Vatican: Islam Surpasses Roman Catholicism as World’s Largest Religion
March 31, 2008
Islam has surpassed Roman Catholicism as the world’s largest religion, the Vatican newspaper said Sunday.
“For the first time in history, we are no longer at the top: Muslims have overtaken us,” Monsignor Vittorio Formenti said in an interview with the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano. Formenti compiles the Vatican’s yearbook.
He said that Catholics accounted for 17.4 percent of the world population — a stable percentage — while Muslims were at 19.2 percent.
“It is true that while Muslim families, as is well known, continue to make a lot of children, Christian ones on the contrary tend to have fewer and fewer,” the monsignor said.
Formenti said that the data refer to 2006. The figures on Muslims were put together by Muslim countries and then provided to the United Nations, he said, adding that the Vatican could only vouch for its own data.
When considering all Christians and not just Catholics, Christians make up 33 percent of the world population, Formenti said.
Spokesmen for the Vatican and the United Nations did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment Sunday.
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North Korea Warns South Korea of Pre-emptive Strike
March 31, 2008
North Korea threatened South Korea with destruction Sunday after Seoul’s top military officer said he would consider attacking the communist nation if it tried to carry out a nuclear attack.
The statement from North Korea’s official news agency marked the third straight day of bellicose rhetoric from the North, which is angry over the harsher line the South’s new president has taken against the country since assuming office last month.
“Our military will not sit idle until warmongers launch a pre-emptive strike,” said an unidentified KCNA military commentator. “Everything will be in ashes, not just a sea of fire, if our advanced pre-emptive strike once begins.”
On Friday, North Korea test-fired a barrage of missiles into the sea and warned it would “mercilessly wipe out” any South Korean warships that violate its waters near their disputed sea border.
Such rhetoric by North Korea at times of increased tensions is not rare, and it comes just two days before a scheduled visit to South Korea by the chief U.S. negotiator in North Korean nuclear disarmament talks.
Sunday’s statement also warned that the North would suspend all scheduled inter-Korean dialogue unless Seoul retracts and apologizes for the remark by its new top military leader.
Russian Bombers Intercepted Near Alaska
March 26, 2008
NATO forces sent jets to escort two Russian long-range air force bombers patrolling neutral skies near Alaska on Wednesday, Russian news agencies quoted the defense ministry as saying.
Russia’s military has resumed its Cold War practice of flying regular patrols far beyond its borders, and in the last year has also sent turbo-prop Tu-95s over U.S. naval aircraft carriers and the Pacific island of Guam.
Accompanied by two Il-78 refueling tankers, the two Tu-95 “Bear” bombers flew for 15 hours over the Arctic and Pacific oceans, Interfax news agency quoted Russian Air Force spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky as saying.
“In the course of the air patrol, long-range aviation aircraft were escorted by NATO jets in the region of Alaska,” said Drobyshevsky.
Originally designed to drop nuclear bombs, the Tu-95, Russia’s equivalent of the U.S. air force’s B-52, is a Cold War icon refitted for surveillance and maritime patrols.
Russia, in the eighth year of an economic boom driven by high global oil prices, has raised military funding after years of neglect following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Russian navy has finished construction of mothballed submarines and restarted large-scale naval exercises that shortages of fuel and spare parts had made a rarity.
Analysts say the Kremlin is using its reviving military might to support a policy of projecting Russia’s power again on the world stage.
But some military observers say the Russian armed forces are still hampered by a shortage of combat-ready assets and that the exercises are primarily a public relations exercise.
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL2659163020080326
Pastor Admits Stealing Credit Card Info From Parishioners
March 26, 2008
The former pastor of a Northumberland County church acknowledges using parishioners’ personal information to obtain credit cards.
The Rev. Raymond Clayton pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Williamsport to a charge of access device fraud. He awaits sentencing in June. The 43-year-old Clayton is the former pastor of Grace Fellowship Church near Mount Carmel.
Following the plea, 83-year-old church member Patricia Tomedi said, “Thank God.” Tomedi says she’s lost 20 pounds since Clayton was charged with stealing church members’ identities. Her’s was one of the Social Security numbers he used.
Clayton’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Toni Byrd, has negotiated a plea agreement promising full restitution and calling for one year and one day in jail.
The church has since disbanded.
Brazil - 80 New Cases of Dengue Fever Being Reported Every Hour
March 26, 2008
Brazil will send hundreds of health workers to Rio de Janeiro state to help overwhelmed emergency rooms that are reporting 80 new cases of dengue fever every hour, the health minister announced Monday.
In addition to the 671 health professionals, the government also will deploy 300 workers and 15 insecticide-spraying vehicles to combat the Aegis aegypti mosquito, which spreads the disease and breeds in puddles of standing water, Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao said.
Officials also opened a crisis center for officials from the state and federal governments and the armed forces to coordinate prevention efforts, although the army’s role remains undefined.
And the federal government opened three hydration tents Monday to help treat victims, who frequently suffer from dehydration. Temporao said the government would eventually open some 660 “hydration stations” around the state.
Dengue can incapacitate patients for over a week with severe headaches and joint pains, but is not usually fatal. A deadly hemorrhagic variant that causes internal and external bleeding accounts for fewer than 5 percent of cases but has shown signs of growing - often affecting people who have recovered from a less-severe form.
So far, more than 32,000 cases have been confirmed around the state, which has a population of 16 million people, and 49 people have been confirmed dead. Health specialists, however, believe the number of victims could be three times as high as reported.
There is no vaccine for dengue and treatment is usually limited analgesics, bed rest and fluids.
Fed’s Rescue Halted Finacial Meltdown
March 26, 2008
When the Federal Reserve stepped in to save Bear Stearns, most people had no idea what was at stake, writes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
We may never know for sure whether the Federal Reserve’s rescue of Bear Stearns averted a seizure of the $516 trillion derivatives system, the ultimate Chernobyl for global finance.
“If the Fed had not stepped in, we would have had pandemonium,” said James Melcher, president of the New York hedge fund Balestra Capital.
“There was the risk of a total meltdown at the beginning of last week. I don’t think most people have any idea how bad this chain could have been, and I am still not sure the Fed can maintain the solvency of the US banking system.”
All through early March the frontline players had watched in horror as Bear Stearns came under assault and then shrivelled into nothing as its $17bn reserve cushion vanished.
Melcher was already prepared - true to form for a man who made a fabulous return last year betting on the collapse of US mortgage securities. He is now turning his sights on Eastern Europe, the next shoe to drop.
Slab of Antarctic Ice Shelf Collapses
March 26, 2008
Satellite images show that a large hunk of Antarcticas Wilkins Ice Shelf has started to collapse in a fast-warming region of the continent, scientists said on Tuesday.
The area of collapse measured about 160 square miles 415 square km of the Wilkins Ice Shelf, according to satellite imagery from the University of Colorados National Snow and Ice Data Center.
The Wilkins Ice Shelf is a broad sheet of permanent floating ice that spans about 5,000 square miles 13,000 square km and is located on the southwest Antarctic Peninsula about 1,000 miles 1,600 km south of South America.
“Block after block of ice is just tumbling and crumbling into the ocean,” Ted Scambos, lead scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, said in a telephone interview.
“The shelf is not just cracking off and a piece goes drifting away, but totally shattering. These kinds of events, we dont see them very often. But we want to understand them better because these are the things that lead to a complete loss of the ice shelf,” Scambos added.
Scambos said a large part of the ice shelf is now supported by only a thin strip of ice. This last “ice buttress” could collapse and about half the total ice shelf area could be lost in the next few years, Scambos added.
British Antarctic Survey scientist David Vaughan said in a statement: “This shelf is hanging by a thread.”
Iran: Parliament To Discuss Death Penalty For Converts Who Leave Islam For Christianity
March 24, 2008
In its first session since last week’s general elections, the new Iranian parliament is expected to discuss a law that will condemn to death anyone who decides to leave the Muslim faith and convert to other religions.
The parliament, also known as the Majlis, will debate the new law which has been presented by the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Under the proposed law, anyone who is born to Muslim parents and decides to convert to another faith, will face the death penalty.
Currently converts, particularly those who have decided to leave the Muslim faith for Evangelical churches, are arrested and then released after some years of detention.
The new legislation, which has caused concern in Iran and abroad, was proposed mainly because of fears of proselytising activities by Evangelical churches particularly through the use of satellite channels.
There has also been concern over fact that many young people in Iran have abandoned Islam because they’re tired of the many restrictions imposed by the faith.
According to unofficial sources, in the past five years, one million Iranians, particularly young people and women, have abandoned Islam and joined Evangelical churches.
This phenomenon has surprised even the missionaries who carry out their activities in secret in Iran.
An Evangelical priest and former Muslim in Iran told Adnkronos International (AKI) that the conversions were “interesting, enthusiastic but very dangerous”.
“The high number of conversions is the reason that the government has decided to make the repression of Christians official with this new law,” said the priest on condition of anonymity.
Russia Continues To Send Weapons To Syria and Iran
March 24, 2008
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed concern over Russia’s continuing supply of sophisticated weaponry to Syria and Iran during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Jerusalem on Thursday.
Olmert stressed Israel’s fear that these weapons, including advanced anti-tank weapons and anti-aircraft missiles, could find their way into the hands of the Lebanon-based guerilla group Hezbollah, supported by Syria and Iran, which has threatened to destroy Israel.
Lavrov responded by saying that Russia has no knowledge of Hezbollah possessing Russian weapons, and that if Israel has any information on the topic, Russia would be happy to look into it.
Dollar’s Clout Sinks Worldwide
March 24, 2008
Antique store owners in lower Manhattan, ticket vendors at India’s Taj Mahal and Brazilian business executives heading to China all have one thing in common these days: They don’t want U.S. dollars.
Hit by a free fall with no end in sight, the once-mighty U.S. dollar is no longer just crashing on currency markets and making life more expensive for American tourists and business people abroad: Its clout is evaporating worldwide as foreign businesses and individuals turn to other currencies.
Experts say the bleak U.S. economic forecast means it will take years for the greenback to recover its value and prestige.
Negative dollar sentiment is growing in nations where the dollar was historically accepted as equal or better than local currency � and dollar aversion is even extending to some quarters in the United States.
At the Taj Mahal, dollars were always legal tender, alongside rupees, for entry into the palace. But because of the falling value of the dollar, the government implemented a rupees-only policy a month ago. Indian merchants catering to tourists have also turned bearish on the dollar.
“Gone are the days when we used to run after dollars, holding onto them for rainy days,” said Vijay Narain, a tour operator in the city of Agra where the Taj Mahal is located. “Now we prefer the euro. It gives us more riches.”
In Bolivia, billboards feature George Washington’s image on a $1 bill alongside a bright pink 500 euro note, encouraging savers to turn to the euro to tuck away money earned abroad or sent home in remittances.
“If the dollar falls … save in euros!!!” say the signs popping up around La Paz for Bolivia’s Banco Bisa.
And in neighboring Brazil, the Confidence Cambio money-changing service was the first to start offering yuan so travelers to China no longer have to change the money into dollars first. The service is already a hit because Brazil does big business with China, and lots of Brazilians are heading to the Olympics this summer.
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