International News

Americas

On the issue of human rights in Cuba, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff avoided criticism, as some opposition sectors hoped she would do, and opted instead for a conceptual approach.

Brazil strengthens ties with Cuba with presidential visit

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 2/3/2012

Brazil's first female president, Dilma Rousseff\' touched down in Haiti after visiting Cuba in an effort to strengthen ties with the two beleaguered Caribbean nations. Rousseff is committed to investing her nations with both nations and deepen political ties. LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic ...

According to information from the Presidential Commission against Racism, 705 Guatemalan women lost their lives to gender-related violence in 2011, which is substantially higher than the 675 deaths the year before.

Social activists in Guatemala march against 'femicides'

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 2/1/2012

The Central American nation of Guatemala has been one of the hardest hit by a wave of "femicides" - murders committed against women for the sole reason that they are female. Guatemala is second only to Mexico in terms of murders committed against women. Right-wing retired general Otto P�rez ...

Eighty-year-old Raul Castro has led Cuba since his brother Fidel stepped aside during a 2006 health crisis.

Cuban President pledges to set term limits; even his own

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 1/30/2012

Cuban President Raul Castro reiterated his pledge to limit political terms in office to 10 years - including his own. Castro made the statement at the country's Communist Party ended its two-day national conference in Havana. LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Castro said a constitutional ...

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Europe

Pope Benedict XVI Calls Christians to Prayer as the 'Yes' Which Sets Us Free

By Deacon Keith Fournier • Catholic Online • 2/3/2012

Pope Benedict XVI continued his astounding catechesis on prayer to the pilgrims assembled for his weekly General Audience. He invited them - and he invites all of us - to learn from the example of the Lord Jesus Christ and his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. In Christ's "yes" to the ...

Greek's precarious financial future and substantial debt are sure to be at the top of this week's eurozone crisis meeting. European leaders have gathered in Brussels, the Belgian capital and de facto capital of the European Union for a fresh round of talks. (German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, left to right.)

Greek debt at the top of the list at eurozone crisis meeting

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 1/31/2012

Greek's precarious financial future and substantial debt are sure to be at the top of this week's eurozone crisis meeting. European leaders have gathered in Brussels, the Belgian capital and de facto capital of the European Union for a fresh round of talks. LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - This ...

Police in Portugal are increasingly common sight in urban areas, as they focus on revenue-generating activities, and neglect outlying districts.

Portugal's black market goes mainstream

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 1/30/2012

It's tough times for businesses in Portugal. As the government struggles to keep its economy afloat, it has raised taxes and imposed austerity measures that have hit the middle and lower classes very hard. Businesses have been brought to their knees by declining demand and higher government taxes. ...

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Middle East

Boys hold toy weapons in protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad after Friday prayers in Hula near Homs

United Nations asks Syrian president to step down

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 2/1/2012

Western and Arab nations have gathered at the United Nations in New York City to push for a tough resolution on Syria, calling for President Bashar al-Assad to step down and hand power over to his deputy. LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The resolution stresses that there will be no foreign ...

Armed forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad barraged residential buildings with machine-gun fire and killed at least 30 people in the besieged city of Homs.

Death toll rises in Syrian city of Homs

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 1/29/2012

Armed forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad barraged residential buildings with machine-gun fire and killed at least 30 people in the besieged city of Homs. Activists say that heavy gunfire erupted last week. Homs has seen some of the heaviest violence of the 10-month-old uprising ...

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Asia Pacific

Cambodian war criminal Kaing Guek Eav, commonly known by his alias of Duch ran a torture prison during the reign of Pol Pot. He had ordered the execution of countless prisoners after their interrogation was completed.

Notorious Cambodian war criminal sentenced to life in prison

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 2/3/2012

Cambodia's war crimes court has rejected the appeal of one of the Khmer Rouge's most notorious war criminals. Kaing Guek Eav, commonly known by his alias of Duch ran a torture prison during the reign of Pol Pot. Eav was instead sentenced to life in prison. LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - ...

China remains Tehran's largest trading partner and biggest oil customer. Cooperation from China is crucial to the West's plan to use the embargo to force Iran to stop uranium enrichment.

China unlikely to join embargo against Iranian oil

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 2/2/2012

According to various analysts, China is highly unlikely to join the West in an oil embargo penalizing Iran for its nuclear program. China has practiced a non-interfering foreign policy for the last 30 years, i.e. denouncing sanctions on one hand yet working to protect its national interests ...

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Africa

Zimbabwe Health Minister Henry Madzorera says that the country is reporting up to 50 cases of typhoid a day.

Zimbabwe officials to investigate typhoid outbreak

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 2/1/2012

Health officials in the African nation of Zimbabwe have called for an overhaul of the national water and sanitation systems. There has been an unprecedented outbreak of typhoid in that country that has affected more than 1,500 people. LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Zimbabwe Health ...

Hassan Osman Abdi, director of the Shabelle Media Network, was shot and killed by unidentified men outside his home in the city's Wadajir district over the weekend. The reporter, who also went under the name of

Al-Shabab bans Red Cross from stricken sections of Somalia

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 2/1/2012

Somalia's militant Islamist organization has banned the International Committee of the Red Cross from that African nation's most stricken areas. In a statement, al-Shabab declared that it had "decided to fully terminate the contract" of the RED CROSS, claiming the organization had handed ...

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