(Vatican Radio) Turkey and Germany said Wednesday an agreement put in place Monday to stem the flow of migrants to the Greek islands was showing signs of success, but many were still trying to cross the sea and the route remains far from closed. The influx of migrants and refugees has increased pressure on an already struggling Greek economy. Greek unions have announced strikes in many sectors against plans to overhaul the country’s pension system which could be finalized this week in talks with bailout negotiators.Listen to John Carr's report: Much of Greece’s public sector grinds to a halt today, in a 24-hour general strike called to protest planned cuts to pensions and benefits.Aviation authorities said there will be no flights in and out of Greek airports today, limited public transport, and no news about any of it, as journalists, too, are joining the walkout. Greece’s unions fear that the government will soon be forced to make more auste...
(Vatican Radio) Turkey and Germany said Wednesday an agreement put in place Monday to stem the flow of migrants to the Greek islands was showing signs of success, but many were still trying to cross the sea and the route remains far from closed. The influx of migrants and refugees has increased pressure on an already struggling Greek economy. Greek unions have announced strikes in many sectors against plans to overhaul the country’s pension system which could be finalized this week in talks with bailout negotiators.
Listen to John Carr's report:
Much of Greece’s public sector grinds to a halt today, in a 24-hour general strike called to protest planned cuts to pensions and benefits.
Aviation authorities said there will be no flights in and out of Greek airports today, limited public transport, and no news about any of it, as journalists, too, are joining the walkout.
Greece’s unions fear that the government will soon be forced to make more austerity cuts in pensions and benefits, and hope the strike will stiffen the government in its ongoing talks with Greece’s creditors.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has been showings signs of fighting back against what most Greeks believe are the excessive austerity demands of the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission. This week he said he did not intend to make any more concessions.
Demonstrations are planned for the centre of Athens today, in what will probably not be the last such mass protest against creditor-imposed austerity.
A Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish procession honoring the patroness of Cuba on Sept. 7, 2023. / Credit: Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in Havana, CubaACI Prensa Staff, Mar 28, 2024 / 16:00 pm (CNA).The regime of President Miguel Díaz-Canel in Cuba has prohibited several Holy Week processions in different cities of the country, including the El Vedado area of Havana as well as in Bayamo, a town that was the scene of major protests earlier this month.Last week, ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, reported on the prohibition of processions in the Diocese of the Most Holy Savior located in the Bayamo-Manzanillo area in the province of Granma, due to the regime's fear that new protests would break out. The prohibition has been extended to the capital, Havana, according to a Catholic priest.In a March 25 Facebook post, Father Lester Zayas, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in the El Vedado business district of Havana, reported that the day before he had been notifie...
The Catholic faithful gathered in the Cenacle in Jerusalem for the Mass of the Lord's Supper that the Franciscan friars celebrated on Holy Thursday, March 28, 2024. The Cenacle is at the center of strong tensions and disputes regarding ownership and rights of access and celebration. An ancient tradition places King David's tomb here and over the centuries Jews and Muslims have leveraged this to first expel the Franciscans and then to prevent Christian worship, which they deemed sacrilegious. / Credit: Marinella BandiniJerusalem, Mar 28, 2024 / 17:15 pm (CNA).On Holy Thursday, the doors of the Cenacle in Jerusalem were opened to welcome the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land. In this "Upper Room," called the Cenacle in the Holy Land, Jesus had his Last Supper, washed his apostles' feet, and instituted the Eucharist. It was here that the Franciscans celebrated the Mass of the Lord's Supper, reenacting those same gestures. (At the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher,...
The Oregon State Capitol in Salem. / Credit: Zack Frank/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 28, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is reporting a significant rise in assisted suicide prescriptions and deaths in the state, a move that comes after authorities in 2022 began allowing out-of-state residents to access the lethal services.Since the state's passage of the "Death with Dignity Act" in 1997, assisted suicide numbers have been generally rising there, with a markedly sharp uptick since 2013. OHA on March 20 released its 2023 assisted suicide data summary that reported a considerable increase in suicide prescriptions in 2023. The study found that assisted suicide prescriptions in the state rose from 433 in 2022 to 560 last year.Of those 560 prescriptions, 367 people are known to have died from ingesting the suicide "medications." This is up from the 304 who died from assisted suicide drugs in Oregon in 2022.Over half, or 56%, of the assisted ...