Pope: Basilica bones belong to apostle St. Paul

Image by Lawrence OP via Flickr

June 29, 2009 -- Updated 1821 GMT (0221 HKT)

Story Highlights

• Scientific tests prove bones are those of the apostle St. Paul, pope says
  
• Vatican tomb also holds "traces of a precious linen cloth"
  
• Tests were carried out by inserting probe into small opening in sarcophagus
  

Pope Benedict XVI looks at the tomb of St. Paul at the Basilica of St. Paul in Rome in 2007.

ROME, Italy (CNN) -- Scientific tests prove bones housed in the Basilica of St. Paul in Rome are those of the apostle St. Paul himself, according to Pope Benedict XVI.

"Tiny fragments of bone" in the sarcophagus were subjected to carbon dating, showing they "belong to someone who lived in the first or second century," the pope said in a homily carried on Italian television.

"This seems to confirm the unanimous and undisputed tradition that these are the mortal remains of the Apostle St. Paul," Benedict said in Sunday's announcement.

The tomb also holds "traces of a precious linen cloth, purple in color and laminated with pure gold, and a blue colored textile with linen filaments," the pope said.

The tests were carried out by inserting a probe into a small opening in the sarcophagus, "which had not been opened for many centuries," the pontiff said. The probe "also revealed the presence of grains of red incense and traces of protein and limestone."
Separately, archaeologists have uncovered an image of St. Paul which "could be considered the oldest icon of the apostle known to date," the Vatican's official newspaper reported Sunday.

The painting, in the St. Tecla Catacomb, is "among the oldest and best-defined figures from ancient Christianity," according to the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology, L'Osservatore Romano reported.

St. Paul is one of the most significant figures in Christianity. Originally a persecutor of early Christians, he became a follower of Jesus after seeing a vision on the road to Damascus, according to Christian tradition.

"Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" the vision of Jesus asks Paul, using the apostle's birth name, in the Acts of the Apostles.

Saul then took the name Paul and became a missionary. His letters, or epistles, to early Christian communities around the Mediterranean form a significant portion of the New Testament.

Paul was beheaded by Roman authorities sometime between 65 and 67 A.D., according to the Catholic Church.

He was buried a few miles away, and when the Roman Empire stopped persecuting Christians some 250 years later, the Emperor Constantine had a basilica built over his grave.

It currently lies under a marble tombstone bearing the Latin inscription PAULO APOSTOLO MART (Apostle Paul, martyr), according to the Web site of the basilica. A papal altar stands over the tombstone, which is visible through a window-like opening, the Web site says.

Monday marks the end of a year of celebration in honor of the 2,000th anniversary of St. Paul's birth. It also happens to be the feast day of Saints Peter and Paul.

From CNN.com; see the source article here.

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CDCs see 40% increase in households seeking help

By Hoe Yeen Nie, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 29 June 2009 2001 hrs

Teo Ser Luck (file pic)

SINGAPORE: Singapore's Community Development Councils (CDCs) have seen a 40 per cent increase in the number of people seeking help as a result of the current economic downturn.

As Singapore's five mayors begin a new term, their focus will be on helping the needy.

In these tough times, mayors said "business" has gone up.

In the first quarter of this year, the number of families seeking help went up by 40 percent, while those looking for work doubled.

Between January and March 2009, the five CDCs received 5,540 applications for social assistance, compared to 3,934 a year ago.

The number of people seeking help in finding jobs went up from 5,844 in the first quarter of 2008 to 11,790 in the first quarter of this year.

Community Development Councils (CDCs) were first created in 1997 to bring back a sense of community spirit among residents. Since then they've taken on additional functions, including the delivery of a wide range of social services, such as financial assistance schemes and help in finding a job.

Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony for the five mayors on Monday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said: “The CDCs play a crucial role because they're close to the ground and therefore more attuned to ground needs and the constraints and circumstances in your areas.

“You can deliver assistance to where it's most needed, where it's most deserved, and you can help Singaporeans get back on their feet and be more self-reliant."

New mayor Teo Ser Luck, who takes over from Zainul Abidin Rasheed, said his first task is to examine how resources are managed.

Mr Teo is also the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Community Development, Youth and Sports, and Transport ministries.

He said: "We have plenty of programmes and I'm not sure if every single one is effective. And the other thing is I'm not sure if it's well-served for the residents. We need to look through all the programmes and see which ones meet the targets and which don't so that funds are better allocated."

Mr Zainul steps down as mayor after 10 years.

But the rest of the mayoral line-up remains unchanged - Dr Amy Khor at South West district; Dr Teo Ho Pin at North West district; Mr Zainudin Nordin at Central district and Mr Matthias Yao at South East district.

The mayors also plan to better coordinate efforts between grassroots organisations so that help can be better delivered. - CNA/vm

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

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Number of Filipino drug mules increasing

KIMBERLY JANE T. TAN, GMANews.TV

06/26/2009 | 07:39 PM

DONKEY WORK. Despite the name, a drug mule is actually a person who smuggles something with him or her across a national border in exchange for money.
AP photo

MANILA, Philippines - Just as the world celebrated the United Nation's International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Vice President Noli De Castro on Friday revealed that the number of Filipino drug "mules" is increasing.

Citing a report from Philippine Ambassador to Beijing Sonia Brady, De Castro said that a total of 158 Filipinos – most of whom were women – have been arrested for drug trafficking in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau as of June 7.

Drug trafficking of 50 grams or more of highly dangerous drugs like heroin is punishable by death in China and its territories.

But the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier reported that in 2008 alone, 111 Filipinos were arrested for drug-related offenses in the same Chinese territories.

This, the DFA said, was a 594-percent increase from the 16 arrested in 2007.

Of those arrested in 2007 and 2008, 22 are facing death sentence, 12 have gotten life, while 11 have been made to serve 15-16 years prison terms.

De Castro said that all the arrests had stemmed from narcotic drugs being found in the suspects' luggage supposedly given to them by people they met in a transit country – usually Thailand, Malaysia, Nepal, Laos, and Vietnam.

He said that members of foreign drug rings give Filipino mules tickets and pocket money to travel to Hong Kong or to mainland China and promise to pay the carriers upon delivery of the drugs to their destination.

The vice president therefore appealed to the public to warn their relatives and friends not to accept any parcel or bag from people they do not know in exchange for money.

"Think twice before you allow yourself to be used as drug couriers as you become an instrument to destroying lives of others. At the same time, you expose yourself to certain criminal prosecution," said De Castro.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency has said that it is working on a memorandum of agreement with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration to help prevent Filipinos from being used as drug couriers. - GMANews.TV

From GMANews.tv; see the source article here.

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Mas Selamat not extradited to Singapore due to security reasons

Posted: 25 June 2009 1922 hrs

Photo taken of Mas Selamat Kastari after his arrest on April 1.

SINGAPORE - Singapore's Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militant leader Mas Selamat Kastari is still being detained in Malaysia due to security reasons.

The terrorist, who once plotted to hijack a plane and crash it into Changi Airport, was captured in Malaysia's Johor in April this year after escaping from Singapore's Whitley Road Detention Centre in February last year.

Malaysian Home Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said Mas Selamat was arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) as he is deemed a threat to the country.

Speaking in the Malaysian parliament on Thursday, the minister said Mas Selamat's ISA detention would ensure that his activities and contacts with other militant groups in Asia could be contained.

"The ministry has sufficient information to arrest him under the ISA," said Mr Hishammuddin. "We know his background, the details of his plan, network and contact with militant groups.

"He is arrested under the ISA as the government finds that he not only poses a threat to the country but also to the neighbouring countries like Singapore and Indonesia."

"Believe me, from the information that we have gathered, it was a serious plan," said Mr Hishammuddin. "We did not extradite Mas Selamat as we are concerned it will undermine the country's peace and put the people's safety at risk."

The minister also told reporters that Malaysia needed the cooperation from Indonesia to carry out its investigations.

- CNA/ir

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

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‘Best girl on the planet’ freed

Image via Wikipedia

There is still a ray of hope on justice prevailing, even in China…

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Waitress who stabbed Chinese official released

05:55 AM Jun 17, 2009

BEIJING - A Chinese karaoke bar waitress who became a folk hero after fatally stabbing a communist official who demanded sex was freed yesterday by a court that ruled she had acted in self-defence, state media said.

The Badong County People's Court exempted Miss Deng Yujiao, 21, from punishment for the crime of intentional injury because she was acting in self-defence, the official People's Daily newspaper said in a brief report on its website.

The report said the court ruled that Miss Deng had limited criminal responsibility and also took into account the fact that she had turned herself in to the police after using a fruit knife to stab 43-year-old Deng Guida, who later died. No further details were given.

Coverage of her case in the entirely state-controlled media has been unusually sympathetic. Popular posts in online forums called Miss Deng "the best girl on the planet", composed lines of verse in classical Chinese that described her as "beautiful and fierce" and dedicated the lyrics of a popular love song Like a Mouse Loves Rice to her.

Her popularity reflects widespread anger in China over abuse of power by Communist cadres, officials and the security forces.

Reflecting the huge interest in the case, at least 500 supporters of Miss Deng gathered at the courthouse, according to Luo Jiajiu, one of the organisers of the rally. But the group was banned from attending the trial.

A similar public outpouring of sympathy followed the case of a man who confessed to killing six Shanghai police officers last year in revenge for torture he allegedly suffered while being interrogated about an allegedly stolen bicycle.

Chinese media reported that the official, Deng Guida, found the waitress in the laundry room of a hotel spa a few floors below the bar where she worked and demanded sex.

When she refused, he allegedly forced her onto a couch and blocked her from leaving. She attacked him with a fruit knife she had in her bag, the report said.

Police said she also attacked his colleague, Huang Dezhi, at the hotel in Badong in the central province of Hubei.

Deng Guida, who ran a local government office for business promotion, is not related to the waitress.

Xinhua news agency reported last month that Huang and another government official who was also at he spa on the night of the stabbing were fired amid investigations, while police shut the spa and were questioning its owners. Huang has also been detained. AGENCIES

From TODAY, World – Wednesday, 17-Jun-2009; see the source article here.

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Storm strands passengers in central Philippines

I used to wade on the waters… a fishpond, a river, the sea, and the streets… back then the water is clear and unpolluted…

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Posted: 24 June 2009 0508 hrs

Pedestrians walk through flood water on a street in the financial district of Manila, Philippines.

MANILA: Vessels were on Tuesday told not to leave the central Philippine islands as tropical storm Nangka hit the region packing maximum sustained winds of 75 kilometres an hour, officials said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage as the strengthening storm struck Samar island in mid-afternoon.

The coastguard issued an advisory banning all maritime traffic around 14 central islands and the southeastern tip of the main island of Luzon - the expected immediate path of the storm.

Ferries and cargo ships weighing 1,000 tonnes or less were also restricted to port in Manila and along the nearby coast of Luzon or ordered to seek shelter if they were already at sea.

The local weather service said the storm was moving northwest and due to pass just south of Manila on its way to the South China Sea on Wednesday afternoon.

Local television in Samar said hundreds of people who rely on small ferries to commute between central islands were stranded at major ports in the area. - AFP/de

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

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Four loanshark suspects arrested for harassment

By Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 23 June 2009 2024 hrs

SINGAPORE: Police have arrested four people who were suspected to be involved in a series of loanshark harassment cases islandwide.

They are aged between 16 and 24 years old.

They were nabbed on Monday after the police received a tip-off of a case of loanshark harassment at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1.

Police first arrested a 17-year-old girl, who had a marker pen, an ATM card and lighter on her – items used in loanshark activities.

Following that, police caught her accomplices on the same day at Marsiling Lane, Whampoa Drive and Jurong West.

A 16-year old boy and two other women aged 20 and 24 were arrested.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the group was believed to be responsible for multiple cases of loanshark harassment islandwide, including setting fire to items outside units in Hougang, Woodlands and West Coast.

All four suspects will be charged in court on Wednesday under the Moneylenders' Act.

First time offenders found guilty of loanshark harassment may be fined at least S$4000 and up to S$40,000, or jailed for up to three years, or both.

Offenders may also be caned.

- CNA/yb

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

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