Williams: Scandal costly to Irish church
LONDON, April 3 (UPI) -- The child abuse scandal in Ireland has stripped the Roman Catholic church there of its credibility, the head of the Anglican church says.
Rowan Williams, who heads both the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion as archbishop of Canterbury, was unusually open in his discussion of the scandal, The Daily Telegraph reported. He gave an interview to be broadcast Monday on BBC 4.
"I was speaking to an Irish friend recently who was saying that it's quite difficult in some parts of Ireland to go down the street wearing a clerical collar now," Williams said. "An institution so deeply bound into the life of a society suddenly becoming, suddenly losing all credibility -- that's not just a problem for the church, it is a problem for everybody in Ireland."
Cardinal Sean Brady, the senior bishop in Ireland, has been under pressure to step down. Two government reports released last year detailed decades of physical and sexual abuse of children in church-run institutions and sexual abuse by parish priests.
Putin vows more arms for Venezuela
CARACAS, Venezuela, April 3 (UPI) -- Russia has agreed to help Venezuela develop a space program and a nuclear power plant, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says.
Russia will keep delivering military equipment to Venezuela, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in Caracas Saturday, RIA Novosti reported.
"We will continue to support the development of the armed forces of Venezuela," Putin said at a joint news conference with Chavez. "As you know, Russia has already delivered the most efficient Su-30 heavy fighters and other military equipment to Venezuela."
Putin arrived in Venezuela Friday for talks on a range of issues, Novosti said. The Russian prime minister said his country was ready to grant Venezuela a $2.2 billion loan. Chavez had requested aid during his visit to Moscow last year.
Part of the loan could be used to buy more than 90 T-72 tanks and an unnamed number of Smerch multiple rocket launchers, or even diesel-powered submarines and S-300 air defense systems, Novosti said.
Chavez says Venezuela needs to boost its defenses to protect its oil fields from a possible U.S. attack.
More wind, rain blow through Vancouver
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 3 (UPI) -- Weather forecasters say blustery winds and rain will persist in western Canada after storms knocked out power and canceled ferry service around Vancouver.
Environment Canada predicted Saturday that the foul weather would continue through much of next week, although winds were down slightly from the blow that passed through on Friday.
High winds knocked out power to nearly 90,000 homes in the Vancouver area Friday. As many as 40,000 customers were still without electricity Friday night, the Canwest News Service reported.
The coast guard spent much of the day rounding up drifting boats blown free of their moorings in the harbor while scores of motorists were stranded when ferry service between Vancouver Island and the mainland was suspended.
The weather was another story in eastern Canada on Friday where balmy conditions had folks out and about in Ontario and Quebec.
"The last two summers were cold and rainy," Jim Barnes told Canwest on the patio of an Ottawa pub. "But this is fantastic, it feels like Canada Day."
Quayle urges Tea Party to stick with GOP
WASHINGTON, April 3 (UPI) -- Former Vice President Dan Quayle says the Tea Party movement should hitch its wagon to the Republican Party if it wanted to remain a political force.
In an op-ed piece to be published in the Washington Post Sunday, Quayle compared the Tea Party crowd to the grassroots movement that rallied behind Ross Perot and became the Reform Party, which he blamed for spoiling President George H.W. Bush's re-election bid in 1992.
"According to recent polling, a similar scenario could unfold this year," Quayle wrote. "Voters would slightly favor a Republican over a Democrat in a two-person congressional race in November, but the presence of a Tea Party candidate would split the vote on the right and hand victory to the Democratic candidate."
Quayle's article came out the same day as a poll by The Winston Group that found while the majority of Tea Party supporters identified themselves a Republicans, a sizable number called themselves Democrats or independents, The Hill reported.
Quayle said it was a similar grassroots anti-tax movement that ushered Ronald Reagan into office when its members threw their weight behind the Republicans.
Quayle also advised GOP leaders that the tea parties could be courted best by sticking to economic issues and not bringing up the conservative social agenda that isn't their cup of tea.
