Dominica Catholics vow support for accused priest

Dominica Catholics vow support for accused priest

ROSEAU, Dominica

Dozens of parishioners have gathered outside a Roman Catholic church in Dominica to support a parish priest who has been accused of molesting a girl nearly two decades ago.

Catholics in Dominica’s Grand Bay gathered Sunday holding placards and chanting their support for Monsignor Reginald Lafleur.

The 59-year-old priest has been put on administrative leave after a woman alleged that he touched her inappropriately on her “bottom and breast” and made “sweet eyes” at her 19 years ago when she was a 12-year-old parishioner. The woman made the accusations against Lafleur in a series of letters to Bishop Gabriel Malzaire, the leader of Dominica’s diocese.

Malzaire has sent the accuser to Trinidad for counseling as a church panel investigates her allegations.

Rival Koreas to have 2 days of senior-level talks

SEOUL, South Korea

The rival Koreas agreed today to hold senior-level talks this week in Seoul, a breakthrough of sorts after Pyongyang’s recent threats of nuclear war and Seoul’s vows of counterstrikes.

The two-day meeting starting Wednesday will focus on stalled cooperation projects, including the resumption of operations at a jointly-run factory park near the border in North Korea that was the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean rapprochement until Pyongyang shut the border and pulled out its workers this spring during a period of heightened tensions that followed its February nuclear test.

The details were ironed out in a nearly 17-hour negotiating session by lower-level officials.

The agreement to hold the talks was announced in a statement early today by South Korea’s Unification Ministry. North Korea’s official news agency, KCNA, also reported the agreement.

US leaning toward OK on lethal aid to Syrian rebels

WASHINGTON

Moved by the Assad regime’s rapid advance, the Obama administration could decide this week to approve lethal aid for the beleaguered Syrian rebels and will weigh the merits of a less likely move to send in U.S. airpower to enforce a no-fly zone over the civil war-wracked nation, officials said Sunday.

White House meetings are planned over the coming days, as Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government forces are apparently poised for an attack on the key city of Homs, which could cut off Syria’s armed opposition from the south of the country. As many as 5,000 Hezbollah fighters are now in Syria, officials believe, helping the regime press on with its campaign after capturing the town of Qusair near the Lebanese border last week.

Associated Press