CP World Report: American Hostage Pastor, Nigeria Christians, Global Economy, Olympics Outfit
A kidnapper in Egypt has released two Americans hostages and their Egyptian tour guide. They were in good condition. Among them was a 61 year old Boston Pentecostal Pastor-- Michel Louis. He was on a church trip when he was abducted in broad daylight—along with the others by an Egyptian Bedouin who stopped a bus, ordered the three to get off, and then took them captive. He said he'll only release them if police released his uncle from jail; who was incarcerated on suspicion of drug possession. He also vowed to take more foreign hostages if his demands were not met. Despite the stress Pastor Louis' family talked about their faith during the trying wait…
As the attacks on Nigeria's Christians continued in full force this past week, over 100 people were killed by armed members of the terrorist group, Boko Harem. They went on a 12 village killing spree and in one cruel attack saw fifty believers were burned to death at their pastor's home, where they had fled for refuge from a terrorist attack. Pastor Ayo Orit-sejafor, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has been calling on the U.S. House of Representatives to declare Boko Haram a terrorist organization that the international community needs to battle against.
While the Global economy continues to weaken, the International Monetary fund forecasts that growth will continue for Canada, even though slow. The IMF called on many global economies to step up their policy responses. For example it called on Europe to implement the bank bailout measures it introduced and to take steps toward further banking and fiscal union. The United States, it says, must avoid a "fiscal cliff" at all costs , and promptly raise the debt ceiling to avoid of a repeat of last August's manufactured crisis. As for Canada, the IMF sees the Canada's economy doing surprisingly well, and better than many other industrialized countries. The IMF forecasts that the Canadian economy will grow by 2.1 per cent this year and 2.2 per cent the following year.
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Meanwhile…. Statistics Canada has indicated that foreigners bought a record 21.6 billion dollars of Canadian securities in May. The largest inflow was 16.7 billion through bonds.
Armored vehicles have reportedly entered a district in central Damascus. This comes as a Red Cross spokesman called the conflict in Syria a civil war. The International Committee of the Red Cross officially described the situation as a "non-international armed conflict." Elsewhere, Russia is accusing the west of using blackmail to try to win support for a draft U-N security council resolution on Syria. International envoy Kofi Annan is in Moscow to try and reach a breakthrough. Phil Black has details.
A Phoenix-area pastor remains in jail following a raid on his home for violating an occupancy law. It's because he was having private Bible studies in his home. But Pastor Michael Salmon has been leading a Bible-study of 15-20 people at his 4.5 acre property since 2005. He feels discriminated against pointing out the city of Phoenix probably won't have a problem with gatherings, if it was for poker or football games. Salmon took steps to meet the legal requirements, but did not want to become a commercial entity, calling the code unconstitutional. Now he is serving 60 days in jail for creating an unsafe building environment. He was also fined $12,000. The case has been posted on the Persecution Website: "International Christian Concern". The Pastor asked for prayer when he left his wife and six children to report to Maricopa county jail.
IN SPORTS NEWS….
After the firestorm that erupted when it was discovered that Ralph Lauren's U.S. Opening Ceremony outfits at the London Olympics were manufactured in China, the clothing company has announced the outfits for the 2014 Olympic games in America will be American-made. US lawmakers have been complaining that the red, white and blue outfits were made in China and Six Democratic senators said they planned on introducing legislation to force production of the outfit in the U.S. China called it…hypocritical while a Chinese commentator said…the Olympics spirit is all about separating sports from politics.
