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Pope Francis speaks at the UN, visits 9/11 Memorial

NEW YORK (AP) — Sweeping through the landmarks of America's biggest city, Pope Francis on Friday offered comfort to 9/11 victims' families at ground zero, warnings to world leaders at the United Nations and encouragement to schoolchildren in Harlem as he mixed the high and low ministry so characteristic of his papacy.

In the early evening, he led a jubilant parade through Central Park past a crowd of about 80,000 and celebrated Mass at Madison Square Garden, usually the site of basketball games and rock concerts but this time the scene of a solemn service celebrating New York in all its diversity.

"Living in a big city is not always easy," Francis told 18,000 people at the Garden, easily one of the most respectful crowds the arena has ever seen. "Yet big cities are a reminder of the hidden riches present in our world in the diversity of its cultures, traditions and historical experiences."

Francis' itinerary for his only full day in New York was packed with contrasts befitting a head of state dubbed the "slum pope" for his devotion to the poor. He moved from the corridors of power to the grit of the projects with lush Central Park in between.

He drew huge, adoring crowds while also managing to connect one-on-one with countless New Yorkers, despite extraordinarily tight security that closed off many streets and kept most spectators behind police barricades.

"As he passed by, you felt a cool, refreshing peace, as if he were spreading a huge blanket of peace through the crowd," Ruth Smart of Brooklyn said of the procession in Central Park. "Even though the crowd exploded in a roar, it was pure joy."

On Saturday morning, he flies to Philadelphia for a big Vatican-sponsored rally for Catholic families. As many as 1 million people are expected for the closing Mass on Sunday, the last day of Francis' six-day, three-city visit to the U.S., the first of his life.

As Friday's Mass came to a close with a sustained and thunderous roar of applause, the toll of the long day seemed evident as an exhausted Francis walked with assistance down the stairs of the altar. The Vatican spokesman said Francis, who suffers from sciatica and a bad knee, is feeling the effects of missed physiotherapy appointments while he's been on the road but still has energy for the final two days of the trip.

In his speech at the U.N., the pope declared the environment itself has rights, and that mankind has no authority to abuse them, presenting his environmental mantra live before world leaders in hopes of spurring concrete commitments at the upcoming climate-change negotiations in Paris.

The Vatican later said his declaration that the environment itself has rights was a new development in the church's social teaching.

He decried the destruction of the environment through a "selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity."

He demanded immediate access for the world's poor to adequate food, water and housing, saying they have the right to lodging, labor and land.

Francis' speech, delivered in his native Spanish, received repeated rounds of applause from an audience that included German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Bill and Melinda Gates, and Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousefzai, the young Pakistani activist shot and gravely wounded by the Taliban.

The ovations contrasted sharply with the moment of silent prayer during the pope's visit later in the morning to ground zero for an interfaith tribute to the Sept. 11 victims.

After praying before the waterfall pools that mark the spot where the twin towers once stood, Francis met with relatives of the 3,000 victims whose names are inscribed on the water's edge.

Among those on hand was Monica Iken-Murphy, whose husband, bond trader Michael Patrick Iken, died in one of the towers.

"This is where loved ones lost their lives ... and this is the way we are going to honor them by having someone who is holy, closest to God, Pope Francis, come here and bless this site," Iken-Murphy said. "I couldn't be prouder to share this memorial and museum with him."

Francis' afternoon schedule reflected the penchant of the "people's pope" for engaging with the public, starting with a visit to Our Lady Queen of Angels School, set amid public housing in the heavily Hispanic neighborhood of East Harlem.

After the morning's deadly serious activities, the 78-year-old pope clearly perked up when he got to the Catholic school. He joked around with the children, chatted happily with them in Spanish, shook hands and posed for a few selfies. A security guard intervened when one girl gave him a big hug.

The pope — who says he hasn't watched TV in decades and doesn't know how to work a computer — even got a lesson in how to use a touch screen from fourth-grader Kayla Osborne, age 8.

The crowd in the gym included about 150 immigrants and refugees, some of them in the U.S. illegally.

In his remarks, Francis recalled the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, saying: "His dream was that many children like you could get an education. It is beautiful to have dreams and to be able to fight for them."

From Harlem, Francis headed toward Central Park, where he smiled as he rode slowly in his open-sided Jeep past a cheering, shrieking crowd and a sea of arms holding cellphones aloft. For those lucky enough to score a ticket, there was a catch: No backpacks, no chairs and no selfie sticks.

About a half-hour before the popemobile passed through, a rainbow suddenly appeared above the crowd, which erupted in joyous "Oooohs!" and "Ahhhhhs!"

Denise Villasenor, a 27-year-old Columbia University graduate student from the Philippines and a Catholic, practiced capturing a selfie with the pope ahead of the procession.

"The pope's positions always revolve around compassion and love — you know, being a person for others," she said. "Immigration, the environment, it all comes to being compassionate, for others."

During the visit to the United Nations, the Vatican flag was raised there for the first time. The General Assembly recently agreed to allow the U.N.'s two observer states, the Holy See and Palestine, to fly their flags alongside those of the 193 member states.

Although his U.N. remarks on the environment and the economy carried a message many liberals welcomed, Francis also affirmed church doctrine on abortion and sexuality.

Among other things, he called for the "absolute respect for life in all its stages," including the unborn.

CLICK IMAGE for slideshow: Pope Francis places a white rose at the south pool of the 9/11 Memorial in downtown Manhattan, Sept. 25, 2015, in New York. (Photo: John Minchillo/AP)

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Edith Lederer, Cara Anna, Karen Matthews, Jake Pearson, Deepti Hajela, Claudia Torrens, Verena Dobnik, William Mathis, Jackie Snow, Jonathan Lemire, Jennifer Peltz, Colleen Long and Rachel Zoll.

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This story has been corrected to show that Ruth Smart said that as the pope passed, "you felt a cool, refreshing peace," not "you passed a cool refreshing peace."

You would think that the simultaneous crashing of all of the largest stock markets around the world would be very big news. But so far the mainstream media in the United States is treating it like it isn’t really a big deal. Over the last sixty days, we have witnessed the most significant global stock market decline since the fall of 2008, and yet most people still seem to think that this is just a temporary “bump in the road” and that the bull market will soon resume. Hopefully they are right. When the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 777 points on September 29th, 2008 everyone freaked out and rightly so. But a stock market crash doesn’t have to be limited to a single day. Since the peak of the market earlier this year, the Dow is down almost three times as much as that 777 point crash back in 2008. Over the last sixty days, we have seen the 8th largest single day stock market crash in U.S. history on a point basis and the 10th largest single day stock market crash in U.S. history on a point basis. You would think that this would be enough to wake people up, but most Americans still don’t seem very alarmed. And of course what has happened to U.S. stocks so far is quite mild compared to what has been going on in the rest of the world.

Right now, stock market wealth is being wiped out all over the planet, and none of the largest global economies have been exempt from this. The following is a summary of what we have seen in recent days…

#1 The United States – The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down more than 2000 points since the peak of the market. Last month we saw stocks decline by more than 500 points on consecutive trading days for the first time ever, and there has not been this much turmoil in U.S. markets since the fall of 2008.

#2 China – The Shanghai Composite Index has plummeted nearly 40 percent since hitting a peak earlier this year. The Chinese economy is steadily slowing down, and we just learned that China’s manufacturing index has hit a 78 month low.

#3 Japan – The Nikkei has experienced extremely violent moves recently, and it is now down more than 3000 points from the peak that was hit earlier in 2015. The Japanese economy and the Japanese financial system are both basket cases at this point, and it isn’t going to take much to push Japan into a full-blown financial collapse.

#4 Germany – Almost one-fourth of the value of German stocks has already been wiped out, and this crash threatens to get much worse. The Volkswagen emissions scandal is making headlines all over the globe, and don’t forget to watch for massive trouble at Germany’s biggest bank.

#5 The United Kingdom – British stocks are down about 16 percent from the peak of the market, and the UK economy is definitely on shaky ground.

#6 France – French stocks have declined nearly 18 percent, and it has become exceedingly apparent that France is on the exact same path that Greece has already gone down.

#7 Brazil – Brazil is the epicenter of the South American financial crisis of 2015. Stocks in Brazil have plunged more than 12,000 points since the peak, and the nation has already officially entered a new recession.

#8 Italy – Watch Italy. Italian stocks are already down 15 percent, and look for the Italian economy to make very big headlines in the months ahead.

#9 India – Stocks in India have now dropped close to 4000 points, and analysts are deeply concerned about this major exporting nation as global trade continues to contract.

#10 Russia – Even though the price of oil has crashed, Russia is actually doing better than almost everyone else on this list. Russian stocks have fallen by about 10 percent so far, and if the price of oil stays this low the Russian financial system will continue to suffer.

What we are witnessing now is the continuation of a cycle of financial downturns that has happened every seven years. The following is a summary of how this cycle has played out over the past 50 years…

• It started in 1966 with a 20 percent stock market crash.
• Seven years later, the market lost another 45 percent (1973-74).
• Seven years later was the beginning of the “hard recession” (1980).
• Seven years later was the Black Monday crash of 1987.
• Seven years later was the bond market crash of 1994.
• Seven years later was 9/11 and the 2001 tech bubble collapse.
• Seven years later was the 2008 global financial collapse.
• 2015: What’s next?

A lot of people were expecting something “big” to happen on September 14th and were disappointed when nothing happened.

But the truth is that it has never been about looking at any one particular day. Over the past sixty days we have seen absolutely extraordinary things happen all over the planet, and yet some people are not even paying attention because they did not meet their preconceived notions of how events should play out.

And this is just the beginning. We haven’t even gotten to the great derivatives crisis that is coming yet. All of these things are going to take time to fully unfold.

A lot of people that write about “economic collapse” talk about it like it will be some type of “event” that will happen on a day or a week and then we will recover.

Well, that is not what it is going to be like.

You need to be ready to endure a very, very long crisis. The suffering that is coming to this nation is beyond what most of us could even imagine.

Even now we are seeing early signs of it. For instance, the mayor of Los Angeles says that the growth of homelessness in his city has gotten so bad that it is now“an emergency”…

On Tuesday, Los Angeles officials announced the city’s homelessness problem has become an emergency, and proposed allotting $100 million to help shelter the city’s massive and growing indigent population.

LA Mayor Eric Garcetti also issued a directive on Monday evening for the city to free up $13 million to help house the estimated 26,000 people who are living on the city’s streets.

According to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the number of encampments and people living in vehicles has increased by 85% over the last two years alone.

And in recent years we have seen poverty absolutely explode all over the nation. The “bread lines” of the Great Depression have been replaced with EBT cards, and there is a possibility that a government shutdown in October could “suspend or delay food stamp payments”…

A government shutdown Oct. 1 could immediately suspend or delay food stamp payments to some of the 46 million Americans who receive the food aid.

The Agriculture Department said Tuesday that it will stop providing benefits at the beginning of October if Congress does not pass legislation to keep government agencies open.

“If Congress does not act to avert a lapse in appropriations, then USDA will not have the funding necessary for SNAP benefits in October and will be forced to stop providing benefits within the first several days of October,” said Catherine Cochran, a spokeswoman for USDA. “Once that occurs, families won’t be able to use these benefits at grocery stores to buy the food their families need.”

In the U.S. alone, there are tens of millions of people that could not survive without the help of the federal government, and more people are falling out of the middle class every single day.

Our economy is already falling apart all around us, and now another great financial crisis has begun.

When will the “nothing is happening” crowd finally wake up?

Hopefully it will be before they are sitting out on the street begging for spare change to feed their family.


(The Economic Collapse)

European nations shift to working together on migrant crisis

By AMER COHADZIC and JOVANA GEC8 hours ago

WSJ Live
Border Tensions Rise Between Croatia and Serbia

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STROSINCI, Croatia (AP) — Cooperation replaced confrontation Saturday among European nations as thousands of asylum-seekers streamed into Croatia in hopes of creating a new future in Western Europe.

Despite steps that should eventually ease the chaos, the sheer number of people flooding into Croatia strained the resources of one of the European Union's poorest nations. At least 10,000 arrived on Friday alone, and Croatian authorities struggled to keep up with the influx of those fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

At one tiny border crossing point, Croatian police said thousands were abandoned at a remote crossing after Serb authorities bused them to a point near the village of Strosinci and left.

Unclear where they were, the migrants tried to cross into Croatia, but got lost in the nearby cornfields. Croatian police found them, and called in buses to take the travelers to the nearby transit camp at Opatovac, but individual families were separated in the chaos.

A woman from Damascus who only gave her first name, Ranaa, said she lost her sons, 2 years old and 7 years old, after they boarded a bus to the Opatovac refugee camp without her. Later buses leaving her area were going directly to Hungary, and bypassing Opatovac.

Distraught and struggling in English to make herself understood, she begged to be taken from Strosinci to the transit camp, where relatives have seen the children.

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A group of migrants line up after crossing a border from Croatia near the village of Zakany, Hungary …

Despite it all, a new cooperative mode began emerging among the nations in southeast Europe. Hungary announced it had removed spools of razor wire from a section of its border with Slovenia, a barrier that breached EU rules about unrestricted travel within much of its territory. The gesture followed the reopening of the main border point between Croatia and Serbia.

The concessions, coming two days after an EU summit on the migrant crisis, suggested the bloc had become alarmed at the lack of cooperation among its members and the increasingly ugly tone of their exchanges.

Hungary's closure of its border with Serbia on Sept. 15 triggered a tsunami of responses that sent migrants scurrying from one border to the next as they tried to reach Germany, Austria and other European countries. Since then, some 65,000 people on the move have entered Croatia.

Croatia first welcomed the migrants, thinking they would pass through to Slovenia, Austria and Germany. But Slovenia refused to let the people pass, leaving Croatia responsible for thousands who had no food, water or shelter. The government in Zagreb then accused Serbia of shunting the refugees into its territory and closed the cargo crossing in retaliation.

Leaders have taken steps to address the troubles. After Croatia opened the border with Serbia on Friday, its prime minister, Zoran Milanovic, appeared on Serbia's main television station to explain his actions. Likewise, Serbia's leader, Aleksandar Vucic agreed to an interview on Croatian television.

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Migrants on a dinghy arrives at the southeastern island of Kos, Greece, after crossing from Turkey o …

The exchanges were testy but still a positive shift to ease tensions between Croatia and Serbia, old rivals who fought a war amid the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban also changed his tone. He promised to consult with others before Hungary completes a razor-wire fence along its border with Croatia, a move that would insert more confusion for migrants.

Djordje Vlajic, acting editor-in-chief of Serbia's state Radio Belgrade 1, said the apparent softening of hard-line positions was the result of EU pressure on its smaller nations to resolve their differences — because the whole bloc itself must develop a unified response to the immense numbers of refugees still on their way.

"The only countries ruffling the sea were the countries that will not solve the problem in the end, the transit countries," Vlajic said. "So 'Teacher Europe' said enough, stop and wait until the serious players figure out how to solve this."

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Associated Press Writer Danica Kirka in Zagreb, Croatia and Pablo Gorondi in Budapest contributed to this story.

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This story has been corrected to show that 65,000 migrants, not 66,000, have entered Croatia since Hungary closed its border Sept. 15. It also corrects spelling of first name of radio correspondent to Djordje.

Reuters Videos
China pledges $2 bln to help development of poor countries

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday pledged $2 billion for a new development fund for poor countries on a UN visit showcasing Beijing's growing global role.

Xi's announcement, made in his first address to the United Nations, follows longstanding criticism from the United States and other developed countries that China has not taken responsibilities in line with its aspirations for a greater global role.

The speech is the latest high-profile move for Xi on a trip that has included a White House state visit and will see him chair a UN forum on women's rights on Sunday.

Addressing a UN summit on development, Xi said China would act "by putting justice before interests and joining other countries in a concerted effort to realize the post-2015 agenda."

Xi said that China would launch an assistance fund for developing countries with an initial investment of $2 billion.

The Chinese leader said that his country would step up investment in the least developed countries -- which are mostly in Africa -- by at least $12 billion by 2030.

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Australia's Treasurer Joe Hockey (C) holds up his pen as he becomes the first to sign articles o …

China has been an increasingly active investor around the world, although it has generally focused on seeking resources rather than broader humanitarian goals.

Xi said that China would also relieve debts owed by least developed countries this year. He did not provide a figure on the debts or say which countries would be affected.

The United Nations on Friday set a goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030, an effort that the global body says could require up to $5 trillion a year.

- Send tourists -

After his speech, the Chinese president hosted a meeting on South-South cooperation attended by more than a dozen leaders eager to present their wish lists.

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Xi Jinping, President of China, speaks at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit during t …

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni urged Xi to encourage Chinese companies to invest in Africa and to open up the Chinese market to African goods as the best way to promote economic development.

He then added a third, concrete request.

"Tourists. If you could send me just two million of those, I'll be very happy," said the Ugandan leader, drawing applause.

In January, Xi promised $250 billion in investment over 10 years in Latin America, which the United States has long considered its sphere of influence.

China's economy has soared over the past 15 years to become the world's second largest after the United States, although concerns have been rising in recent months over the country's financial markets and long-term growth.

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A cyclist wears a mask in Beijing, covered by heavy smog, June 23, 2015 (AFP Photo/)

China has increasingly taken an assertive role in the world, especially in myriad disputes with its neighbors, but retains little stake in the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

With a reform plan for the Washington-based institutions blocked by US Republican lawmakers, China has set up its own lender, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

The bank, which Xi reaffirmed would open soon, has widely been seen as a way for China to dilute the influence of the United States and Japan, the most prominent holdouts from the new lender.

"It is important to improve global economic governance, increase the representation and voice of developing countries and give all countries equal right to participating in international rule-making," Xi said.

- Easing concerns -

China's aid commitment remains far below levels of Western countries.

The United States in 2013 provided more than $30 billion, and Britain, France, Germany and Japan all gave more than $11 billion, according to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Xi called on developed countries to remain "the main channel" for assistance to poor nations.

The pledge nonetheless marks the second day in a row in which China has addressed one of many concerns of Western countries.

On his visit Friday to Washington, Xi pledged action on climate change. China is the largest emitter of carbon blamed for the world's rising temperatures.

China promised $3.1 billion to help developing countries adapt to climate change and said it would set up a "cap-and-trade" system to limit emissions.

Xi Jinping announces a new development fund for poor countries in a speech at the U.N.
Will put ' justice before interests'