Staunchly Catholic Philippines begins period of mourning for Pope Francis

Staunchly Catholic Philippines begins period of mourning for Pope Francis
Church workers attach a picture of Pope Francis aftrer his death announced by the Vatican, at the Manila Cathedral, Philippines, Apr. 21, 2025. (Reuters)
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Updated 23 April 2025
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Staunchly Catholic Philippines begins period of mourning for Pope Francis

Staunchly Catholic Philippines begins period of mourning for Pope Francis
  • “Pope Francis holds a special place in the hearts of the Filipino people,” Marcos said
  • Francis drew a record crowd of up to seven million people at a historic Mass in Manila during a visit in 2015

MANILA: The Philippines began a period of national mourning for Pope Francis on Wednesday, with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr ordering flags on all state buildings across the staunchly Roman Catholic country to fly at half-mast to honor the pontiff.

Francis died on Monday aged 88 after suffering a stroke and cardiac arrest, the Vatican said, ending an often turbulent reign in which he repeatedly clashed with traditionalists and championed the poor and marginalized.

“Pope Francis holds a special place in the hearts of the Filipino people,” Marcos said in a presidential proclamation, adding that the period of mourning would continue until Francis’ funeral at the Vatican on Saturday.

“The passing of Pope Francis is a moment of profound sorrow for the Catholic Church and for the Filipino people, who recognize him as global leader of compassion and tireless advocate of peace, justice and human dignity,” the proclamation said.

The Philippines is home to more than 80 million Catholics, or nearly 80 percent of the population, making it one of only two majority Christian nations in Asia along with tiny East Timor.

Francis drew a record crowd of up to seven million people at a historic Mass in Manila during a visit in 2015.

Since his death on Monday, the Catholic Church has held Masses across the Philippines for Francis.

At the Baclaran Church in Manila, some worshippers on Wednesday wore shirts bearing Pope Francis’ image — leftover merchandise from his 2015 visit.

Emma Avancena, 76, who was a volunteer during the pope’s visit, said she felt sad about his death but added: “I feel blessed because we were blessed face to face, eye to eye (during the visit).”


North Korea bars foreign tourists from new seaside resort

North Korea bars foreign tourists from new seaside resort
Updated 3 sec ago
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North Korea bars foreign tourists from new seaside resort

North Korea bars foreign tourists from new seaside resort
  • The Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone appears to be lined with high-rise hotels and waterparks
  • State media previously said visits to Wonsan by Russian tour groups were expected in the coming months
SEOUL: North Korea has barred foreigners from a newly opened beach resort, the country’s tourism administration said this week, just days after Russia’s top diplomat visited the area.
The sprawling seaside resort on its east coast, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s pet project, opened to domestic visitors earlier this month with great fanfare in state-run media.
Dubbed “North Korea’s Waikiki” by South Korean media, the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone appears to be lined with high-rise hotels and waterparks, and can purportedly accommodate some 20,000 people.
State media previously said visits to Wonsan by Russian tour groups were expected in the coming months.
But following Lavrov’s visit, the North’s National Tourism Administration said “foreign tourists are temporarily not being accepted” without giving further details, in a statement posted on an official website this week.
Kim showed a keen interest in developing North Korea’s tourism industry during his early years in power, analysts have said, and the coastal resort area was a particular focus.
He said ahead of the opening of the beach resort that the construction of the site would go down as “one of the greatest successes this year” and that the North would build more large-scale tourist zones “in the shortest time possible.”
The North last year permitted Russian tourists to return for the first time since the pandemic and Western tour operators briefly returned in February this year.
Seoul’s unification ministry, however, said that it expected international tourism to the new resort was “likely to remain small in scale” given the limited capacity of available flights.
Kim held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Wonsan last week where he offered Moscow his full and “unconditional” support for its war in Ukraine, KCNA reported.
Lavrov reportedly hailed the seaside project as a “good tourist attraction,” adding it would become popular among both local and Russian visitors looking for new destinations.
Ahead of Lavrov’s recent visit, Russia announced that it would begin twice-a-week flights between Moscow and Pyongyang.

Myanmar junta offers cash rewards to anti-coup defectors

Myanmar junta offers cash rewards to anti-coup defectors
Updated 41 min 41 sec ago
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Myanmar junta offers cash rewards to anti-coup defectors

Myanmar junta offers cash rewards to anti-coup defectors
  • The Southeast Asian country has been consumed by civil war since a 2021 coup
  • Embattled junta faces an array of pro-democracy guerillas and ethnic armed rebels

YANGON: Myanmar’s junta said Friday it is offering cash rewards to fighters willing to desert armed groups defying its rule and “return to the legal fold” ahead of a slated election.

The Southeast Asian country has been consumed by civil war since a 2021 coup, with the embattled junta facing an array of pro-democracy guerillas and ethnic armed rebels.

After suffering major battlefield reverses, the military has touted elections around the end of the year as a pathway to peace – plans denounced as a sham by opposition groups and international monitors.

State media The Global New Light of Myanmar said Friday “individuals who returned to the legal fold with arms and ammunition are being offered specific cash rewards.”

The junta mouthpiece did not specify how much cash it is offering, but said 14 anti-coup fighters had surrendered since it issued a statement pledging to “welcome” defectors two weeks ago.

“These individuals chose to abandon the path of armed struggle due to their desire to live peacefully within the framework of the law,” the newspaper said.

The surrendered fighters included 12 men and two women, it added.

Nine were members of ethnic armed groups, while five were from the pro-democracy “People’s Defense Forces” – formed after the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected civilian government four years ago.

The junta’s offer of a gilded olive branch matches a tactic used by its opponents – who have previously tried to tempt military deserters with cash rewards.

The “National Unity Government,” a self-proclaimed administration in exile dominated by ousted lawmakers, has called the junta’s call for cooperation “a strategy filled with deception aimed at legitimizing their power-consolidating sham election.”


Lightning strikes kill 33 people in eastern India

Lightning strikes kill 33 people in eastern India
Updated 48 min 34 sec ago
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Lightning strikes kill 33 people in eastern India

Lightning strikes kill 33 people in eastern India
  • The deaths in Bihar occurred during fierce storms between Wednesday and Thursday, a state disaster management department statement said
  • The state government announced compensation of 4 million rupees ($4,600) to the families of those killed by lightning

PATNA, India: Lightning strikes during monsoon storms in eastern India this week killed at least 33 people and injured dozens, officials said Friday.

The deaths in Bihar occurred during fierce storms between Wednesday and Thursday, a state disaster management department statement said, with the victims mostly farmers and laborers working in the open.

More heavy rain and lightning are forecast for parts of the state.

Bihar state’s disaster management minister, Vijay Kumar Mandal, said that officials in vulnerable districts had been directed to “create awareness to take precautionary steps following an alert on lightning.”

The state government announced compensation of 4 million rupees ($4,600) to the families of those killed by lightning.

At least 243 died by lightning in 2024 and 275 the year earlier, according to the state government.

India’s eastern region, including Bihar, is prone to annual floods that kill dozens and displace hundreds of thousands of people during peak monsoon season.


Russia downs 73 Ukrainian drones, including three flying to Moscow

Russia downs 73 Ukrainian drones, including three flying to Moscow
Updated 58 min 7 sec ago
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Russia downs 73 Ukrainian drones, including three flying to Moscow

Russia downs 73 Ukrainian drones, including three flying to Moscow
  • Most of the drones were downed over Russia’s southwestern regions, including 31 over the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine

Russian air defenses destroyed 73 Ukrainian drones overnight, including three heading for Moscow, Russia’s defense ministry said on Friday.

Most of the drones were downed over Russia’s southwestern regions, including 31 over the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine, the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, writing on Telegram, made no mention of casualties or damage, but said emergency services were examining the area where drone fragments fell to the ground. The federal aviation agency, Rosaviatsia, briefly ordered the suspension of operations at two airports near the capital, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky, but services were later resumed.

Operations were halted well after midnight at a third Moscow airport, Vnukovo before being reinstated by the morning. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine about the attacks. Kyiv says that its strikes inside Russia are necessary to destroy infrastructure key to Moscow’s efforts in its war against Ukraine, now in its fourth year.


‘Tears of bitterness’: funeral of Kenya hawker killed in rally

‘Tears of bitterness’: funeral of Kenya hawker killed in rally
Updated 18 July 2025
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‘Tears of bitterness’: funeral of Kenya hawker killed in rally

‘Tears of bitterness’: funeral of Kenya hawker killed in rally
  • Boniface Kariuki was shot at point-blank range by an officer in riot gear during a rally against police brutality
  • On that day, the 22-year-old mask vendor was not protesting

KANGEMA, Kenya: Before the white coffin containing Kenyan hawker Boniface Kariuki was carried into a vehicle for his final journey home, his mother screamed in grief – yet another parent to lose a child in deadly demonstrations roiling the east African nation.

On a recent Friday, hundreds of mourners streamed into a field near Kariuki’s home, roughly 100 kilometers from Nairobi, to witness his burial and vent their anger and grief.

The 22-year-old mask vendor was shot at point-blank range by an officer in riot gear during a rally against police brutality in June, and later died in a Nairobi hospital.

That day, Kariuki was not protesting.

The incident was captured on film and shared widely across social media, with mourners placing a still image of the moment just before he was shot on top of his coffin, which was also draped in a Kenyan flag.

His death has thrust the long-standing issue of police brutality in the country back into the spotlight and galvanized anger toward a government many Kenyans see as corrupt and unaccountable.

“Our grief cannot be understood. We shall miss you constantly,” his younger sister Gladys Wangare said.

“Your constant smile, genuine concern about our family. Life will never be the same again. Your place will remain empty,” she added.

As the coffin traveled to his hometown of Kangema, villagers gathered to see the entourage, with riot police eyeing the calm crowds from junctions.

Kariuki’s friend and fellow hawker Edwin Kagia, 24, described him as a hardworking, humble and “good guy” who was always cracking jokes.

“I used to hear that police kill people, but I could not imagine it would happen to my brother,” he said.

“We are in sorrow.”

Waves of protests have swept Kenya since June 2024, when proposed tax rises triggered widespread anger.

The increasingly violent rallies – often dominated by young men and paid thugs – have been met with a harsh police response, with rights groups saying at least 50 people have died in recent protests.

While President William Ruto has condemned the violence, promising those responsible would be held accountable, he has also backed the police – telling officers to shoot would-be looters “in the leg.”

At the funeral, Kariuki’s friend Kagia condemned the president’s remarks, urging him to apologize.

“The head of state uttering such statements de-filters the unity of the nation,” he said.

It came after the country’s top prosecutor said his office had “approved a murder charge against a police officer who allegedly murdered a mask vendor in Nairobi.”

Despite the arrest, people at the funeral remained skeptical and upset.

“Whoever did all this, let him actually not know any peace on this earth,” said Emily Wanjira, a spokesperson for the family.

“We are crying tears of bitterness.”