(Vatican Radio) Clashes broke out in a temporary migrant camp in Greece on Thursday night because of overcrowding as people are being blocked from further entry into the EU.Listen to John Carr's report:Middle Eastern migrants came to blows in a temporary shelter here in Athens Thrusday night because of overcrowding.The police were called in to quell the unrest that broke out at a former Olympic wrestling venue that has stood empty since the 2004 Games. The hall is quickly running out of space as hundreds of migrants are bused into Athens each day after being turned back at the Macedonian border.The feeling here in Athens is that the Greek government has lost control of the migration problem. Officials insist they have a policy in place, but no-one quite knows what it is. Greece this week came under sharp criticism from the European Union for failing to fingerprint some 370,000 migrants who washed ashore on the islands this year. The unspoken fear is that ...
(Vatican Radio) Clashes broke out in a temporary migrant camp in Greece on Thursday night because of overcrowding as people are being blocked from further entry into the EU.
Listen to John Carr's report:
Middle Eastern migrants came to blows in a temporary shelter here in Athens Thrusday night because of overcrowding.
The police were called in to quell the unrest that broke out at a former Olympic wrestling venue that has stood empty since the 2004 Games. The hall is quickly running out of space as hundreds of migrants are bused into Athens each day after being turned back at the Macedonian border.
The feeling here in Athens is that the Greek government has lost control of the migration problem.
Officials insist they have a policy in place, but no-one quite knows what it is.
Greece this week came under sharp criticism from the European Union for failing to fingerprint some 370,000 migrants who washed ashore on the islands this year. The unspoken fear is that more jihadis could have slipped in among them.
As more frustrated migrants linger in Athens in the cold weather, the unrest is expected to intensify.
A Catholic bishop in central India's Madhya Pradesh state has charged local authorities with callousness toward the poor after 40 people lost their eyesight undergoing a government-sponsored free cataract removal programme. "I personally feel the poor are not taken seriously. They are most often treated like a commodity and not given due respect," Bishop Chacko Thottumarickal of Indore told UCANEWS. "It seems that the government machinery seldom recognizes human dignity and this kind of unfortunate incident takes place," he said. "It is unfortunate that the government with its huge resources at disposal was not able to protect the eyes of poor people," he added. The state with the help of a nongovernmental organization organized the medical program in the tribal district of Barwani, one of the poorest regions in the state between Nov. 16- 24. Of the 86 people operated on to remove cataracts, 60 develo...
A Catholic bishop in central India's Madhya Pradesh state has charged local authorities with callousness toward the poor after 40 people lost their eyesight undergoing a government-sponsored free cataract removal programme. "I personally feel the poor are not taken seriously. They are most often treated like a commodity and not given due respect," Bishop Chacko Thottumarickal of Indore told UCANEWS. "It seems that the government machinery seldom recognizes human dignity and this kind of unfortunate incident takes place," he said. "It is unfortunate that the government with its huge resources at disposal was not able to protect the eyes of poor people," he added.
The state with the help of a nongovernmental organization organized the medical program in the tribal district of Barwani, one of the poorest regions in the state between Nov. 16- 24. Of the 86 people operated on to remove cataracts, 60 developed serious fungal infections with at least 40 reportedly losing their eyesight. Bishop Thottumarickal said the church also organizes free cataract operation programs for the poor "with a hundred percent success rate, despite its limited resources." A reasonably good private hospital in Indore will charge about US$500 for a cataract operation, which is not affordable to poor people even with their life savings. That is why they go for state-sponsored surgeries, he said. But now they are aware of "the callous treatment they get in such medical camps and might prefer to live with the cataracts," the bishop said. The state government announced Dec. 8 that it would pay a lifelong monthly pension of 5,000 rupees (US$75) to each of the affected people. It also declared an additional grant of US$3,000 to those undergoing treatment for eye infections in private hospitals.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has temporarily banned such medical camps and ordered a special audit of all operating theaters in government hospitals after it was alleged that an operating theater was the source of the infections that led to the 40 losing their sight. Bishop Thottumarickal noted that it was not the first such case. Ten people lost their vision after operations in Indore in 2012. According to media reports, more than 50 people have lost they eyesight after cataract surgery in the state in less than five years. (Source: UCAN)
(Vatican Radio) A tense calm has returned to Ukraine's parliament where fighting broke out among members of Ukraine's ruling coalition Friday after the prime minister was violently removed from the podium. The incident underscored deep divisions in the pro-Europe coalition which could fall despite Western warnings that time is running out for Ukraine to root out endemic corruption and cronyism. Listen to Stefan Bos' report:A member of President Petro Poroshenko's bloc suddenly walked towards Prime Minister Yatseniuk. Legislator Oleh Barna presented him sarcastically with a bunch of red roses. That’s not all. Barna grabbed the prime minister around the waist and groin, lifted him off his feet, and dragged him from the podium. Members from Yatseniuk's People’s Front were furious. They pushed Barna who could be seen throwing punches. Angry brawlLawmakers from Poroshenko's bloc then joined the fray. An angry brawl ensued for sev...
(Vatican Radio) A tense calm has returned to Ukraine's parliament where fighting broke out among members of Ukraine's ruling coalition Friday after the prime minister was violently removed from the podium. The incident underscored deep divisions in the pro-Europe coalition which could fall despite Western warnings that time is running out for Ukraine to root out endemic corruption and cronyism.
Listen to Stefan Bos' report:
A member of President Petro Poroshenko's bloc suddenly walked towards Prime Minister Yatseniuk. Legislator Oleh Barna presented him sarcastically with a bunch of red roses.
That’s not all. Barna grabbed the prime minister around the waist and groin, lifted him off his feet, and dragged him from the podium. Members from Yatseniuk's People’s Front were furious. They pushed Barna who could be seen throwing punches.
Angry brawl
Lawmakers from Poroshenko's bloc then joined the fray. An angry brawl ensued for several minutes before deputies return to their seats.
Prime Minister Yatseniuk didn’t give up but returned. He tried to continue speaking about the achievements of his government.
In his speech Yatseniuk recalled that he cautioned already a year ago “that nobody could promise the moon” and said legislators “had the full constitutional right to vote on the question of dismissing Ukraine's cabinet.”
He added that he would “accept the decision of the Ukrainian parliament” as he was not “clinging to this chair”.
Opinion troubles
The latest tensions came while opinion polls showed that Yatseniuk's People's Front party, which triumphed in last year’s parliamentary vote, has an approval rating of just around 1 percent.
A disagreement over proposed tax amendments and the draft 2016 budget has delayed the disbursement of up to $4 billion in international loans. Ukraine had hoped to secure that money to boost its war-torn finances before the end of the year.
Friday’s turmoil came just days after US vice president Joe Biden warned Ukraine’s Parliament to continue reforms and tackle corruption. “You also have a battle. An historic battle against corruption,” Biden said Tuesday.
“Ukraine cannot afford for the people to lose hope again,” he told the legislators. "If you succeed, you will be the founders of the first, truly free, democratic, united Ukraine."
Yet these words seemed to have been forgotten. Friday’s fighting in Parliament underlined international concerns about the future of this former Soviet nation, where another conflict between Russian backed separatists and government forces in the east of the country left as many as 8,000 people dead.
(Vatican Radio) Pressure keeps mounting for Belgium to crack down on Muslim extremists after three of the men involved in the Paris terrorist attacks last month came from a suburb near Brussels. With nearly 500 Belgians fighting with extremist groups in Iraq and Syria, Belgium is being called the radical hotspot of Europe. One program near Brussels is trying to prevent young Belgians from turning to radicalism.Listen to Kevin Ozebek's report:Many Muslims in Belgium say they now feel like outcasts: "When you step on the bus people look at you like maybe you’re going to do something when you open your bag to drink something. The eyes are really watching you and making you really small," said 24-year-old Anouar Abdellati, who is one of the roughly 50 young adults who’ve enrolled themselves in a program at the Belgian non-profit Arktos.At the Arktos location in Leuven just east of Brussels, Abdellati and a dozen of his friends talk, laugh and are allowed...
(Vatican Radio) Pressure keeps mounting for Belgium to crack down on Muslim extremists after three of the men involved in the Paris terrorist attacks last month came from a suburb near Brussels. With nearly 500 Belgians fighting with extremist groups in Iraq and Syria, Belgium is being called the radical hotspot of Europe. One program near Brussels is trying to prevent young Belgians from turning to radicalism.
Listen to Kevin Ozebek's report:
Many Muslims in Belgium say they now feel like outcasts: "When you step on the bus people look at you like maybe you’re going to do something when you open your bag to drink something. The eyes are really watching you and making you really small," said 24-year-old Anouar Abdellati, who is one of the roughly 50 young adults who’ve enrolled themselves in a program at the Belgian non-profit Arktos.
At the Arktos location in Leuven just east of Brussels, Abdellati and a dozen of his friends talk, laugh and are allowed to express their frustrations of feeling left out of Belgian society.
Dirk De Rigdt is the program coordinator. He said, "We want them to feel connected with society and we think that’s basically the most important thing that everybody needs."
De Rigdt believes hundreds of Belgians have fled to fight in Syria because they come from isolated communities ignored by politicians and the greater population.
De Rigdt says that’s the problem with Molenbeek, a Brussels neighborhood with a Muslim majority that suffers from the highest unemployment in all of Belgium. It was also home to at least three men suspected to be behind last month’s terror attacks in Paris.
De Right says at Arktos, the mission is to give those disadvantaged from all different backgrounds and religions a sense of belonging.
"We try to make them stronger, that’s what we try to do," he said, "Stronger in a way that they broaden their minds, that they can see there are more options than one."
The aim of Arktos is to provide more than just a safe place for young adults to share their emotions. Arktos teaches them a variety of skills like how to fix bicycles and work with heavy machinery.
The aim is to ingrain in them they down have to turn to crime and radical philosphies, but rather they all have the power to be productive members of Belgium society.
Addellati says the program works. When asked, "Do you feel a sense of empowerment, of self worth after attending the sessions here?" He responded, "Yes, I feel I start believing myself, that I can do something. That I’m not nothing."
So instead of despair and turning to extreme views, he has hope a good career in Belgium is in his future.
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Weeknd celebrated his breakout year from critical darling to full-blown pop star at iHeartRadio's "Jingle Ball" concert in New York City....
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Donald Trump and Ben Carson could dangle the possibility of independent runs for president well into the primary season next year, but they can't wait forever....
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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Saudi women are heading to polling stations across the kingdom on Saturday, both as voters and candidates for the first time in this landmark election....
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Saudi women are heading to polling stations across the kingdom on Saturday, both as voters and candidates for the first time in this landmark election....
