Pope reaches Thailand, begins 7-day Asia trip
Reuters, Bangkok
Pope Francis arrived in Thailand on Wednesday to meet with the country’s small but devoted Catholic minority on a seven-day Asian trip that will include a family reunion in Bangkok and take his anti-nuclear message to Japan.
The pope’s plane touched down outside Bangkok around midday for a visit that coincides with the 350th anniversary of the first papal mission in Siam, the former name of Thailand.
Son of former German President stabbed to death
AFP, Frankfurt Am Main
An assailant has stabbed to death the son of former German president Richard von Weizsaecker in attack at a Berlin hospital that left one other person seriously injured, police said Wednesday.
The motive for the attack on Fritz von Weizsaecker, 59, on Tuesday evening was unclear.
Von Weizsaecker, a doctor, had just delivered a lecture on liver diseases at the Schlosspark hospital in the western Berlin neighbourhood of Charlottenburg when he was stabbed, a police spokesman said.
Philippines bans ‘toxic’ vaping
Reuters, Manila
Just hours after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced he would ban e-cigarette use, police were ordered on Wednesday to begin arresting people caught vaping in public and to confiscate the devices.
The abrupt prohibition, revealed by Duterte late Tuesday, adds to a growing global backlash against a product once promoted as less harmful than smoking.
Duterte called the devices “toxic” and said vaping introduced “chemicals” into the user’s body.
Afghan woman ambassador forms group to help Afghan women
AP, United Nations
Afghanistan’s first female ambassador to the United Nations has started a U.N. group to protect the rights Afghan women gained after the Taliban was ousted from power 18 years ago, amid fresh efforts to rekindle talks with the fundamentalist group to end the country’s long-running war.
Adela Raz told reporters Tuesday she is “not totally certain” women’s rights will be included in future talks with the Taliban, which is a key reason she spearheaded formation of the Group of Friends of Women in Afghanistan.
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