Mauritian rider Kim Le Court sprung a surprise on Sunday by becoming the first African cyclist to win the women’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege. The 29-year-old AG Insurance-Soudal rider scored the biggest win of her career by beating Dutch pair Puck Pieterse and Demi Vollering in a four-way sprint, with French rider Cedrine Kerbaol just missing out on the podium. “I …
For years, traditionalists raged at Pope Francis’s liberal approach. The question now is whether his successor will walk the same path, or take the Catholic Church in a new direction.Cardinals will meet within days for a conclave to elect a new pontiff, sparking fevered speculation about how the next pope will guide the world’s 1.4 …
Continuity or rupture: what direction for the next pope?Sun, 27 Apr 2025 03:13:19 GMT Read More »
Pope Francis smashed the stereotypical profile for a pontiff, becoming the Catholic Church’s first leader from the Americas and the first non-European since the eighth century.Some hope his successor, to be chosen in a conclave of cardinals in the coming days or weeks, could come from Africa or Asia.The late Argentine pontiff championed far-flung regions …
Diplomacy likely to trump geography in choice of new popeSun, 27 Apr 2025 02:37:26 GMT Read More »
French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Saturday denounced the fatal stabbing of a Muslim worshipper inside a mosque as police hunted the killer, who filmed his victim as he lay dying.The attacker stabbed the worshipper dozens of times then filmed him with a mobile phone while shouting insults at Islam in Friday’s attack in the …
Belgium’s foreign minister told AFP that Rwanda’s “legitimate” security concerns in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo could not justify its former colony’s backing for the M23 armed group.In an interview with AFP, Maxime Prevot urged both sides to negotiate an end to the conflict in the DRC’s troubled east, where the M23 has seized …
Some 250,000 people paid respects to Pope Francis during the three days his coffin led in St Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican said Friday, as public viewing ended and world leaders began gathering for his funeral.French President Emmanuel Macron was among the last to bow before the coffin, with the overall crowds exceeding the estimated 195,000 …
The funeral of Pope Francis, who died on Monday aged 88, will take place Saturday. After a multi-lingual mass in St Peter’s Square, his coffin will be taken to the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica, in central Rome, for burial. Here is the official programme of the ceremonies:05:30 (0330 GMT) St Peter’s Square opens.09:30 (0730 GMT) US President Donald Trump …
Pope Francis’s funeral programmeFri, 25 Apr 2025 14:42:31 GMT Read More »
Diplomatic tensions between Benin and its junta-led Sahel neighbours Niger and Burkina Faso have led to a security vacuum which jihadists are exploiting with ever-deadlier attacks, analysts told AFP.North Benin, which borders both Niger and Burkina Faso, has seen a recent rise in strikes targeting army positions, with an attack last week claimed by Al-Qaeda-linked …
Benin tensions with Burkina, Niger open door for jihadistsFri, 25 Apr 2025 13:59:03 GMT Read More »
Gabon’s Brice Oligui Nguema won 94.85 percent of the vote, according to final results released on Friday, confirming the junta chief’s landslide election as the central African country’s president. That result marks a five-percent increase on his score in the provisional results given the day after the April 12 ballot, the country’s first since Oligui ended …
Tens of thousands of people flocked to the Vatican Friday for a last glimpse of Pope Francis’s open coffin, as world leaders and other guests began arriving for his funeral.Around 150,000 people had paid their last respects to the Argentine pontiff by midday Friday, seven hours before the end of three days of lying in …
Huge crowds pack Vatican ahead of Pope’s funeralFri, 25 Apr 2025 12:23:21 GMT Read More »
