Beyond the Bubble

International News

Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo was released from a Chinese prison after being held for 10 days under suspicion of planning incidents of "social disorder," reported the Asian News.

Jia, 69, was arrested prior to the Easter holiday as part of the Chinese government's attempt to prevent any non-government approved liturgical celebrations. The Vatican strongly contested the arrests, saying the action was "inadmissible ... in a lawful state," as reported by Asian News.

Relations have been strained between the Vatican and China ever since the communist takeover in 1949.

Jia heads one of the most active Catholic dioceses in China, with a following of about 1.5 million people. The Chinese government estimates that roughly four million Catholics remain in the country, while others say the number may be closer to eight million, according to the Associated Press.

National News

After seizing and erasing two reporters' tapes of his speech at a high school, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia sent formal apologies to each of the Mississippi journalists.

Scalia is the only associate justice who bans recordings of his speeches, although media organizations are calling this a possible violation of freedom of press. Scalia said that he is now adjusting his policy to allow for newspapers to record his speeches, although recordings for radio and television news organizations will continue to be banned.

Antoinette Konz of the Hattiesburg American and Denise Grones of the Associated Press were covering Scalia's speech at Presbyterian Christian School last Wednesday when a deputy federal marshal had their tapes confiscated and erased.

In his letter to the reporters, Scalia said he did not authorize the marshal's actions and was upset upon hearing what had happened.

"I have learned my lesson (at your expense), and shall certainly be more careful in the future," Scalia wrote in the letter dated Friday, as reported by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Grones said she was "happy Justice Scalia understands the value of a reporter doing his or her job. Print reporters usually depend heavily on their recorders to ensure accurate quotes, and that's what I was doing that day," as reported by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

College News

John Kerry continued his college tour with a stop at the University of Rhode Island where he discussed what he calls his "Middle-Class Misery Index."

The index is a report released by the Kerry campaign that determines the economic struggles of the middle and working class families by looking at the following factors: median family income, college tuition, health costs, gasoline costs, bankruptcies, home-ownership rates and private-sector job growth, according to CNN.

The report determined that the rating had decreased by 13 points in the past three years, which makes for the worst fall over a three-year period and the worst rating ever for a president.

Gene Sperling, the former economic adviser for former President Clinton helped in the formation of the report.

The "Bush view is that everything negative is just a matter of chance," said Sperling to reporters. Sperling said the changes are not just a matter of bad luck, "but of bad policy."

In light of these numbers, Kerry has promised a four thousand dollar tuition tax credit to subsidize the cost and expand the access to higher education.

Entertainment News

Mel Gibson's controversial film, "The Passion of the Christ" climbed back into the top spot on the box office, becoming the first film to return to No. 1 after dropping for more than a month. "Passion" experienced a 69 percent increase in ticket sales, totaling $17.1 million for the weekend.

The resurgence in ticket sales came in time with the Easter holiday weekend â€" the days that commemorate the events depicted in the film.

Once expected to be a financial disaster as well as an end to Gibson's career as a director, "Passion" has garnered more than $354.9 million making it the eighth best selling movie in U.S. history, according to The Seattle Times.

"Passion" beat out several movies that had been newly released, including Disney's historic epic "The Alamo" which gathered $9.2 million and "Johnson Family Vacation" which also made $9.2 million, according to the Alameda Times-Star.

-Compiled by Lance Dwyer