ROME: Pope Francis fell Thursday and hurt his right arm, the Vatican said, just weeks after another apparent fall resulted in a bad bruise on his chin.
Francis didn’t break his arm, but a sling was put on as a precaution, the Vatican spokesman said in a statement
On Dec. 7, the pope whacked his chin on his nightstand in an apparent fall that resulted in a bad bruise.
The 88-year-old pope, who has battled health problems including long bouts of bronchitis, often has to use a wheelchair because of bad knees. He uses a walker or cane when moving around his apartment in the Vatican’s Santa Marta hotel.
The Vatican said that Thursday’s fall also occurred at Santa Marta, and the pope was later seen in audiences with his right arm in a sling. At one of the meetings, Francis apologetically offered his left hand for a handshake when he greeted the head of the UN fund for agricultural development, Alvaro Lario.
“This morning, due to a fall at the Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis suffered a contusion to his right forearm, without fracture. The arm was immobilized as a precautionary measure,” the statement said.
Speculation about Francis’ health is a constant in Vatican circles, especially after Pope Benedict XVI broke 600 years of tradition and resigned from the papacy in 2013. Benedict’s aides have attributed the decision to a nighttime fall that he suffered during a 2012 trip to Mexico, after which he determined he couldn’t keep up with the globe-trotting demands of the papacy.
Francis has said that he has no plans to resign anytime soon, even if Benedict “opened the door” to the possibility. In his autobiography “Hope” released this week, Francis said that he hadn’t considered resigning even when he had major intestinal surgery.
Pope Francis hurts his right arm after falling for the second time in just over a month
https://arab.news/ydmcq
Pope Francis hurts his right arm after falling for the second time in just over a month
- Francis didn’t break his arm, but a sling was put on as a precaution
- On Dec. 7, the pope whacked his chin on his nightstand in an apparent fall
Philippines recognized as rising Muslim-friendly destination at halal travel summit
- Developing halal travel has been key part of the Philippines’ tourism strategy
- Muslim travel market expected to reach 245 million international arrivals by 2030
MANILA:The Philippines has been recognized as a rising Muslim-friendly destination at this year’s Halal in Travel Global Summit, where one of the country’s officials and a Filipino hotel chain were also honored for their work in promoting halal tourism.
The Philippines stands among three other countries — Thailand, Ireland and Spain — in the Rising Muslim-friendly non-Organization of Islamic Cooperation Destinations in the latest edition of the Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index.
The index is an annual report benchmarking destinations in the Muslim travel market.
At the summit in Singapore earlier this week, Philippine Tourism Undersecretary Myra Paz Abubakar was named Halal Travel Personality of the Year, while the country’s largest hotel operator, Megaworld Hotels and Resorts, won the Muslim-friendly Hotel Chain of The Year Award.
“This means that the DOT (Department of Tourism) is on the right track with our programs for Muslim-friendly and halal tourism. We have already done a lot but there is still so much to be done,” Abubakar, who was recognized for her “instrumental role” in advancing Muslim-friendly tourism in the Philippines, told Arab News on Saturday.
The archipelagic country, known for its white-sand beaches, diving spots and rich culture, has in recent years stepped up efforts to cater to Muslim tourists by ensuring that they have access to halal products and services.
“We have to continue moving forward and upward as the Muslim Market is a big market waiting to be tapped,” Abubakar said.
The Muslim travel market is on the rise, with international Muslim arrivals reaching 176 million people in 2024, according to the GMTI. The report estimates that the market will grow to 245 million arrivals by 2030, with their travel expenditure reaching $235 billion.
The index has noted the Philippines’ efforts to become a Muslim-friendly destination since 2021, and awarded the country the Emerging Muslim-friendly Destination accolade at the halal travel summit in 2023.
While the category has been removed for the 2025 edition, the GMTI covered the Philippines and its efforts to promote halal tourism, such as establishing more Muslim-friendly airports, to create a more inclusive travel experience.
The predominantly Catholic country — where Muslims constitute about 10 percent of the almost 120 million population — also launched last year a beach dedicated to Muslim women travelers in Boracay, the country’s top resort island and one of the world’s most popular.
Those efforts, part of the Philippines’ move to diversify its economy away from dependency on the declining Chinese market, have led to a recent surge in international tourism arrivals from countries in the Middle East and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Pope Leo appeals for ‘reason’ amid Israel-Iran airstrikes, calls for dialogue
- Pontiff tells audience in St. Peter’s Basilica he is following the situation with “great concern”
VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo appealed on Saturday for authorities in Iran and Israel to act with “reason” after airstrikes between the two countries killed dozens and sent civilians into shelters, and called on the nations to pursue dialogue.
Leo, in one of the strongest peace appeals yet of his five-week papacy, told an audience in St. Peter’s Basilica he was following the situation with “great concern.”
“In such a delicate moment, I strongly wish to renew an appeal to responsibility and to reason,” said the pope.
“The commitment to building a safer world free from the nuclear threat must be pursued through respectful encounters and sincere dialogue to build a lasting peace, founded on justice, fraternity, and the common good,” he said.
“No one should ever threaten the existence of another,” said Leo. “It is the duty of all countries to support the cause of peace, initiating paths of reconciliation and promoting solutions that guarantee security and dignity for all.”
Leo was elected on May 8 to replace the late Pope Francis and is the first pope from the United States. Unlike Francis, who often spoke off the cuff at public events, Leo is more cautious with words and almost always speaks from a prepared text.
The pope read aloud his appeal on Saturday in Italian from a piece of paper.
Israel launched a large-scale attack on Iran early on Friday, targeting commanders, military targets and nuclear sites in what it called a “preemptive strike” to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapons program.
Iran, which denies that its uranium enrichment activities are part of a secret weapons program, retaliated by launching waves of missiles at Israel, killing at least two people and injuring dozens.
King Charles III marks Air India tragedy at Trooping the Colour
LONDON: King Charles III and other members of the royal family in uniform wore black armbands and observed a moment of silence during his annual birthday parade Saturday as the monarch commemorated those who died in this week’s Air India plane crash.
Charles requested the symbolic moves “as a mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy,” Buckingham Palace said.
An Air India flight from the northwestern city of Ahmedabad to London crashed shortly after takeoff on Thursday, killing 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground. The plane was carrying 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian. One man survived.
In addition to being Britain’s head of state, Charles is the head of the Commonwealth, an organization of independent states that includes India and Canada.
The monarch’s annual birthday parade, known as Trooping the Colour, is a historic ceremony filled with pageantry and military bands in which the king reviews his troops on Horse Guards Parade adjacent to St. James’ Park in central London.
The military ceremony dates back to a time when flags of the battalion, known as colours, were "trooped,'' or shown, to soldiers in the ranks so they could recognize them.
All members of the royal family in uniform wore black armbands. The moment of silence occurred while the king was on the dais after reviewing the troops.
Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, held a similar moment of silence in 2017 when Trooping the Colour took place three days after a fire ripped through the Grenfell Tower apartment bloc in west London, killing 72 people.
US warship arrives in Australia ahead of war games, summit
- More than 30,000 personnel from 19 militaries have begun to arrive in Australia for Talisman Sabre, the largest Australian-US war-fighting exercise
SYDNEY: A key US warship arrived in Australia on Saturday ahead of joint war games and the first summit between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Donald Trump, which is expected to be dominated by military issues.
The America, the US Navy’s lead amphibious assault ship in the Indo-Pacific, entered Sydney Harbor as the first of three ships in a strike group carrying 2,500 sailors and marines, submarine-hunting helicopters and F-35B fighter jets.
More than 30,000 personnel from 19 militaries have begun to arrive in Australia for Talisman Sabre, the largest Australian-US war-fighting exercise. It will start next month and span 6,500 km (4,000 miles), from Australia’s Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island to the Coral Sea on Australia’s east coast.
The commander of the America, Rear Admiral Tom Shultz, said exercising in Australia was critical for the US Navy’s readiness, while the Australian fleet commander, Rear Admiral Chris Smith, said the “trust and robust nature” of the bilateral relationship allowed the two allies to deal with change.
“The diversity of how we view the world is actually a real great strength in our alliance,” Smith told reporters, adding that Australia also had strong relationships with nations across the region.
Albanese and Trump are expected to meet on the sidelines of a summit in Canada of the Group of Seven economic powers, which starts on Sunday. Washington’s request for Canberra to raise defense spending to 3.5 percent of gross domestic product from 2 percent is expected to dominate the discussion.
The Pentagon said this week it was reviewing its AUKUS nuclear submarine partnership with Australia and Britain. Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said on Saturday this was “not a surprise,” adding the two countries continued to work closely.
But Michael Green, a former national security adviser to President George W. Bush, said it was unusual for the review into AUKUS to be conducted solely by the Pentagon and that Trump might link it to the spending request or to tariffs.
“It is unusual to make the review unilateral and public right before a summit, even if the Australian side knew. That is not good alliance management – it jams the Australian side,” said Green, president of the United States Studies Center in Sydney.
Support for AUKUS in the Congress and US Navy is considerable, however, and the review is unlikely to result in the submarine program being canceled, he said.
India will participate for the first time in Talisman Sabre, along with a large contingent from Europe, said the exercise’s director, Brig. Damian Hill. Australia, Singapore, the US and Japan will hold large-scale live firings of rocket and missile systems, he said.
“It is the first time we are firing HIMARs in Australia, and our air defense capability will work alongside the United States Patriot systems for the first time, and that is really important,” Hill added.
US Marines deploy in LA ahead of mass anti-Trump protests
- Men in fatigues and carrying semiautomatic rifles were seen around a federal building
- Many in Los Angeles are angry about immigration raids being carried out
LOS ANGELES, United States: Armed Marines arrived on the streets of Los Angeles Friday, part of a large deployment of troops ordered by Donald Trump that has raised the stakes between the US president and opponents criticizing him of growing authoritarianism.
Men in fatigues and carrying semiautomatic rifles were seen around a federal building, where passersby questioned why they were in an area 18 kilometers from the protests against immigration raids.
“Taxpayer dollars could be used for other things,” RonNell Weaver said. “Is this really necessary?”
AFP witnessed Marines temporarily detaining one man at the federal building before they handed him over to law enforcement.
The US military would not say why he was detained, despite multiple requests, but the incident appeared to be a minor – albeit extremely rare – example of federal troops detaining a US civilian.
Seven hundred Marines – normally used as crack troops in foreign conflicts – along with 4,000 National Guard soldiers are tasked with protecting federal buildings, while local police handle protests over Trump’s sweeps for undocumented migrants.
An intense legal battle is underway over Trump’s authority to deploy troops on US soil as the country braces for widespread protests Saturday, when the Republican will be overseeing a rare large-scale military parade in Washington.
The parade celebrates the 250th anniversary of the US Army but also coincides with Trump’s 79th birthday, and will be the first time tanks and other heavy weaponry have rolled through the capital city in three decades.
In response, a “No Kings” movement has sprung up promising to stage protests in more than 2,000 places across the country, including a large demonstration expected in Los Angeles, which organizers say will feature a “20-foot-tall balloon of Trump wearing a diaper.”
“Unprecedented” crowds could attend, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell told reporters Friday.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, whose deputies are part of a large law enforcement response in the enormous city, urged protesters to behave properly.
“It’s a good cause, but we do not want violent agitators out there destroying property or committing acts of violence,” he said.
Mayor Karen Bass said demonstrations are expected to be “even larger because of what has happened in our city.”
“We do call on people over the weekend to demonstrate peacefully, to exercise your first amendment right, to not play into the hands where it could be used as a pretext to roll out troops in our city,” she said in a news conference.
In a show of political force, Trump overrode the objections of Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom to deploy California’s National Guard.
The president has repeatedly exaggerated the scale of violence, claiming that without troops, Los Angeles would be “burning to the ground right now.”
On Thursday, District Judge Charles Breyer ruled Trump’s actions were “illegal” and ordered that he return control of the guard to Newsom. Breyer said the LA unrest fell “far short” of the “rebellion” Trump had described.
However, a higher court quickly paused the order pending an appeal hearing with the Trump administration next Tuesday.
The Department of Justice slammed Breyer’s ruling as “an extraordinary intrusion on the President’s constitutional authority as Commander in Chief.”
The dispute mirrors multiple other tussles over Trump’s attempts to expand the limits of presidential power – but is the first to involve troops.
Many in Los Angeles are angry about immigration raids carried out as part of Trump’s ambition to deport vast numbers of undocumented migrants from the country.
About 100 mostly good-natured protesters gathered Friday evening outside the federal detention center in Los Angeles that has been at the heart of the rallies, ahead of a nightly curfew placed on the downtown area by the mayor.
In a sign of how contained the demonstrations have been, however, those attending a performance of “Hamlet” – Shakespeare’s play about a mad prince – and other shows at nearby venues were exempt from the curfew.
Outrage at Trump’s raids and the use of masked, armed immigration agents backed by uniformed soldiers have also sparked protests in other cities, including San Francisco, New York, Chicago and San Antonio, Texas.
Tensions hiked further Thursday when California Senator Alex Padilla, a Democrat, was handcuffed and forcibly removed from a news conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
