First mass celebrated by new Pope Leo XIV begins

First mass celebrated by new Pope Leo XIV begins
Faithful attend a mass celebration after the naming of US Cardinal Robert Prevost as the new Pope Leo XIV at the Santo Domingo church in Lima on. (File/AFP)
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Updated 09 May 2025
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First mass celebrated by new Pope Leo XIV begins

First mass celebrated by new Pope Leo XIV begins

VATICAN CITY: Leo XIV urged the Catholic Church to “desperately” counter a lack of faith in his first homily as pope Friday, a day after the modest cardinal largely unknown to the world become the first US head of the 2,000-year institution.

Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost on Thursday became the 267th pope, spiritual leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics and successor to Argentina’s Pope Francis, after a secret conclave by his fellow cardinals in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel.

In today’s world, Leo warned in his homily to assembled cardinals, there are places or situations where “it is not easy to preach the Gospel and bear witness to its truth, where believers are mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied.”

“Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places where our missionary outreach is desperately needed,” said the new pope, 69, standing at the Sistine Chapel altar with Michelangelo’s famed fresco of “The Last Judgment” behind him.

The former missionary deplored “settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent” and, in an echo of his predecessor Francis, said people were turning to “technology, money, success, power, or pleasure.”

“A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society,” said Leo in Italian, wearing a white papal robe trimmed in gold as he addressed the seated white-robed cardinals.

In an apparent message to evangelical Christians, Pope Leo also warned that Jesus cannot be “reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman.”

“This is true not only among non-believers but also among many baptised Christians, who thus end up living, at this level, in a state of practical atheism,” he said.

In an unscripted introduction to his homily in English, he also evoked a need to overcome divisions within the Church, telling his fellow cardinals: “I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me.”

Many around the world were still digesting the choice of the man sometimes referred to in Rome as the “Latin Yankee” for his decades-long missions in Peru.

“A pope from the United States is almost more surprising than an Argentine and Jesuit pope,” such as Francis, wrote the Corriere della Sera daily. Francis was the first pope ever named from the Americas.

The Vatican released video images of the moments after Leo’s secret election Thursday, showing him praying at a chapel altar and shaking hands and receiving congratulations in a sea of scarlet-robed cardinals.

The American, a member of the Augustinian order who spent two decades in Peru and was only made a cardinal in 2023, had been on many Vatican watchers’ lists of potential popes, although he is far from being a globally recognized figure.

Over the coming days, including during Sunday’s midday Regina Coeli prayer and a meeting with journalists at the Vatican on Monday, his actions and words will be closely scrutinized.

He will meet with diplomats on May 16 and on Sunday May 18 will hold an inauguration mass at St. Peter’s Square, which is expected to draw world leaders and thousands of pilgrims.

Waiting outside St. Peter’s Friday, Argentine tourist Rocio Arguello said “there were so many people from all over the world” who were riveted by Leo’s first appearance the day before, including throngs from Spanish-speaking countries.

“It was very moving when he also spoke in Spanish,” said the 39-year-old woman. “When he came out and spoke both languages, it was lovely.”

Back in Peru, well-wishers including the bishop of El Callao outside Lima, Luis Alberto Barrera, saluted the Augustinian’s engagement in the Andean country.

“He showed his closeness and simplicity with the people,” Barrera told AFP, calling the new pope a “good missionary.

In Chicago, locals celebrated his love of baseball, deep-dish pizza and his working-class South Side neighborhood in the United States’ third-largest city.

The Chicago Tribune called him “the pride and joy of every priest and nun” at his local parish, where he went to school and served as an altar boy, while a debate erupted over which of the city’s rival baseball teams Leo supported: the White Sox, his brother ultimately confirmed.

In his address to the crowds Thursday, Leo echoed his predecessor Francis with a call for peace and urging a “missionary Church.”

“Help us, and each other, to build bridges through dialogue, through encounter, to come together as one people, always in peace,” he said, as world leaders sent pledges to work with him on global issues at a time of great geopolitical uncertainty.

Leo faces a momentous task. As well as asserting his moral voice on a conflict-torn world stage, he must try to unite a divided Church and tackle burning issues such as the continued fallout from the clerical sexual abuse scandal.

As Cardinal Prevost, the new pope defended workers and the poor and reposted articles online critical of US President Donald Trump’s anti-migrant policies.

But Trump nevertheless welcomed his election, calling it a “great honor” to have a pope from the United States.

With the choice of Prevost, experts said, the cardinals had opted for continuity with the late Francis, a progressive who shook up the Church in his 12-year papacy.

Italian Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi told the Corriere della Sera that Leo was “a very simple person, intensely kind. He is in the vein of Francis, but less spiky.”


India arrests 11 accused of spying for Pakistan – reports

India arrests 11 accused of spying for Pakistan – reports
Updated 9 sec ago
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India arrests 11 accused of spying for Pakistan – reports

India arrests 11 accused of spying for Pakistan – reports
  • Arrests come after the worst flare-up in violence between the nuclear-armed rivals since their last open conflict in 1999
  • Ceasefire was agreed after four days of missile, drone and artillery attacks that sparked fears of a full-blown war

NEW DELHI: Indian authorities have arrested nearly a dozen nationals for allegedly spying for Pakistan following their most serious conflict in decades, local media reported citing police.

At least 60 people died in fighting earlier this month triggered by an April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing, a charge Pakistan denies.

Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both countries, which have fought multiple wars over the Himalayan territory since their 1947 independence from Britain.

Broadcaster NDTV reported Monday that authorities had arrested nine alleged “spies” in the northern states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

Punjab’s director general of police Gaurav Yadav said Monday that his team had arrested two people “involved in leaking sensitive military information.”

Police had received “credible intelligence inputs” the two men were involved “in sharing classified details” related to New Delhi’s strikes deep into Pakistan’s territory on the night of May 6-7.

A preliminary investigation showed they were in “direct contact” with handlers from Pakistan’s intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and “had transmitted critical information concerning the Indian Armed Forces,” Yadav added.

In Haryana, police arrested a travel blogger last week on similar charges.

Police say the accused woman traveled to Pakistan at least twice and had been in contact with an official from the country’s embassy, local media reported.

Others arrested include a student, a security guard and a businessman.

The India Today news outlet reported 11 such arrests. It said the accused were “lured into the spy network through social media, monetary incentives, false promises, messaging apps and personal visits to Pakistan.”

The arrests come after the worst flare-up in violence between the nuclear-armed rivals since their last open conflict in 1999.

A ceasefire was agreed after four days of missile, drone and artillery attacks that sparked fears of a descent into full-blown war.


North and central China hit by soaring heat

North and central China hit by soaring heat
Updated 8 min 45 sec ago
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North and central China hit by soaring heat

North and central China hit by soaring heat

HONG KONG: Temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) scorched parts of northern and central China on Tuesday with authorities issuing heat warnings and offering aid to farmers to protect food production.
Temperatures in China’s northern Hebei province, Henan province, a key wheat-producing region known as China’s granary, and the eastern province of Shandong all reached 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday.
In Zhengzhou, Henan Province and Shahe, Hebei Province, the mercury soared to highs of between 41 C (105.8 F) and 42.9 C (109.22 F) on Monday, their highest ever for the month of May, authorities said.
The high temperatures are expected to continue until Wednesday, the country’s National Meteorological Center said.
China is facing hotter and longer heat waves and more frequent and unpredictable heavy rain as a result of climate change. The country is especially vulnerable to global warming, authorities have said, because of its huge population.
Chinese meteorological data show 2024 was the warmest year for the country since comparable records began over six decades ago, the second straight year in which milestones were broken.
Last year’s warmer weather was accompanied by stronger storms and higher rainfall and led to spikes in power consumption in China, the world’s second-largest economy.
The National Meteorological Center on Tuesday issued a yellow warning for high temperatures. The center has a three-tier, color warning system for high temperatures, with red being the most severe, followed by orange and yellow.
In Zhengzhou, Henan’s capital, large sprinkler trucks and sprinklers were used to cool down urban areas, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
In Lanling county, in the south of Shandong province, agricultural experts were instructing vegetable farmers to ventilate their plants using sheds and water spraying, CCTV said.
Cold air moving from west to east will cool much of China’s north on Thursday and Friday, with a drop of 6-12 C (11-22 F).
In China’s southern Jiangxi more than 100 mm (3.94 inches) of rainfall was recorded across much of the province.
Last weekend, heavy rains in China’s southern Guangdong and Guangxi provinces killed at least six people and disrupted trains and power supply, with alerts issued for severe flooding and geological disasters in parts of the country.


Starlink launches in Bangladesh to boost reliable Internet access

Starlink launches in Bangladesh to boost reliable Internet access
Updated 20 May 2025
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Starlink launches in Bangladesh to boost reliable Internet access

Starlink launches in Bangladesh to boost reliable Internet access

DHAKA: Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX-owned satellite Internet service Starlink launched in Bangladesh on Tuesday, as the South Asian nation steps up efforts to ensure reliable, uninterrupted access to the Internet.
Muhammad Yunus, who has led the government since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled Bangladesh following weeks of violent protest last year, has said the deal provided a service that could not be disrupted by any future political upheaval.
“Starlink’s high-speed, low-latency Internet is now available in Bangladesh,” the company posted on X.
Monthly packages start at 4,200 taka ($35) for the service now available nationwide, said Yunus aide Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, with a one-time payment of 47,000 taka required for setup equipment.
“This has created a sustainable alternative for premium customers to get high-quality and high-speed Internet services,” he added in a Facebook post.
Nobel peace laureate Yunus took the helm of the interim government in August after Hasina fled to neighboring India. Authorities had suspended Internet and text messaging services as protests spread nationwide last July.
Starlink has expanded rapidly worldwide to operate in more than 70 countries, with a strong focus on further growth in emerging markets such as India. ($1=121.0000 taka)


Vietnam says second round of trade talks started in Washington

Vietnam says second round of trade talks started in Washington
Updated 20 May 2025
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Vietnam says second round of trade talks started in Washington

Vietnam says second round of trade talks started in Washington
  • The second round of formal talks for a bilateral trade deal began on Monday and will run until May 22

HANOI: Vietnam and the United States have started a second round of trade negotiations in Washington, the Vietnamese government said on Tuesday as it seeks a deal to avoid a threatened 46 percent tariff rate that could weaken its export-driven growth model.

The second round of formal talks for a bilateral trade deal began on Monday and will run until May 22, the trade ministry said in a statement. The first round of talks was held earlier this month.

“The two countries had discussions on the overall approach to resolving fundamental issues of mutual concern and accelerating the negotiation process,” the ministry said.

“Vietnam and the US are also speaking about current policies as a basis for proceeding to next steps.”

Trade Minister Nguyen Hong Dien is leading the delegation, which includes representatives from sectors such as construction, agriculture and technology, as well as officials from the central bank and finance ministry.

Dien also met with his US counterpart Jamieson Greer in South Korea last week, following an APEC meeting.

The US has delayed the implementation of the 46 percent tariff on Vietnam until July, substituting it with a 10 percent rate. If enforced, the tariff could disrupt Vietnam’s growth, given its heavy reliance on exports to the US, its largest market.

Vietnam, which is a significant regional manufacturing base for many Western companies, recorded a trade surplus of over $123 billion with the US in 2024.

In a bid to reduce that surplus, Hanoi has implemented several measures, including curbing shipments of Chinese goods to the US via its territory and increasing its purchases of US goods.

Dien also held discussions on nuclear technology with US power company Westinghouse on Monday, the ministry said, after the government last year resumed plans to develop nuclear power plants.

Westinghouse did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of US business hours.

In a separate statement, the finance ministry said state energy firm PetroVietnam planned to buy more crude oil from Exxon Mobil, while the country’s rubber and maritime corporations were both looking to establish US facilities.


New Zealand defers vote on rare suspension of Indigenous lawmakers

New Zealand defers vote on rare suspension of Indigenous lawmakers
Updated 20 May 2025
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New Zealand defers vote on rare suspension of Indigenous lawmakers

New Zealand defers vote on rare suspension of Indigenous lawmakers
  • The Te Pati Maori members performed the haka last November

SYDNEY: The New Zealand government on Tuesday deferred a vote over the rare suspension of three Indigenous lawmakers from parliament for performing a haka, the Maori ceremonial dance, during the reading of a contentious bill last year.

A parliamentary privileges committee last week recommended temporarily suspending three Te Pati Maori parliamentarians for acting in “a manner that could have the effect of intimidating a member of the house.”

The Te Pati Maori members performed the haka last November ahead of a vote on a controversial bill that would have reinterpreted a 184-year-old treaty between the British and Indigenous Maori that still guides policy and legislation.

Co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi should be suspended for 21 days and representative Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke for seven days, the committee said.

Chris Bishop, the leader of the house, said delaying the vote would allow the suspended members to participate in the federal budget on Thursday. The vote will take place following the budget, he said.

“Deferring consideration of the debate means all members will have the opportunity to debate and vote on the budget,” Bishop said.

Several protesters gathered outside the parliament in Wellington for the vote over the suspensions, and New Zealand media reported they might perform a haka in support of the Maori lawmakers.

Judith Collins, who heads the privileges committee and serves as attorney-general, told parliament that the haka forced the speaker to suspend proceedings for 30 minutes and that no permission had been sought to perform it.

“It’s not about the haka ... it is about following the rules of parliament that we are all obliged to follow and that we all pledged to follow,” Collins said.

Suspending lawmakers is rare in New Zealand’s parliament, with the last occasion in 1987, according to media reports.

The opposition Labour party called for a compromise and proposed censure instead of suspension.

The committee’s proposal is “totally out of line with existing parliamentary practice and is disproportionate to the allegations,” opposition leader Chris Hipkins said.

“We have never seen a sanction of this nature in New Zealand’s history before ... it is disproportionate. A sanction is appropriate, this level of sanction simply is not.”

The haka was traditionally a way for Maori to welcome visiting tribes or to invigorate warriors ahead of battle. It is now performed at important events as well as ahead of matches by New Zealand’s rugby teams.