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Pope Francis says he’ll meet with Mongolia’s ‘noble, wise’ people in first visit there by a pontiff

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:25 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Sunday described his visit later this week to Mongolia, the first-ever pilgrimage by a pontiff to the east Asian country, as a much-desired occasion to encounter a “noble, wise” people. Speaking to the public in St. Peter’s Square, Francis said the trip would also be an opportunity to embrace the Catholic community there, describing the church in Mongolia as “small in numbers but lively in faith and great in charity.” The pilgrimage is also an opportunity “to meet up close with a noble, wise people,” he said. Francis departs on Thursday, returning to Rome four days later. There are fewer than 1,500 Catholics in Mongolia, where some 3.2 million people live in one of the world’s least densely populated countries. The pope said Mongolia has a great religious tradition that “I will have the honor to know,” especially in the context of an inter-religious event during the trip on Sept. 3. The largest percentage of Mongolia’s people are...

Russia says it confirmed Wagner leader Prigozhin died in a plane crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:25 GMT

Russia’s Investigative Committee said Sunday that it has confirmed that Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the mercenary group Wagner, was killed in a plane crash.Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement that forensic testing identified all 10 bodies recovered at the site of Wednesday’s crash and the findings “conform to the manifest” of the plane. The statement didn’t offer any details as to what might have caused the crash.Russia’s civil aviation authority earlier this week said Prigozhin, along with some of his top lieutenants, were on the list of the passengers and crew members on board the plane.Prigozhin made his name as the profane and brutal mercenary boss who in June mounted an armed rebellion that was the most severe and shocking challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule. The 62-year-old’s extraordinary journey took him from prisoner and hot dog vendor to elegant St. Petersburg restaurateur, and then ...

The Taliban say security forces will stop women from visiting Afghan national park

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:25 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban will use security forces to stop women from visiting one of Afghanistan’s most popular national parks, according to information shared by a spokesman for the Vice and Virtue Ministry. The ministry alleges that women have not been observing the proper way to wear the hijab, or Islamic headscarf, when going to Band-e-Amir in the central Bamiyan province.This comes a week after the minister, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, visited the province and told officials and religious clerics that women haven’t been adhering to the correct way of wearing the hijab, asking security personnel to stop women from visiting the tourist hotspot.“Going sightseeing is not a must for women,” Hanafi said at the time. Ministry spokesman Molvi Mohammad Sadiq Akif shared a report of Hanafi’s remarks late Saturday night, including the use of security forces, clerics and elders to carry out Hanafi’s order. A recording of the minister’s speech in Bamiyan, aligning with Akif’s re...

Zimbabwe’s opposition alleges ‘gigantic fraud’ in vote that extends the ZANU-PF party’s 43-year rule

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:25 GMT

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe ‘s main opposition leader alleged Sunday there had been “blatant and gigantic fraud” after President Emmerson Mnangagwa was declared the winner of another troubled election , with international observers reporting an atmosphere of intimidation against voters.The results were announced Saturday night, two days earlier than expected. Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa promised to address the country soon as his Citizens Coalition for Change party said it would reject the results as “hastily assembled without proper verification.”“They stole your voice and vote but never your hope,” Chamisa wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, in his first public reaction to the results. “It’s a blatant and gigantic fraud.”People in the country of 15 million are bound to view the results with suspicion.International election observers have noted problems with the election, held Wednesday and Thursday, citing an atmosphere of intimidation against Chamisa&...

Influx of asylum claimants flooding shelters, social services in Ottawa

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:25 GMT

OTTAWA — Femi Biobaku came to Canada more than a year ago fleeing persecution from the Nigerian authorities, forcing him to leave his wife, two children, community and job as an accountant back home. He landed in Ottawa in July 2022 and stayed with a host family for nearly a month before moving into a dorm at the Ottawa Mission homeless shelter, where things took a turn for the worse. “It was horrible. When I was there, I was being attacked,” said Biobaku. After leaving Nigeria, the newcomer said, living at the shelter for about a month re-traumatized him, leading him to consider suicide. He credits a referral to Ottawa’s Matthew House — a non-profit organization that provides transitional housing to refugees — for saving his life. “The first day I landed at Matthew House … that night, it was like I was in my home back in Nigeria,” said Biobaku. He said Matthew House, along with providing food and shelter, helped him get his life in Canada on track with...

‘I remember the fear’: Canadians recounted horror of Bernardo case following transfer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:25 GMT

The haunting effect of Paul Bernardo’s crimes lingered for Canadians nearly 30 years later, detailed in the hundreds of messages that poured into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office after the serial killer was transferred to a medium-security prison.“I have a personal friend who was on that jury and she remains traumatized nearly 30 years later,” one person wrote in correspondence obtained by The Canadian Press through a freedom-of-information request.“She tells me that several of the jury members meet regularly for psychological support even to this day.”Bernardo was transferred in late May from the Millhaven Institution, a maximum-security penitentiary in southern Ontario, to La Macaza Institution, a medium-security prison about 190 kilometres northwest of Montreal that offers treatment for sex offenders. News of the move led to a swift and emotional backlash from Canadians.Critics including Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre urged people t...

Nisga’a memorial pole about to start journey home to B.C. from Scottish museum

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:25 GMT

A memorial totem pole belonging to members of the Nisga’a Nation in northwestern British Columbia is about to begin its journey home from the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, where it has been on display for nearly a century.Amy Parent, a member of the nation and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous education and governance, said she expects to feel a deep sense of peace when the pole that’s alive with the spirit of a relative returns to the Nass Valley.The pole is set to make its journey in the belly of a Canadian military aircraft as a result of what Parent described as an unexpected moment of reconciliation. While the Scottish museum initially planned to transport the 11-metre pole by ship, Parent said she felt moving it by plane would reduce the risk of damage.“I’m so grateful that we have some strong negotiators who happened to be in Ottawa,” she told The Canadian Press on Thursday as she prepared to leave for Scotland the next day as part ...

White shooter kills 3 Black people in Florida hate crime

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:25 GMT

A masked white man carrying at least one weapon bearing a swastika fatally shot three Black people inside a Florida store Saturday in an attack with a clear motive of racial hatred, officials said.The shooting in a Dollar General store in a predominately Black neighborhood left two men and one woman dead and was “racially motivated,” Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said.In addition to carrying a firearm with a painted symbol of the genocidal Nazi regime of Germany of the 1930s and 1940s, the shooter issued racist statements before the shooting. He killed himself at the scene.“He hated Black people,” the sheriff said.The shooting came on the same day thousands visited Washington, D.C., to attend the Rev. Al Sharpton’s 60th anniversary commemoration of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have A Dream” speech.Rudolph McKissick, a national board member of Sharpton̵...

Scattered storms could bring rain, gusty winds Sunday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:25 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Keep an eye to the sky if planning to be outdoors today. Scattered storms are likely to develop ahead of a weak (but noticeable!) cold front.We start our Sunday with plenty of sunshine, warm temperatures and dry skies. By midday, clouds will begin to bubble up ahead of a cold front sliding in from the north. This front will trigger a round of spotty to scattered storms, some of which could kick out some strong, gusty winds.Low risk of strong to severe storms Sunday afternoon/evening. Threat: gusty windsRainfall amounts still look unimpressive with most areas getting 0.01-0.50" by end of the day Monday, but some localized higher amounts will be possible with any areas that get slower-moving or more persistent downpours.The above-mentioned cold front will knock temperatures down closer to 100º or the upper 90s on Monday and Tuesday, but most areas will be back up to triple digits again on Wednesday.Our humidity will also get pushed away giving way to more "comfortable...

Texas grants funeral director license to veteran who cared for fallen soldiers, then takes it away

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:25 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) — Desaray Wilson does things many of us can’t or won’t. Not only did he sign up to serve our country when he was 20, but he also took on a daunting task.“I love the saying that 'We don’t serve because somebody died, we serve because somebody lived,'” said Wilson from his home in Houston.Wilson was a mortuary affairs officer in the army. His job was to take care of fallen soldiers.He estimated he cared for “close to 3,000,” people who died in the line of duty.Wilson’s military records show his duties, stateside and overseas, included embalming, dressing soldiers, placing them in caskets and shipping their remains and property home to family. He said he considered it his honor.“You get the chance to go through their personal effects, read the letters that they didn’t get a chance to send home, look at the pictures in their wallet,” he said.  Desaray Wilson joined the army in 2003 when he was 20 (Courtesy Desaray Wilson)Wilson became a mortuary affairs special...