The White House said Friday it expects that unemployment will stay at or above 9% until 2012, but at the same time forecast that the economy will grow by at least 4% in 2011 and 2012. It also revised its long-term deficit estimate under President Obama’s proposed 2011 budget: The administration now believes the 10-year [...]
I blame my suspicious nature on my neighborhood grocery store. The store used to be a logically arranged market with bright lights and clean floors—a basic, friendly, functional place to shop. Then the bulldozers morphed it into a big fancy supermarket complete with mood lighting and cushy chairs. I have nothing against beautiful spaces and [...]
For decades, China’s Catholics — estimated at more than 12 million — have been bitterly divided. Some worship in China’s government-sanctioned Catholic churches, others in “underground” churches loyal to the Vatican. But three years ago, Pope Benedict XVI sent a letter to Chinese Catholics — the first from a pope in more than a half-century [...]
Because your home may well be your largest asset, selling it is probably one of the most important decisions you will make in your life. To better understand the homeselling process, a guide has been prepared from current industry insider reports. Through these 27 tips you will discover how to protect and capitalize on your [...]
It is 5:50 in the morning, and dark shadows scurry through narrow alleys to the mosque, as the call to prayer echoes from a minaret in Kaifeng. This city in central China’s Henan province has an Islamic enclave, where Muslims have lived for more than 1,000 years. In an alleyway called Wangjia hutong, women go [...]
WASHINGTON – Pushing toward an election-year Supreme Court confirmation vote, a polarized Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday approved Elena Kagan to be the fourth female justice. Just one Republican joined Democrats to approve Kagan’s nomination and send it to the full Senate, where she’s expected to win confirmation within weeks. “Elena Kagan will be confirmed,” predicted [...]
According to research carried out by Indonesia’s highest religious authority, the Ulema Council, Muslims in Indonesia have been praying in the wrong direction for months, facing Somalia when they should have been facing Saudi Arabia. Muslims have been issued with new directions to ensure that when they pray they are facing Mecca, Islam’s holiest site, [...]
LONDON — An alarming rise in extremism and intolerance has prompted a London-based rights group to express “deep concern” over religious freedom and violence after a two-week fact-finding visit to Indonesia. The team from Christian Solidarity Worldwide met representatives of Catholic and Protestant churches, interfaith groups and Muslim civil society groups in June, reported the [...]
A Malaysian speaks up…. I am a female Chinese Malaysian, living in the Washington DC area in the United States . I have read many of the letters that often talk about foreign countries when the writers have no real knowledge of actually living in those countries. Many draw conclusions about what those countries are [...]
WASHINGTON – The world is enduring the hottest year on record, according to a U.S. national weather analysis, causing droughts worldwide and a concern for U.S. farmers counting on another bumper year. For the first six months of the year, 2010 has been warmer than the first half of 1998, the previous record holder, by [...]
