Catholic News 2
CHICAGO (AP) -- Shaquisha Gibson-Posey pulls out a grisly cellphone photo of her murdered brother whenever her 15-year-old son complains of being cooped up in the house. This is why you can't go out in the neighborhood this summer, she tells him....
MOUNT PLEASANT, South Carolina (AP) -- It's a troublesome story playing out across America in the 10 years since the housing bubble peaked and then burst in a ruinous crash: As real estate has climbed back, homeowners are thriving while renters are struggling....
GENEVA (AP) -- Imagine the entire population of France uprooted from their homes, forced to flee danger, persecution or starvation. The U.N. refugee agency says more people than that - 65 million - were displaced worldwide at the end of last year, easily setting a new postwar record....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- When the U.S. housing bubble peaked a decade ago, soon to burst with far-reaching consequences, the pain was particularly severe for black and Hispanic Americans....
NEW YORK (AP) -- Two high-ranking New York Police Department officers were arrested Monday on charges accusing them of taking $100,000 worth of free flights, prostitutes, expensive meals and other bribes in exchange for providing a "private police force" for local businessmen....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Warning of a potential surge in anti-Americanism, Vice President Joe Biden tore into Donald Trump's views on foreign policy on Monday, urging the country not to follow the presumptive Republican nominee down a path of isolationism and bigotry....
NEW YORK (AP) -- Donald Trump fired his hard-charging campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, on Monday in a dramatic shake-up designed to calm panicked Republican leaders and reverse one of the most tumultuous stretches of Trump's unconventional White House bid....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Eight days after Orlando's mass shooting horror intensified pressure on lawmakers to act, a divided Senate hurtled Monday toward an election-year showdown over curbing guns that seemed likely to produce a familiar result: gridlock....
With over 65 million people displaced worldwide by the end of last year, easily setting a new postwar record, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) warned on Monday that European and other rich nations can expect the tide to continue if root causes aren't addressed. In a year when more than a million people arrived on European shores, UNHCR said continued conflicts and persecution in places like Syria and Afghanistan fueled a nearly 10-percent increase in the total number of refugees and internally displaced people in 2015. The figures contained in the Geneva-based agency's latest Global Trends Report were issued on Monday, to mark the June 20 World Refugee Day. The report showed that for the first time since World War II, the 60 million mark was crossed, even topping the equivalent of the total U.K. population of about 64.6 million. “I hope that the message carried by those forcibly displaced rea...
With over 65 million people displaced worldwide by the end of last year, easily setting a new postwar record, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) warned on Monday that European and other rich nations can expect the tide to continue if root causes aren't addressed. In a year when more than a million people arrived on European shores, UNHCR said continued conflicts and persecution in places like Syria and Afghanistan fueled a nearly 10-percent increase in the total number of refugees and internally displaced people in 2015. The figures contained in the Geneva-based agency's latest Global Trends Report were issued on Monday, to mark the June 20 World Refugee Day. The report showed that for the first time since World War II, the 60 million mark was crossed, even topping the equivalent of the total U.K. population of about 64.6 million.
“I hope that the message carried by those forcibly displaced reaches the leaderships: We need action, political action, to stop conflicts,'' said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. In a message for World Refugee Day, he noted that each year his agency seeks to find a glimmer of hope in the global statistics they publish but this year the hopeful signs are hard to find. “Against this tragic backdrop,” he said, “divisive political rhetoric on asylum and migration issues, and disturbing levels of xenophobia, are together threatening the international agreements which protect those forced to flee war or persecution.”
UNHCR noted that on an average, 24 people had been displaced every minute of every day last year _ or 34,000 people a day _ up from 6 every minute in 2005. Global displacement has roughly doubled since 1997, and risen by 50 percent since 2011 alone _ when the Syria war began. About 11.5 million people from Syria had fled their homes: 6.6 million within the war-ravaged country and 4.9 million abroad. More than half of all refugees came from three countries: Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia, and more than half of all displaced people were children, UNCHR said.
Turkey was the top host country for the second year running, taking in 2.5 million people _ nearly all from neighboring Syria. Afghan neighbor Pakistan had 1.6 million, while Lebanon, next to Syria, hosted 1.1 million. UNHCR said the total figures of forcibly displaced people amounted to about one in every 113 people on the planet.
While lamenting that the world continues to witness appalling levels of sexual violence in conflict, involving women, girls, boys and men, the United Nations chief is optimistic that there has also been clear progress and unprecedented political momentum to address these crimes. “There have been landmark cases against political and military leaders, demonstrating that the era of impunity for sexual violence as a tool of war is over,” UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon said in a message for the first International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, observed on Sunday. While paying tribute to the many thousands of caregivers, medical practitioners, advocates, and others on the frontline of this battle, who are fighting for change, Ban condemned Daesh, Boko Haram and other extremist groups that are using sexual violence as a means of attracting and retaining fighters, and to generate revenue. Particularly condemning the abduction...
While lamenting that the world continues to witness appalling levels of sexual violence in conflict, involving women, girls, boys and men, the United Nations chief is optimistic that there has also been clear progress and unprecedented political momentum to address these crimes. “There have been landmark cases against political and military leaders, demonstrating that the era of impunity for sexual violence as a tool of war is over,” UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon said in a message for the first International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, observed on Sunday. While paying tribute to the many thousands of caregivers, medical practitioners, advocates, and others on the frontline of this battle, who are fighting for change, Ban condemned Daesh, Boko Haram and other extremist groups that are using sexual violence as a means of attracting and retaining fighters, and to generate revenue. Particularly condemning the abduction of more than 200 girls from Chibok, Nigeria, in 2014 and the continued tragedy of women and girls subjected to forced marriage or sexual slavery by extremist groups in the Middle East, the UN chief called for their immediate release and urged for the care and support of those who return. (Source: UN)
