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Jakarta, Indonesia, Dec 16, 2016 / 10:49 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Christian governor of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, could face stiff penalties if convicted of insulting the Quran – a charge he strongly denies.Prosecutors in the Muslim-majority nation charged that he insulted Islam by misusing a particular Quranic verse that suggests Muslims should not be ruled by non-Muslims.Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who goes by the name Ahok, was in tears as he denied the allegations in court.The governor insisted that his use of the verse was aimed at politicians who were misusing the verse against him. He cited his relationship with his adoptive parents, who are Muslim.“I am very saddened that I have been accused of insulting Islam because this accusation is the same as saying that I am insulting my adoptive parents and siblings,” Purnama said at a Dec. 13 hearing, according to Reuters.He has repeatedly apologized for his comments but denied charges of blasphemy.The governo...
Vatican City, Dec 16, 2016 / 11:45 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis met Friday morning with Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón and former president Senator Álvaro Uribe Vélez, as the country works to finalize a peace accord which would end a 52-year conflict between the government and rebel groups.Meeting first with Santos, “the discussions took place in an atmosphere of great cordiality, confirming the existing good relations between the Holy See and Colombia,” a Dec. 16 communique from the Vatican stated.“Appreciation was expressed for the Pope’s support during the peace process, along with the hope that such peace be stable and lasting.”Pope Francis afterwards met with Uribe individually and then together with Santos, where they spoke about the “culture of encounter” and “emphasized the importance of sincere dialogue between all members of Colombian society,” the communique related.The...
Greenwich, Connecticut, Dec 16, 2016 / 12:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Young Americans are dying at a rate not seen since the Vietnam War.But they are not dying in combat - they’re dying of the effects of drug overdoses, alcoholism, mental illness and suicide, at a rate 200 percent higher than the 1980s in much of the United States. A recent report from the U.S. surgeon general estimates that more than 27 million Americans have problems with prescription drugs, illegal drugs or alcohol. But just a fraction of those people, only 10 percent, get meaningful help.And it’s not just substance addictions that are on the rise. Process addictions, related to behaviors, have also seen recent spikes. Pornography addiction in particular has reached what some view as crisis levels.A 2011 study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information estimated that roughly 47 percent of all American adults struggle with at least one of the 11 most common forms of process or substance addi...
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- All a cute, curly haired 10-year-old girl named Gayla Peevey wanted for Christmas in 1953 was a hippopotamus....
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -- Separatist leaders in Catalonia plan to seek Spanish government support for a referendum on the region's independence, but a lack of consent from Madrid will not stop them from staging the vote, the president of the regional government said Friday....
BERLIN (AP) -- German officials are stepping up their criticism of Facebook, saying the social network is doing too little to stop hate speech and could face stiff fines unless it deletes illegal content faster....
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- John Glenn's home state and the nation began saying goodbye to the beloved astronaut Friday starting with a public viewing of his flag-draped casket inside Ohio's Statehouse rotunda....
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- North Carolina Republicans stripped the incoming Democratic governor of some of his authority on Friday and were on the cusp of an even greater power grab, an extraordinary move critics said flies in the face of voters....
BEIRUT (AP) -- Diplomats sought to salvage the evacuation of eastern Aleppo after it stalled Friday amid recriminations by both sides in Syria's civil war, raising fears the cease-fire could collapse with thousands still desperate to escape the rebel enclave....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hillary Clinton is blaming Russian interference for her defeat in the presidential race, casting her loss as part of a long-running strategy by Russian President Vladimir Putin to discredit the fundamental tenets of American government....
