Month: January 2018

Pope Francis ventured into the Amazon to demand rights for indigenous groups, decried the scourge of corruption afflicting the region’s politics and denounced a culture of “machismo” in which violence against women is too often tolerated.   Yet his latest visit to South America is likely to be remembered most for 27 dismissive words that sparked outrage among Chileans already angry over a notorious clerical abuse scandal and haunted the rest of his trip.   “That is the enigma of Pope Francis,” Anne Barrett Doyle of the online abuse database BishopAccountability.org said Sunday. “He is so bold and compassionate on …

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Spain’s state prosecutors asked the country’s Supreme Court Monday to reactivate an international arrest warrant for former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont. Puigdemont is in Denmark to take part in a debate on Catalonia at the University of Copenhagen Monday and meet Danish lawmakers on Tuesday. It is not clear whether the Spanish Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena, who is handling the case, will grant it. Madrid had threatened to issue a warrant for Puigdemont’s arrest if he left Belgium, where he fled to avoid prosecution over his role in Catalonia’s independence vote in October. This is the first time that …

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German conservatives are preparing for formal coalition talks with Social Democrats (SPD) Monday shortly after the center-left party voted to break the months of political deadlock. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Union bloc (CDU) and SPD of Martin Schultz are expected to open formal negotiation this week on extending their coalition of the past four years.  Conservatives are warning, however, that they are not prepared to renegotiate preliminary agreements on such issues as migration. Julia Kloeckner (Klöckner), a deputy leader of CDU, told ARD television Monday that the upcoming negotiations will focus on advancing of what was already agreed “but not …

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Tens of thousands of flag-waving Greeks rallied in Thessaloniki Sunday, demanding Greece never compromise on the name Macedonia for its northern province. Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic that shares the same name have been feuding over who gets to use it since Macedonia became independent Yugoslavia in 1991. Police put the turnout for Sunday’s march at 90,000 while organizers say it is much higher. Some of the protesters wore costumes from the period when Macedonia was ruled by the ancient Greek King Alexander the Great. They say allowing the neighboring country to use the name Macedonia insults Greek history …

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The office of Spain’s state prosecutor said Sunday it will move to reissue a European arrest warrant for the fugitive former leader of Catalonia if he leaves Belgium and enters Denmark as planned. The region’s ex-president, Carles Puigdemont, is scheduled to attend a debate Monday at the University of Copenhagen titled “Catalonia and Europe at a Crossroads for Democracy.” The trip would be Puigdemont’s first outside Belgium since he fled there to avoid a court summons in Spain for his role in an illegal- and unsuccessful- secession bid led by his government in October. If Puigdemont makes it to Denmark, …

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Pope Francis wrapped up his visit to Peru on Sunday by denouncing the plague of corruption sweeping through Latin America. But controversy over his accusations that Chilean sex abuse victims slandered a bishop continued to cast a shadow over what has become the most contested and violent trip of his papacy.   A day after his top adviser on sex abuse publicly rebuked him for his Chile remarks, Francis was reminded that the Vatican has faced years of criticism for its inaction over a similar sex abuse scandal in Peru.   “Francis, here there IS proof,” read a banner hanging …

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French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have pledged to agree on a new French-German treaty this year to deepen cooperation between the two countries.   In a joint statement Sunday, both leaders say they will seek closer economic ties and convergence on tax issues.   They also want to develop a common diplomatic approach, boost cooperation on foreign affairs and security including the fight against terrorism, and “defend more effectively French-German common interest and values.”   The statement was timed to commemorate 55 years since the signing of the 1963 Elysee friendship treaty, which marked the reconciliation …

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Four rockets fired from Syria hit a Turkish border town Sunday as Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters pushed forward with an offensive to drive Syrian Kurdish forces from an enclave in northern Syria, the state-run news agency reported. Gov. Mehmet Tekinarslan said four rockets struck the town of Kilis, hitting two houses, an office and slightly wounding one person. The Turkish artillery returned fire, the governor said. The attack came after dozens of Turkish jets pounded the Kurdish-run enclave of Afrin on Saturday as part of an offensive, codenamed Olive Branch. Ten civilians were wounded in the airstrikes, three seriously, according …

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Rough estimates say about 2 of every 100 people around the world have or need replacement joints. Now, some Polish doctors are using stem cell technology to rebuild worn out cartilage, instead of replacing it with metal. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …

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