Catholic Church Only Institution Still Operating in C.A.R.

The head of the Episcopal Conference of Cameroon said that the only entity still operating inside the Central African Republic is the Catholic Church.

“The State no longer exists,” Samuel Kleda, the archbishop of Douala, said.  “The only institution that is functioning is the Catholic Church.  The displaced are living in Catholic parishes.”

Violence in the Central African Republic has skyrocketed since interim President Michel Djotodia resigned from that post earlier this year.  The United Nations says the conflict has led to the deaths of tens of thousands and a peacekeeping force is being formed to try and help restore the peace.

Kleda and other leaders in the region are calling on Christians around the world to provide supplies and funds to the Catholic Church’s relief efforts within the country to provide food, medicine and shelter.

The Central African Republic is a mostly Christian nation that is 25 percent Catholic.  Muslim rebels who have been attempting to take over the country have been in retreat from a Christian backed militia to the point they have fled the southern and western parts of the nation.

Ebola Outbreak In Africa Spreads To New Country

The outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Africa is growing into more of a concern for world leaders.

Mali reported their first possible cases of Ebola since the beginning of an outbreak in neighboring Guinea.  Government officials have isolated three people in Mali as they await confirmation testing from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

Guinea reported their 90th death from the outbreak leading Doctors Without Borders to say this could become an unprecedented epidemic in a region that has extremely poor health care systems.

The outbreak has reached a point that foreign mining companies in Guinea have closed their operations and pulled their employees to their home nations.  French officials say they are preparing screening at the airports for travels from the former French colonies.

In addition to Guinea, confirmed cases have been found in Sierra Leone and Liberia.  Liberia confirmed three new deaths in the last 24 hours bringing their total to four.

DWB officials are concerned with the dense living conditions in cities where the virus has been found because it will be hard to stop the virus should it break out in a crowded living area.

Christian Man Slaughtered By Muslim Mob

Polin Pumandele just wanted to sell some firewood to buy food to eat.

Instead, around 9:30 in the morning, a gang in the middle of a street in Bangui, Central African Republic murdered him in cold blood.

Why?  Because he was a Christian.  No other reason.

A Washington Post reporter was standing near the attack as the mob of Muslims grabbed Pumandele and slit his throat before throwing his body in a ditch to watch him die.  The group threatened the reporter until he fled the area.

After Pumandele was dead, the gang loaded his body into a wheelbarrow, pushed it to the nearest Red Cross office and dumped the corpse on the doorstep.

According to sources connected to international peacekeeping forces in the area, the Muslims tried to claim that Pumandele had been part of a group that threw grenades into a mosque and thus his murder was justified.  However, an investigation showed there was no grenade attack on the mosque.

The violence in the country is still onging despite 6,500 French and African soldiers in the country that try and maintain peace.  Christians are being killed by Muslims on a daily basis.

British Drug Maker To Market World’s First Malaria Vaccine

GlaxoSmithKline is seeking approval for the world’s first malaria vaccine.

Testing of the drug with African children showed it cut the number of malaria cases. The trial showed an approximate 25% decrease in cases among infants. Tests also showed that 18 months after vaccination, children up to age 5 had a 46% reduction in infections.

Worldwide, a child dies from malaria every 30 seconds. It is the leading cause of illness and death in the world. At least 800,000 people every year die from the mosquito-borne parasite.

“Malaria is not just one of the world’s biggest killers of children, it also burdens health systems, hinders children’s development and puts a brake on economic growth. An effective malaria vaccine would have an enormous impact on the developing world,” UK International Development Minister Lynne Featherstone told the BBC. “We welcome the scientific progress made by this research and look forward to seeing the full results in due course.”

Death Toll In Refugee Boat Sinking Rises To 232

Divers entering the wreckage of a sunken boat that carried refugees from Africa to Italy reporting finding 38 bodies in the hull that were “so entwined one with the other” that they’ve had difficulty bringing the remains to the surface.

The discovery of the bodies has raised the death toll from the accident to 232 people.

The boat caught fire and sank near the Sicilian island of Lampedusa carried more than 500 refugees from Somalia and Eritrea.

“Some [bodies] we have found with their arms outstretched. We try not to notice this kind of thing too much, otherwise the task is too difficult,” police diver Riccardo Nobile told the BBC. “We can see a woman’s hair floating out of a broken porthole. But we haven’t been able to get to her.”

The United Nations says that 3,000 people try to flee Eritrea every month.

Al-Qaeda Related Terror Groups Merge; Threaten France

One of Africa’s most wanted terrorists has released a video announcing his group has merged with another terror group aiming to take revenge on France for its intervention in Mali.

Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who has a $5 million bounty on his head by U.S. authorities, said his Masked Men Brigade will join with a Mali-based terror group to form Al-Murabitoun. Belmokhtar is the man believed to have masterminded the terror attack and hostage execution in Algerian plant in January. Continue reading

Study Shows World Getting More Religious

A new study released by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity is showing the world overall is growing more religious and will likely continue in that trend for many more years.

According to the report “Christianity In Its Global Context, 1970-2010”, an almost ten percent increase in religious belief is expected by 2020. In 1970, 80 percent of the world’s population was religious, 88 percent in 2010 and is predicted to be 90 percent by 2020. Continue reading

Al-Shabab Leader Captured

A day after the United States announced financial bounties on Islamic terrorists in Africa, a leader of the Islamist terrorist group al-Shabab was captured in northeastern Somalia.

Abdikafi Mohamed Ali was wounded during a military raid on a terrorist safe house in Bossaso. One soldier was killed in the raid and the area has been locked down to capture the terrorists who were able to flee the home during the raid. Continue reading