LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) – Industrial production rose 9.3 percent from a year earlier in April, slowing from a nearly 12 percent increase in March. The data also showed inflation eased to 3.4 percent last month from 3.6 percent the month before, which giving the government more leg room to ease policy to boost growth.

“China’s economy is even weaker than thought, with industrial production growth back in single digits for the first time since the global financial crisis and electricity production flat lining,” Alistair Thornton of IHS Global Insight said.

“We believe the government will step up efforts to stimulate the economy, even as genuine concerns remain regarding the very real possibility of over-stimulating,” he said.

China’s economy grew 8.1 percent in the first quarter of the year, which is still a lively rate but its slowest pace since 2009. The Chinese economy was below the previous quarter’s 8.9 percent, but above the government’s 7.5 percent target for the year.

China’s leaders face a challenge in keeping inflation under control while spurring growth. Businesses are under pressure from wages and other costs. Consumers are feeling a pinch, too, as already high prices outstrip rising incomes.

Other troublesome data reported this week showed investment in factory equipment and construction, so-called fixed-asset investment, rose 20.2 percent in January-April. That compared with a 25.4 percent rate of increase a year earlier.

Investment in real estate climbed 18.7 percent, down from 34.3 percent growth in the first four months of last year and from 23.5 percent growth in January-March.

China has recently announced that its trade surplus widened in April as imports barely budged, sharpening fears the economy is not doing enough to stimulate domestic demand and counter a slowdown.

There are also indications that China’s slowdown is hurting demand for oil, industrial components and consumer goods at a time when U.S. and European growth are weak.

Last year’s unexpectedly steep plunge in demand for China’s exports due to U.S. and European economic woes prompted communist leaders to change course and ease controls on bank lending to help struggling manufacturers.

More easing measures are expected shortly, with most analysts predicting the central bank will soon reduce reserve requirements for commercial banks.

Growth has fallen steadily since 2010 as a slump in global demand battered exporters and Beijing tightened lending and investment curbs to cool an overheated economy and surging inflation.

© 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) – The four infections, human papillomaviruses, Helicobacter pylori and hepatitis B and C viruses account for 1.9 million cases of cervical, gut and liver cancers. Most cases are in the developing, or third world nations.

The team from the International Agency for Research on Cancer in France says more efforts are needed to tackle these preventable cases and more importantly — recognize cancer as a communicable disease.

The proportion of cancers related to infection is about three times higher in parts of the developing world, such as east Asia, than in developed countries like the U.K. – 22.9 percent versus 7.4 percent, respectively. Alarmingly, nearly a third of these cancer cases occur in people younger than 50 years.

Cancer of the cervix accounted for about half of the infection-related cancers among women. In men, more than 80 percent were liver and gastric cancers.

Doctors Catherine de Martel and Martyn Plummer, who led the research, says that “infections with certain viruses, bacteria, and parasites are some of the biggest and preventable causes of cancer worldwide.

“Application of existing public-health methods for infection prevention, such as vaccination, safer injection practice, or antimicrobial treatments, could have a substantial effect on the future burden of cancer worldwide.”

There are currently vaccines that are available to protect against human papillomavirus (HPV), which is linked to cancer of the cervix and hepatitis B virus, which is an established cause of liver cancer.

And experts know that stomach cancer can be avoided by clearing the bacterial infection H. pylori from the gut using a course of antibiotics.

Dr. Goodarz Danaei from Harvard School of Public Medicine in Boston, the U.S., said: “Since effective and relatively low-cost vaccines for HPV and HBV are available, increasing coverage should be a priority for health systems in high-burden countries.”

Jessica Harris of Cancer Research U.K. said: “It’s important that authorities worldwide make every effort to reduce the number of infection-related cancers, especially when many of these infections can be prevented. In the U.K., infections are thought to be responsible for 3 percent of cancers, or around 9,700 cases each year.

“Vaccination against HPV, which causes cervical cancer, should go a long way towards reducing rates of this disease in the U.K.. But it’s important that uptake of the vaccination remains high. At a global level, if the vaccine were available in more countries, many thousands more cases could be prevented.”

© 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

Because of an inability to further refine a diagnoses of breast cancer, from the familiar Stage 1 through 4 offered for years, an excess of caution caused many women to be over treated.

Side effects from chemotherapy are notorious. Breast removal leaves many women doubting their femininity and huge issues with body image.

A new international study led by scientists at Cancer Research UK was published in the journal “Nature.” The study lists ten different categories of breast cancer tumors, from very treatable to extremely aggressive.

This large study used samples from 997 tumors and used genetic clues to better classify the tumors.

The data was then studied with the long-term health outcomes of the patients whose tumors were removed. A link was then established between genetic patterns and tumor progression.

Scientists involved in the study have made the information available worldwide in an attempt to stimulate drug development.

The scientists said the next step would be to find out how specific molecular patterns make tumors grow, and to seek out the faults that might respond to new drugs in the future.

Visit Carolee on her blog, www.CaroleeGifford.blogspot.com 

© 2012, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

KNOXVILLE, TN (Catholic Online) – According to an article written by Wayne King and published on Compass Direct, as the Coptic community mourns the death of their beloved religious leader, his Holiness Pope Shenouda III, Salafis are hurling hateful insults at him. The title of the article is “Salafist Leaders Celebrate Death of Coptic Pope in Egypt.” The writer says that these attacks reflect open contempt for the Copts.

Leaders of the Salafist movement are calling the late Pope the “head of the infidels,” among other things. Furthermore, during an official moment of silence in remembrance of Pope Shenaouda in the lower house of Egypt’s parliament, several Salafi members refused to stand in remembrance of him. Some even walked out. The Salafis make up 20 percent of Egypt’s new parliament, so all this hostility does not bode well for the Copts or for freedom in Egypt.

The Salafis are followers of a movement that models itself on Islam’s patristic period. The Salafis believe that this time period, which lasted for the first three generations, reflects the pure and authoritative teaching and practice of Islam. Contemporary Salafism is seen as a literal and puritanical approach to Islam. A minority of Salafis espouse violent jihad against the civilian population. Members of this violent minority are referred to as Salafists.

Perhaps the most malicious insults against the late Pope were made by the Salafist cleric Wagdy Ghoneim. He actually celebrated the Pope’s death in a message posted on his Facebook page. The Salafist cleric said, “We rejoice that he is destroyed. He has perished. May God have His revenge on him in the fire of hell – he and all who walk his path.”

In addition, Ghoneim claimed that the Coptic Pope publicly advocated for the human rights of Christians in Egypt while he was secretly orchestrating religiously motivated violence against Christians. Ghoneim also accused Pope Shenouda of waging a war against Muslims in Egypt. “He wanted the sectarian strife,” Ghoneim said. “He wanted to burn Egypt.”

What twisted words these are! It is Ghoneim who is inciting sectarian strife as he speaks. And it is the Islamists, especially Salafist Islamists, who have been burning Egypt. We have not read about any Muslim mosques, businesses or homes that have been looted, attacked or set on fire in the news, but we have read about many Coptic churches, businesses and homes that have been.

In March of 2011, about one month after Hosni Mubarak stepped down as president of Egypt, the Coptic community of Soul was attacked by a mob of 4000 Muslims, mostly Salafists. The mob attacked Coptic homes and burned their church to the ground.

A couple months later another mob of Muslims attacked Saint Mina Church in Cairo, but Copts barricaded access to the church and fought off the mob. Not far away, the Virgin Mary Church was set on fire that same evening in Imbaba, a suburb of Cairo. By the time the fire was put out, the church was gutted, and the church attendant was dead. In all, about fifteen people were killed that night and about 230 injured.

The following month in June, a mob of nearly 200 Muslims torched eight Christian homes in the Upper Egyptian village of Awlad Khalaf. The attack was initiated by a rumor that a house being built by Wahib Halim Attia was going to be turned into a church. Three people were injured due to the violence.

And in September of that same year, as construction neared completion on Saint George Church in Elmarinab, a village in the upper Egyptian province of Aswan, thousands of Muslims demolished its walls, columns and dome. Then they set the church on fire. They also torched construction materials being stored on the site, a nearby supermarket and four Coptic homes.

As a follow up to this incident, a court just sentenced the pastor of St. George’s Church, Father Makarios Bolous, to six months in jail and fined him 300 pounds because the court claims the church building was too high. The court also ordered that the height of the church be lowered.

It appears that Ghoneim came under fire for his malicious comments. Insulting people after their death is considered one of the rudest things someone can do in the Middle East, and Pope Shenouda was respected by many people, including Muslims. However, instead of apologizing, Ghoneim merely denied any wrongdoing. Then he issued the following challenge to all Christians:

“You believe in your Bible and say its words are holy. [Your Bible teaches] ‘Love your enemies and bless all who curse you.’ Your enemies – you love them and those who curse you – you bless them. So I say, God curse you! Bless me now. Bless me. Isn’t this your religion? I am going to say it again – I am your enemy, and I say, God curse you. Now, say it, ‘We love you Wagdy. And God bless …

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) – British journalist and graphic designer David McCandless compiled the chart. He showed off the graphic at a TED conference last July in Oxford, England. McCandless said he and a colleague scraped 10,000 Facebook status updates for the phrases “breakup” and “broken up.”

His researchers found two big spikes on the calendar for breakups. The first was after Valentine’s Day, that holiday has a way of defining relationships, for better or worse and in the weeks leading up to spring break. Maybe spring fever makes people restless, or maybe college students just don’t want to be tied down when they’re partying in Cancun.

It seems that the other big romantically treacherous time, according to their findings, is about two weeks before Christmas, the time presumably when people begin pricing gifts for their significant others.

Mondays, as if they weren’t bad enough, are the most likely day to break up. Summer and fall look like the safest seasons.

As proof that some people’s sense of humor is more twisted than others, there’s also a spike in breakups on April Fool’s Day.

What single day are you least likely to get a “Dear John (or Jane)” letter?

“Christmas Day,” McCandless said. “Who would do that?”

Both have sponsored children through the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (CFCA), a Kansas City, Mo.-based charity that works in 25 countries to pair up needy children and elderly people with sponsors. In the case of Kaiser and Carr, they each donate $30 per month that is allocated for their sponsored child’s education, clothing, nutrition, and household items needed for basic comfort and good health.

Founded in 1981 by Bob Hentzen and his brothers Jim (d. 1993) and Bud, their sister Nadine Pearce, and friend Jerry Tolle (d. 1995), CFCA is dedicated to the principles of Catholic social teaching. From the beginning, the founders saw sponsorship as a perfect opportunity to both provide ongoing assistance to the poor and allow the poor to share their gifts with sponsors in the United States.

CFCA sponsors and the children and elderly people they support exchange letters and photographs, building a long-distance relationship.

For Carr and Kaiser, though, long distance wasn’t enough. Like many sponsors, they decided they would meet their children in person. They left Salt Lake City Oct. 10, and returned Oct. 23.

Family celebration

Kaiser has been a CFCA sponsor for three years, supporting Sumanth Bala (8). She and Carr set out for India together, but when they reached Hyderabad, their ways separated. Carr, a member of St. Francis of Assisi Parish, traveled further south through Bangalore to a village in the Kolar gold fields where the girl she has sponsored for five years, Jaya Rakani, 15, lives.

Sumanth lives in a village outside Hyderabad. Neither child lives in a home with electricity or running water. Their American visitors stayed in nearby retreat houses and convents.

Before going to Sumanth’s home to meet him, lunch was planned at the CFCA Hyderabad office, and to Kaiser’s surprise, Sumanth and his mother came to the lunch to greet her. Later, they would travel to Sumanth’s house in a rural village in Warangal Province.

“I was amazed to find out that my visit to Sumanth had become a family celebration,” said Kaiser. “When I arrived in the rural village with Father Gade Prakesh, the door to their house opened and 24 family members came out. I was overwhelmed.”

She said it was very strange to walk into the house and find a picture of herself hanging on the wall.

Both Carr and Kaiser were surprised that some 8,000 people were in Hyderabad to greet the Americans, most of them mothers of children who were sponsored.

“So much is done for these children and for CFCA by the mothers’ groups,” Carr said. “They had arranged lunch for us and hours of entertainment. People did so many dances for us. How they must have practiced!”

Everywhere they went, Carr said, they were mobbed by children, some who have sponsors, many who need them.

“They live in tiny homes, so spare, but neat,” added Carr.

Accountability

Kaiser said she was impressed with the annual report supplied for every sponsor, and that CFCA Hyderabad has a folder for each sponsored child. In each folder is an exact accounting of every $30 donation.

Both women spent days near the villages where their sponsored children live. They were shown the CFCA printing shop and book binding enterprise.

Carr, who teaches pre-school special education at Provo’s Farrer School, was most interested in the Indian educational system. She also saw a community center where tailoring is taught.

“The Salesian fathers and brothers do so much for the abandoned street children in Bangalore,” Carr said. “And the Kolar gold fields used to be very profitable, but with prices what they are now, the fields are closed and the slums are very close by.”

Jaya and her mother, Carr learned, live with Jaya’s uncle in a house that has a shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes. Like Sumanth, Jaya is shy and has a beautiful smile.

After spending days with their sponsored children, the American sponsors met again in Delhi, where they saw the Taj Mahal. They shared their experiences – Kaiser had visited a leper colony where whole families live together.

“There was so much to see when we were among the poor that I felt a little out of place at the Taj Mahal,” Kaiser said. “It was an amazing trip, and I came home feeling closer to Sumanth. When I went there, I took him a little red fire truck that he carried everywhere he went.

“I felt a strong sense of community among the mothers,” she said.

Carr, who has spoken to groups about CFCA since she returned, is also sponsoring two more children, one in Mexico and one in Liberia.