Daily Headlines: September 5, 2014

* El Salvador: “Be very careful when there are groups that seek out destruction, who search for war, who don't know how to work on a team,” warned Pope Francis to a group of Salvadoran schoolchildren during a videoconference yesterday.

* Mexico: A new Amnesty International report concluded that torture is “widespread in Mexico” including a 600% increase in reported cases of torture over the past decade alone.

* Latin America: According to the Latin American Private Equity and Venture Capital Association investment in Latin America fell by 10% to $2.6 billion in the first six months of this year.

* Argentina: Archeologists in Argentina identified a new type of massive dinosaur “with a body the size of a house, the weight of a herd of elephants, and a weaponized tail.”

Video Source – Rome Reports via YouTube

Online Sources – Yahoo! News; Al Jazeera America; New York Times; Huffington Post

Daily Headlines: March 23, 2012 (Updated)

* Mexico: “We must do everything possible to fight this evil which destroys our young,” said Pope Benedict XVI in reference to drug gangs that have hurt Mexico. (Update: After arriving in Leon, Mexico on Friday afternoon, the Pope said that he was praying for all the victims of the country's violence "particularly those who suffer because of old and new rivalries.")

* Ecuador: Over 1000 protesters opposed to large-scale mining projects arrived in Quito yesterday where government supporters also held their own rally.

* Argentina: Argentine officials urged the New York and London stock markets to warn investors that five oil exploration firms are “working illegally” off the shores of the Falklands.

* Guatemala: The Guatemalan defense minister called on the renewal of U.S. military aid that had been cut off in 1990 due military abuses in the Central American country’s civil war.

Video Source – YouTube via Associated Press (“Pope Benedict departed Italy on Friday. He is scheduled to visit Mexico and Cuba.”)

Online Sources (including Update) - AFP, The Latin Americanist, euronews, InSight Crime, Sydney Morning Herald

World Watch: Alone

* Libya: A ten-year-old Dutch boy is said to be the only survivor of a fatal plane crash that killed over 100 people.

* Portugal: Pope Benedict XVI traveled to the holy shrine at Fatima and reportedly prayed that priests do not “succumb to the temptations of the evil one.”

* Israel: The Israeli foreign minister claimed that North Korean arms seized in Thailand last December were destined for Hamas and Hezbollah.

* Philippines: Begnino "Noynoy" Aquino- son of former president Corazon Aquino- appears to be the winner in Monday’s Philippine presidential elections.

Image – PRESS TV
Online Sources- BBC News, Voice of America, New York Times, MSNBC

World Watch: Information Society

* China: Google may soon shutdown its Chinese site due to government censorship and strict government controls of the Internet.

* Nigeria: Violence continued today in the Niger delta area of Nigeria with the detonation of a pair of car bombs.

* Germany: Church officials suspended a German priest in the middle of a child sex abuse scandal that has affected Pope Benedict XVI.

* Thailand: Protestors backing ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra have threatened with “pouring 1,000 liters of their own blood” in front of the Thai parliament.

Image – MSNBC
Online Sources- InformationWeek, Al Jazeera English, New York Times, ABC Online

Daily Headlines: December 25, 2008

* Vatican City: Good thing - Pope Benedict XVI’s Christmas Midnight Mass highlighted the abuses faced by children around the world.

Bad thing – The Pope gave a speech on Monday blasting gays and compared the defense of heterosexuality to “saving rain forests from destruction.”

* Costa Rica: President Oscar Arias suggested that business execs should give up their salaries in order to improve the nation's economy.

* Ecuador: Foreign Minister Fander Falconi said that Colombia must satisfy “minimum demands requested by Ecuador” in order for bilateral diplomatic ties to be reestablished.

* Argentina: Former president and current presidential hubby Nestor Kirchner is being investigated on alleged corruption charges.

Image- CNN (Pope Benedict XVI blessed several children during Christmas Midnight Mass.)
Online Sources- Xinhua, BBC News, AHN, AP