Cuba’s population exceeds 11 million
Havana Cuba is home to some 11.2 million residents, three-quarters of whom live in urban areas, according to the communist island’s third census since the 1959 revolution that launched Fidel Castro to power.
The census, taken three years ago and presented to officials this week, showed Cuba’s population grew by almost 1.5 million since the last census in 1981, according to the Communist Party daily Granma.
It was not clear why it took three years to report the data compiled in September 2002.
U.S. touts benefits of biotech crops
Vatican City The new U.S. ambassador to the Holy See urged the Vatican on Saturday to promote the potential of biotech crops, saying there was a “moral imperative” to investigate the possible benefits of agricultural technology to feed the world’s hungry.
“Nothing on its own can solve the complex problem of world hunger,” Ambassador Francis Rooney told Pope Benedict XVI as he presented his credentials during a Vatican audience. “But we cannot let irrational fears stop us from investigating what could be one part of the answer.”
The United States, home to major multinational biotech companies, has for several years touted the potential of genetically modified food to feed the world’s hungry.
While much of Europe has been skeptical or opposed to biotech crops, Washington has found a welcome ear in some Vatican circles. The Roman Catholic Church has no specific position on the matter.
Christian churches burned in Pakistan
Lahore, Pakistan Hundreds of Muslims attacked and burned two churches in Pakistan on Saturday after reports that a Christian man had desecrated Islam’s holy book. No one was injured in the blazes.
A school, student hostel and the home of a priest were also torched by the crowd of about 1,500 Muslims near the town of Sangla Hill, about 80 miles northeast of Lahore, said police official Ali Asghar Dogar.
The attacks were being investigated. About two dozen people had been arrested, Dogar said.
The fires came a day after a local Muslim resident accused a Christian of burning a one-room Islamic school along with copies of the Quran. Dogar said the allegations were apparently leveled by people who lost money while gambling with the Christian man on Friday.
Neo-Nazis, police clash at soldiers cemetery
Berlin Some 2,000 neo-Nazis clashed with police on Saturday outside Germany’s largest World War II soldiers cemetery, where the extremists had hoped to stage a demonstration in honor of the Nazi soldiers.
Thousands of police were on hand in Halbe to keep the peace between the roughly 2,000 skinheads who had gathered in the town, 30 miles south of Berlin, and the estimated 1,600 counter-demonstrators.
The two sides nearly came to blows when the neo-Nazis surged the police cordon in an attempt to enter the cemetery, which was blocked by the counter-demonstrators.
Several officers were injured in skirmishes with the extremists, who were driven back and prevented from entering the cemetery.