KINSHASA – Catholic church leaders in Congo have questioned the official outcome of the Dec. 30 elections, saying the officially published results "do not correspond with the data collected" by the church's 40,000 observers.

ROME – Migrants rescued from the Mediterranean were taken to shore in Malta Jan. 9 after being kept at sea while European nations argued over who was responsible for them.

After years of lobbying by a small community of Catholic sisters from eastern Canada, the world’s largest producer of potash is abandoning mining operations in territory south of Morocco.

A new international agreement that covers all dimensions of international migration that will be signed in Morocco, Dec. 10-11 represents the alternative to fear, says Canadian Jesuit Fr. Michael Czerny.

VATICAN – Responding to the deaths of tens of thousands of children from AIDS and AIDS-related illnesses, the Vatican brought together physicians and representatives of drug companies and humanitarian agencies to strategize ways to improve care for children and adolescents who are HIV-positive.

OTTAWA – Pro-life advocates are outraged following an announcement that Canada will grant $8 million to Marie Stopes International (MSI), the world’s largest abortion and abortifacient drug provider which is under investigation in two African nations for illegal activity.

NAIROBI, Kenya – Although official reports say Mill Hill Father Cosmas Omboto Ondari was caught in the crossfire of government and opposition forces, the local bishop says Father Ondari was killed by government soldiers.

Over a 25-year span from 1990 to 2015 there has been a massive reduction in global poverty. 

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Ethiopia's bishops welcomed the election of the nation's first female president, Sahle-Work Zewde, and said they were pleased that women "are getting their rightful place in the development of the country."

Cardinal Paul-Emile Leger was Canada’s most prominent prelate in the 1950s and ‘60s. Surprisingly, he resigned Nov. 9, 1967 and for the next 24 years, until his death in 1991 at age 87, he dedicated himself to service in the Third World, though he returned to Montreal several times. Here is how he explained his departure in The Register issue of Nov. 18, 1967. 

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ISSELE-UKU, Nigeria – Five nuns were abducted by gunmen in Nigeria’s Delta state on Thursday, according to local media.

VATICAN – While European bishops discuss how to bring young people back to the Church at the 2018 Synod of Bishops, one bishop from Cameroon said that he has the opposite problem.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – As Haitian authorities confirmed the toll from the Oct. 6 earthquake at 17 dead and 333 injured, Caritas and other grass-roots organizations working with the victims highlighted the critical humanitarian situation facing survivors, who now lack shelter.

VATICAN – Pope Francis mourned the loss of more than 200 lives in a ferry accident on Lake Victoria near the Tanzanian island of Ukara.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – The church in Zimbabwe said it is prepared to mediate between government and opposition leaders after six people were killed in violence that followed a disputed presidential election.