Posts Tagged Religion

Venezuela’s cardinal: Pope should urge coexistence

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is greeted by far left-wing activists holding a photo of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, as he arrives to make a press statement, in Rome, Sunday, June 16, 2013. Maduro is scheduled to meet Pope Francis Monday, June 17, during a private audience at the Vatican. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Pope Francis should pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to focus on promoting democracy and peaceful coexistence to ease tensions with the socialist government’s opponents, the Catholic Church’s top representative in the country said Sunday.

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Separate attacks kill 32 people across Iraq

An Iraqi man and Iraqi security force members inspect the site of a car bomb attack in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, June 16, 2013. Most of the car bombs hit Shiite-majority areas and were the cause of most of the casualties. The blasts hit half a dozen cities and towns in the south and center of the country. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

BAGHDAD (AP) — A blistering string of apparently coordinated bombings and a shooting across Iraq killed at least 51 and wounded dozens Sunday, spreading fear throughout the country in a wave of violence that is raising the prospect of a return to widespread sectarian killing a decade after a U.S.-led invasion.

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Early vote count in Iran gives Rowhani wide lead

Supporters of the Iranian presidential candidate Hasan Rowhani, shown in poster at center, attend a celebration gathering in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 15, 2013. Moderate cleric Hasan Rowhani was declared the winner of Iran's presidential vote on Saturday after gaining support among many reform-minded Iranians looking to claw back a bit of ground after years of crackdowns. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Wild celebrations broke out on Tehran streets that were battlefields four years ago as reformist-backed Hasan Rowhani capped a stunning surge to claim Iran’s presidency on Saturday, throwing open the political order after relentless crackdowns by hard-liners to consolidate and safeguard their grip on power.

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Nazi unit leader’s Minneapolis life prompts shock

People walk past the home in Minneapolis, Minn., where 94-year-old Michael Karkoc lives, Friday, June 14, 2013.  Karkoc, a top commander of a Nazi SS-led unit accused of burning villages filled with women and children, lied to American immigration officials to get into the United States and has been living in Minnesota since shortly after World War II, according to evidence uncovered by The Associated Press. He told American authorities in 1949 that he had performed no military service during World War II, concealing his work as an officer and founding member of the SS-led Ukrainian Self Defense Legion and later as an officer in the SS Galician Division, according to records obtained by the AP through a Freedom of Information Act request. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Richard Sennott)  MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The revelation Friday that a former commander of a Nazi SS-led military unit has lived quietly in Minneapolis for the past six decades came as a shock to people who knew him, prompted harsh condemnations from World War II survivors in the U.S. and Europe, and led prosecutors in Poland to say they would investigate.

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By arming Syria rebels, US drawn into proxy war

In this citizen journalism image provided by Edlib News Network, ENN, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, anti-Syrian regime protesters hold a banner and flash the victory sign during a demonstration in Hass town, Idlib province, northern Syria, Friday, June 14, 2013. The Syrian government on Friday dismissed U.S. charges that it used chemical weapons as "full of lies," accusing President Barack Obama of resorting to fabrications to justify his decision to arm Syrian rebels. The commander of the main rebel umbrella group welcomed the U.S. move. (AP Photo/Edlib News Network ENN)

President Barack Obama’s decision to begin arming Syria’s rebels deepens U.S. involvement in a regional proxy war that is increasingly being fought along sectarian lines, pitting Sunni against Shiite Muslims, and threatening the stability of Syria’s neighbors.

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