undocumented workers should be granted amnesty.
USA - Global bonds plunged for a second straight month in June, stocks tumbled and the dollar began to rebound as the Federal Reserve set a timetable for ending the stimulus that drove equities to record highs and debt yields to record lows.