Saudi Arabia Executes Ethiopian Maid For Killing Child

Saudi authorities on Monday executed an Ethiopian housemaid convicted of killing the child of her employer more than three years ago, the interior ministry said.

The ministry noted in a statement that the execution was carried out after the death sentence was endorsed by the king.

The convict had confessed having knifed to death the six-year-old girl in June 2013, allegedly in retaliation for her family’s ill-treatment.

Monday’s beheading brings to 119 the total number of executions so far this year in the conservative kingdom.

According to international rights groups, Saudi Arabia is among the top executioners in the world.

On January 2, authorities beheaded 47 people, including a prominent Shiite cleric, on terrorism-related charges.

Report says Saudi Arabia has imposed death penalty for murder, armed robbery, banditry, rape, drug-trafficking and witchcraft.

The kingdom, which applies a strict interpretation of Islamic law, has repeatedly rejected calls to end the death penalty, saying the punishment deters would-be offender.

Bearded Woman Makes Guinness Book World Records

A beautiful bearded woman, Harnaam Kaur, stunned a global audience when when she was announced as world most bearded woman, thereby making in into the book of Guinness World Records for 2017.

Kaur, who is a body-image activist and runway model reacting to her award said: “I am super proud to hold this record, the inner child in me is so pleased. I grew up reading this book, I even tried breaking some of my own records wanting to be in this book,” Kaur, 24, wrote on Instagram Thursday. Rather than remove her facial hair — the result of a hormonal condition called polycystic ovarian syndrome, for which September happens to be awareness month — the British challenger of beauty norms has chosen to nurture her whiskers.

“It is amazing to be valued and celebrated being a Bearded Lady. I am proud to hold this amazing record,” she continued. “I hope those who read or see my record can take away positivity, inspiration and realise that no matter who you are or what you look like, you are officially amazing!”

Yahoo News had reported that Kaur joins other beauty-themed record breakers this year, including Tyler Wright, who has what’s been deemed to be the largest afro (10 inches high and 9 inches wide); a group of 261 people in Milan who were recognized for the category Most People Wearing Their Hair in a Beehive; and Charlotte Guttenberg, 67, and her partner, Charles “Chuck” Helmke, both of Florida, for Most Tattooed Senior Citizens. Their bodies are covered with tats 91.5 percent and 93.75 percent, respectively.

Guinness has named Kaur the youngest female with a full beard. She began growing facial hair at age 11, and spent much of her adolescence dealing with shame, bullies, and efforts at hair removal. But at age 16, she made the decision to accept all of herself and embrace her beard.

Kaur’s confidence paid off, as last year she became the first woman to walk a major runway with a full beard, working the catwalk for jewelry designer Marianna Harutunian as part of Royal Fashion Day. Previously, she signed on to be a rep for model Tess Holliday’s social media campaign #EffYourBeautyStandards, spreading the love-yourself message to all.

The activist’s induction to Guinness has delighted Kaur’s many supporters. “I love that there was a record to break!” wrote one of her more than 61,000 Instagram followers. “Not because others have gone through the pain you have, but because it’s amazing to see ‘different’ celebrated and honoured. 

Congratulations!”

Nude Donald Trump Statue To Be Auctioned For Up To $20,000

A naked statue of U.S. Republican presidential contender Donald Trump is going up for auction, with profits from the sale going to an immigrant support group.

Julien's Auctions said on Wednesday that the statue, called "The Emperor Has No Balls," is expected to fetch $10,000 to $20,000 at the Oct. 22 auction in Los Angeles.

The statue is one of a series that appeared unannounced in public spaces in New York and four other U.S. cities earlier in August. The orange-tinted likeness showed Trump with a massive belly, small fingers and some missing genitals.

Most were confiscated or destroyed by local authorities and the Los Angeles statue is the only one remaining, Julien's said.

The statues were created by an anonymous artists collective called INDECLINE. A portion of the auction profits will go to the National Immigration Forum, which campaigns for the rights of immigrants.

Trump has pledged to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico to keep immigrants out and to deport the millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States, should he be elected. He is due to give a speech on Wednesday as he seeks to find a balance in his immigration stance.

Trump is not the only politician to be represented in the October auction of street and contemporary art. American pop artist Knowledge Bennett's "Hillary Clinton Cojones," featuring the Democratic White House hopeful wearing a tuxedo, is expected to fetch up to $15,000, Julien's said.

Japanese Karate Expert Fights Off Bear Using Black Belt Skills

A 63-year-old karate expert was the unlikely victor of a fight with an angry bear, police in Japan have said.

Atsushi Aoki was fishing in the mountains of the Gunma Prefecture region when the animal emerged from woodland.

The snarling black bear - reportedly standing at 6ft 3ins on its hind legs - set upon him in an unprovoked attack, he told Japanese broadcaster TBS.

However, Mr Aoki said he was more than a match for his assailant, fighting the animal off with his bare hands.

Despite being knocked to the floor, he managed to pick himself up and face up to his opponent.

Rather than fleeing, he used his own deadly fighting skills to take the upper hand, punching the bear between the eyes.

The animal then retreated.

Mr Aoki told reporters the bear stood over him with "an imposing stance".

The fisherman was quoted in Singapore newspaper The Straits Times saying: "It came pouncing towards me when my eyes met the bear's.

"Its rounded ears were perfectly circular just like a teddy bear's and its face was so huge.

"The bear had such, such great strength. I was knocked over when it leapt at me. It scratched me and bit me. But in the end I managed to trick the bear, poked it in the eyes and it ran away."

After the attack, Mr Aoki apparently made his own way to a nearby hospital in Naganohara town, where he received treatment for minor injuries.

He sustained bite and claw marks on the right side of his upper body, head and arms, and an injury to his leg, but was otherwise unharmed.

Gunma police officials have warned anyone who comes across a bear in the wild not to copy Mr Aoki martial arts exploits.

"If you witness a bear, don't fight. Walk away quietly and report it to the police instead," an official told The Japan Times.

China Closes World’s Longest Glass Bridge

The world’s longest glass bridge, over a scenic canyon in China, has been closed less than two weeks after it opened after being overwhelmed by a swarm of visitors. 

More than 10,000 visitors a day flooded over the Guinness record-setting attraction, overwhelming managers who had planned to limit visitors to no more than 8,000, local media reported.

The bridge is undergoing “an internal system upgrade”, the official Xinhua News service quoted officials as saying, but did not specify when it would reopen. 

The group in charge of the attraction said that it would use the closure to update “software and hardware” related to managing visitors, Xinhua said Friday.

In an announcement on one of its social media accounts, the company apologised for inconveniencing the many travellers who had made reservations to visit.

“You… have cheated consumers,” one angry commenter replied. “I’m on the train right now. I can’t change my travel plans or get a refund. You have made the world lose hope. I see you are the world’s number one cheat.” 

Some 430 metres (1,400 feet) long and suspended 300 metres above the earth, the bridge spans the canyon between two mountain cliffs in Zhangjiajie park in China’s central Hunan province. The nature reserve is known for its otherworldly natural beauty. 

Famous for its precipitous cloud-wreathed mountains, it is a UNESCO world heritage site that reportedly inspired the landscapes of James Cameron’s sci-fi blockbuster Avatar. 

Following an alarming glass bridge cracking incident at the Yuntai mountain in northern Henan in 2015, authorities in Zhangjiajie were eager to demonstrate the safety of the structure. 

They organised a string of media events, including one where people were encouraged to try and smash the bridge’s glass panels with a sledge hammer, and another where they drove a car across it. Nonetheless, visitors were banned from wearing high heels as they ventured out onto the deck.

Church Of England Welcomes First Openly Gay Bishop

A British bishop has become the first in the Church of England — the mother church of the worldwide Anglican faith — to announce he is homosexual, in an interview published Saturday.

Nicholas Chamberlain, the Bishop of Grantham in central England, told the Guardian newspaper he was in a long-term relationship with his male partner, after a Sunday paper reportedly said it was about to publish a story on his private life.

“It was not my decision to make a big thing about coming out,” he said, adding that he adhered to church guidelines which stipulate that gay clergy must be celibate.

“People know I’m gay, but it’s not the first thing I’d say to anyone. Sexuality is part of who I am, but it’s my ministry that I want to focus on.”

The church knew he was gay when he became a bishop last year, he revealed.

“I was myself. Those making the appointment knew about my sexual identity.”

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, leader of the world’s Anglican faith, said Chamberlain’s sexuality was “completely irrelevant”.

“His appointment as Bishop of Grantham was made on the basis of his skills and calling to serve the church in the diocese of Lincoln,” he said.

“He lives within the bishops’ guidelines and his sexuality is completely irrelevant to his office.”

Chamberlain said of his relationship: “It is faithful, loving, we are like-minded, we enjoy each other’s company and we share each other’s life.”

A Church of England spokesman said it would have been “unjust” not to appoint him based due to his sexuality.

The Church of England dropped its opposition to gay clergymen in civil partnerships becoming bishops in 2013, although many of the Anglican faith worldwide — who number 80 million — were opposed.

The Anglican Church of Uganda in 2014 said it may consider breaking away from their mother church in England if it put Uganda under pressure over its tough anti-homosexuality law.

The Ten Most Powerful People In The World

Below is Forbes updated list of the world’s most powerful people.

1. Vladimir Putin: 

Russian President Vladimir Putin was ranked as the world’s most powerful leader by Forbes after Russia managed to put US threat of an attack on Syria at bay. Russia also gave asylum to former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who revealed classified US intelligence information.

2. Angela Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel ranked second on the list. The world’s most powerful woman is the backbone of the European Union and carries the fate of the euro on her shoulders.

3. Barack Obama

US President Barack Obama was ranked third.

4. Pope Francis

Fourth place went to 76-year-old Pope Francis. The first Jesuit and Latin American Bishop of Rome preaches compassion for the poor and a greater role for women while signalling the church to quiet its focus on “only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptives.”

5. Xi Jinping

Fifth place went to Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is expected to rule for a decade in which China is set to eclipse the US as the world’s largest economy.

6. Bill Gates

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is still America’s richest man, taking the sixth spot in the Forbes list with a net worth of $72 billion.

7. Janet Yellen

Janet Yellen, Chair of the US Federal Reserve takes the seventh place.

8. David Cameron

David Cameron, former British Prime Minister, takes eight place. He was the Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016.

9. Narendra Modi

Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is ninth on the list. Modi has been commended internationally on his efforts in making peace with neighbouring country Pakistan.

10. Larry Page

US entrepreneur Larry Page takes the tenth spot. Page co-founded Google Inc. withSergey Brin back in 1998.

Facebook Satellite For Africa Destroyed In SpaceX Rocket Accident

An unmanned SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the launch pad during a test in Florida on Thursday, destroying a satellite that Facebook planned to use to beam high-speed internet to Africa. The blast at Cape Canaveral — though it caused no injuries — marks a setback for the California-based private space firm and its founder, internet entrepreneur Elon Musk, who wants to revolutionize the launch industry by making rocket components reusable.

“Loss of Falcon vehicle today during propellant fill operation,” Musk tweeted. “Originated around upper stage oxygen tank. Cause still unknown. More soon.”

 Dramatic footage broadcast by ABC News showed the rocket burst into a roaring ball of flame amid what appeared to be a succession of blasts — sending its payload tumbling to the ground as a dense plume of black smoke filled the air. “At approximately 9:07 am ET (1307 GMT), during a standard pre-launch static fire test for the Amos-6 mission, there was an anomaly at SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40 resulting in loss of the vehicle,” the firm said. “Per standard operating procedure, the pad was clear and there were no injuries.” But the explosion destroyed the Israeli communications satellite that the Falcon 9 was due to deliver into orbit on Saturday — drawing a dismayed reaction from Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg.

 “As I’m here in Africa, I’m deeply disappointed to hear that SpaceX’s launch failure destroyed our satellite that would have provided connectivity to so many entrepreneurs and everyone else across the continent,” Zuckerberg said on his Facebook page. Facebook was contracted to use the Amos-6 to provide broadband internet coverage for large parts of sub-Saharan Africa and other remote parts of the world as part of the social media giant’s Internet.org initiative. “Fortunately, we have developed other technologies like Aquila that will connect people as well,” Zuckerberg said, referring to the solar-powered plane being developed by Facebook to make the internet available in remote areas. “We will keep working until everyone has the opportunities this satellite would have provided.” European satellite operator Eutelsat — Facebook’s partner in the project — said in a statement it was committed to expanding broadband access in Africa despite the loss of the Amos-6.

– Heaviest payload –

A NASA spokeswoman told AFP that emergency services at the nearby Kennedy Space Center were monitoring the situation and conducting air quality tests to ensure there is no threat to the health of staff. Officials at the center advised workers to remain inside until further notice, but Brevard County Emergency Management said there was no threat to the public from the incident. The Amos-6 was the heaviest payload to date for a SpaceX rocket, with an estimated value of between $200-300 million, according to John Logsdon, former director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University.

The accident — the second of its kind since SpaceX was founded in 2002 — comes just over a year after a Falcon 9 rocket failed after liftoff on June 28, 2015, destroying a Dragon cargo capsule bound for the International Space Station (ISS). Before that, SpaceX had logged 18 successful launches of the Falcon 9 — including six of 12 planned supply missions to the ISS carried out as part of a $1.6 billion contract with NASA. It had carried out another eight successful launches since June 2015, including last month when a Falcon 9 successfully placed a Japanese communications satellite in orbit, and then landed intact on a floating drone ship. Before then the firm lost several rockets as it attempted to land them upright on an ocean platform at the end of a flight — a crucial part of its strategy for reusable spacecraft.

– ‘Valuable experience’ –

While the blast is likely to disrupt SpaceX plans for six more launches between now and January 2017, experts made clear that such incidents are a normal part of the space learning curve. “It’s clearly a setback, but how great the setback is and how long the delay, it’s impossible to know until there is more information available,” said Logsdon. He noted that the launch pad damaged on Thursday was distinct from the one that will serve to launch SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, intended to ferry astronauts to the ISS starting in late 2017. Loizos Heracleous, a professor of strategy at Warwick Business School, said such setbacks were par for the course — and would not affect SpaceX’s stated long-term goals of slashing the cost of space flight through the use of reusable rockets, and eventually colonizing Mars.

“SpaceX is gathering valuable experience, and each accident brings lessons on how to enhance the integrity of the craft for future missions,” he said. “Given that SpaceX is working to provide NASA with a way to transport not just cargo, but also astronauts to the International Space Station, it is especially crucial that such learning takes place before that happens.”

Cocaine Worth $50m Found At Coca-cola Plant In France

Cocaine with worth 50 million euros has been discovered at a Coca-Cola plant in France.

The drug, hidden in bags among a delivery of orange juice concentrate, arrived in a container from South America.

An investigation is under way in Signes, a village in southern France.

The seizure of 370kg of cocaine makes it one of the largest finds on French soil.

The prosecutor of Toulon, Xavier Tarabeux, said the delivery "has a street value of 50 million euros" and referred to it as "a very bad surprise".

Employees at the Coca-Cola plant have been ruled out of any involvement as investigators attempt to trace the origin of the drug.

"The first elements of the investigation have shown that employees are in no way involved," Jean-Denis Malgras, the regional president of Coca-Cola, told local news website Var-Matin.

The original Coca-Cola formula, created in 1886 by US pharmacist John Pemberton, is believed to have contained traces of cocaine derived from coca leaf extract.

Annual Tomato Battle Paints Spanish Town Red

Thousands of people pelted each other with tons of ripe tomatoes Wednesday, creating a red, mushy mess in the annual "Tomatina" street battle in eastern Spain.

At the fiesta in Bunol, 160 tons of tomatoes were offloaded from six trucks into the crowd packing the town's streets for the hour-long battle that attracts many foreigners among the around 20,000 participants.

People cheered and jumped in the party atmosphere, with some people wearing fancy dress but most in T-shirts. As the trucks pulled into the narrow streets, the revelers chanted, "Tomato! Tomato!"

To avoid injuries, revelers are instructed to squelch the tomatoes before throwing them. Even so, many donned swimming goggles to protect their eyes. People on balconies overlooking the festivities also were pelted, and tomatoes left red blotches on buildings' white walls.

Canadian photographer David Trattlas said it was his 15th year at the festival.

"The last week of every August is the best week of the year, the most social week of the year. I can't think of being anywhere else except here, in this village, with this group of people," he said.

After the fight, the participants and the town's streets were drenched in a sea of red pulp. Organizers hose the streets down within minutes of the event ending at noon, while participants could use public showers.

The paid-entry event was inspired by a 1945 food fight between local children in the tomato-producing region.

Police Foil Assassination Attempt On German Chancellor Angela Merkel In Czech Republic

An assassination attempt on Angela Merkel, German Chancellor and the third most powerful person in the world according to Forbes, was foiled in Prague, Czech Republic on Thursday by police and security officials during her official visit to the nation.

A man driving a black Mercedes, “attempted to join the motorcade as it moved between Prague airport and Czech government headquarters” as Merkel arrived the country to hold talks with Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka.

Czech police arrested the man who tried to “run down police” and police spokesman Jozef Bocan said the suspect was in custody.

Bocan added that Merkel “had not been in danger” and confirmed officers had to use firearms to subdue the suspect.

He said: “While attempting to join the motorcade, he tried to run down police securing the road.

“The suspect acted alone. He was not armed, but items found in the car could easily have been used as weapons, particularly some cement cubes.” according to quotes from German newspaper Bild.

On Thursday, hundreds of protesters, including members of anti-Islam groups, rallied in central Prague to protest against Merkel with some labeling her as the 'next Hitler' after she decided to open the EU’s doors to refugees and migrants last summer.

Baby Girl Born Mid-Air On Flight To Philippines

woman gave birth to a premature but healthy baby girl mid-flight while travelling from the United Arab Emirates to the Philippines, forcing the plane to carry out an emergency landing in India.

The mother, whose due date was two months away, went into labour on board the Cebu Pacific Air flight Sunday as it flew from Dubai to Manila, her fellow passenger Missy Berberabe Umandal posted on Facebook.

Panicked flight attendants started calling out for medical assistance -- discovering two nurses among the passengers -- before turning the front of the cabin into a makeshift delivery room.

"We only heard one semi-loud screech, and a few seconds later, there were tinier, cute screeches, and it was when we knew the baby was born. Luckily, she only had to push ONCE," Umandal said in her post, with a picture showing the mother holding her newborn, wrapped in a blanket. The mother's nationality is not known.

Flight attendants and nurses cleaned the baby with mineral water and dressed her in baby clothes donated by fellow passengers flying with infants.

The pilot conducted an emergency landing in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad so the mother and newborn could receive medical attention before continuing on to Manila.

"After initial examination by the medical staff, they were moved to the mother and child care centre of a hospital in the city," a Hyderabad airport security official told AFP, requesting anonymity.

"The newborn and mother are fine and under medical supervision."

The woman, her own mother who was travelling with her, and the baby were given three-day temporary visas, which would most likely be extended until parent and child were fit to fly, the official said

Pakistani Girl, Parents Drown In Latest Selfie Deaths

An 11-year-old girl drowned on Tuesday after falling into a river in northern Pakistan while attempting to take a selfie and her parents also died trying to save her, officials said.

The drownings occurred in the Kunhar river that flows through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, at a hilly tourist spot in Beesian village, some 200 kilometres (120 miles) north of Islamabad.

The deep, rocky and fastflowing river is popular for white-water rafting.

"The girl, Safia Atif, was trying to take a selfie along the river when she slipped and fell," local police official Arshad Khan told AFP, explaining the incident was witnessed by other tourists.

Safia's mother Shazia Atif then jumped in to save her daughter but was swept away.

"Seeing both his wife and daughter drowning, the father Atif Hussain also jumped in to rescue them but he met a similar fate," Khan added.

"The dead bodies of the mother and daughter have been recovered while we are still looking for the body of Hussain," he added.

He said the parents were doctors from Punjab province and had taken their family to the area on holiday. They are survived by a nine-year-old daughter and six-year-old son who witnessed the event.

"Both of them are in the protective custody of the local administration and they will be handed over to their family members when they arrive," he said.

The incident was confirmed by other administration officials and family members of the deceased.

One official said the government had put up signs warning people not to go near the river.

"Each year around a dozen people drown here," he said requesting not to be named.

"This is a tourist spot and people usually come here for picnic and most of them are outsiders who have no idea about the depth of the river," he said.

So-called "selfie deaths" have surged with the global rise of smartphones.

On July 5, Peruvian police recovered the body of a South Korean tourist under a waterfall in the Amazon jungle, days after he fell in while taking a photo of himself.

A week earlier a 51-year-old German tourist plunged 200 metres (650 feet) to his death while posing for a photo on a mountainside at Peru's top archaeological site, Machu Picchu.

Indian Doctor Arrested For Killing Six, Burying Bodies

Police have arrested a doctor in western India for allegedly injecting six people with a lethal overdose and burying most of the bodies at his farmhouse, an officer said Tuesday.

Santosh Pol, dubbed "Doctor Death" by local media, was arrested in a town in Maharashtra state last week during a police investigation into the disappearance of one of his victims.

"Pol has confessed to killing around six people including five women and one man. We have recovered four bodies from his farmhouse and one from (outside) his (town) residence," police inspector Padmakar Ghanvat told AFP.

"He has been constantly changing his statements during interrogations, which makes it difficult for us to understand his motives," Ghanvat said.

All of the alleged victims went missing in the picturesque town of Wai, 230 kilometres (143 miles) south of Mumbai, in recent years. But little is known of their connection to the doctor.

Television footage showed police leading Pol around his farm, while other officers operated mechanical diggers as curious villagers watched.

Police have also taken Pol's nurse into custody on suspicion of helping him carry out some of the killings, officers have been quoted by local media as saying.

Pol allegedly killed his latest victim with a lethal overdose of an unknown drug after she threatened to expose his previous murders, according to the reports.

Last year police arrested an Indian doctor accused of trying to set a patient's body on fire after he died during treatment.

Earlier this month Indian police arrested the head of an upmarket hospital in Mumbai and four doctors on suspicion of organ trafficking.

48 YRS AFTER DEATH: Martin Luther King Jr's Children Settle Case On Who Owns Father's Nobel Prize Medal

A legal fight between Martin Luther King Jr.’s heirs over who owns the slain civil rights leader’s 1964 Nobel Peace Prize medal has been settled, but the terms were not immediately known, a judge said in an Atlanta court on Monday.

A trial to settle the years-long dispute over the medal had been set to start on Monday. It would have pitted King’s two sons against his surviving daughter, who have disagreed over whether the item should be sold, Reuters said.

The three siblings serve as directors of a corporation formed to manage the estate of King, who had no will when he was assassinated in 1968 by a white supremacist in Memphis, Tennessee.

Martin Luther King III and Dexter King voted in January 2014 to sell the medal and a Bible their father carried during the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Bernice King objected to a sale, calling the heirlooms “sacred” to the family.

Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney had ordered the items to be kept in a court-controlled safe deposit box pending the outcome of the lawsuit.

On Monday, McBurney said in court that he would turn over the keys to the box to Martin Luther King III, the chairman of the estate board, as requested by both parties in their joint motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

The judge said he did not know details of the settlement.

Lawyers for the estate and Bernice King were not in court and could not immediately be reached for comment.

Last month, McBurney ruled that the Bible, which U.S. President Barack Obama used in his second inauguration, belonged to the estate.

Former President Jimmy Carter was one of the mediators who had worked to secure a resolution of the lawsuit. Prospects for a settlement had been described as fair to poor, according to a court summary.

In its lawsuit against Bernice King, the estate said she signed a 1995 agreement giving control of King’s possessions to the estate. But she said the estate never sent her a list of items to be turned over, as required in the settlement of a lawsuit over that agreement.

Why I Visited 20 Prostitutes – Pope Francis

Pope Francis has described his surprise visit to 20 former prostitutes on Friday as some his activities to mark “Fridays of Mercy”.

According to the pope, “Fridays of Mercy” was termed by him to carry out one unscheduled act of mercy a month on a Friday — mainly in or near Rome — throughout the pope‘s Jubilee year, which started in December and runs to November. 

Recall that the pontiff, who has repeatedly described the human trafficking behind much prostitution as “a crime against humanity”, sat down with the group, including four women from Albania, seven from Nigeria and six from Romania. The other three hailed from Italy, Tunisia and the Ukraine, according to a Vatican statement. 

The women, all aged around 30, are being sheltered by a Catholic association in an apartment in the Italian capital after being rescued from their pimps. The 79-year old listened for over an hour to the stories of the former sex slaves, “all of whom suffered serious physical abuse and live under protection,” the Vatican said. 

In January, he visited a care home for the elderly and people in a vegetative state, while in February he went to a community for drug addicts. In March he toured a refugee centre before visiting asylum seekers on the Greek island of Lesbos in April. The pontiff then spent time with the seriously mentally ill in May before visiting old and ill priests in June and dedicating his July “Friday of Mercy” to sick children in Krakow after praying for the victims of the Holocaust at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp.

Flaming Toilet Rolls Help Australian Medic Plane Land In The Dark Of Night

It was a bizarre sight -- 20 toilet rolls set on fire and lined up in rows after being drenched in fuel.

But for pilot Geoff Cobden, it was the only way he could safely land his plane in the dark of night in a remote area of Australia to help fly a critically ill woman to the nearest hospital hundreds of kilometres away.

The flight on July 31 in northern Queensland state was a hit on Facebook when it was posted by the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and highlighted the challenges faced by their teams, who are often the only way people who work on cattle stations -- some of which are bigger than small European nations -- reach medical help.

"This particular night, we got a call that there's a patient. We discuss different ways of lighting the airstrip and we came up with dunny (toilet) rolls as the best option," Cobden, who was flying a Beechcraft King Air twin-turboprop aircraft, told AFP.

The ill farm hand had been taken to Burke and Wills Roadhouse, a service station some 250 kilometres (155 miles) or 30 minutes flight from where Cobden was based.

"They said 'yeah, yeah' we have plenty of dunny rolls and so we explained how to set up... so basically soak them in diesel and they'll burn for about half an hour, and set them up 30 metres wide.

"We say don't light them until we get there. We've got UHF radio so we talk to them from the aeroplane once we are overhead and get them to run along and light them all up."

Cobden said toilet rolls were a good way to light up airstrips if the cattle farms -- some of which are about 10,000 square kilometres (4,000 square miles) in size -- did not have working flares. The "absolute last resort" would be using the lights from vehicles, he added.

"Generally most stations have enough toilet rolls to avert the possibility of a car-lit landing."

Cobden is based in Mount Isa, sometimes called the "oasis of the outback", with his three-person Flying Doctors team -- a doctor, nurse and a pilot -- covering an area of some 760,000 square kilometres, or bigger than France.

Knifeman Attacks Passengers, Sets Train Ablaze In Switzerland

A man set a train carriage in Switzerland on fire using a flammable liquid and stabbed passengers on Saturday, injuring six people including a six-year-old child, police said.

The attack was the latest in a string of violent, often deadly assaults in Europe in recent months, with many claimed by the jihadist Islamic State group.

The motive for Saturday’s attack was not immediately clear, police told AFP.

“According to the information we have for the time being, the 27-year-old Swiss man poured out a flammable liquid … (which) caught fire,” police said, adding that the man “was also armed with at least one knife”.

The man carried out the attack on a train travelling in Switzerland’s far east, along its border with Liechtenstein, and was also injured, regional police in the city of Saint Gallen said in a statement.

Police said the attack had taken place at around 2:20 pm (1220 GMT) near the Salez station on a train running between Buchs and Sennwald and that some of the injuries were serious.

Seven people including the suspected attacker were admitted to various hospitals with burn and stab wounds, the statement said.

The victims included two men aged 17 and 50, three women aged 17, 34 and 43 and the six-year-old child. Dozens of people were on the train at the time of the attack, the police statement said.

– Europe on edge -A massive contingent of rescue workers rushed to the scene, including police, firefighters, ambulances and three rescue helicopters.

The Salez station remains closed, and police said replacement buses had been set up.

Saint Gallen prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into the attack.

The attack is the latest in a string of brutal assaults in Europe in recent months that have left the continent on edge.

In January 2015, a jihadist assault on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper in Paris left 12 dead while another four died in an attack on a Jewish supermarket in the city.

In November 2015, a coordinated jihadist attack claimed by IS in Paris left 130 people dead.

On March 22 this year, suicide bombers struck Brussels airport and a metro station in another coordinated jihadist attack claimed by IS near the European Union headquarters, killing 32 people.

On July 14, a Tunisian man rammed a truck into crowds of revellers in the southern French city of Nice, killing 85 people.

Swiss neighbour Germany has also seen a string of attacks in recent weeks.

In July there were two attacks by migrants in the southern state of Bavaria — an axe rampage on a train and a suicide bombing.

In Munich, an 18-year-old German-Iranian also went on a gun rampage in a shopping mall, leaving nine people dead.

In Belgium, meanwhile, a lone gunman armed with a Kalashnikov and other arms in August 2015 opened fire on a train but was overpowered by passengers.

40 Dead In Mexico Landslides

Landslides triggered by Tropical Storm Earl's remnants have killed at least 40 people in Mexico, officials said late Sunday, as a new storm threatened the country's Pacific coast.

Hardest-hit was the central state of Puebla, where 29 people died, including at least 15 minors, as landslides buried several homes in the state's northern mountains, the local government said.

Another 11 died in similar circumstances in the eastern state of Veracruz, its governor said.

Earl swept in from the Caribbean at hurricane strength Wednesday, striking just south of Belize's capital. It hit Mexico as a storm on Thursday and eventually weakened to a tropical depression.

Even in its weakened state Earl carried a deadly punch over the weekend.

In the town of Huauchinango, the amount of rain that normally falls in a month came pouring down in just 24 hours, the Puebla government said Sunday.

A rain-soaked hill crumbled and came sweeping down on an adjacent village, killing 11 people including eight minors, it said.

Several highways in Puebla were ripped up, two bridges collapsed and power was knocked out in several towns.

Governor Rafael Moreno Valle pledged to rebuild damaged structures and posted on Twitter photos of himself walking in mud and residents helping in clean-up efforts.

By late Sunday Moreno Valle warned that the death toll could rise.

"We're still in a search mode and we already have canine teams... searching for missing people," he said.

Puebla officials did not say how many people were missing, but they did say that the landslides and flooding left some 200 people homeless.

In the state of Veracruz, 11 people were killed due to landslides and flooding, Governor Javier Duarte wrote on Twitter.

The dead included an elderly man who was swept away in his home by a rain-swollen river, officials said.

Some 1,200 people were moved to shelters across Veracruz due to effects of the storm, officials said.

By Monday, however, it was approaching Tropical Storm Javier that was sparking new warnings.

Javier, which could strengthen to hurricane status by Monday afternoon, was expected to bring heavy rains and high winds to southwestern Mexico in the coming days, US weather forecasters said.

The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said Javier was about 250 miles (405 km) southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

"On the forecast track, the center of the tropical cyclone should pass near or over the southwest coast of Mexico later today, and approach the southern portion of the Baja California peninsula on Monday," the center said.

The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 50 miles per hour (85 km/h) with higher gusts and was expected to dump four to six inches (10 to 15 cm) of rain in western Mexico, it said.

Mexican forecasters warned of swollen rivers, heavy rain, choppy waves and flooding due to Javier.

Another tropical storm, Ivette, also was swirling in the eastern Pacific, but it was far from land and expected to weaken later in the day, according to the NHC.

Fire Sparked By Birthday Cake Candles Kills 13 At Party

A fire sparked by birthday cake candles tore through a bar in northern France early Saturday, killing at least 13 people in the nation’s deadliest blaze in over a decade, investigators said.

Through the shattered front windows of the Au Cuba Libre bar in Rouen melted stools and scorched liquor bottles were visible, as tearful mourners hugged each other and brought flowers to the scene. The dead were aged between 16 and 25.

 One of the six injured, a woman who was badly burned, had been transferred to St Louis Hospital in Paris where she was in a life threatening condition, local deputy prosecutor Laurent Labadie said. Mayor Yvon Robert said the other five injured had been released from hospital. Authorities said the bar had been crowded with young partygoers.

According to a police source, the birthday party was for a former police community support officer who was among the dead. Prime Minister Manuel Valls expressed “deep sadness at the tragedy that claimed 13 young lives”. Labadie told AFP the blaze, which began around midnight (2200 GMT Friday) in the bar’s basement, was triggered accidentally.

“Someone came down with a birthday cake with candles and fell down the stairs,” Labadie said, citing initial investigation findings. “The candles were thrown onto the walls and ceiling, where there was soundproofing material. There was an immediate conflagration and gas was released.” Firefighters were soon on the scene but those inside the bar were battling deadly fumes as well as the flames. Police said that the fire had ignited polystyrene on the ceiling of the basement room, releasing a toxic mix of gases that poisoned the victims.

 – ‘Like a flame-thrower’ –

One witness, who gave her name as Stephanie, 36, described the moment the fire took hold. “I was at the bar on the ground floor having a drink, when we saw the flames — it was like a flame-thrower, everything happened so fast,” she told reporters. French President Francois Hollande voiced his sympathy for the victims’ families and said “everything would be done” to find out what caused the fire.

The investigation will focus on whether building safety rules were respected at the bar, particularly in relation to fire exits and flammable materials. Under French building regulations, polystyrene panels are banned from use on ceilings, and bars like the Au Cuba Libre must be equipped with at least one portable fire extinguisher. But a source at the crisis cell of the interior ministry said that “unfortunately there are always people who try to get round the rules between safety inspections, which are sometimes pre-planned, sometimes unannounced”. Deputy prosecutor Labadie said autopsies on the victims would be carried out next week. The bar, in a busy part of town and no more than 200 metres (yards) from the River Seine was very popular with young people.

“It was more than a bar, it was family,” said one 20-year-old who gave his name as Willy, standing disconsolately outside the building’s ruined facade. “It’s where we went to be all together,” he added. The mother of an 18-year-old girl who died in the blaze said she had asked her daughter not to go to the party. “But she didn’t listen” the weeping woman explained, adding that her daughter had wanted to become a nurse.

– ‘Afraid was another attack’ –

The blaze in Rouen was France’s deadliest since September 2005 when an apartment building fire in the Paris suburb of L’Hay-les-Roses killed 18 people. It is the highest death toll in a French night spot fire since November 1970, when a blaze at a disco in the east of the country claimed the lives of 146 people, most in their early 20s.

France is on edge after a series of attacks by Islamic State-affiliated jihadists, including the killing of an 85-year-old priest in nearby Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray. “I was afraid that it was another attack, but right away I was told that it was an accident,” witness Rachid Ahmaymi, 36, told AFP.

 “Still I didn’t sleep last night and have come back to hear the latest news.” The priest’s funeral was held in Rouen’s cathedral. The church attack came less than two weeks after another assailant ploughed a 19-tonne truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the Riviera city of Nice, killing 85 people and wounding more than 300 others.

(AFP)