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COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AP) -- The Myanmar soldiers came in the morning, the young mother says. They set fire to the concrete-and-thatch homes, forcing the villagers to cluster together. When some of her neighbors tried to escape into the fields, they were shot. After that, she says, most people stopped running away....
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- The death toll in the Oakland warehouse fire has grown to 36 and authorities say they expect the number to rise when they resume work later Monday following a temporary work stoppage. A wall is leaning inward, posing a safety hazard to those who have been searching the building which erupted in fire Friday night....
(Vatican Radio) Several European leaders across the continent are relieved that Austria’s euroskeptic anti-immigration candidate, who could have become the country’s first far-right head of state since the Second World War, was defeated in Sunday's presidential election. Former Green party leader Alexander van der Bellen was elected in a closely fought poll after far-right candidate Norbert Hofer conceded defeat.Listen to Stefan Bos' report: As preliminary results showed he secured just 46 percent of the vote, far right Freedom Party candidate Hofer, was quick to admit that he lost a bitterly fought election that was overshadowed by concerns over migration and relations with the European Union. “I have always said, the winner will be a good winner and the loser will be a good loser," he said."And I ask all the people who have voted for me to accept that in a democracy the voter is always right, always. And that in the end we all have to un...
(Vatican Radio) Tens of thousands of people in Jakarta have staged a unity rally, two days after a divisive protest by Muslim groups. Sunday's rally saw people travelling to Indonesia's capital from across the country.Listen to Alastair Wanklyn's report: Tens of thousands of people gathered on a boulevard in Jakarta, under the slogan: "We are Indonesia."Several minority ethnic groups were present. There was dancing by Chinese Indonesians, and some protestors travelled to the event from Bali, an island that is traditionally Hindu.The gathering was seen as a response to chants of "Arrest him!"Several hundred thousand Muslims who during outdoor prayers on Friday called for the arrest of the governor of Jakarta, a Christian man who is accused of insulting Islam.That rally had a clear message: "Defend Islam!", that is, that Islam is under attack and must be defended.By contrast, the gathering on Sunday was one of unity.Political...
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena met on Wednesday with a delegation of Asian bishops and thanked them for the immense contribution made by the Catholic Church to socially uplift and help the poor and disadvantaged of Sri Lanka. 'It is indeed a blessing to Sri Lanka having such high and learned leaders to lead not only the Catholics but also the people in Sri Lanka,” the president said.Over 140 bishops, archbishops, cardinals and priests from 40 countries gathered to discuss Asian family values, the church of the poor and the mission of mercy from Nov. 28 – Dec. 4. It was the 11th plenary assembly of the FABC and was the first to be held in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan government contributed to the organisation of the event with some 10 million rupees, or about US$ 70,000.The president met the bishops at his official residence in Colombo on Nov. 30. He took the opportunity to praise the Catholic Church and highlight the work done in Sri Lanka, a war-ridd...
(Vatican Radio) Let us allow ourselves to be transformed by Christ; let us allow ourselves to be able to be re-created, freeing us from our sins. That was the message of Pope Francis at the morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta, centred on the theme of the renewal that the Lord brings. The Pope put us on guard about painting over our sins without truly being ashamed in our hearts. Only by calling sins by their name, he said, will we be able to allow God to make us new women and men.The desert will bloom, the blind will see, the deaf will hear. The first reading, from the Prophet Isaiah, speaks to us about renewal, the Pope said. Everything will be changed, from ugly to beautiful, from wicked to good.” A change for the better: this, he said, is what the People of Israel were expecting from the Messiah.The change that Jesus brings is not simply make-upTurning then to the Gospel of the day, Pope Francis noted that Jesus went about healing people, helping them “to see a path of...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Police say a man who said he was investigating a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring out of a pizza place fired an assault rifle inside the Washington, D.C., restaurant Sunday....
ALEPPO, Syria (AP) -- Rebel shelling of the Syrian government-held part of Aleppo killed a Russian nurse in a makeshift Russian hospital in the city on Monday while the Defense Ministry in Moscow said a Russian fighter jet crashed into the Mediterranean Sea after returning from a sortie over Syria....
MILAN (AP) -- Italian voters dealt Premier Matteo Renzi a resounding rebuke by rejecting his proposed constitutional reforms, plunging Europe's fourth-largest economy into political and economic uncertainty Monday....
CANNON BALL, N.D. (AP) -- Protesters celebrated a major victory in their push to reroute the Dakota Access oil pipeline away from a tribal water source but pledged to remain camped on federal land in North Dakota anyway, despite Monday's government deadline to leave....
