Pope's personal preacher offers defense of pontiff

Pope Benedict XVI's personal preacher is likening accusations against the pope and the church in the sex abuse scandal to "collective violence" suffered by the Jews.
The Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa said in a Good Friday sermon, with the pope listening to him in St. Peter's Basilica, that a Jewish friend has said the accusations remind him of the "more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism."
The remarks came in a prayer service at the Vatican a few hours before Benedict XVI was scheduled to take part in a Colosseum Way of the Cross procession commemorating Christ's suffering before his crucifixtion.
Thousands of Holy Week pilgrims were in St. Peter's Square as the church defends itself against accusations that Benedict had a role in covering up sex abuses cases.
Pilgrims and tourists flocked to the Vatican ahead of Good Friday ceremonies as the Catholic church defends itself against accusations that Pope Benedict XVI played a role in covering up sex abuse cases. The pope was scheduled to preside over a prayer service and listen to reflections from the papal household preacher in St. Peter's Basilica on Friday evening.
Hours later, thousands of faithful Catholics, clutching candles and prayer books, were expected to gather at the Colosseum to see the pope at night during at the traditional Way of the Cross procession commemorating Christ's crucifixion.
Amid reports of clerical sex abuse cases in several European countries, including Benedict's native Germany, the Vatican has fired back at the Western media, but the pope has not publicly addressed the crisis this week.
For pilgrims, the credibility crisis over the pope's record on combatting clergy abuse of minors didn't color their Holy Week activities in Rome.
Anne Rossier of Boston, Massachusetts, said the moment was "difficult" and that "lots of people have been turned against the church" but "we could not have been in a better place right now for Easter."
Boston was at the epicenter of sex abuse lawsuits and allegations that U.S. bishops in many dioceses shuffled pedophile priests from parish to parish instead of removing them from contact with the faithful. Boston Cardinal Bernard Law, at the center of the storm, resigned as archbishop, to be assigned to a prestigious post in Rome by the late Pope John Paul II.
Tourists snapped photos and strolled through St. Peter's Square on a breezy, sunny day. Valeria Misuri, 38, from Livorno, Italy, studied a map in the square as she visited Rome with her family.
"I haven't let the recent scandals change how special this place is at this time for me," said Misuri. "The church is made up of men, and men have always erred and will always continue to do so."
Pointing heavenward, she said: "In the end, the conscience lies there."

David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
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'True Blood' Star Anna Paquin Uses Surprising Medium to Reveal Sexual Orientation

Hot on the heels of Ricky Martin's announcement on his personal blog that he's gay, "True Blood" star Anna Paquin used an unusual medium of her own to announce that she is bisexual.

Alongside celebrities such as Elton John, Clay Aiken, and Wanda Sykes, Paquin declared her sexual orientation in a public service announcement for Cyndi Lauper's Give a Damn Campaign, which promotes equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. Two videos were shot in Los Angeles on January 30 and were released April 1 at 9 a.m. EST.

David Mikael Taclino
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Sounds heard in China mine where 153 trapped

Rescuers heard tapping sounds Friday from the pipes in a flooded Chinese coal mine where 153 workers were trapped more than five days earlier, and another rescue team reportedly heard shouts, an official said.
The sounds at the Wangjialing mine in the northern province of Shanxi were the first signs of life since the mine was flooded Sunday afternoon, rescue official Zhao Chuan said.
"I'm so happy to hear the news, and I think everybody is," Tang Yinfeng, whose brother-in-law is trapped, said Friday night. "The rescue work is much faster than before. We're grateful for their effort."
Footage on the state broadcaster also showed rescuers tapping on pipes with a wrench, and then cheering and jumping for joy when they heard a response. One man wiped tears from his eyes.
Government officials say the flood was triggered when workers digging tunnels broke through into an old shaft filled with water. About 3,000 rescuers were working around the clock to pump water out of the mine Friday. Earlier, relatives had complained the work was proceeding too slowly.
Wen Changjin, an official from the news center set up at the site, said rescuers tapping on the pipes began to hear tapping responses from about 820 feet (250 meters) below ground at around 2 p.m.
Zhao told The Associated Press by telephone that he had heard from colleagues that another rescue team reported hearing people shouting underground as well but he could not immediately confirm that account. Wen said officials at the news center had not heard reports of shouting.
He said rescuers have started sending glucose and milk down the pipes to the spot where the tapping was heard.
Zhao was quoted by state-run China Central Television as saying that an iron wire was found tied to a drill rod and rescuers think it may have been attached by one of the trapped miners. Images of the iron wire showed it had been shaped into a circle, with its ends twisted together.
The 153 workers were believed to be trapped on nine different platforms in the mine, which was flooded with up to 37 million gallons (140,000 cubic meters) of water, the equivalent of more than 55 Olympic swimming pools, state television has reported.
Rescuers said four of the platforms were not totally submerged, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Friday evening.
"It is believed that some workers may have a chance of survival," a spokesman for the rescue headquarters, Liu Dezheng, told state media Wednesday. "We will go all out to save them."
The water level underground had dropped by 2.6 yards (meters) as of noon Friday, Xinhua reported.
David Creedy, a former mine consultant who now works in China as coal mine methane director for Sindicatum Carbon Capital, said if the mine's tunnels remain open with no cave-ins, rescuers should be able to reach the miners by pumping out the water or sending a diver through.
He said the survival of those trapped depends on several factors, including how cold and wet they are and how much air is available.
"Certainly for the current time, a week or so, there's a good chance," he said.
Another mine safety expert said the quality of the air below ground was a concern.
"It's not only the oxygen but whether the air has poisonous gases and whether the miners can drink the water or if it's polluted, since it came from an abandoned mine," added David Feickert, who advises the Chinese government.
A preliminary investigation found that the Wangjialing mine's managers caused overcrowding in the shaft by assigning extra tunneling crews in a rush to finish the work, and ignored warning signs, the State Administration of Work Safety said.
"Water leaks were found numerous times on underground shafts," but the mine's managers "did not take the actions necessary to evacuate people," it said.
It could prove to be the deadliest mine accident in China since a coal mine flood in eastern Shandong province in August 2007 killed 172 miners.
China's coal mines are the world's deadliest, despite a multiyear government effort to reduce fatalities. Most accidents are blamed on failure to follow safety rules or lack of required ventilation, fire controls and equipment.
Accidents killed 2,631 coal miners in China last year, down from 6,995 deaths in 2002, the most dangerous year on record, according to the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety.
Also Friday, officials said the death toll from an explosion at another mine in central China had risen to 19 people, with 24 still trapped underground.
A gas leak caused Wednesday night's blast, according to a report on the Web site for Luoyang city in the central province of Henan.
In a third accident, a coal mine fire in the northwestern province of Shaanxi killed nine people Thursday evening, Xinhua said. Another 17 miners escaped. Xinhua did not say what caused the accident.

David Mikael Taclino
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Employers added most jobs in 3 years in March

The nation's economy posted its largest job gain in three years in March, while the unemployment rate remained at 9.7 percent for the third straight month.

The increase in payrolls is the latest sign that the economic recovery is gaining momentum and healing in the job market is beginning. Still, the healing is likely to be slow, and most economists don't expect new hiring to be fast enough this year to rapidly reduce the unemployment rate.
The Labor Department said employers added 162,000 jobs in March, the most since the recession began but below analysts' expectations of 190,000. The total includes 48,000 temporary workers hired for the U.S. Census, also fewer than many economists forecast.
Private employers added 123,000 jobs, the most since May 2007.
"It's just the beginning of a rise in private hiring that will help sustain the recovery," said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group. "They're not big numbers, but they're welcome numbers."
Still, there are 15 million Americans out of work, roughly double the total before the recession began in December 2007. More Americans entered the work force last month, which prevented the increase in jobs from reducing the unemployment rate.
The economy began recovering in the middle of last year, but is only now showing modest job gains.
"It is still disappointing that it took roughly nine months before we started to see any meaningful rebound" in jobs, Paul Ashworth, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a note to clients.
The stock market was closed for Good Friday but stock futures edged up in an abbreviated session of electronic trading. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose about 0.3 percent.
Interest rates rose in the bond market after the report. Investors often sell Treasurys and favor riskier assets like stocks and commodities when the economy is improving.
Manufacturers added 17,000 jobs, the third straight month of gains. Temporary help services added 40,000, while health care added 37,000. Leisure and hospitality added 22,000.
Even the beleaguered construction industry added 15,000 positions, though that likely reflects a rebound from February, when major snowstorms may have kept many construction workers off payrolls.
The average work week increased to 34 hours from 33.9, a positive sign. Most employers are likely to work current employees longer before they hire new workers.
The department also revised January's job total to show a gain of 14,000, up from a previously reported loss of 26,000. February's job numbers were also revised higher by 22,000 to show a loss of 14,000. The economy has now added jobs in three separate months since the recession began.
Still, more Americans said they were working part-time even though they preferred full-time work. When they and discouraged workers who have given up searching for jobs are included, the "underemployment" rate ticked up to 16.9 percent from 16.8 percent.
And average hourly earnings fell by two cents to $22.47. That shows that high unemployment is enabling companies to hold down wages. Average weekly earnings rose by about $3 to $629.37, partly reflecting the longer work week.
In a stark illustration of how hard it remains for many people to find jobs, the number of those out of work for six months or longer increased to 6.5 million, a record high.
More than 44 percent of those out of work are long-term unemployed, also a record.
"For those laid off, unemployment is stretching longer and longer and putting severe distress on families," said Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, a nonprofit advocacy group.
Still, Friday's jobs report follows positive data earlier this week that showed consumers are increasing their spending and manufacturing activity is growing at its fastest pace in more than five years. Economists are increasingly confident that the nation will avoid a "double-dip" recession, in which growth slows after a short burst at the end of last year.
"The stars are starting to align here," said Brian Bethune, chief U.S. financial economist at IHS Global Insight.
Analysts expect the economy will expand at a roughly 3 percent pace in the current January-to-March quarter. That's roughly half the 5.6 percent pace seen in the final quarter of last year.
Normally, growth in the 3 percent range would be considered respectable. But the nation is emerging from the worst recession since the 1930s. Growth needs to be in the 5 percent range or higher to quickly drive down the unemployment rate. Both the Federal Reserve and Obama administration expect joblessness will remain above 9 percent through the end of this year.

David Mikael Taclino
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White House slams Karzai comments as 'troubling'

The White House on Friday delivered a stern public rebuke to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, describing his latest outburst as "genuinely troubling" and seeking "clarification" from Kabul.
Karzai accused foreign powers of orchestrating election fraud last year, just three days after US President Barack Obama made a secret weekend trip to Afghanistan to warn him to do more to tackle government corruption.
"Obviously some of the comments by President Karzai are troubling. They are cause for real and genuine concern," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, in a significant stiffening of the US tone on the controversy.
"We are seeking clarification from President Karzai about the nature of some of his remarks," Gibbs said, noting the huge US military and political resources that had been poured into Afghanistan.
"The president was quite clear with President Karzai over the weekend about the necessary steps that have to be taken to improve governance and corruption."
Gibbs was asked whether Karzai's visit to the White House planned for May 12, was still on. His response: "as of right now," appeared to put the event in play as a bargaining chip.
Karzai's claims called into question whether he had absorbed Obama's message on Sunday, and will also pose a political problem for Washington, which has embraced the Afghan leader as a partner despite its distaste for his conduct.
The comments by Gibbs also represented a calculated intervention into Afghan politics. On Thursday, his deputy Bill Burton had offered a more non-committal comment on Air Force One and the State Department brushed aside the allegations.
The Afghan leader drew fierce global condemnation for his speech on Thursday.
"There was fraud in presidential and provincial council elections -- no doubt that there was a very widespread fraud, very widespread," Karzai told Afghan election commission workers in Kabul.
"But Afghans did not do this fraud. The foreigners did this fraud," he said, accusing other countries of interfering in his country's domestic affairs.
He went so far as to claim that such moves risked the 126,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan being seen as "invaders" -- terminology used by the Taliban -- and their nine-year insurgency becoming viewed as "a national resistance."
Afghan analysts suggested that Karzai had lost control when he made his staggering remarks after being criticized by Obama and angered by the Afghan parliament, and could signal a shift in foreign policy.
This week Afghan lawmakers voted against his amendments to a law banning non-Afghans from the UN-backed watchdog that was integral to exposing last year's fraud.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled in Afghanistan in September and some Afghans believe Karzai is galled by the prospect of having to make embarrassing concessions to secure vital foreign funds.
Karzai was declared re-elected in November by his own officials after his challenger Abdullah Abdullah abandoned a run-off.
He accused "embassies" of trying to bribe electoral members, and former UN deputy head of mission Peter Galbraith, and the head of the EU election observer mission, France's Philippe Morillon, of orchestrating the fraud.
Galbraith was sacked after arguing the UN was turning a blind eye to the electoral chicanery. At the time, he said that as much as 30 percent of the Karzai vote in the August election was fraudulent.

David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
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