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Re Against Zen. Divided By a Wall of China Dialogue between the two cardinals on the Sino-Vatican Agreement is urgently needed by Bernardo CervelleraIt is with great pain that I write these words having watched two cardinals whom I have the honor of knowing, two witnesses of the faith and coworkers of the pontiff in the mission of the Church, have a very public discussion without perhaps ever having spoken directly to each other (see letters of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re and Cardinal Joseph Zen Zekiun). It leaves me with the impression that in the Vatican, as in the rest...

A research facility in Shanghai was shut down a day after it released information about the virus ahead of authorities. The Shanghai laboratory where researchers published the world’s first genome sequence of the new coronavirus has been shut down. The laboratory at the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center was ordered to close for “rectification” on January 12, a day after it publicized the genetic makeup of a new virus that would go on to sicken more than 89,000 people globally. “The center was not given any specific reasons why the laboratory was closed for rectification,” a source with the center...

The Manhattan lawyer hospitalized with coronavirus commuted regularly from his home in New Rochelle on the Metro-North Railroad, according to a report Tuesday. But it’s unlikely that he used the city’s subway system because his office is within walking distance of Grand Central Terminal, ABC News said, citing a source familiar with the case. During a news conference Tuesday, MTA Chairman Pat Foye said transit officials “don’t know whether that patient traveled to New York City using public transportation or not.” Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office said the man’s movements were “still being looked at.” But Mayor Bill de Blasio wouldn’t...

According to NBC News and The Associated Press, Bloomberg campaign officials will deliberate over whether he should stay in the race after the disappointing results in multiple states before deciding whether to continue on Wednesday.

The brazen acts of petty theft and shoplifting are a dangerous and all-too-common consequence of Proposition 47, a referendum passed five years ago that critics say effectively gives shoplifters and addicts the green light to commit crimes as long as the merchandise they steal or the drugs they take are less than $950 in value. The decision to downgrade theft of property valued below the arbitrary figure from a felony to a misdemeanor, together with selective enforcement that focuses on more “serious” crimes, has resulted in thieves knowing they can brazenly shoplift and merchants knowing the police will not respond...

The first coronavirus patient in New Hampshire — an employee of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center — defied instructions from public health officials to stay away from other people. In a statement, the state Department of Health and Human Services said the patient attended an invitation-only private event Friday "despite having been directed to self-isolate."

Joe Biden opened his speech calling his wife his sister and his sister his wife.

When disaster strikes, some people lose their heads, some people become cool and effective, but by far most people act as if they've suddenly forgotten the disaster. They behave in surprisingly mundane ways, right up until it's too late. Around the world, researchers are wondering how to combat normalcy bias. If you spend the beginning of your flights staring in disbelief at the cabin crew gesturing towards the emergency exits and asking you to look at them and think about walking to them in an emergency, you may be surprised that doing exactly that has saved one person. When two...

An Amazon employee in Seattle tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, according to a message sent to Amazon employees Tuesday in Seattle and Bellevue. The message, viewed by The Seattle Times, said the employee worked out of the company’s Brazil office building, at Ninth Avenue and Republican Street in South Lake Union. “We’re supporting the affected employee who is in quarantine,” the company said in a statement. The employee went home feeling unwell on Tuesday, Feb. 25, and has not returned to work since, the message said. The message said Amazon received word Tuesday that...

Amazon.com Inc. notified employees Tuesday of the first confirmed case of coronavirus among its U.S. workforce. The online retailer told workers about the infected employee via email.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Tuesday that he has started closed-door interviews as part of his deep dive into the surveillance courts and the FBI’s Russia probe. Graham confirmed to reporters that he has started the depositions, then escaped into a Senate elevator. Graham is using his gavel to probe the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) surveillance warrants involving Trump campaign associate Carter Page and the FBI’s handling of the investigation into Russia's election meddling and the Trump campaign. He’s requested testimony from more than 20 current Justice Department and FBI officials.

We assessed public health use of R0, the basic reproduction number, which estimates the speed at which a disease is capable of spreading in a population. These estimates are of great public health interest, as evidenced during the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus pandemic.We reviewed methods commonly used to estimate R0, examined their practical utility, and assessed how estimates of this epidemiological parameter can inform mitigation strategy decisions.In isolation, R0 is a suboptimal gauge of infectious disease dynamics across populations; other disease parameters may provide more useful information. Nonetheless, estimation of R0 for a particular population is useful for understanding...

Lahore (Agenzia Fides) - The appeal verdict of Shafqat Emmanuel and Shagufta Kausar, a Christian couple from Gjra (in Punjab) sentenced to death for blasphemy in 2014, will be read on 8 April 2020 by the Lahore High Court on charges of having sent telephone text messages deemed blasphemous. This is what Catholic lawyer Khalil Tahir Sandhu, who took over the defense of the two defendants, reports to Agenzia Fides. The lawyer says he is "confident" for the positive outcome of the hearing and for an acquittal verdict, as "there is no clear evidence against the two of them. The...

Two South Australian sisters have been denied their plea to feed their dying mother, with a public guardian refusing to reinstate the woman's feeding tube despite the intervention of the Catholic Church. The Office of the Public Advocate (OPA) has been making decisions on behalf of the mother, after her daughters were stripped of her guardianship amid a dispute with her aged care provider. The mother, who had end-stage dementia and breast cancer, died this week, more than a month after the nasogastric tube, which had been providing her nutrition, fell out. Before her death, the sisters urged the public...

Next week—for the first time since Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh joined the bench—the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case involving abortion. On the docket is June Medical Services v. Russo, a constitutional challenge to a Louisiana law that requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of where the abortion takes place. Life Legal submitted amicus briefs in support of the pro-life law, and we’ll be there on March 4 to watch the Supreme Court argument in this critical case. You can read the brief we filed on behalf of Abby...

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea reported 516 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, a day after a record spike in cases prompted the ...

Buffalo, N.Y., Feb 28, 2020 / 10:10 am (CNA).- The Diocese of Buffalo announced on Friday that it is declaring bankruptcy as hundreds of abuse lawsuits have been filed against it in the last several months. The diocese said it was formally filing for Chapter 11 reorganization under the U.S. bankruptcy code to provide the most compensation for victims of clergy sex abuse while continuing the day-to-day work of its Catholic mission. "Our decision to pursue Chapter 11 reorganization - arrived at after much prayer, discernment and consultation with the College of Consultors and our Diocesan Finance Council - is...

Mini Mike, don’t lick your dirty fingers. Both unsanitary and dangerous to others and yourself! pic.twitter.com/LsKLZNeZL9— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2020

The little movie in this link: https://freedom-demokrasi-and-civilised-humanity.com/2020/03/04/i-like-ike-and-donald-trump/ attempts a fusion of the thoughts of Eisenhower and Trump. Does it work? In the text below the link, I list Republican Peace Maker presidents whom I admire. Any comments? Are there any others I should have included? What Democrats deserve a mention as Peace Makers? Which Presidents have been the best Peace Makers?

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