World Report: Brazil Evangelical Population, US Heat Wave, Health Care, Canada Border
According to research released by "Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life" at the end of 2011, Brazil has now become the second most Christian-populated country in the world. The evangelical population is showing the most vigorous growth, going from 16 million people to 42.3 million, between 2000 to 2010. Those who affiliate with "No Religion" showed only a slight increase. In the year 2000, Catholics represented 73.6 percent of the population. By 2010, it had dropped to 64.6 percent.
Meanwhile, a few months ago it was reported that Brazil had become the country that sends the second-most missionaries abroad….across the world. This is according to Todd Johnson, director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts. Of the 400,000 global missionaries, that went out to foreign countries in 2010, Brazil sent 34,000, second to the U.S. which sent 127,000.
Millions across the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. sweltered in heat after violent storms and hurricanes pummelled the East, killing at least 13 people and leaving 3 million without power during a heat wave. Power officials said the outages wouldn't be repaired for several days to a week. States of Emergencies were declared in many states.
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The International Criminal Court has warned that the destruction of Muslim tombs in Timbuktu—yes there is a place called that--- constitutes "a possible war crime. After a faction of Muslim extremists, struggling with another faction, demolished the tombs, they went on to attack the gate of a 600-year old mosque, triggering an international outcry over the destruction of the ancient Malian city. UNESCO's committee on world heritage is holding a special session this week to address the pillaging of the site, one of the few cultural sites in sub-Saharan Africa that is listed by the agency.
A man who lost his temper with a speed camera- that he said is situated to get people, as a money grab--now advises to keep it cool until fairness is worked out….take a listen.
The state of Florida is defying Obamacare. Florida led the fight against Obama's health care law and remains non-compliant even with the Supreme Court ruling that said Obamacare was not unconstiutional. Gov. Rick Scott says he and his Attorney General, Pam Bondi, will work tirelessly to make sure the law is repealed; and that Florida will not implement insurance exchanges nor expand Medicare.
Meanwhile….A billboard along Interstate 30 in Texas is calling for people to "Quit the Church". And it is particularly upsetting to Catholics in the area. The billboard is part of a national atheist campaign by the Freedom from Religion Foundation and includes the message that the Catholic Church should put women's rights over bishops' wrongs. Catholics see it as an attack on them over the dozens of federal lawsuits they launched over the Obama-care mandate that requires employers, including religious based institutions , to provide employees insurance coverage for birth control and abortion.
Canada and the U.S. have jointly released a border deal to bolster security on the Continent. It's intended to smooth the passage of people and cargo across the Canada-U.S. border . Stephen Harper and Barack Obama are calling the new deal a historic move for the two countries.The plan calls for joint, integrated assessments about security threats and improved intelligence sharing. The countries have pledged to create common privacy principles to guide such information exchanges. Other components include more comprehensive advance screening of: travellers from other countries heading to North America and of cargo arriving from offshore.
IN SPORTS:
Spain defeated Italy 4-0 in the Euro 2012 final on Sunday. Spain becomes the first country to win three major international tournaments in a row: the Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010
