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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hillary Clinton acknowledged Friday the challenge she'd face leading a country where most Americans don't trust her, saying she takes "seriously" the work she must do to build confidence in her character....
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Donald Trump faced an all-too-clear sign of GOP divisions Friday in two Midwestern battlegrounds, embraced by party leaders in one state but ignored in another as he strained to overcome deepening concerns about his presidential candidacy....
(Vatican Radio) The ruling African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa is headed for its biggest electoral setback since it won power at the end of apartheid 22 years ago.The ANC has won more than 60% of the vote in every election since 1994, but have fallen below 55% in this election.“The people are telling the ANC by voting for alternative candidates that they are not happy with the ANC’s performance,” said Günther Simmermacher, the editor of The Southern Cross, the leading weekly Catholic newspaper in the country.Listen: “This election, even though it was a municipal election – a local election – was also seen as a referendum on the presidency of Jacob Zuma, who has been riddled by various scandal of the last few years, and whose government is seen as being very corrupt,” he told Vatican Radio“The other point of significance in this particular election is that the opposition Democratic Alliance, which has long been seen ...
(Vatican Radio) The ruling African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa is headed for its biggest electoral setback since it won power at the end of apartheid 22 years ago.
The ANC has won more than 60% of the vote in every election since 1994, but have fallen below 55% in this election.
“The people are telling the ANC by voting for alternative candidates that they are not happy with the ANC’s performance,” said Günther Simmermacher, the editor of The Southern Cross, the leading weekly Catholic newspaper in the country.
Listen:
“This election, even though it was a municipal election – a local election – was also seen as a referendum on the presidency of Jacob Zuma, who has been riddled by various scandal of the last few years, and whose government is seen as being very corrupt,” he told Vatican Radio
“The other point of significance in this particular election is that the opposition Democratic Alliance, which has long been seen as a liberal party for the middle-classes and for white people, has become the majority party in the city of Port Elizabeth,” Simmermacher continued.
“What is important about that is that the Democratic Alliance is now able to demonstrate in an area outside the Western Cape – which includes Cape Town [South Africa’s only major city where blacks are not the majority] where they have been governing for the past ten years – that they are a plausible alternative to the African National Congress,” he explained.
Another opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, also contested the local elections for the first time. The left-wing party advocates for the nationalization of industry, and received nearly 8% of the vote.
(Vatican Radio) Hungary's government says people smugglers are running an organized operation to transport unaccompanied minors from a centre for children near Budapest. The allegations came after Hungary stepped up security near its borders with Balkan countries, with support from Germany and other European Union nations, adding to hardship for hundreds of refugees stranded near the Serbia-Hungary border.Listen to the report by correspondent Stefan Bos: Hungary's state secretary of Human Recources Bence Rétvári has expressed concern about minors disappearing from an orphanage in the town of Fót, near Budapest. The official told media that over the past 12 months some 3,500 young migrants received shelter in Fót after claiming they were minors, though they carried no documents to prove this.He said Hungary is the only European nation besides Denmark where underage migrants receive the same services as locals.Yet the official claimed that t...
(Vatican Radio) Hungary's government says people smugglers are running an organized operation to transport unaccompanied minors from a centre for children near Budapest. The allegations came after Hungary stepped up security near its borders with Balkan countries, with support from Germany and other European Union nations, adding to hardship for hundreds of refugees stranded near the Serbia-Hungary border.
Listen to the report by correspondent Stefan Bos:
Hungary's state secretary of Human Recources Bence Rétvári has expressed concern about minors disappearing from an orphanage in the town of Fót, near Budapest. The official told media that over the past 12 months some 3,500 young migrants received shelter in Fót after claiming they were minors, though they carried no documents to prove this.
He said Hungary is the only European nation besides Denmark where underage migrants receive the same services as locals.
Yet the official claimed that they misuse this opportunity.
Rétvári said migrants use Internet connections provided by the centre to contact relatives who then pay human smugglers to transport them further west.
AID GROUPS
He accused aid groups linked to American billionaire and philanthropist George Soros of distributing leaflets explaining migrants how they can be accepted in the orphanage. But rights activists accuse the government of stirring anti-migrant sentiments and mistreating people fleeing war and poverty. Up to 10,000 Hungarian troops and police are patrolling the border area especially near razor wire fences close to Serbia.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has defended these additional security measures. "All the documents released by the [EU's executive] European Commission always claim that to solve the European economic and demographic challenges we need people from outside who come in and settle in Europe," he noted.
However explained that he is "one of the few prime ministers who disagree" with that "not in the name of Europe...but in the name of Hungary." Orbán added that Hungary "does not need a single migrant for its economy to work, or for its population to subsist or for its future."
Hungarian authorities have also announced that a contingent of German police officers will help patrol the country's southern border with Serbia from the second half of August. Its part of a border protection operation by European border agency Frontex.
INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT
Wile the size of the latest contingent is not yet known, officials say more than 150 foreign police officers including some Germans arrived in Hungary this year to boost border security.
Yet this has added to suffering among hundreds of desperate migrants in a makeshift camp near the Serbia-Hungary border without enough running water and sanitation.
"We are not staying in Hungary, we are moving, we are just crossing Hungary," a young man said. "Why they don't let us go to go to another country? I just don't understand."
He and others have ended a day’s long hunger strike that was aimed at asking attention for their plight. They had been walking from the Serbian capital Belgrade some 200 kilometres south in the Balkan summer heat.
Hungary's government claims that despite razor wire fences, nearly 18,000 migrants managed to illegally cross the border. They were detained and under new legislation can be returned to Serbia. Last year more than a million migrants,many from war-torn nations such as Syria and Afghanistan, arrived in the European Union, mostly moving westwards including through Hungary.
(Vatican Radio) The president of Colombia said on Thursday the national referendum on the peace settlement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) could be put to the vote before the formal signing ceremony of the agreement. Listen to the report by correspondent James Blears: According to Colombia`s Constitutional Court, in order for binding legitimacy to prevail, at least thirteen percent of the Electorate would have to vote in favor of holding a national referendum, about the peace treaty, which has been agreed to by the government and the rebels.President Juan Manuel Santos, who took his time in agreeing to a ceasefire with the FARC, has already staked his re-election and overall political career on the success of the deal. He has been insistent on making tangible progress towards a deadline after four years of peace negotiations in Havana."When we finish the agenda points, that is to say, when everything is agreed, that is when we will send the texts t...
(Vatican Radio) The president of Colombia said on Thursday the national referendum on the peace settlement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) could be put to the vote before the formal signing ceremony of the agreement.
Listen to the report by correspondent James Blears:
According to Colombia`s Constitutional Court, in order for binding legitimacy to prevail, at least thirteen percent of the Electorate would have to vote in favor of holding a national referendum, about the peace treaty, which has been agreed to by the government and the rebels.
President Juan Manuel Santos, who took his time in agreeing to a ceasefire with the FARC, has already staked his re-election and overall political career on the success of the deal. He has been insistent on making tangible progress towards a deadline after four years of peace negotiations in Havana.
"When we finish the agenda points, that is to say, when everything is agreed, that is when we will send the texts to Congress and convene the plebiscite," Santos said.
"That moment won't necessarily coincide with the signing of the accords,” he continued. “The signing is a formality, it can be done afterward."
By SILVERSPRING, Md. (CNS) -- More than 5,600 U.S. religious sisters have signed a letter askingfor civil discourse in the presidential campaign.Theletter was to be sent Aug. 8 to the candidates of the Democratic, Republican,Green and Libertarian parties as well as their vice presidential running matesand the chairs of their respective parties."Wesimply ask that all who seek to lead refrain from language that disrespects,dehumanizes or demonizes another," the letter said. "We pray that all who seekto influence public opinion will be mindful of the common good and respectfulof the dignity of each and every person."Theletter was written by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, whichrepresents about 80 percent of the 49,000 women religious in the United States. LCWR, based in the Washington suburb of Silver Spring, has about 1,350 congregationsof women religious as members,representing 80percent of the 57,000 women religious in the United States.As ofAug. 3, 5,671 sisters had s...
By
SILVER SPRING, Md. (CNS) -- More than 5,600 U.S. religious sisters have signed a letter asking for civil discourse in the presidential campaign.
The letter was to be sent Aug. 8 to the candidates of the Democratic, Republican, Green and Libertarian parties as well as their vice presidential running mates and the chairs of their respective parties.
"We simply ask that all who seek to lead refrain from language that disrespects, dehumanizes or demonizes another," the letter said. "We pray that all who seek to influence public opinion will be mindful of the common good and respectful of the dignity of each and every person."
The letter was written by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents about 80 percent of the 49,000 women religious in the United States. LCWR, based in the Washington suburb of Silver Spring, has about 1,350 congregations of women religious as members,representing 80 percent of the 57,000 women religious in the United States.
As of Aug. 3, 5,671 sisters had signed the letter. Their ministries include education, health care, and other pastoral and social services.
"We urge you to join us in pledging to engage in careful listening and honest dialogue that honors the dignity of those with whom we disagree and treats all with the respect that is their God-given right," the letter said. "Please join us in promising to seek the common good, to desire only good for all others, and to offer our own truth with equal measures of conviction and humility."
The letter quoted from Pope Francis' address to Congress when he visited the United States last September: "You are called to defend and preserve the dignity of your fellow citizens in the tireless and demanding pursuit of the common good, for this is the chief aim of all politics."
"Unfortunately, we live in a time when our politics is too often marked by self-interest and demeaning rhetoric. We seem to be caught in a political system paralyzed by ideological extremism and hyper-partisanship," the letter said.
"Those on all sides of the growing political divide too often appeal to our basest instincts and stoke the fires of fear that tear at the fabric of our nation. We cannot let the voices of hatred and fear carry the day."
"Unfortunately, it seems in this particular political season commitment to political discourse that preserves the dignity of the human person and promotes the common good is in short supply," said an Aug. 3 statement by Sister Joan Marie Steadman, a Sister of St. Joseph who is LCWR's executive director. "This is why LCWR is calling for civility in our discourse and decency in our political interaction."
The letter concluded, "We know that you offer yourself in service of the people of the United States at great cost to yourself and your family. We promise you our prayers in the weeks and months ahead."
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Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.
IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic OfficeBy Cindy WoodenVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican will anticipate thecanonization of Blessed Teresa of Kolkata with a special postage stamp, whichwill be released Sept. 2, two days before Pope Francis officially declares hera saint.The Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic Office announced thestamp's release Aug. 5 and distributed initial images of it.The 95-cent stamp features a wrinkled but radiant MotherTeresa smiling in her blue-trimmed, white sari. Overlaid on the design byPatrizio Daniele is another image of her holding the hand of a small child."Frail but equally determined in her vocation, MotherTeresa loved God and the church with great strength, simplicity andextraordinary humility, glorifying with her life the dignity of a most humbleservice," said the brochure announcing the stamp's release."She was a humble messenger of the Gospel and ofChrist's love, known as 'a small pencil in the hands of the Lord,' doing ...
IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic Office
By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican will anticipate the canonization of Blessed Teresa of Kolkata with a special postage stamp, which will be released Sept. 2, two days before Pope Francis officially declares her a saint.
The Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic Office announced the stamp's release Aug. 5 and distributed initial images of it.
The 95-cent stamp features a wrinkled but radiant Mother Teresa smiling in her blue-trimmed, white sari. Overlaid on the design by Patrizio Daniele is another image of her holding the hand of a small child.
"Frail but equally determined in her vocation, Mother Teresa loved God and the church with great strength, simplicity and extraordinary humility, glorifying with her life the dignity of a most humble service," said the brochure announcing the stamp's release.
"She was a humble messenger of the Gospel and of Christ's love, known as 'a small pencil in the hands of the Lord,' doing her work quietly and always with great love," it said. "She assisted the poor, the sick and the abandoned with tireless dedication, offering smiles and simple gestures, finding strength to persevere with her vocation through prayer and trust in God."
The philatelic office said it would print and sell a maximum of 150,000 sheets of 10 stamps each.
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Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.
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FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) -- A northern Virginia mayor was facing drug charges Friday after his arrest in a meth-for-sex sting, police said....
