SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s Catholic Church held a prayer vigil for late cardinal George Pell who lay in state Wednesday, as sexual abuse survivors tied ribbons to the cathedral gates in protest. Pell, a Vatican powerbroker who rose from humble beginnings in small town Australia, died in Rome in January, aged 81. Once considered Pope Francis’s “right-hand man”, Pell’s final years were marked by sexual abuse allegations and criticism of his hard-line positions on […]
Tag: funeral
Japan honours assassinated Abe at controversial funeral
Tokyo, Japan (AFP) by Hiroshi HIYAMA / Sara HUSSEIN Japanese and foreign dignitaries paid tribute to assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe at a controversial state funeral on Tuesday, as long lines of people gathered to offer flowers and prayers. Abe’s ashes, carried by his widow Akie, arrived at the storied Budokan venue in Tokyo, where a 19-gun salute sounded in honour of the slain former leader. In a eulogy, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida described […]
Britain and the world bid adieu to Queen Elizabeth II
by Jitendra JOSHI / Phil HAZLEWOOD Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain said farewell to Queen Elizabeth II on Monday at a state funeral attended by world leaders, before a historic last ceremonial journey through the streets of London packed with sorrowful mourners. Huge crowds gathered in near silence to watch as the queen’s flag-draped coffin, topped with the Imperial State Crown, her orb and sceptre, was carried slowly to […]
Who’s invited — and who’s not — to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral
by Danny KEMP Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Hundreds of foreign royals and leaders are expected to attend the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in London on Monday in one of the biggest diplomatic gatherings in decades. Westminster Abbey has space for around 2,000 people, so only heads of state and one or two guests have reportedly been invited to Britain’s first state funeral for six decades. A handful of […]
Dozens hurt in clashes at Palestinian funeral in Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Undefined (AFP) — More than 70 Palestinians were wounded in overnight clashes with Israeli forces at a Jerusalem funeral, Palestinian medics said Tuesday, in unrest that police said included “violent riots” which threatened officers’ lives. The unrest unfolded as Palestinians were burying Walid al-Sharif, 23, who died on Saturday of wounds suffered during clashes last month at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound. The Palestinian Red Crescent said the injuries occurred “during clashes with […]
Stampede at Iran general’s funeral leaves over 30 dead
by Amir Havasi Agence France Presse KERMAN, Iran (AFP) — A stampede broke out Tuesday at the funeral of a top Iranian general killed in a US drone strike, leaving more than 30 people dead as huge crowds of mourners packed his hometown. The crush in the southeastern city of Kerman came as Iran prepared to bury Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, a hugely popular figure in the Islamic republic. “Unfortunately because of overcrowding […]
New Zealand falls silent, a week after mosque massacres
by Jerome TAYLOR The Muslim call to prayer rang out across New Zealand on Friday followed by two minutes of nationwide silence to mark a week since a white supremacist gunned down 50 people at two mosques in the city of Christchurch. As the call was broadcast around the country, thousands — including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and wounded survivors — stood in a park opposite the mosque where the killing began, as the nation […]
Funerals for Ethiopia crash victims but little to bury
Ethiopians were holding funerals Sunday for friends and relatives who perished in last week’s Ethiopian Airlines crash, which killed all onboard and saw the worldwide grounding of the Boeing aircraft involved. Families in 35 nations were left bereaved when the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft plummeted from the sky just minutes into its flight to Nairobi last Sunday, killing all 157 passengers and crew on board. One week after the crash, relatives of the 17 […]
Dozens attend funeral for Arab citizen wanted for Tel Aviv shootings
A few dozen relatives attended the funeral for Nashat Melhem on Tuesday (January 12), wanted for a January 1 gun rampage in Tel Aviv, who was killed in a shootout with police last week, ending a week-long manhunt. Israel returned Melhem’s body to his family who buried him immediately afterwards in a small funeral in his northern Israeli hometown of Arara. His father who condemned the Tel Aviv attack and called on the fugitive to […]
CGMA leaves VMMC to attend grandson’s funeral
Congressman Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was allowed to leave the Veteran’s Memorial Medical Center to attend the funeral of her grandson.





