Pope heads to Indonesia, first stop in four-nation tour

Pope Francis, seated on a wheelchair, boards his plane heading to Indonesia on September 2, 2024 at Rome’s Fiumicino airport. (AFP)
Pope Francis, seated on a wheelchair, boards his plane heading to Indonesia on September 2, 2024 at Rome’s Fiumicino airport. (AFP)
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Updated 02 September 2024
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Pope heads to Indonesia, first stop in four-nation tour

Pope Francis, seated on a wheelchair, boards his plane heading to Indonesia on September 2, 2024 at Rome’s Fiumicino airport.
  • Catholics currently represent fewer than three percent of the population of Indonesia, compared to the 87 percent who are Muslim

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis, 87, embarked Monday on an ambitious four-nation tour that begins with Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, for a visit dominated by inter-faith ties.
The pontiff left Rome on Monday afternoon and is due to land in Jakarta on Tuesday morning (around 0430 GMT), the first stop in a 12-day voyage that will also take in Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore.
Covering some 32,000 kilometers (almost 20,000 miles), the tour — the longest and farthest of his 11 years leading the worldwide Catholic Church — will test Francis’ increasingly fragile health.
But in recent weeks the pontiff has appeared in good spirits, and he is often energised by being among his flock.
Catholics currently represent fewer than three percent of the population of Indonesia — some eight million people, compared to the 87 percent, or 242 million, who are Muslim.
But they are one of six officially recognized religions or denominations in the secular nation, also including Protestantism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism.
On Thursday Francis will meet representatives of all six at Istiqlal Mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia and a symbol of religious co-existence.
It is linked via a “tunnel of friendship” to the cathedral across the road, where Christians in recent days have been taking selfies with a life-sized cutout of the pope.
At the mosque, Pope Francis will sign a joint declaration with the grand imam, Nasaruddin Umar.
The statement will focus on “dehumanization,” notably the spread of violence and conflict, particularly to women and children, as well as environmental degradation, according to the Indonesian bishops’ conference.
Francis has repeatedly urged the world to do more to combat climate change and mitigate its effects — including rising sea levels, which threaten the heavily polluted megalopolis of Jakarta.
Security is tight for the three-day visit, with the military, police and members of the president’s own detail among more than 4,000 law enforcement officers deployed.
A new billboard advert declaring “Welcome Pope Francis” has been put up in central Jakarta, while the government has ordered a special stamp in his honor.
It is the third papal visit to Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,500 islands, after Paul VI in 1970 and John Paul II in 1989.
The independent Jakarta Post newspaper hailed the visit in an editorial Monday as “highly significant for the advancement of interreligious relations” both in Indonesia and abroad.
Despite Indonesia’s official recognition of different faiths, there are concerns about growing discrimination, including against Christians, with local Catholics hoping the pope will speak out.
The Jakarta-based Journalists’ Union for Diversity (SEJUK) told AFP it had recorded eight violations of religious freedom in August alone, including the banning of church construction, attacks on temples and assaults.
But Michel Chambon, a theologian and anthropologist at the National University of Singapore, said the pope would be pressing a wider message he has already delivered in other Muslim-majority countries, from Iraq to Bahrain, Turkiye and Morocco.
The visit “is not really aimed at Catholics in Indonesia” but is intended to highlight the global importance of Islamic-Christian dialogue, he told AFP.
“There are divisions even within the Catholic Church. Some leaders think that good interreligious dialogue is all well and good, but that it will not go further than peaceful coexistence,” he added.
Francis will meet outgoing President Joko Widodo during his visit, and hold meetings with young people, diplomats and local clergy.
He will also preside over a mass in a 80,000-seat stadium, one of several such events during the tour, the 45th overseas trip of his papacy.
Originally planned for 2020 but postponed due to the Covid pandemic, the visit takes place just three months before his 88th birthday.
The Argentine now routinely uses a wheelchair to move around, underwent hernia surgery last year and has been plagued by respiratory issues.
He has not traveled abroad since visiting Marseille in France in September 2023, having canceled a planned address at United Nations climate talks in Dubai two months later.
He will be traveling to Indonesia with his personal doctor and two nurses, but Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said this is normal, saying no extra precautions were in place.


The FBI is investigating suspicious packages sent to election officials in more than 15 states

The FBI is investigating suspicious packages sent to election officials in more than 15 states
Updated 18 September 2024
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The FBI is investigating suspicious packages sent to election officials in more than 15 states

The FBI is investigating suspicious packages sent to election officials in more than 15 states
  • The FBI is collecting the packages, some of which contained “an unknown substance,” agency spokesperson Kristen Setera in Boston said in a statement

JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri: The FBI and the US Postal Inspection Service on Tuesday were investigating the origin of suspicious packages that have been sent to or received by elections officials in more than 15 states, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or that any of the packages contained hazardous material.
The latest packages were sent to elections officials in Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York and Rhode Island. Mississippi authorities reported a package was delivered there Monday, and the Connecticut Secretary of State’s office said the FBI alerted it of a package that was intercepted.
The FBI is collecting the packages, some of which contained “an unknown substance,” agency spokesperson Kristen Setera in Boston said in a statement.
“We are also working with our partners to determine how many letters were sent, the individual or individuals responsible for the letters, and the motive behind the letters,” she said. “As this is an ongoing matter we will not be commenting further on the investigation, but the public can be assured safety is our top priority.”
It’s the second time in the past year that suspicious packages were mailed to election officials in multiple states.
The latest scare comes as early voting has begun in several states ahead of the high-stakes elections for president, Senate, Congress and key statehouse offices, causing disruption in an already tense voting season. Local election directors are beefing up security to keep workers and polling places safe while also ensuring that ballots and voting procedures won’t be tampered with.
The National Association of Secretaries of State condemned what it described as a “disturbing trend” of threats to election workers leading up to Nov. 5, as well as the second apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
“This must stop, period,” the group said. “Our democ­racy has no place for political violence, threats or intimidation of any kind.”
The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said a package containing white powder and with the sender listed as “US Traitor Elimination Army” was intercepted at a mail facility. It said the package was similar to those sent to other states and that early indications suggest the powder was harmless.
On Tuesday, the FBI notified the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office that postal service investigators had identified a suspicious envelope delivered to a building housing state offices. The package was intercepted.
Packages also were sent to secretaries of state and election offices in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wyoming this week. The packages forced evacuations in Iowa, Oklahoma and Wyoming. Hazmat crews quickly determined the material was harmless.
The Mississippi Secretary of State’s Elections Division said it received a package similar to those sent to other states and that the state Department of Homeland Security was testing it. The division said it has notified county election officials to be on the lookout.
Oklahoma officials said the material sent to the election office there contained flour.
“We have specific protocols in place for situations such as this,” Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a statement after the evacuation of the six-story Lucas State Office Building in Des Moines.
A state office building in Topeka, Kansas, was evacuated due to suspicious mail sent to both the secretary of state and attorney general, Kansas Highway Patrol spokesperson April M. McCollum said in a statement.
Topeka Fire Department crews found several pieces of mail with an unknown substance on them, though a field test found no hazardous materials, spokesperson Rosie Nichols said. Several employees were exposed to it and were being monitored.
In Oklahoma, the State Election Board received a suspicious envelope in the mail containing a multi-page document and a white, powdery substance, agency spokesperson Misha Mohr said. Testing determined the substance was flour.
State workers in an office building next to the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne were sent home Monday pending testing of a white substance mailed to the secretary of state’s office.
Suspicious letters were sent to election offices and government buildings in at least six states last November, including the same building in Kansas that received suspicious mail Monday. While some of the letters contained fentanyl, even the suspicious mail that was not toxic delayed the counting of ballots in some local elections.
One of the targeted offices was in Fulton County, Georgia, the largest voting jurisdiction in one of the nation’s most important swing states. Four county election offices in Washington state had to be evacuated as election workers were processing ballots cast, delaying vote-counting.
The letters caused election workers around the country to stock up the overdose reversal medication naloxone.
Election offices across the United States have taken steps to increase security amid an onslaught of harassment and threats following the 2020 election and the false claims that it was rigged.
 

 


Ukraine’s air defense units trying to repel Russian drone attack on Kyiv, Ukraine’s military says

Ukraine’s air defense units trying to repel Russian drone attack on Kyiv, Ukraine’s military says
Updated 18 September 2024
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Ukraine’s air defense units trying to repel Russian drone attack on Kyiv, Ukraine’s military says

Ukraine’s air defense units trying to repel Russian drone attack on Kyiv, Ukraine’s military says

KYIV: Ukraine’s air defense systems were engaged on the outskirts of Kyiv in trying to repel a Russian drone attack, the military administration of the Ukrainian capital said on Wednesday on the Telegram messaging app.
Reuters witnesses said they heard several blasts in what sounded like air defense units in operation.


Trump says will meet India’s Modi during US visit

Trump says will meet India’s Modi during US visit
Updated 18 September 2024
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Trump says will meet India’s Modi during US visit

Trump says will meet India’s Modi during US visit

Flint, US: Former US president Donald Trump said Tuesday he plans to meet next week with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be visiting the United States for several official events.
During a campaign event in Michigan, Trump slammed India as a “very big abuser” on trade, but said Modi was “fantastic.”
“He happens to be coming to meet me next week,” Trump told the crowd without providing further details.
Modi will be traveling this weekend to Wilmington, Delaware — President Joe Biden’s hometown — as part of the “Quad Leaders” summit alongside Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio.
The four-way Quad grouping dates back to 2007, but Biden has strongly pushed the alliance as part of an emphasis on international alliances to rein in adversaries — especially China.
The upcoming summit marks Biden’s last with the group as US president, having abandoned his bid for another White House term, with Vice President Kamala Harris replacing him at the top of the Democratic ticket.
After the summit, Modi will attend the United nations General Assembly in New York, as well as a meeting with Indian community members.
Despite no longer being president, Trump met in Florida in July with Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a close ally who is hoping the Republican reclaims the White House in November.


Portugal battles ferocious wildfires as toll rises to seven

Portugal battles ferocious wildfires as toll rises to seven
Updated 18 September 2024
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Portugal battles ferocious wildfires as toll rises to seven

Portugal battles ferocious wildfires as toll rises to seven

AGUEDA, Portugal: Thousands of firefighters on Tuesday battled wildfires in Portugal that have killed seven people and burnt more land in a matter of days than the rest of the summer combined.
Fanned by bellowing winds in the stifling heat, the three largest fires concentrated in the northern Aveiro region scorched some 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) by Monday evening, according to a civil protection report.
Three firefighters died on Tuesday when their vehicle was trapped by the flames, civil protection authorities said, bringing the fire-related toll up to seven, with some 50 injured.
The two women and a man were killed while fighting flames in the central region of Coimbra, the interior ministry said. The trio was previously reported to have been killed in the north.
Across the Iberian nation, more than 4,500 firefighters, more than 1,000 vehicles and around 20 aircraft on Tuesday were battling some 50 fires in all, with an alert warning in force since Saturday afternoon extended until Thursday evening.
“We’re in for some very difficult times over the next few days,” Portugal’s Prime Minister Luis Montenegro — who canceled all his Tuesday engagements in response to the blaze — warned on Monday evening.
“Nobody is sleeping here, we’ve been up since two o’clock in the morning,” Maria Ludivina Castanheira, 63, said in the village of Arrancada, south of the coastal city of Porto, where villagers hurried to a small warehouse to fight a fire there.
“We opened the cages so that the pigeons could escape” and “we moved the chickens to a neighbor’s,” Antonia Estima, 39, said as she took a break from helping to fight the flames.
Portuguese authorities have invoked the European Union’s civil protection mechanism to obtain eight additional firefighting aircraft.
Following the two Canadair water bombers sent from Spain on Monday, aircraft made available by France, Italy and Greece were also expected to arrive.
In the municipality of Albergaria-a-Velha, a 28-year-old Brazilian employed by a forestry company died after he became trapped by the flames as he tried to collect some tools.
Another person suffered a heart attack on Monday, while on Sunday a volunteer firefighter died suddenly while taking a lunch break from battling a blaze near Oliveira de Azemeis in hard-hit Aveiro.
Raging since the weekend before worsening on Monday, the blazes have also left around 50 people injured, including 33 firefighters, according to the latest figures from the authorities.
Several roads are still cut off in the northern Portuguese districts of Aveiro, Viseu, Vila Real, Braga and Porto as well as in the central Coimbra region.
Monday saw the highest fire-risk weather conditions in the northern half of the country since 2001, according to experts interviewed by the weekly Expresso.
Scientists say that fossil fuel emissions are worsening the length, frequency and intensity of heatwaves across the world.
The rising temperatures are leading to longer wildfire seasons and increasing the area burnt in the flames, according to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.


Air France suspends services to Beirut and Tel Aviv

Air France suspends services to Beirut and Tel Aviv
Updated 18 September 2024
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Air France suspends services to Beirut and Tel Aviv

Air France suspends services to Beirut and Tel Aviv

Air France is suspending services from the French capital’s Charles de Gaulle airport to Beirut and Tel Aviv up to and including Sept. 19 due to escalating security concerns in the Middle East, the airline said on Tuesday.
The operations will resume following an assessment of the situation, Air France added.
Earlier in the day, Lufthansa Group said it is suspending all connections to and from Tel Aviv and Tehran and will bypass Israeli and Iranian airspace up to and including Sept. 19.