CP Foods pledges to improve free antibiotic meat products

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5 January 2023, 14:34

Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited (CP Foods) moves toward a sustainable food system by emphasizing the animal welfare principle and responsible use of antibiotics throughout food value chains, as well as by applying cutting-edge technology and innovation. This effort aims to improve animal health in order to reduce antibiotic resistance in food products, paving the way for a more sustainable food system.

Dr. Damnoen Chaturavittawong, DVM, Senior Vice President – Swine Veterinary Service Department of CPF, stated that the company has prioritized the acceleration of food safety standards and environmentally friendly value chain. At animal husbandry, CP Foods has raised its animals, including hogs, poultry, and layers, in a climate-controlled, closed facility that has been certified by the Department of Livestock Development ‘s GAP standards. The company uses antimicrobials and antibiotics with care and consideration for all factors, including food safety, antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial residues, animal welfare, sustainability, and consumer preferences, in accordance with WHO’s One Health principle recognizing the good health of people, animals, and the environment and aligned with its antimicrobial use stewardship in Food animals.

“Animal Welfare management is the essential strategy for quality control and food safety in order to improve animal health and thus reduce antibiotic use for treatment.” In addition, CP Foods has partnered with Thailand’s leading university to identify the risks and discover the solutions to prevent antibiotic resistance in food products and the environment, according to Dr. Damnoen.

The company has prioritized the use of automation systems and modern technologies to increase the efficiency of animal farming operations, as well as conducting research and developing new or more effective methods to ensure safety and chemical-free food products. The company was successful in developing meat products fed with innovative probiotics that are without antibiotic-resistant genes. The Company’s premium products, “Cheeva Pork” and “Benja Chicken”, are also certified by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) as being 100% grown without the use of antibiotics or additional growth hormones.

In addition, the company ensures the safety of its products by conducting in-house and third-party inspections throughout the production process and trace back to their origins. CP Foods also employed blockchain technology to improve the integrity of a massive quantity of data. The innovative method provides effective animal welfare monitoring and promotes the transparency of antibiotic resistance gene assessment on farms.

CP Foods is committed to the responsible use of antimicrobials in animal husbandry, in accordance with the Department of Livestock Development’s goal to reduce antimicrobial use in animal husbandry throughout Thailand. This initiative aims to expand consumer access to safe, antibiotics-free goods and to boost the competitiveness of the Thai food industry in international level.

Beds Run Out at Beijing Hospital as COVID Brings More Sick

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Associated Press

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5 January 2023, 12:30

A man pushes an elderly woman past patients receiving intravenous drips in the emergency ward of a hospital, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. Photo: Andy Wong / AP

BEIJING (AP) — Patients, most of them elderly, are lying on stretchers in hallways and taking oxygen while sitting in wheelchairs as COVID-19 surges in China’s capital Beijing.

The Chuiyangliu hospital in the city’s east was packed with newly arrived patients on Thursday. By midmorning beds had run out, even as ambulances continued to bring those in need.

Hard-pressed nurses and doctors rushed to take information and triage the most urgent cases.

The surge in severely ill people needing hospital care follows China abandonment of its most severe pandemic restrictions last month after nearly three years of lockdowns, travels bans and school closures that weighed heavily on the economy and prompted street protests not seen since the late 1980s.

It also comes as the the European Union on Wednesday “strongly encouraged” its member states to impose pre-departure COVID-19 testing of passengers from China.

Over the past week, EU nations have reacted with a variety of restrictions toward travelers from China, disregarding an earlier commitment to act in unity.

Italy — where the pandemic first exacted a heavy toll in Europe in early 2020 — was the first EU member to require coronavirus tests for airline passengers coming from China, but France and Spain quickly followed with their own measures. That followed the imposition by the U.S. of a requirement that all passengers from China show a negative test result obtained in the previous 48 hours before departure.

China has warned of “countermeasures” if such policies were to be imposed across the bloc.

Still, World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday he was concerned about the lack of outbreak data from the Chinese government.

China has sought to get more of its elderly population vaccinated, but those efforts have been hampered by past scandals involving fake medications and previous warnings about adverse reactions to the vaccines among older people.

China’s domestically developed vaccines are also considered less effective than the mRNA jabs used elsewhere.

Thousands Pour Into St. Peter’s for Funeral of Benedict XVI

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Associated Press

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5 January 2023, 12:00

FILE - Former Taiwan's Vice-President Chen Chien-jen, second from left, prays in front of the body of late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, his head resting on a pair of crimson pillows, lying in state in St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023. Photo: Antonio Calanni / AP File

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Mourners poured into St. Peter’s Square early Thursday for the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, hoping to pay final respects to the German theologian who made history by retiring and participate in a rare requiem Mass for a dead pope presided over by a living one.

Thick fog enshrouded the Vatican before dawn as civil protection crews and police manned metal detectors and barricades to herd well-wishers into the square. Police estimated some 100,000 would attend, higher than an original estimate of 60,000, Italian media reported, citing police security plans.

Francis is due to preside over the funeral, an event drawing heads of state and royalty despite Benedict’s requests for simplicity and Vatican efforts to keep the first funeral for an emeritus pope in modern times low-key. Only Italy and Germany were invited to send official delegations, and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Italian President Sergio Mattarella confirmed their participation.

But other heads of state and government decided to take the Vatican up on its offer and come in their “private capacity.” They included several other heads of state, at least four prime ministers and two delegations of royal representatives.

The funeral rite calls for Benedict’s coffin to be carried out from the basilica and placed before the altar as the faithful recite the rosary. The ritual itself is modeled on the code used for dead popes but with some modifications given Benedict was not a reigning pope when he died.

After the Mass, Benedict’s cypress coffin is to be placed inside a zinc one, then an outer oak casket before being entombed in the crypt in the grottos underneath the basilica that once held the tomb of St. John Paul II before it was moved upstairs into the main basilica.

Some 200,000 paid tribute to Benedict during three days of public viewing in St. Peter’s Basilica, with one of the last ones Friar Rosario Vitale, who spent an hour praying by his body. He said Benedict had given him a special dispensation to begin the process of becoming a priest, which was required because of a physical disability.

“So today I came here to pray on his tomb, on his body and to say ‘thank you’ for my future priesthood, for my ministry,” he said. “I owe him a lot and this for me was really a gift to be able to pray for an hour on his bier.”

The former Joseph Ratzinger, who died Dec. 31 at age 95, is considered one of the 20th century’s greatest theologians and spent his lifetime upholding church doctrine. But he will go down in history for a singular, revolutionary act that changed the future of the papacy: He retired, the first pope in six centuries to do so.

Francis has praised Benedict’s courage in stepping aside when he believed he no longer had the strength to lead the church, saying it “opened the door” to other popes doing the same. Francis, for his part, recently said he has already left written instructions outlining the conditions in which he too would resign if he were to become incapacitated.

Benedict never intended his retirement to last as long as it did — at nearly 10 years it was longer than his eight-year pontificate. And the unprecedented situation of a retired pope living alongside a reigning one prompted calls for protocols to guide future popes emeritus to prevent any confusion about who is really in charge.

During St. John Paul II’s quarter-century as pope, the former Joseph Ratzinger spearheaded a crackdown on dissent as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, taking action against the left-leaning liberation theology that spread in Latin America in the 1970s and against dissenting theologians and nuns who didn’t toe the Vatican’s hard line on matters like sexual morals.

His legacy was marred by the clergy sexual abuse scandal, even though he recognized earlier than most the “filth” of priests who raped children, and actually laid the groundwork for the Holy See to punish them.

As cardinal and pope, he passed sweeping church legislation that resulted in 848 priests being defrocked from 2004-2014, roughly his pontificate with a year on either end. But abuse survivors still held him responsible for the crisis, for failing to sanction any bishop who moved abusers around and identifying him as embodying the clerical system that long protected the institution over victims.

“Any celebration that marks the life of abuse enablers like Benedict must end,” said the main U.S. survivor group SNAP.

While his funeral is novel, it does have some precedent: In 1802, Pope Pius VII presided over the funeral in St. Peter’s of his predecessor, Pius VI, who had died in exile in France in 1799 as a prisoner of Napoleon.

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Story: Nicole Winfield.

Spectacular 30,000 eco-friendly fireworks light up scenic Chao Phraya River as Thailand rings in the New Year at the Amazing Thailand Countdown 2023” at ICONSIAM

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Contributor

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4 January 2023, 15:44

ICONSIAM hosts marvelous New Year’s Eve celebration themed ‘Win the World for Thailand’

ICONSIAM in collaboration with the Tourism Authority of Thailand along with government agencies, private sectors, hotel operators and communities along the Chao Phraya joined forces to ring in the New Year with a world-class countdown celebration, the “Amazing Thailand Countdown 2023.” The Chao Phraya River has been recognized as a ‘global countdown destination’ and the one and only New Year’s Eve celebration landmark of Thailand. Th event was packed with entertainment from world-famous and leading Thai artists led by famous K-Pop artist Mark Tuan from GOT7, offering happiness and hope to the hearts of Thais and the world. Set against the majestic view of Chao Phraya River, the heart and soul and the most beautiful river of the nation, Thailand rang in the year of 2023 together at River Park, ICONSIAM. This is also the first full-scale celebration after the Covid-19 recovery.

The Amazing Thailand Countdown 2023 was a collaboration between ICONSIAM, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Charoen Pokphand Group, CP Food, 7-Eleven, True 5G, The ICONSIAM Superlux Residence Corporation Co., Ltd., Magnolia Quality Development Corporation Co., Ltd., and Cardx, alongside government agencies, hotel operators and the community along the Chao Phraya River. Joining forces were also partners from public and private sectors namely the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the Marine Department, the Royal Thai Navy, the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Trade of Thailand, Chao Phraya River Business Trade Association, Kadi Chin- Klong San Community Foundation, and the Photographic Society of Thailand under the royal patronage.

The highlight featured a magnificent display over 30,000 eco-friendly fireworks made from Thai sticky rice

That lit up over 1,400 meters along the majestic Chao Phraya River, marked as the most spectacular and longest firework show in Thailand above the Chao Phraya River. The fireworks were visible to millions in a five-kilometre radius. There were the first ‘Hybrid World Countdown,’ through ONESIAM SuperApp, featuring augmented reality (AR) technology enhancing viewers’ experiences that portrays the stories of the seven acts of the firework display. The new augmented reality was co-created by world-forefront firework master from Japan Okushi Yoshimasa and a Thai company recognized internationally Brother Pictures Co., Ltd. Themed ‘Win the World for Thailand,’ the firework extravaganza aimed to bring joy and hope to the hearts of Thai people the world.

The 7-act fireworks display at the “Amazing Thailand Countdown 2023” event consisted of:

Act 1, The Joy of Siam reflected the merry and vibrant way of live of Thais with traditions and performances that evoke smiles and happiness, even in the challenging times.

Act 2: Enchanting Land portrayed Thailand as the kingdom of fine craftsmanship, whether architecture, painting, handicrafts, fashion, or food, that are simple yet so exquisite.

Act 3: Eternal Prosperity was visualized through golden fireworks symbolizing golden rice field along with colorful fireworks representing the varieties Thai flavors and the abundance – In the water there are fish, in the fields there is rice.

Act 4 Heroic Spirit a grand firework showdown that reflects never-give-up spirit of Thai people, wading the obstacles, moving forward and ring in the New Year together full of hope.

Act 5 Sharing Possibilities passed on endless opportunities with green, gold, and colorful ring-shaped fireworks are the symbol of future, keeping up with the world, sharing and creating endless possibilities which will bring opportunities, equality, unity, and sustainability for a better tomorrow.

Act 6: Beautiful Harmon was a large set of white fireworks that gradually sprinkled like a large umbrella spread across the sky, symbolizing peace and unity and accepting difference among people of the nation.

Act 7 Win the world for Thailand Together portrayed the spirit Thai hearts. The fireworks featured colors of Thai national flag representing Thailand and decorated with various forms of fireworks, a collaboration of Thai hearts to ‘Win the World for Thailand.

ICONSIAM took pride in the collaboration with various sectors to host the world-class “ Amazing Thailand Countdown 2023,” to share the mesmerizing night with all Thais and the world to witness the beauty of the Chao Phraya River. The event were live broadcasted via Thai Rath TV Channel 32HD, online channels via Facebook ICONSIAM, Thai Rath Online, Khaosod and Matichon and TrueID application. In previous years the beauty of ‘Global Countdown Destination’ ICONSIAM was brought to the world through social media and global news agencies such as CNN, BBC, AP, Reuters, and ABC, etc., and all over the world. The world witnessed the beauty of the New Year Eve night on the Chao Phraya River, the heart and soul of Thai , that created a memorable memories. It also stimulates tourism and the Thai economy, given that it’s the first year of post-COVID-19 recovery.

#AmazingThailandCountdown2023 #ICONSIAMxMarkTuan #ICONSIAM

Pelé Buried at Cemetery in Brazilian City He Made Famous

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Associated Press

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4 January 2023, 10:30

The casket of late Brazilian soccer great Pele is draped in the Brazilian and Santos FC soccer club flags as his remains are transported from Vila Belmiro stadium, where he laid in state, to the cemetery during his funeral procession in Santos, Brazil, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. Photo: Matias Delacroix / AP

SANTOS, Brazil (AP) — Brazil said a final farewell to Pelé on Tuesday, burying the legend who unified the bitterly divided country.

Newly inaugurated President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva paid his respects at Vila Belmiro, the stadium where Pelé played for most of his career.

Pelé died last week at age 82 and was laid to rest in Santos, the city where he became famous after moving there at age 15 to play for Santos FC. The funeral Mass was held at the team’s Vila Belmiro stadium before his black casket was driven through the streets of the of Santos in a firetruck.

It was taken into the cemetery as bands played the team’s official song and a Roman Catholic hymn. Before the golden-wrapped casket arrived, attendees sang samba songs that Pelé liked.

Some Brazilian soccer legends weren’t there.

“Where’s Ronaldo Nazario? Where’s Kaká, where’s Neymar?” asked Claudionor Alves, 67, who works at a bakery next to the stadium. “Do they think they will be remembered like Pelé will? These guys didn’t want to stop their vacations, that’s the problem.”

Geovana Sarmento, 17, waited in a three-hour line to view Pelé’s body as it lay in repose. She came with her father, who was wearing a Brazil shirt with Pelé’s name.

“I am not a Santos fan, neither is my father. But this guy invented Brazil’s national team. He made Santos stronger, he made it big, how could you not respect him? He is one of the greatest people ever, we needed to honor him,” she said.

Caio Zalke, 35, an engineer, wore a Brazil shirt as he waited in the line.

“Pelé is the most important Brazilian of all time. He made the sport important for Brazil and he made Brazil important for the world,” Zalke said.

Pelé in the 1960s and 1970s was perhaps the world’s most famous athlete. He met presidents and queens, and a civil war in Nigeria was put on hold so people could watch him play. Many Brazilians credit Pelé with putting the country on the world stage for the first time.

Rows of shirts with Pelé’s No. 10 were placed behind one of the stadium’s goals, waving in the city’s summer winds. A section of the stands filled up with bouquets of flowers placed by mourners and sent by clubs and star players — Neymar and Ronaldo among them — from around the world as loudspeakers played the song “Eu sou Pelé” (“I am Pelé”) recorded by him.

The crowd was mostly local, although some came from far away, and many mourners were too young ever to have seen Pelé play. The mood was light, as people filtered out of the stadium to local bars, wearing Santos FC and Brazil shirts.

Claudio Carrança, 32, a salesman, said: “I never saw him play, but loving Pelé is a tradition that goes from father to son in Santos. I learned his history, saw his goals, and I see how Santos FC is important because he is important. I know some Santos fans have children supporting other teams. But that’s just because they never saw Pelé in action. If they had, they would feel this gratitude I feel now.”

Among those at the stadium was Pelé’s best friend Manoel Maria, also a former Santos player.

“If I had all the wealth in the world I would never be able to repay what this man did for me and my family,” Maria said. “He was as great a man as he was as a player — the best of all time. His legacy will outlive us all. And that can be seen in this long line with people of all ages here.”

FIFA President Gianni Infantino told journalists that every country should name a stadium after Pelé.

“I am here with a lot of emotion, sadness, but also with a smile because he gave us so many smiles,” Infantino said. “As FIFA, we will pay a tribute to the ‘King’ and we ask the whole world to observe a minute of silence.”

Another fan and friend in line was Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes.

“It is a very sad moment, but we are now seeing the real meaning of this legendary player to our country,” Mendes told journalists. “My office has shirts signed by Pelé, a picture of him as a goalkeeper, also signed by him. DVDs, photos, a big collection of him.”

Pelé had undergone treatment for colon cancer since 2021. The medical center where he had been hospitalized said he died of multiple organ failure as a result of the cancer.

Pelé led Brazil to World Cup titles in 1958, 1962 and 1970 and remains one of the team’s all-time leading scorers with 77 goals. Neymar tied Pelé’s record during this year’s World Cup in Qatar.

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Story: Mauricio Savarese.

EU, Beijing Heading for Collision Over China’s COVID Crisis

By

Associated Press

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4 January 2023, 10:00

Airport staff wait from passengers coming from China in front of a COVID-19 testing area set at the Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport, north of Paris, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023. Photo: Aurelien Morissard / AP

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union and China on Tuesday moved closer to a political standoff over the COVID-19 crisis, with Beijing vehemently rejecting travel restrictions some EU nations have started to impose that could be expanded in coming days.

An EU offer of help, including vaccine donations, was also as good as slapped down, with Beijing insisting the situation was “under control” and medical provisions “in adequate supply,” government spokesperson Mao Ning said.

And as the 27-nation bloc moved closer to imposing some sort of restrictions on travelers from China, Beijing threatened countermeasures.

“We are firmly opposed to attempts to manipulate the COVID measures for political purposes and will take countermeasures based on the principle of reciprocity,” Mao said.

Still, the EU seemed bent on taking some sort of joint action to ensure incoming passengers from China would not transmit any potential new variants to the continent.

A special EU health security committee joining representatives from the EU member nations discussed potential measures Tuesday, and EU spokesman Tim McPhie said that “the overwhelming majority of countries are in favor of pre-departure testing” in China.

Sweden, which holds the EU presidency, also said in a statement that “travelers from China need to be prepared for decisions being taken at short notice.”

Fearful of being caught unawares like at the outset of the global pandemic in early 2020, the EU Integrated Political Crisis Response group is now set on Wednesday to decide whether to impose EU-wide entry requirements from China.

Several member nations announced individual efforts over the past week. At the same time, the EU’s European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control insisted that the situation in China didn’t pose an immediate overall health threat.

“The variants circulating in China are already circulating in the EU, and as such are not challenging for the immune response” of EU citizens, it said in its latest impact study published Tuesday. Other scientists have also said limits on travel would have little impact on containing the disease, but they also insisted on the value of looking for potential variants not in Europe at the moment.

Over the past week, EU nations reacted in a chaotic cascade of national measures to the crisis in China, disregarding an earlier commitment to act in unity before anything else.

Italy was the first EU member in requiring coronavirus tests for airline passengers coming from China, but several others have said such measures might not be the best option to protect local populations since new variants now coming from China have already been around in Europe, often for many months.

France, Spain and Italy have already announced independent measures to implement tougher COVID-19 rules for passengers arriving from China.

France’s government is requiring negative tests, and is urging French citizens to avoid nonessential travel to China. France is also reintroducing mask requirements on flights from China to France.

Spain’s government said it would require all air passengers coming from China to have negative tests or proof of vaccination.

The United States has announced new testing requirements for all travelers from China, joining some Asian nations that had imposed restrictions because of a surge of infections.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that “there’s no cause for retaliation” by Beijing for countries “taking prudent health measures to protect their citizens” with COVID related travel restrictions on travelers coming from China. She said restrictions were “based on public health and science.”

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Story: Raf Casert. AP video producer Liu Zheng contributed from Beijing.

Floods in Philippines Leave 51 Dead, Over a Dozen Missing

By

Associated Press

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3 January 2023, 11:30

In this image provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, an elderly woman sits on a chair while being carried by coast guard personnel wading through floodwaters in Plaridel, Misamis Occidental province in the southern Philippines, Monday, Dec. 26, 2022. Photo: Philippine Coast Guard via AP

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Thousands of people in the Philippines remained in emergency shelters in the wake of devastating Christmas flooding, as the death toll climbed to 51 with 19 missing, authorities said Monday.

Images showed residents in southern Misamis Occidental province sweeping away thick mud from the floors of their homes. In the seaside village of Cabol-anonan, coconut trees were uprooted and huts made of light material were nearly flattened.

The Northern Mindanao region bore the brunt of the disaster, reporting 25 deaths, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Most of the deaths were from drowning and landslides, and among the missing were fishermen whose boats capsized.

Floods have subsided in most parts, but more than 8,600 people were still in shelters.

Over 4,500 houses were damaged by the floods, along with roads and bridges, and some areas still struggle with disrupted power and water supply, the disaster management agency said.

Ivy Amor Amparo, a hospital worker from Ginoog city in Misamis Oriental province, said that the seaside home of her parents and siblings was damaged by big waves and uprooted trees. Rescuers ferried the mother of two and her relatives in a truck to a nearby shelter, where they spent the Christmas weekend.

She said her father bought materials using the 5,000 pesos ($90) cash aid from the local government to build a temporary shelter for the household, whose seven members are now miserably cramped in the small living room of the damaged house.

“Their things are still with the neighbor and some in our house,” Amparo told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “When they need to take a bath at the community water pump, they have to get their clothes from the neighbor’s house.”

Officials said the government sent food and other essentials, deployed heavy equipment for clearing operations, and provided iron sheets and shelter repair kits. Teams from the capital Manila were sent to assist communities with limited clean water in setting up water filtration systems.

At least 22 cities and municipalities have declared a state of calamity. The move will allow the release of emergency funds and hasten rehabilitation efforts.

A shear line — the point where warm and cold air meet — triggered heavy rains in parts of the country last week, causing the floods, the state weather bureau said.

Helicopters Collide Over Australian Beach, 4 People Dead

By

Associated Press

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3 January 2023, 11:00

Two cashed helicopters sit on the sand at a collision scene near Seaworld, on the Gold Coast, Australia, Monday, Jan. 2, 2023. Photo: Dave Hunt / AAP Image via AP

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Two helicopters collided in an Australian tourist hotspot Monday afternoon, killing four people and critically injuring three others in a crash that drew emergency aid from beachgoers enjoying the water during the southern summer.

One helicopter was taking off and the other landing when they collided near the Sea World theme park in Main Beach, a northern beach on the Gold Coast, Gary Worrell, Queensland state police acting inspector, said at a news conference.

One helicopter landed safely on a sandbank, but debris from the other was spread across an area police described as difficult to access.

The dead and three most seriously injured people were all in the crashed helicopter. The pilot was killed and three of its six passengers.

“Members of the public and police tried to remove the people and they commenced first aid and tried to get those people to safety from an airframe that was upside down,” Worrell said.

“(People on) Jet Skis, family boaters, ordinary members of the public rushed to assist these people.”

Passengers in the other helicopter, which lost its windscreen in the crash, also received medical assistance.

Footage of the crash showed a helicopter shortly after takeoff being clipped by another helicopter flying over the water.

Sea World Helicopters, a separate company from the theme park, expressed its condolences and said it was cooperating with the authorities handling the crash investigation.

“We and the entire flying community are devastated by what has happened and our sincere condolences go to all those involved and especially the loved ones and family of the deceased,” the statement said.

The company operated both helicopters. It said in the statement it would not comment further because of the investigation.

A witness named John told Melbourne radio station 3AW that patrons at Sea World heard the crash.

He said staff at the theme park moved swiftly to close off areas closest to the crash.

“There was a massive, massive bang,” he said. “It was just huge. I’m not sure if it was the propellers or whatever hitting against each other. But there was this poor lady and her son near the helipad in tears.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the accident was an “unthinkable tragedy.

“My deepest sympathies are with each of the families and everyone affected by this terrible accident,” she said.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said an investigation into the cause of the crash was underway.

The Gold Coast region is at its busiest in January, the peak time for holidays in Australia’s summer.

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Story: Courtney Walsh.

Benedict XVI, First Pope To Retire in 600 Years, Dies at 95

By

Associated Press

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31 December 2022, 20:00

FILE - Pope Benedict XVI blesses the faithful as he arrives in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican to bless the nativity scene on Dec. 31, 2011. Photo: Pier Paolo Cito / AP File

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the shy German theologian who tried to reawaken Christianity in a secularized Europe but will forever be remembered as the first pontiff in 600 years to resign from the job, died Saturday. He was 95.

Benedict stunned the world on Feb. 11, 2013, when he announced, in his typical, soft-spoken Latin, that he no longer had the strength to run the 1.2 billion-strong Catholic Church that he had steered for eight years through scandal and indifference.

His dramatic decision paved the way for the conclave that elected Francis as his successor. The two popes then lived side-by-side in the Vatican gardens, an unprecedented arrangement that set the stage for future “popes emeritus” to do the same.

And it set the stage for a reigning pope to celebrate the funeral Mass for a retired one. The Vatican announced that Francis would preside over the funeral Thursday in St. Peter’s Square.

A statement from Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni on Saturday morning said that: “With sorrow I inform you that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesia Monastery in the Vatican.”

The former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had never wanted to be pope, planning at age 78 to spend his final years writing in the “peace and quiet” of his native Bavaria.

Instead, he was forced to follow the footsteps of the beloved St. John Paul II and run the church through the fallout of the clerical sex abuse scandal and then a second scandal that erupted when his own butler stole his personal papers and gave them to a journalist.

Being elected pope, he once said, felt like a “guillotine” had come down on him.

Nevertheless, he set about the job with a single-minded vision to rekindle the faith in a world that, he frequently lamented, seemed to think it could do without God.

“In vast areas of the world today, there is a strange forgetfulness of God,” he told 1 million young people gathered on a vast field for his first foreign trip as pope, to World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany, in 2005. “It seems as if everything would be just the same even without him.”

With some decisive, often controversial moves, he tried to remind Europe of its Christian heritage. And he set the Catholic Church on a conservative, tradition-minded path that often alienated progressives. He relaxed the restrictions on celebrating the old Latin Mass and launched a crackdown on American nuns, insisting that the church stay true to its doctrine and traditions in the face of a changing world. It was a path that in many ways was reversed by his successor, Francis, whose mercy-over-morals priorities alienated the traditionalists who had been so indulged by Benedict.

Benedict’s style couldn’t have been more different from that of John Paul or Francis. No globe-trotting media darling or populist, Benedict was a teacher, theologian and academic to the core: quiet and pensive with a fierce mind. He spoke in paragraphs, not soundbites. He had a weakness for orange Fanta as well as his beloved library; when he was elected pope, he had his entire study moved — as is — from his apartment just outside the Vatican walls into the Apostolic Palace. The books followed him to his retirement home.

Like his predecessor John Paul, Benedict made reaching out to Jews a hallmark of his papacy.

In his 2011 book, “Jesus of Nazareth,” Benedict made a sweeping exoneration of the Jewish people for the death of Christ.

Yet Benedict also offended some Jews who were incensed at his constant defense of and promotion toward sainthood of Pope Pius XII, the World War II-era pope accused by some of having failed to sufficiently denounce the Holocaust.

Benedict’s relations with the Muslim world were also a mixed bag. He riled Muslims with a speech in September 2006 — five years after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States — in which he quoted a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as “evil and inhuman,” particularly his command to spread the faith “by the sword.”

But Benedict’s legacy was irreversibly colored by the global eruption in 2010 of the sex abuse scandal, even though as a cardinal he was responsible for turning the Vatican around on the issue.

Benedict had firsthand knowledge of the scope of the problem, since his old office — the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which he had headed since 1982 — was responsible for dealing with abuse cases.

And once he became pope, Benedict essentially reversed his beloved predecessor, John Paul, by taking action against the 20th century’s most notorious pedophile priest, the Rev. Marcial Maciel.

In October 2012, Benedict’s former butler, Paolo Gabriele, was convicted of aggravated theft after Vatican police found a huge stash of papal documents in his apartment.

Once the “Vatileaks” scandal was resolved, including with a papal pardon of Gabriele, Benedict felt free to take the extraordinary decision that he had hinted at previously: He announced that he would resign rather than die in office as all his predecessors had done for almost six centuries.

“After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths due to an advanced age are no longer suited” to the demands of being the pope, he told cardinals.

He made his last public appearances in February 2013 and then boarded a helicopter to the papal summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo, to sit out the conclave in private. Benedict then largely kept to his word that he would live a life of prayer in retirement.

Born April 16, 1927, in Marktl Am Inn, in Bavaria, Benedict wrote in his memoirs of being enlisted in the Nazi youth movement against his will in 1941, when he was 14 and membership was compulsory. He deserted the German army in April 1945, the waning days of the war.

Benedict was ordained, along with his brother, Georg, in 1951. After spending several years teaching theology in Germany, he was appointed bishop of Munich in 1977 and elevated to cardinal three months later by Pope Paul VI.

His brother Georg was a frequent visitor to the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo until he died in 2020. His sister died years previously. His “papal family” consisted of Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, his longtime private secretary who was always by his side, another secretary and consecrated women who tended to the papal apartment.

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Story: Nicole Winfield.

Court in Myanmar Again Finds Suu Kyi Guilty of Corruption

By

Associated Press

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30 December 2022, 13:30

BANGKOK (AP) — A court in military-ruled Myanmar on Friday convicted the country’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi of corruption, sentencing her to seven years in prison in the last of a string of criminal cases against her, a legal official said.

The court’s action leaves her with a total of 33 years to serve in prison following a series of politically tinged prosecutions since the army toppled her elected government in February 2021.

The case that ended Friday involved five offenses under the anti-corruption law and followed earlier convictions on seven other corruption counts, each of which was punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a fine.

The 77-year-old Suu Kyi has also been convicted of several other offenses, including illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, violating coronavirus restrictions, breaching the country’s official secrets act, sedition and election fraud.

All her previous convictions had landed her with a total of 26 years’ imprisonment.

Suu Kyi’s supporters and independent analysts say the numerous charges against her and her allies are an attempt to legitimize the military’s seizure of power while eliminating her from politics before an election it has promised for next year.

In the five counts of corruption decided Friday, Suu Kyi was alleged to have abused her position and caused a loss of state funds by neglecting to follow financial regulations in granting permission to Win Myat Aye, a Cabinet member in her former government, to hire, buy and maintain a helicopter.

Suu Kyi was the de facto head of government, holding the title of state counsellor. Win Myint, who was president in her government, was a co-defendant in the same case.

Friday’s verdict in the purpose-built courtroom in the main prison on the outskirts of the capital, Naypyitaw, was made known by a legal official who insisted on anonymity for fear of being punished by the authorities. The trial was closed to the media, diplomats and spectators, and her lawyers were barred by a gag order from talking about it.

The legal official said Suu Kyi received sentences of three years for each of four charges, to be served concurrently, and four years for the charge related to the helicopter purchase, for a total of seven years. Win Myint received the same sentences.

The defendants denied all the charges, and her lawyers are expected to appeal in the coming days.

The end of the court cases against Suu Kyi, at least for now, raises the possibility that she would be allowed outside visitors, which she has been denied since she was detained.

The military government has repeatedly denied all requests to meet with her, including from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which seeks to help mediate an end to the crisis in Myanmar that some U.N. experts have characterized as a civil war because of the armed opposition to military rule.

The U.N. announced after its special envoy, Noeleen Heyzer, met in August with Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of Myanmar’s military-installed government, that he “expressed openness to arranging a meeting at the right time” between her and Suu Kyi.

A statement from the military government said: ”Depending on the circumstances after the completion of the judiciary process, we will consider how to proceed.”

Suu Kyi is currently being held in a newly constructed separate building in the prison in Naypyitaw, near the courthouse where her trial was held, with three policewomen whose duty is to assist her.

Allowing access to Suu Kyi has been a major demand of the many international critics of Myanmar’s military rulers, who have faced diplomatic and political sanctions for their human rights abuses and suppression of democracy.

State-controlled media reported last year that Win Myat Aye, the figure at the center of the corruption case that ended Friday, used the rented helicopter for only 84.95 hours between 2019 and 2021, but paid for a total of 720 flight hours, which resulted in a loss of more than $3.5 million in funds.

The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said he also allegedly failed to follow official procedures in buying the state-owned helicopter, resulting in a further loss of 23 billion Myanmar Kyat ($11 million).

Win Myat Aye is now Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management in the National Unity Government established as a parallel administration by elected legislators who were barred from taking their seats when the military seized power last year. The military has declared NUG to be an outlawed “terrorist organization.”

Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar’s martyred independence hero Gen. Aung San, spent almost 15 years as a political prisoner under house arrest between 1989 and 2010.

Her tough stand against the military rule in Myanmar turned her into a symbol of nonviolent struggle for democracy, and won her the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.

Her National League for Democracy party initially came to power after easily winning the 2015 general election, ushering in a true civilian government for the first time since a 1962 military coup.

But after coming to power, Suu Kyi was criticized for showing deference to the military while ignoring atrocities it is credibly accused of committing in a 2017 crackdown on the Muslim Rohingya minority.

Her National League for Democracy won a landslide victory again in the 2020 election, but less than three months afterwards, elected lawmakers were kept from taking their seats in Parliament and top members of her government and party were detained.

The army said it acted because there had been massive voting fraud in the 2020 election, but independent election observers did not find any major irregularities.

The army’s takeover in 2021 triggered widespread peaceful protests that security forces tried to crush with deadly forces and that soon erupted into armed resistance.

According to a detailed list compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a non-governmental organization that tracks killings and arrests, Myanmar security forces have killed at least 2,685 civilians and arrested 16,651.

On Wednesday last week, the U.N. Security Council called on Myanmar’s military rulers to release all “arbitrarily detained” prisoners including Suu Kyi in its first resolution on the situation in Myanmar since the army’s seizure of power.

The U.N. resolution also calls for an immediate end to violence in Myanmar and urges all parties in the country to work on starting a dialogue and reconciliation aimed at peacefully resolving the crisis.

Myanmar’s foreign ministry retorted that the situation in the Southeast Asian country solely concerns internal affairs that pose no risk to international peace and security.

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Story: Grant Peck.

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