US-MEMORIAL DAY
Obama pays tribute to fallen service members at Arlington
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — President Barack Obama says America’s fallen heroes are “a testament” that there’s no greater love “than to lay down your life for your friends.”
Obama echoed the words of Jesus Christ during a Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
The president recalled meeting the mother of Sergeant First Class Ramon Morris, who was one of the last American soldiers killed in Afghanistan. Obama says she told him, “I have no anger, no bitterness, even for the person who did this. I feel sorry for them and I ask God to change their hearts.”
Army Chaplain Col. Gary Studniewski prayed that God would give the fallen the full and eternal peace that eluded them in this world.
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206-a-14-(President Barack Obama, at Memorial Day ceremony)-“change their hearts”-President Barack Obama says families of Americans who died in battle are inspiring. ((Refers to Sergeant First Class Ramon Morris, who was killed in Afghanistan in December)) (25 May 2015)
<<CUT *206 (05/25/15)££ 00:14 "change their hearts"
205-a-09-(President Barack Obama, at Memorial Day ceremony)-“for your friends”-President Barack Obama says Americans can pay a living tribute to U.S. troops who died in battle. (25 May 2015)
<<CUT *205 (05/25/15)££ 00:09 "for your friends"
204-w-28-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with President Barack Obama)–President Barack Obama says America’s fallen heroes are “a testament” that there’s no greater love “than to lay down your life for your friends.” AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (25 May 2015)
<<CUT *204 (05/25/15)££ 00:28
207-a-10-(Col. Gary Studniewski, U.S. Army chaplain, at Memorial Day ceremony)-“full and everlasting”-Army Chaplain Col. Gary Studniewski prays for America’s fallen heroes. (25 May 2015)
<<CUT *207 (05/25/15)££ 00:10 "full and everlasting"
SEVERE WEATHER-MISSING
Parishioners among missing in Texas flooding
SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) — Authorities in central Texas say a dozen people are missing after flash flooding along the Blanco River that damaged hundreds of homes.
A Corpus Christi church said five of its parishioners were among the missing after a vacation home where several families were staying was swept away by a flash flood in Wimberley Valley. The home struck a bridge and then began breaking up.
Five people managed to escape the home. Former Nueces County Commissioner Joe McComb says his 36-year-old son, Jonathan, is hospitalized in San Antonio with multiple injuries. He told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times that his son’s wife and their two children were among the missing.
The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd said five members of two families from the Corpus Christi church also were in the house and went missing.
ALABAMA-LAKE DROWNING
Authorities say Wetumpka man drowned in Lake Jordan
WETUMPKA, Ala. (AP) — Authorities in Alabama say a 23-year-old man appears to have drowned in Lake Jordan during an outing with a church group.
Elmore County Sheriff Bill Franklin told the Montgomery Advertiser that Carlton Wade Corbett of Wetumpka drowned after he went into the lake around 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
The sheriff says Corbett was swimming near a rock ledge when he went under. Franklin says dive teams from Chilton County and Montgomery recovered Corbett’s body about 10 feet from where he went under.
His death is being investigated by the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office and the Alabama Marine Police.
CHURCH BURGLARY
Police say burglar hit LI church, was arrested at house
ELMONT, N.Y. (AP) — Police on Long Island say a burglar stole a cup and bowl from a church and then was arrested trying to break into a house.
Nassau County police responded to a report of a suspicious man in Elmont at 7:15 a.m. Sunday. They say the officers found 24-year-old Ludgy Rely at the back of a house, pulling out shards of glass from a broken window and trying to get inside.
According to police, two plastic bags recovered from the scene contained a gold cup and bowl.
Police say the cup and bowl had been stolen from St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church.
Rely was arrested on charges of burglary and criminal mischief.
POPE-PHILADELPHIA-KNOTTY CHALLENGE
Knotty exhibit planned for pope symbolizes life’s challenges
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A knotty exhibit being created for Pope Francis’ upcoming trip to Philadelphia will let visitors acknowledge the challenges in their daily lives.
The installation, to be built in the shape of a grotto next to the city’s Roman Catholic cathedral, is inspired by a painting called “Mary, Undoer of Knots” that holds special meaning for the pope.
People will be invited to write down their own problems on provided material, most likely ribbon, and tie them to the grotto, leaving them behind. They’ll also be encouraged to help others by loosening and removing a knot already in place.
Artist Meg Saligman hopes to gather hundreds of thousands of knots before the September papal visit by holding workshops throughout the city and allowing others to send in their problems via the website mercyandjustice.org.
VATICAN-BANK
Vatican bank profits soar as recovery, reform continues
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican bank says its profit soared by more than 20 times last year as it recovered from a trading loss and continued its reform process.
The bank, officially called the Institute for Religious Works, said Monday it earned 69.3 million euros ($77.37 million) in 2014, up from 2.9 million euros the previous year.
Profits were boosted by a drop in operating costs. In 2013, operating expenses jumped by some 8 million euros as it paid outside consultants to help review its client base and bring it into compliance with anti-money-laundering norms.
That review resulted in some 4,600 accounts being closed, either because they were dormant or because clients no longer fit the revised client base approved by the bank’s board, which include religious orders, Catholic institutions, clerics, employees or former employees of the Vatican, as well as embassies and diplomats accredited to the Holy See.
BURMESE MOSQUE
Thousands celebrate opening of Burmese mosque in Fort Wayne
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — Burmese Muslims in Fort Wayne, Indiana, are celebrating the construction of what’s believed to be their first mosque in more than three decades.
More than 2,000 women, men and children from as far away as New York, Texas and Virginia gathered Sunday for the opening of the Masjid Noor ul-Islam.
Ye Win Latt, secretary of the Burmese Muslim Education and Community Center, says about 2,000 of the 7,000 to 8,000 Burmese immigrants living in Fort Wayne are Muslim. The city has one of the largest Burmese refugee communities in the U.S.
Muslim and Christian Burmese have been oppressed in predominantly-Buddhist Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
Latt says more than 30 mosques have been destroyed in Myanmar.
ROHINGYA-CHOOSING MALAYSIA
Rohingya Muslims seek better life in Malaysia, but reality is stark
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia has been a sort of promised land for Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar. The tens of thousands who endured perilous journeys to get there find more work opportunities than in Indonesia and a more Muslim-friendly environment than in Thailand.
But the Rohingya mostly scrape by on dirty or dangerous jobs shunned by Malaysians, live in squalid conditions and have no access to free health care and state-run schools.
The desperation of the Rohingya has been highlighted in recent weeks by boatloads of people from Myanmar and Bangladesh stranded in Malacca Strait waters after their traffickers abandoned them near the end of risky 1,000-mile voyages amid a clampdown by local authorities. Some 3,500 came ashore in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, but many of those now at shelters say their goal was to get to Malaysia.
Malaysia fears that allowing refugees to stay permanently will just encourage more to come.
BANGLADESH-GROUP BANNED
Bangladesh bans Islamist group accused of killing bloggers
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh has banned a radical Islamist group accused of attacking and killing atheist bloggers and writers.
The Ministry of Home Affairs said the Ansarullah Bangla Team was formally banned in response to a request by police because it has threatened and killed bloggers, writers and other activists.
A police report said the group has been active in Muslim-majority Bangladesh since 2008, but has widened its influence since 2013, when it allegedly killed blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider near his home in Dhaka. Five suspected members of the group admitted involvement in the killing. The group’s alleged chief is in jail facing trial in Haider’s death.
Since February, three other atheist bloggers who criticized radical Islam have been killed, including an American citizen of Bangladesh origin.
The group allegedly threatened last week to kill 10 people and has recruited students from mosques, colleges and universities.
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