Catholic News 2

(Vatican Radio) At least three suicide bombers exploded themselves in a Starbucks cafe in downtown Jakarta on Thursday while two gunmen attacked a police post nearby, according to a witness on the ground.

A local television network has reported three other explosions in other parts of the city. At least one policeman was killed in addition to the bombers.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks but suspicion is likely to fall on Islamic militant groups, which have carried out several attacks in the past across Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.

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(Vatican Radio) Terrorists in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, attacked several different targets on Thursday morning, killing at least six people including at least one policeman. Local authorities confirm one of the attacks took place in a Starbucks cafe in the city’s downtown area, while gunmen attacked a police post nearby.

Listen to Vatican Radio's full report:

Local news outlets also report three other explosions in other parts of the city, in neighborhoods near the Turkish and Pakistani embassies and other government and diplomatic buildings.

UN Regional Representative on Drugs and Crime for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Jeremy Douglas, told the Australian Broadcasting Company he was returning to the nearby UN building when the blasts went off. “We got out of the car and we heard a second bomb, then we heard a third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth and then gunfire in the street – a lot of gunfire,” he said.

This is the first major attack on Jakarta since the 2009 Marriot and Ritz hotels bombings.

Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim country and has been in a state of high alert after threats from the Islamic State.

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(Vatican Radio) The Obama administration has welcomed Iran’s release of 10 U.S. Navy sailors, a day after they drifted into Iranian waters and were detained.

US Secretaryof State John Kerry said a successful resolution to the situation was the result of diplomacy. American authorities are still uncertain about the circumstances surrounding the detention but Kerry explains that the Navy sailors found themselves in Iranian waters after experiencing mechanical failure.

Listen to Nathan Morley’s report:

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(Vatican Radio) US Authorities who are applying for the extradition of detained Sinaloa drug cartel leader Joaquin “Shorty” Guzmán, have agreed not to seek the death penalty, if he's convicted of homicide.

Listen to James Blears' report from Mexico City:

The concession is key for a successful extradition of the accused leader of a Mexican drug cartel. The Mexican constitution forbids extradition if there is a possibility that an accused will suffer the death penalty. 

Guzmán was re-captured last Friday and returned to the same maximum security prison from which he was rescued by his henchman six months ago by tunneling into his cell. The difference now, however, is that the floor has been reinforced with concrete. Other security measures have been taken, including that Guzmán will be moved from cell to cell on a continuous basis. Outside the prison's perimeter fence, tanks and armoured cars are on constant patrol.

Guzmán's lawyers are filing injunction after injunction in an attempt to prevent or at least delay the day when Guzmán will have to face US justice.

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New York City, N.Y., Jan 14, 2016 / 12:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Children in conflict areas desperately need an education, but violence and lack of funding finds one in four of them out of school.

A staggering 24 million kids living in conflict areas around the world are missing out on their primary education according to a new report from children’s advocacy group, UNICEF.

That number represents nearly one-quarter of the 109.2 million children ages 6 to 15 who live in 22 countries affected by conflict.

According to the Jan. 12 analysis, the highest rate of children not in school is in South Sudan, where more than half (51 percent) of school-aged children are not receiving an education. Niger followed with 47 percent, 41 percent in Sudan, and 40 percent in Afghanistan.

Because collecting information on children is difficult, especially in conflict areas, these numbers could be even higher.

Not only does education help prepare children for better lives in the future, but it protects them from dangers they currently face living in conflict areas, Jo Bourne, UNICEF Chief of Education said in a Jan. 12 statement.

“When children are not in school, they are at an increased danger of abuse, exploitation and recruitment into armed groups,” she said

Many of these children have witnessed the destruction of their homes, the death of friends and family, and now with no schooling have lost the stability of their daily routine.

“Now, unable to learn even the basic reading and writing skills, they are at risk of losing their futures and missing out on the opportunity to contribute to their economies and societies when they reach adulthood,” she said.

Bourne said that education “equips children with the knowledge and skills to rebuild their communities once the conflict is over, and the short-term it provides them with the stability and structure required to cope with the trauma they have experienced.”

Unless education for children in conflict areas is made a top priority, UNICEF fears that “a generation of children living in conflict will grow up without the skills they need to contribute to their countries and economies, exacerbating the already desperate situation for millions of children and their families.”

The analysis said that education is consistently “one of the least funded sectors in humanitarian appeals.” Education efforts for South Sudanese refugees in Uganda, for example, faces an 89 percent funding gap.

 

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