Francis: The charismatic Pope
It was October 17, 2014. The Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on Family which attracted so much world attention was about to be wound up. It being a non-working day for the Synod, most of the Asian bishop-participants of the Synod were having their special Central Committee (CC) meeting of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences [...]
Former cricketer Imran Khan marries TV weather girl for £850 dowry
Imran Khan has finally married ex-BBC weather girl Reham Khan at a low-key wedding ceremony in Pakistan after weeks of speculation – but not a single member of his family was invited. A close friend of the cricketer-turned-politician announced he had tied the knot with the divorced mother-of-three at his home in Islamabad in accordance [...]
Is Charlie Hebdo attack the French 9/11?
PARIS – “France’s 9/11.” In the immediate aftermath of the massacre at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, the comparison with al Qaeda’s 2001 attack on the United States has taken hold across France. Indeed, the January 7 attack was the most murderous France has known since the end of the Algerian War in 1962. But [...]
A vote for change to the 100-day challenge
Sri Lanka voted for change last Thursday. Maithripala Sirisena won the presidency polling 51.3% of the vote to Mahinda Rajapaksa’s 47.6%. This was a swing of 10.3 percentage points against MR who polled 57.9% in 2010. It is not clear at this point in time how political forces in parliament would align under President Sirisena’s [...]
French forces kill three terrorists in dramatic siege climax
PARIS, Jan 10 (AFP) – French forces killed the two brothers behind the massacre at Charlie Hebdo and an Islamist ally Friday after three blood-soaked days that left 17 other people dead and shook the nation to its core. Police were still hunting for another suspect, the girlfriend of one of the men, early today, [...]
Divers resume search for AirAsia recorders, victims
PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia (Reuters) – Indonesian divers resumed their search on Saturday for the black box flight recorders and passengers and crew of an AirAsia passenger jet that crashed into the sea nearly two weeks ago. Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501, with 162 people on board, lost contact with air traffic control during bad weather on [...]
Sierra Leone now has means to control Ebola epidemic: UN
FREETOWN, Jan 10 (AFP) -Sierra Leone now has the means to curb the Ebola epidemic, the new head of the UN mission for the fight against the disease and a senior World Health Organisation official said. “Sierra Leone is in much better shape today to control Ebola than it was a few weeks ago,” UN [...]
US prosecutors recommend criminal charges against Petraeus
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The FBI and Justice Department prosecutors have recommended bringing criminal charges against former CIA chief David Petraeus for improperly providing classified information to a female Army Reserve officer with whom he was having an affair, the New York Times reported on Friday. The recommendations leave US Attorney General Eric Holder with a [...]
The rise and fall of the world’s poorest nations
UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – The world’s 48 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) – a special category of developing nations created by the General Assembly in 1971 but refused recognition by the World Bank – have long been described as “poorest of the poor” in need of special international assistance for their economic survival. But only three [...]
