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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Donald Trump says he hand-picked only the best to teach success at Trump University. But dozens of those hired by the company had checkered pasts - including serious financial problems and even convictions for cocaine trafficking or child molestation, an Associated Press investigation has found....
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Donald Trump's dubious claims the presidential election is "rigged" have taken root among most of his supporters, who say they will have serious doubts about the legitimacy of the election's outcome if Hillary Clinton wins, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll....
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met in the Vatican on Thursday with participants at an international conference on combatting human trafficking. The Santa Marta Group, which organised the two day conference, was established in 2014 to pledge closer cooperation on anti-trafficking initiatives between the Catholic Church and law enforcement agencies worldwide.At a concluding press conference Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster, one of the founding members of the group, and two survivors of human trafficking spoke of the progress that has been made over the past couple of years.Listen to Philippa Hitchen's report: In his words to the group of bishops and religious, police and security officials, Pope Francis described trafficking as "one of the major challenges of our time" and he praised participants for the important contribution they’re making to end this scourge of modern slavery. The number of victims, he noted, keeps growing year by year and it&r...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met in the Vatican on Thursday with participants at an international conference on combatting human trafficking. The Santa Marta Group, which organised the two day conference, was established in 2014 to pledge closer cooperation on anti-trafficking initiatives between the Catholic Church and law enforcement agencies worldwide.
At a concluding press conference Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster, one of the founding members of the group, and two survivors of human trafficking spoke of the progress that has been made over the past couple of years.
Listen to Philippa Hitchen's report:
In his words to the group of bishops and religious, police and security officials, Pope Francis described trafficking as "one of the major challenges of our time" and he praised participants for the important contribution they’re making to end this scourge of modern slavery.
The number of victims, he noted, keeps growing year by year and it’s essential both to support victims of trafficking, but also to tackle the complex problems that lead to their exploitation.
Cardinal Nichols told journalists the group had presented the pope with the a report of positive developments in the 30 countries that are now part of the Santa Marta process...
“Above all perhaps, what this report shows is that human slavery and trafficking is not so hidden as it used to be. There is an increasing awareness that this, in the phrase of the Holy Father, is an open wound in the flesh of humanity, and that voices that were once completely hidden are now being heard”.
Those voices include that of Nigerian survivor Princess Inyang, who was trafficked into Italy in 1999 and forced into prostitution, until she was able to escape, with help from a priest working in the northern city of Asti. She shared her story at the conference and called for deportation of the traffickers, as well as more education and skills training for vulnerable girls in her home country...
“The women are vulnerable because of the poverty in Nigeria, the background of the polygamy system of the families, the non-employment, and now we know that the traffickers go into the rural areas to get these young women because of their serious problems”.
Another survivor, who also works to help others avoid the traffickers, is former Premier League player Al Bangura, originally from Sierra Leone. A keen footballer from an early age, he was tricked into going to England with promises of a dream career. He managed to escape the traffickers and now serves as ambassador for a UK based charity called Sport for Freedom.
“With everything I’ve been through, I want to be out there to share my story, to educate kids and talk to parents who’re desperate for their kids to achieve….we also work with the Premiership… to make sure the kids are going in the rights direction and make sure we stop this slavery thing.”
From Africa to Latin America, from Asia to Europe, the U.S. and the Middle East, the conference heard many encouraging stories of success in combatting the trade in people for prostitution, forced labour or sale of their body parts. But as their report also underlines, there is much frustration too, coupled with a renewed determination to work more effectively together for an end to what Pope Francis himself describes as a “crime against humanity”.
In a fresh move to end the three-month long violence that has claimed more than 90 lives in India's Jammu and Kashmir state, a team from New Delhi has begun talks with separatist Muslims leaders.The five-member team, led by Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former federal minister Yashwant Sinha, began meeting stakeholders including separatist leaders on Tuesday. However, Sinha said that they were not an official delegation but had come together in their "individual capacities."Church officials joined political, religious and social organizations in welcoming the effort to bring peace to the region that has witnessed prolonged curfews, civil unrest and military action."We want the present cycle of violence to end. Dialogue and reconciliation is the only way forward," said Father Prem Tigga of Jammu-Srinagar Diocese that covers all of Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state."The church hopes such initiatives will continu...
In a fresh move to end the three-month long violence that has claimed more than 90 lives in India's Jammu and Kashmir state, a team from New Delhi has begun talks with separatist Muslims leaders.
The five-member team, led by Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former federal minister Yashwant Sinha, began meeting stakeholders including separatist leaders on Tuesday.
However, Sinha said that they were not an official delegation but had come together in their "individual capacities."
Church officials joined political, religious and social organizations in welcoming the effort to bring peace to the region that has witnessed prolonged curfews, civil unrest and military action.
"We want the present cycle of violence to end. Dialogue and reconciliation is the only way forward," said Father Prem Tigga of Jammu-Srinagar Diocese that covers all of Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state.
"The church hopes such initiatives will continue so that the people who have borne the brunt of present unrest can heave a sigh of relief," Father Tigga said.
Violence began to engulf the Himalayan region on July 8 when militant leader, Burhan Muzaffar Wani was killed by police in South Kashmir. His separatist supporters clashed with the army in a series of encounters that left about 90 people dead and 11,000 injured.
Sinha said his team does not represent the Indian government. "We are not a delegation. We are a few people of goodwill. We have come here on humanitarian grounds to share the pain of the people," he told media.
The team includes former bureaucrat Wajahat Habibullah, who has served in Jammu and Kashmir, former Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak, journalist Bharat Bhushan and social activist Sushobha Barve.
Though there has been no official endorsement of the visit, the government’s permission to allow separatists to meet the delegates hints at back channel talks between the federal government and separatist leaders to end the present crisis.
The delegation met top separatist leaders including Syed Ali Geelani and Kashmir’s chief religious cleric, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq who also heads another amalgam of separatist parties.
Geelani, who heads the hardline faction of separatist Hurriyat Conference, agreed to meet and talk to the Sinha-led delegation. The delegation members were seen entering the highly fortified house where Geelani has been kept under detention for over three months. The 87-year-old leader, who advocates for Kashmir’s merger with neighboring Pakistan, asked for the "unconditional" release of protestors who have been charged by the Indian government.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, after meeting the delegation at his residence, said that the people of Kashmir can no longer be "subjugated" by the militarily and the past 109 days have revealed the local population’s steadfastness for their cause.
"The issue of Kashmir needs to be understood in its real perspective and addressed," Mirwaiz said at a press conference.
And after two months of detention at a guest-house-turned-jail in Srinagar, Mirwaiz is now under house arrest at his upscale Nigeen residence. Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Yaseen Malik has also been moved from jail to a Srinagar hospital after his health deteriorated.
Police have arrested over 7,000 suspected ring leaders of stone throwers. Some have been let off. Sinha and his team are also expected to meet civil society and trade groups including the Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA) and the Kashmir Centre for Social and Developmental Studies (KCSDS).
Opposition party, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference approved the talks. "Dialogue is the only way through which issues are resolved. We want such measures to continue for the greater common good," General Secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar told ucanews.com.
Sinha confirmed to IANS that he and other “people of goodwill” will try to “meet all” during their visit to the valley that began on Tuesday. “We came here for humanity. Our motto is to share the grievances and pain (of Kashmiri people). I hope the state of unrest will be resolved soon,” Sinha said. Talking to reporters, the former BJP minister hinted that it was an independent initiative and that they were “not here as a part of any delegation”.
In the last 30 years, an estimated 100,000 people have died in Jammu and Kashmir, including civilians, militants and army personnel, after groups began an armed struggle for freedom from Indian rule or to merge with neighboring Pakistan. Both countries claim the region and each administer a part.
The region has been a sensitive issue for both India and Pakistan ever since they become two different nations in 1947 when British rule ended in the subcontinent. The nuclear powers have fought at least three major wars over Kashmir.
(Source: UCAN, Indian Express)
Washington D.C., Oct 27, 2016 / 06:18 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Both major presidential candidates say that the future of the Supreme Court depends on this election – but how important is the Court to Catholics, and will the next president really shape it?“It is certainly one of the most important things that a president does,” said Professor Michael McConnell, a law professor at Stanford University and director of the school’s Constitutional Law Center. “And because the Supreme Court has been so closely divided with so many 5-4 decisions, even one justice can make a very big difference.”After the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in February, President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland, chief judge of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, to take his place. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to confirm the nominee, saying the Senate would wait until next year to consider confirming nominees.Thus, the Supreme Court &n...
Washington D.C., Oct 27, 2016 / 06:18 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Both major presidential candidates say that the future of the Supreme Court depends on this election – but how important is the Court to Catholics, and will the next president really shape it?
“It is certainly one of the most important things that a president does,” said Professor Michael McConnell, a law professor at Stanford University and director of the school’s Constitutional Law Center. “And because the Supreme Court has been so closely divided with so many 5-4 decisions, even one justice can make a very big difference.”
After the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in February, President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland, chief judge of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, to take his place. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to confirm the nominee, saying the Senate would wait until next year to consider confirming nominees.
Thus, the Supreme Court – normally composed of nine justices – is operating with an empty seat, leading to outcomes like a 4-4 split in United States v. Texas, the case involving President Obama’s executive action on immigration. The even split allowed the lower court’s decision to stand.
Advocates of both major presidential candidates say the next president’s nomination of a justice will be one of the most important reasons to vote in the coming presidential election. And, given the age of some of the justices on the bench, several more could retire in the next few years, giving the next president the opportunity to nominate several of their hand-picked justices to the Court.
Has a president been able to shape the Court in the past? Yes, McConnell said, there are historical examples of this.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt at first saw his “New Deal” policies declared unconstitutional by an unfriendly Court; however, “by the end [of his presidency] he had named all nine” justices and “the Court was completely in congenial hands,” McConnell told CNA.
“President Nixon had the opportunity to name four justices, which marked the end of the liberal activist Warren court and ushered in an entirely new jurisprudence,” he added.
The next justice could very well determine future jurisprudence on the constitutionality of state abortion bans, abortion regulations, and religious freedom cases where, for example, businesses are sued for conscientiously declining to serve a same-sex wedding or conscientiously declining to have birth control covered in employee health plans.
Pro-life and pro-choice advocates have both touted the importance of the Court in this election.
For instance, after the Supreme Court struck down Texas’ regulations of abortions clinics in a 5-3 decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the president of the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List Marjorie Dannenfelser said “the stakes for the 2016 election could not be higher.”
“The next president will be tasked with selecting Justice Antonin Scalia’s replacement and up to three others,” Dannenfelser said. “We must elect a pro-life president and safeguard today’s pro-life majorities in the House and Senate.”
Meanwhile, the political arm of Planned Parenthood praised the Court’s decision. “Our next president – and the new Supreme Court justices they’ll appoint – will determine whether women continue to have a constitutional right to safe and legal abortion,” Planned Parenthood Action stated.
At the final presidential debate, when asked what kind of Supreme Court justices they would appoint, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump gave different answers.
Clinton insisted that “we need a Supreme Court that will stand up on behalf of women’s rights, on behalf of the rights of the LGBT community,” adding that “it is important that we not reverse marriage equality, that we not reverse Roe v. Wade.”
Trump, meanwhile answered that “I am pro-life and I will be appointing pro-life justices,” along with justices that “will be protecting the Second Amendment.” He stopped short of saying that he wanted Roe v. Wade overturned.
With the Court closely divided on important cases, the impact of even one Supreme Court justice cannot be overlooked, McConnell emphasized.
For instance, in a 2014 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the craft chain Hobby Lobby and other “closely-held for-profit” businesses were protected from the federal government’s birth control mandate by a religious freedom law, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
That was a 5-4 decision with Justice Scalia in the majority, which meant that if just one justice in his place ruled differently, the Green family who owns Hobby Lobby – and other business owners claiming to run their business based on their religious beliefs – would have lost a key religious freedom case.
“The Court is very divided on questions of vital importance to believing and practicing Catholics,” said Professor David Upham, attorney-at-law and professor of politics at the University of Dallas.
On one side, four justices have been appointed by Democratic presidents and have ruled consistently together. “They vote in virtual lockstep over 90 percent of the time” and “very rarely file separate opinions,” McConnell noted.
They have voted to uphold legal abortion and same-sex marriage and have opposed the religious freedom of Catholics who don’t want to cooperate with “the evils of the sexual revolution” like “contraception, abortifacients, and the public celebration of homosexuality,” Upham told CNA.
On the other hand, three justices have voted the opposite way on these issues.
They “have repeatedly voted to affirm, and not invalidate state and federal laws designed to secure the right of the child to his life and his parents,” Upham said, and “they have voted consistently to affirm and preserve the immunity of Catholics and others against compulsory participation in the practices and celebrations of the sexual revolution.”
And the remaining justice – Justice Anthony Kennedy – “has been less than consistent on these questions,” Upham added.
And how closely do the justices on the bench resemble the politics of the president who nominated them to the Court?
Historically, the justices are pretty consistent with the party politics of the president who appointed them, McConnell said. “Presidents don’t make mistakes all that often.”
“It’s certainly true that justices sometimes vote contrary to what you might think are the political leanings of the party who appointed him or her, and that’s a good thing,” he explained, but added that “it doesn’t happen very often.”
One example he gave of a justice defying the trend was Justice David Souter – nominated by Republican President George H. W. Bush – who “turned out to be a fairly reliable member of the liberal wing of the court. It’s unlikely that that’s what President Bush was looking for.”
Justices are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Upham agreed that justices nominated and confirmed by a president and senators all of the same party are more consistent with a President’s views.
“In the past 30 years, every justice nominated by a Democratic President and confirmed primarily by Democratic Senators has been hostile to the rights of life, marriage, and religious freedom affirmed by the Church,” Upham said.
“In that same time, every justice nominated by a Republican President and confirmed primarily by Republican Senators has been friendly – or at least not hostile – to those same principles,” he added. “The only exceptions – Justices Souter and Kennedy – were appointed by a Republican President but confirmed primarily by Democratic Senators.”
By Junno Arocho EstevesROME (CNS) --U.S. Archbishop Alexander K. Sample was preparing to celebrate Mass Oct. 26with Benedictine monks in Norcia when the first of two powerful earthquakesstruck."I hadno sooner finished (the vesting) prayer to be protected from the assaults ofSatan when bang: It just hit and it hit with a vengeance. It didn't last verylong, but it really shook the building we were in," Archbishop Sample ofPortland, Oregon, told Catholic News Service in Rome the next morning.No casualties were reportedfrom the quakes. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, an earthquakemeasuring 5.5 struck shortly after 7 p.m. local time and a 6.1 magnitude quakefollowed two hours later. Both were centered in Italy's Marche region, not farfrom Norcia.ArchbishopSample and other Portland pilgrims were visiting Norcia, the birthplace of St.Benedict, during a trip to Italy for the fifth annual Populus SummorumPontificum pilgrimage, an international gathering for Catholics devoted to the...
By Junno Arocho Esteves
ROME (CNS) -- U.S. Archbishop Alexander K. Sample was preparing to celebrate Mass Oct. 26 with Benedictine monks in Norcia when the first of two powerful earthquakes struck.
"I had no sooner finished (the vesting) prayer to be protected from the assaults of Satan when bang: It just hit and it hit with a vengeance. It didn't last very long, but it really shook the building we were in," Archbishop Sample of Portland, Oregon, told Catholic News Service in Rome the next morning.
No casualties were reported from the quakes. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, an earthquake measuring 5.5 struck shortly after 7 p.m. local time and a 6.1 magnitude quake followed two hours later. Both were centered in Italy's Marche region, not far from Norcia.
Archbishop Sample and other Portland pilgrims were visiting Norcia, the birthplace of St. Benedict, during a trip to Italy for the fifth annual Populus Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage, an international gathering for Catholics devoted to the extraordinary form of the Mass.
Speaking by telephone from Norcia, the archbishop said that despite feeling aftershocks during the Mass, he finished celebrating and was already in his hotel room when the second earthquake struck.
Although things seem to calm down, "there were a number of aftershocks" throughout the night, he said.
"I think about three times during the night, I was halfway out of bed to get to the door," he said. "I confess, I'm a bit of a chicken and I slept in my clothes last night in case I had to run outside; I wanted to be properly attired. It was not the most restful night."
While Archbishop Sample was with the Benedictine monks, he said another group from Portland, led by Father John Boyle, also had "a harrowing experience" during the earthquake while celebrating Mass in the crypt of the Basilica of St. Benedict in Norcia.
"Father Boyle was just beginning the preparatory prayers for holy Communion when it hit and he took shelter underneath the altar and instructed the other pilgrims to take cover under the pews," the archbishop told CNS.
When the earthquake ended, Archbishop Sample said, the pilgrims went outside the church and Father Boyle brought them Communion.
The archbishop said that Father Boyle found it "very moving to see the people kneeling on the ground to receive holy Communion; it was beautiful." After Mass, several monks helped retrieve the pilgrim's personal items from the church before they returned to their hotel.
Pope Francis took to social media to express his solidarity with those affected, tweeting: "I am close in prayer to the people struck by the new earthquake in central Italy."
The earthquakes, which came two months after a powerful quake devastated several towns in the region, left several churches with major damage.
Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian bishops' conference, reported that one of the destroyed buildings was the 13th-century church of San Salvatore in Campi," just outside the center of Norcia.
The church "no longer exists," Archbishop Renato Boccardo of Spoleto-Norcia told Avvenire. "I'm trying to contact the pastor but communications are interrupted at this time."
The rose window of Sant' Eutizio Abbey, one of Italy's oldest monasteries dating back to the 5th century, also collapsed following the first earthquake.
The 6.1 quake Oct. 26, the U.S. Geological Survey said, "is currently the largest aftershock" of the Aug. 24 quake that struck central Italy. The epicenter of the August earthquake was close to Norcia; with a magnitude of 6.2, it caused the deaths of close to 300 people.
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Follow Arocho on Twitter: @arochoju.
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The vast majority of U.S. students still lack a solid grasp of science despite some modest gains by fourth and eighth graders, especially girls and minorities....
NEW YORK (AP) -- Twitter, seemingly unable to find a buyer and losing money, is cutting about 9 percent of its employees worldwide....
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VISSO, Italy (AP) -- Authorities scrambled to find housing Thursday for thousands of people displaced by a pair of strong earthquakes that struck the same region of central Italy hit by a deadly quake in August, hoping to prevent a second night for them on the street or in cars....
