Catholic News 2

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(Vatican Radio) Romania's main ruling party wants a regional politician to become the next prime minister after the president turned down the party's first choice, an economist who could have become the country's first female Muslim premier. The standoff has plunged the country into political turmoil amid calls to impeach the president.

Listen to Stefan Bos' report:

 

Liviu Dragnea, chairman of the Social Democratic Party that won Romania's December 11 elections is furious. He has named 43-year-old Sorin Grindeanu to become prime minister. Grindeanu is chairman of the Timis county council, and has been deputy mayor of the city of Timisoara and a lawmaker.

Dragnea said he believes Grindeanu wants to pursue goals including "more money in Romanians' pockets, the freedom to think, to hope, to have a good health system." But he only appointed him after Romania's President Klaus Iohannis rejected the nomination of Sevil Shhaideh, who would have become the first Muslim female prime minister of this mainly Eastern Orthodox Christian nation.

President Iohannis did not say why he rejected her nomination. But critics cited her little political experience as one of the reasons.

DRAGNEA'S WARNING

However Social Democratic leader Dragnea said that Parliament may impeach President Ioannis. "We will conduct a quick analysis and if, following this, we reach the conclusion that it is good for the country to suspend the president, I will not hesitate," Dragnea warned.

It is also seen as a warning to Iohannis to accept the new person as prime minister. The president must formally endorse a nominee before Parliament's final approval. Dragnea himself is unable to become prime minister as he was sentenced for election fraud.

The political turmoil follows a year of tensions in Romania, after at least 64 people died in a nightclub fire, sparking massive protests.

Critics said safety regulations seem to have been ignored by corrupt officials, contributing to Romania's worst nightclub fire on record, amid wider concerns over financial wrongdoing in what is one of the European Union's poorest nations.

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Reversing a decision made earlier this year, the government of Nepal restored Christmas to the list of public holidays.

The Government decision to reinstate Christmas as a national holiday, was reportedly taken under pressure from minority groups. Back in April this year, the government of former Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli, a member of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist), had removed Christmas from the list of statutory holidays. Christian leaders objected, observing that the decision would make it difficult for workers to observe the day.

In August, a rival Communist party—the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist-Centre)—assumed power, and just before Christmas, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s government restored the holiday. Dahal offered wishes of “peace, happiness, prosperity, good health, unity, and brotherhood to all Nepali Christians at home and abroad.”

Nepali President Bidya Devi Bhandari led the public celebrations. In her address to Christian leaders, she said that she hoped that this occasion "would reinforce feelings of love and unity among Nepali citizens and inspire everyone to respect the Constitution in the name of a peaceful and prosperous Nepal."

The nation of 29 million has few Christians: it is 81% Hindu, 9% Buddhist, and 4% Muslim, with 3% following the indigenous Kirant Mundhum religion.

Even former Nepali King Gyanendra Shah and his son joined in the celebrations. This however was met with sarcasm from some Hindu believers and spiritual leaders (babas) who, according to local media, still aspire to see Hinduism restored as the state religion.

Nonetheless, thousands of non-Christians took part in Christmas celebrations, with shops and malls adorned with Christmas trees, lights and decorations. Christians sang carols, exchanged gifts, glorified the birth of Jesus Christ, and recited prayers, according to an AsiaNews report.

(Source: AsiaNews; CWN) 

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WASHINGTON, Maine (AP) -- Susan Frank and her dogs spend their days shepherding hairy, black pigs with names like Bacon, Pork Chop and Yummy around a chunk of Maine woods. Her farm, which raises and fattens the rare American mulefoot hogs for slaughter, is essential to their survival, she believes....

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LOS ANGELES (AP) -- After her husband asked for a divorce, Amber Clisura gave back her engagement ring, kicked him out of the house and tossed everything that reminded her of the ruined marriage. Except for one item: a polished steel barbecue smoker that her future ex-husband had fashioned for her from an old oil drum....

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DENVER (AP) -- The older brother of JonBenet Ramsey is suing CBS and others for $750 million, saying his reputation was ruined after a television series that concluded he killed his 6-year-old sister two decades ago....

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MOSCOW (AP) -- Flight recorders revealed no evidence of an explosion on board a Russian plane that crashed into the Black Sea, killing all 92 on board, but investigators haven't ruled out foul play, a military official said Thursday....

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BEIRUT (AP) -- The Latest on the conflict in Syria (all times local):...

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(Vatican Radio)  German prosecutors say a Tunisian man has been detained in Berlin over last week's attack on a Christmas market in the German capital which killed 12 people and injured nearly 50 others. The announcement came amid revelations from Dutch authorities that the main suspect killed last week in Italy had been able to travel through several European countries following the rampage.

Listen to Stefan Bos' report:

German officials say police raided the home and workplace of a terror suspect, described as a 40-year-old Tunisian man, in the Tempelhof area of Berlin. Officials were to decide on Thursday whether to formally arrest him on charges related to the truck attack at a Christmas market in Berlin. 

Investigators say his number was found on the phone of Anis Amri, the Tunisian man who is believed to have killed 12 people by hijacking a lorry and ramming it through the stalls and into the crowd. Amri was shot dead by police in Milan early last Friday, four days on from the attack, after the 24-year-old Tunisian opened fire and injured an officer during a routine check.

Government officials have said the lorry's automatic braking system may have prevented the loss of more lives. The system kicks in when it senses an impact and officials say this may have cut the hijacker's rampage short.

EUROPEAN POLICE

Police across Europe are piecing together the movements of Amri. Authorities in the Netherlands say it was highly likely Amri was spotted on security camera's in the train station of the city of Nijmegen.

They are investigating whether he travelled there immediately after the market attack, following the discovery of an unused Dutch mobile phone Sim card in his backpack. From Nijmegen, it is thought he took a six-hour bus trip to Lyon-Part-Dieu station in France - from where he apparently got a train to Milan, said Jirko Patist, a spokesman for the Dutch national prosecutor's office.

He said that "from the moment that the suspect was shot dead in Italy, the Italian prosecutors office informed us that a Dutch mobile phone Sim card was discovered on the body of the suspect. We took our time to study that Sim card to see if he indeed visited the Netherlands."

Patist added that Dutch authorities "discovered that those free Sim cards were distributed at several locations in the Netherlands."

Most likely, he said, "the suspect received the card in Nijmegen because we also discovered security camera footage which is most likely the same man who was seen in camera footage taken in Lyon, France. We are still investigating those pictures and at the moment have no reason to believe he was there with other people."        

TRUCK FIGHT?

In Poland, preliminary findings of the autopsy on the Polish driver found dead in the truck suggest the man may have still been alive when the attack occurred.

It was initially suggested that Lukasz Urban, had intervened, possibly grabbing the steering wheel, while being held hostage in the passenger seat.

But doctors later said Urban would have been unconscious by this point, having been shot some hours before when Amri stole the vehicle from him.

The case has fueled a debate on the European Union's passport free Schengen zone which makes it easier for people, including attackers, to travel through several nations. 

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QAYARA, Iraq (AP) -- The mud was three inches deep in parts of the Madrag Camp for displaced Iraqis after the heavy overnight downpour. Water seeped into the blue-and-white tents, soaking families sleeping inside....

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Authorities investigating the death of an Arkansas man whose body was found in a hot tub want to expand the probe to include a new kind of evidence: any comments overheard by the suspect's Amazon Echo smart speaker....

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