Foreign News
Pope Leo on first foreign trip says future of humanity at stake from conflict
Pope Leo XIV has warned that the world should not give into “a heightened level of conflict on the global level”, at the start of his foreign trip in Turkey.
“The future of humanity is at stake, said the Pope, urging President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to act as a source of stability because of the need to promote dialogue and stability.
The Pope will mark a historic Christian anniversary during his visit to Turkey, before heading to Lebanon days after Israeli airstrikes on its capital, Beirut.
The visits had been planned by late Pope Francis, but their main theme of building bridges was embraced by Pope Leo from the moment he stepped on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica after his election in May.
Leo warned that today’s wars were like a “third world war fought piecemeal”, repeating a phrase that his predecessor had himself used several times, referring to conflicts in Ukraine, Syria, Myanmar and elsewhere.
Since he became pontiff six months ago, he has conveyed a sense of being extremely measured, even cautious. But on this trip, his powers of diplomacy will be closely scrutinised.
A key moment of the trip will take place in the Turkish town of Iznik, the site of the ancient city of Nicaea. Pope Leo and leaders of other Christian traditions will gather to mark the anniversary of an ancient council that took place there 1,700 years ago. In 325 AD, among other key decisions, more than 200 bishops at the council affirmed the belief that Jesus was the son of God, eventually leading to what is known as the Nicene Creed.
Eastern and Western branches of Christianity later dramatically split, but during this trip there will be messages of togetherness and healing divisions.
In Turkey the Pope will also visit the Blue Mosque, as both his immediate predecessors Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI had done. He will have meetings with other religious leaders in a gesture of inter-religious dialogue before flying on to the second leg of the trip.

The Vatican says plans for the Pope’s visit to Lebanon have not changed following the Israeli airstrikes on Beirut earlier in the week.
He will meet more faith leaders and hear from young people in Lebanon, his visit giving a boost in particular to the estimated third of the country that is Christian.
On the final day of the trip, Pope Leo will celebrate Mass at the Beirut waterfront at the site of the 2020 port explosion, praying for the more than 200 people who were killed and 7,000 others injured.
Over recent months, though he has spoken out on some issues dear to him such as the dignity of migrants, he has certainly not been as overtly political as his predecessor could be.
He has walked such a fine line that in some cases both progressives and traditionalists within the Catholic Church have made the case that he supports their school of thought.
It was for similar reasons that cardinals of different persuasions were thought to have coalesced around him at conclave.
Pope Francis was seen as a visionary but one who was not overly worried about creating consensus, leaving behind a somewhat divided Church. Pope Leo has so far operated very differently, gently holding on to some of the progressive ideals of his predecessor while paying heed to the views of traditionalists.
He has repeatedly called for an end to war, but in a different way to Pope Francis, who memorably made daily calls to the Holy Family Church in Gaza to offer his support.

In meetings on this trip – with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Lebanese civic leaders – Pope Leo may be drawn to comment on his views on conflict in the region.
We may hear something of his impressions at the end of his trip, as it is customary for the Pope to hold a news conference with travelling press on the return flight to Rome.
What we will hear more of on this trip is a pope speaking in a Chicagoan accent.
Although Pope Leo, who speaks several languages fluently, has mainly given public addresses in Italian up to this point, the Vatican has confirmed that he will speak English throughout the Turkish leg of his trip, with some French too during his time in Lebanon.
[BBC]
Foreign News
Rare pink diamond goes on display in France 100 years after amateur heist
A rare pink diamond is going on display in France for the first time since it was stolen almost 100 years ago to the day – the last time it was shown to the public.
The nine-carat, pear-shaped gemstone known as the “Grand Condé” was pilfered in an overnight raid on the Château de Chantilly in October 1926 and concealed in a hollowed-out apple.
The diamond – one of few royal jewels to survive the French Revolution – was recovered a few weeks later when a hungry maid at the hotel in which the thieves were staying took a bite of the apple.
It will once again be on display in the Condé Museum at the Château de Chantilly until 3 January.
The museum’s director Mathieu Deldicque said that while the apple story may sounds far-fetched, it was widely covered by newspapers at the time.
Deldicque has faced questions about whether the exhibition may be tempting fate, especially given the string of heists on European cultural institutions in the past 12 months, including the daring daylight robbery of jewellery from the Louvre museum in Paris.
While he declined to reveal to CNN how much the diamond was insured for, he noted that extensive academic study into the properties of the diamond had taken place to make it uniquely identifiable.
The results of this analysis, as well as previously unseen archive material about the gem’s history and theft, form part of the exhibition, according to the museum.
Naturally occurring pink diamonds are exceptionally rare and often sell for tens of millions of dollars. The highest price ever fetched for one at auction was $71.2m (£53.6m) in 2017, according to Sotheby’s.
The exact origins of the Grand Condé remain a mystery.
It was first mentioned in 1740 in an inventory of Louis Henri de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, drawn up following his death, the Château de Chantilly said.
It then became part of the collection of Queen Marie-Amélie of Bourbon-Sicily, the wife of French King Louis Philippe I, and then her son, Prince Henri of Orléans, the Duke of Aumale.
He bequeathed it to the Institut de France, which now owns the Château de Chantilly, 50km (31 miles) north of Paris, along with thousands of artworks and manuscripts which became the Musée Condé collection.
(BBC)
Foreign News
Nursery owner in China jailed for life after hundreds of children poisoned
A nursery owner and five members of her staff have been jailed after they were found to have poisoned more than 200 children with lead-tainted food.
Li Huifang, who operated the Heshi Peixin Kindergarten in Tianshui, in the Gansu province, was sentenced to life in prison for producing and selling toxic and harmful food, according to Chinese state media.
In July 2025, 247 pupils and staff at the nursery were found to have abnormally high blood lead levels after children began falling ill.
A report into the incident found that chefs at Heshi Peixin had used inedible paint to “enhance the look” of its meals to attract more students – despite the paint being being clearly marked as such.
In addition to the sentence, the Lanzhou Intermediate People’s Court also ordered the confiscation of 500,000 yuan (£56,200; $74,700) of Li’s personal assets, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Nursery executive principal Zhi Jinglin was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined 300,000 yuan.
Four other members of staff who worked in the nursery’s kitchen received sentences of between six to eight years, according to state media.
The court found the four had been instructed by Li and Zhi to add toxic and harmful ingredients to food served to children and staff.
Food samples were later found to contain lead 2,000 times in excess of China’s national safety limit.
The investigation into the poisoning began after 235 children from Heshi Peixin nursery had to be treated for lead poisoning after eating steamed red date cakes and sausage corn buns.
Investigators found that the red date cake and the corn sausage rolls had lead levels of 1052mg/kg and 1340mg/kg respectively, both of which far exceed the national food safety standard limit of 0.5mg/kg.
Lead poisoning is “particularly harmful to young children” and can “severely damage the brain and central nervous system”, according to the World Health Organization.
Officials later found that dozens of provincial officials and hospital staff attempted to cover up the incident by tampering with blood tests and accepting bribes from a nursery investor.
China has since published a set of national guidelines for the provision of meals on campuses. Among the measures is the requirement for every new batch of food to be tested, and for flour, rice and cooking oil to be purchased from centralised procurement points only.
(BBC)
Foreign News
Houthi missile attack on Yemeni presidential palace kills five, minister says
Five people have been killed and 16 injured in a Houthi missile attack targeting the presidential palace in the port city of Aden in southern Yemen, which is the seat of the internationally-recognised government, officials say.
Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani told the BBC that the prime minister and other ministers were unhurt when five ballistic missiles hit al-Maashiq Palace.
The Houthis’ military spokesman, Yahya Sarea, said they struck “the Saudi enemy’s military operations headquarters in Aden”.
A coalition led by Saudi Arabia backs the government and is providing air support for an offensive by pro-government forces against the Iran-backed Houthis.
Yemeni health minister Qasim Buhaibeh said the casualties included “those working to guard the site and civilian employees”.
The country’s Prime Minister Shaya Zindani condemned the Houthis’ attack on Aden, calling it “cowardly” and a “continuation of their criminal behaviour”.
He said the government continued to carry out its duties and vowed that it would not weaken the resolve of its forces to continue operations against the Houthis on Yemen’s south-western Red Sea coast and other front lines.
Earlier, the Houthis denied that they had attacked Saudi Arabia on Thursday, after the coalition said its forces had intercepted a cruise missile in the Medina region, home to one of Islam’s holiest shrines.

The Houthis have been launching missiles and drones at airports, oil and gas facilities, and military bases in Saudi Arabia in retaliation for the strikes on the territory that they control in western Yemen, including the capital Sanaa.
On Saturday, a Houthi missile strike killed 13 people at Riyadh’s international airport, which was the deadliest attack in Saudi Arabia in more than a decade.
Saudi Arabia’s deputy foreign minister accused Iran of encouraging the Houthis to escalate their conflict with the kingdom.
“Iran continues to arm, train and support the Houthi militia in violation of UN Security Council resolutions,” Rayed Krimly told reporters, according to AFP news agency.
“We think that the escalation by the Houthis at this latest stage of the conflict is encouraged by Iran,” he added.
There was no immediate response from Iran’s government. However, it has previously denied supplying weapons to the Houthis and said it only supports them politically.
Iran’s foreign minister has also said it is ready to provide “any assistance necessary to facilitate the start of talks” between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.
Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that began in 2014, when the Houthis ousted the internationally-recognised government from Sanaa. The conflict escalated in 2015, after the Saudi-led coalition of Arab states intervened in an attempt to restore the government’s rule.
A four-year-old informal ceasefire began to unravel in July, when the Houthis announced a “maritime embargo” against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea.
The Houthis said they were retaliating for what they call a Saudi blockade of their territory, as well as an air strike on Sanaa airport that they blamed on the kingdom.
The conflict escalated in September after the Houthis seized part of Yemen’s south-western Red Sea coast near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a chokepoint for global shipping. Their advance contributed to a rise in oil prices following six months of war between the US, Israel and Iran.
Last week, pro-government forces said they had regained control of territory overlooking Bab al-Mandab after launching a major counter-offensive with the support of Saudi air strikes.
At least 1,282 people have been killed and 5,890 injured in the fighting in Yemen since 6 August, according to the government’s health ministry.
The UN says another 201,000 people have been displaced and that there has been an alarming surge in suspected cholera cases.
(BBC)
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