The Week
Praying for the pope
Pope John Paul II was recovering after flu complications landed him back in the hospital last week, his second visit in a month. Physicians at Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital said the pontiff, 84, was doing fine after undergoing a tracheotomy, surgery that involved inserting an outside tube into his trachea, or windpipe, to help him breathe easier. Again dashing speculation, John Paul II, the third-longest-serving pope in history, gave no indication that he planned to step down from what he has said he views as a mission given to him by God that only God can take away. Quite the contrary: Officials said the pope's spirit appeared strong after the 30-minute operation. Millions of followers around the world were praying for the papal patient, who is also suffering from Parkinson's disease; President Bush sent wishes from the road for a "speedy recovery." The pope was rushed to the hospital just two days after publishing a new book about the nature of good and evil that drew protests for some controversial statements. Among them: references to abortion as "legal extermination" comparable to the Holocaust and to gay marriage as part of "a new ideology of evil."
Business: Gas heartburn
Shocked at the high prices every time you stop to gas up these days? Get over it: Unfortunately, they're not going down anytime soon. The reason? Crude oil prices broke the $50 mark for the first time in nearly four months as cold weather descended on much of the United States. But don't expect to pay less when temperatures rise. Recent figures show China's economy defying predictions and continuing its rapid growth, gobbling oil as the standard of living improves for its 1.3 billion people. That translates into higher worldwide prices, says Alaron Research's Phil Flynn, who adds, "I'd like to blame OPEC and the evil gremlins out there, but the real truth is we're seeing explosive demand." The average price per gallon for regular last week reached $1.91, up 22 cents from a year ago and the highest late-February price ever recorded by the federal Energy Information Administration.
The agency anticipates the trend will continue into the summer driving season, so be prepared for a long ride.
Health: Bird Flu taking flight?
Public-health officials last week warned that the deadly bird flu now plaguing Asia could become a global threat. "We at [the World Health Organization] believe that the world is now in the gravest possible danger of a pandemic," said Shigeru Omi, WHO's western Pacific regional leader, during a meeting of health experts in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City. The avian flu has killed at least 45 people in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam since last winter. Humans seem to catch the disease from infected poultry. But researchers fear the virus could morph into one transmitted from human to human. "It is a worrisome situation," said Julie Gerberding, chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stressing that the United States "is not immediately on the brink of an avian flu epidemic."
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