HONG KONG (SE): Friars from the Dominican Province of Our Lady of the Rosary, which became a reality in Asia in 1587, are celebrating the sesquicentennial of the arrival of the first group of Dominicans to land in Hong Kong on
1 July 1861. 

As men of their times, they followed the flow of merchants and business people from Macau and Canton into Hong Kong to avail themselves of the benefits of English law, stability of banking facilities and property security.

HONG KONG (SE): “Man makes plans and God smiles,” goes the old saying.

A group from the English-speaking community of Stanley parish reflected on this adage as they trudged back to their accommodation after the August 20 overnight vigil at the climax of World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain, when it seemed that anything that could go wrong did.

 VATICAN (SE): To mark the August 20 conclusion of the sacred month of Ramadan, observed as a time of fasting by Muslims the world over, the president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran, said in a message that Christians and Muslims “are too often witnesses to the violation of the sacred, the mistrust of which those who call themselves believers are the target.”
The statement, signed by the cardinal and the secretary of the council, Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata, notes that a common bond of believers in both religions is the con

 On May 31, the world celebrated World No Tobacco Day. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the first treaty under the organisation’s constitution, was adopted on 21 May 2003 and came into force on 27 February 2005. It has become one of the most rapidly and widely embraced treaties in United Nations history. 
The FCTC was developed in response to the globalisation of the tobacco trade consumption and is an evidence-based treaty that reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health.

ROME (Agencies): As the troops of Libyan strongman, Moammar Gadhafi, retreat and rebel forces of the National Transitional Authority storm into the capital city of Tripoli, three priests in the city say that the streets are still far from safe.

WASHINGTON (CWNews.com): The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops launched The Catholic Church Remembers Website on August 12 to mark the 10th anniversary of Nine/Eleven 2001.

The Website highlights the firsthand experiences of pain and hope from the disaster.