On the NCR Today blog, senior correspondent John L. Allen Jr. reports [1] on Pope Benedict's creation of a new in-house watchdog to promote compliance with international rules against financing terrorism, money-laundering, insider trading and market abuse. In addition to creating new penalties for financial misconduct, Benedict XVI has also criminalized environmental pollution.

In article 18, the new law establishes a penalty of up to six months imprisonment and a fine of $3,500 to $35,000 for anyone who pollutes the soil or water, and establishes the same penalties for polluting the atmosphere. The jail term rises to a year, and the fines range from $7,000 to $70,000, if the pollution occurs with hazardous substances.