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Spain (AFP) — Clouds of thick ash from the erupting volcano on La Palma on Thursday forced the island’s airport to close for the second time since the September 19 eruption, Spain’s airport authority said. “The airport is not in operation at the moment,” an AENA spokeswoman told AFP, saying “some cleaning work needs to be done” on the runways before it would reopen. But the closure “may not last very long” she added. On […]
by David COURBET Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — A 100-year-old former concentration camp guard will on Thursday become the oldest person yet to be tried for Nazi-era crimes in Germany when he goes before court charged with complicity in mass murder. The suspect, identified only as Josef S., stands accused of “knowingly and willingly” assisting in the murder of 3,518 prisoners at the Sachsenhausen camp in Oranienburg, north of Berlin, between 1942 […]
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) — Sweden’s Public Health Agency on Wednesday recommended a temporary halt to the use of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine among young adults, citing concerns over rare side effects to the heart. Neighbouring Norway and Denmark also on Wednesday reiterated that Moderna’s vaccine was not recommended for under-18s. Sweden’s health agency said the suspension concerned anyone born after 1991 and should initially be in force until December 1, explaining that it had received […]
VATICAN CITY (AFP) — Pope Francis on Wednesday expressed his personal shame and that of the Church at the sexual abuse of children by French Catholic clergy, after the scale of the problem was laid bare in a devastating report. “I wish to express to the victims my sadness and pain for the trauma they have suffered,” he said during his weekly audience at the Vatican. “And also my shame, our shame, my shame […]
by Alfons LUNA TAZACORTE, Spain (AFP) — Fleeing their home after the La Palma volcano erupted on September 19, one couple married nearly 60 years decided to seek safe haven aboard their tiny boat until the storm passed. When the evacuation order came, neither Margaretha Straates, 80, nor her 90-year-old husband Luis Rodriguez Diaz fancied the idea of staying in temporary accommodation. “It suddenly came to me, why don’t we try the boat? It’s only […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — France’s oldest man Jules Theobald has died at the age of 112, his family told AFP Tuesday. Theobald, who hailed from the Caribbean island of Martinique, a French overseas department, died at his home in the island’s main city Fort-de-France. Born on April 17, 1909 — though family legend had it he was born two years earlier — the father of three worked as a docker and a fisherman. In a […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain’s health ministry said Thursday it would give third doses of coronavirus vaccines to the over-70s, hoping to improve their protection against Covid-19. The National Public Health Commission has decided to offer the booster jab vaccinations from late October to elderly people who received a second vaccine dose more than six months ago, the ministry said in a statement. Spain had until now only offered third doses to care home residents […]
by Karine PERRET and Joseph SCHMID Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — An independent inquiry into alleged sex abuse of minors by French Catholic priests, deacons and other clergy has found some 216,000 victims from 1950 to 2020, a “massive phenomenon” that was covered up for decades by a “veil of silence.” The landmark report, released Tuesday after two and a half years of investigations, follows widespread outrage over a string of sex […]
VATICAN CITY (AFP) — The trial of a once powerful Catholic cardinal and nine others resumes Tuesday at the Vatican over alleged financial fraud and a disastrous London property deal paid for with charity funds. Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who served as the equivalent of chief of staff for Pope Francis at the time of the deal and was later fired from another post, is being tried alongside high-rolling London-based financiers and other Church employees. […]
Some 3,000 paedophiles have operated inside the French Catholic Church since 1950, the head of an independent commission investigating the scandal told AFP days ahead of the release of its report. The commission’s research uncovered between 2,900 and 3,200 paedophile priests or other members of the church, said Jean-Marc Sauve, adding that it was “a minimum estimate”. The commission’s report is due to be released on Tuesday after two and a half years of research […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — Thousands of pedophiles have operated inside the French Catholic Church since 1950, the head of an independent commission investigating the scandal told AFP, days ahead of the release of its report. The commission’s research had uncovered between 2,900 and 3,200 pedophile priests or other members of the church, said Jean-Marc Sauve, adding that it was “a minimum estimate”. The commission’s report is due to be released on Tuesday after two […]
BUCHAREST, Romania (AFP) — A fire in a Romanian hospital has left nine coronavirus patients dead, rescue services said Friday, in the latest blaze in the EU member known for its dilapidated infrastructure. Flames engulfed the intensive care unit at a hospital in Constanta in south eastern Romania with nine people confirmed dead, rescue services said in a statement. Some 100 people had to be evacuated, services spokesman Razvan Parconie told AFP. “The fire is […]
