AUSTRALIAN ARCHBISHOP CONVICTED OF SEXUAL ABUSE COVERUP RESIGNS

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis on Monday accepted the resignation of an Australian archbishop convicted in criminal court of covering up the sexual abuse of children by a priest, taking action after coming under mounting pressure from ordinary Catholics, priests and even the Australian prime minister. Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson was convicted in May of failing to report to police the repeated abuse of two altar boys by a pedophile priest in the Hunter Valley region north of Sydney during the 1970s. He became the highest-ranking Catholic cleric ever convicted in a criminal court of abuse cover-up. In a one-line statement on Monday, the Vatican said Francis had accepted Wilson’s resignation.

Democrat committee CEO vows victories across US

WASHINGTON: Indian-american Seema Nanda, who took over as the CEO of the opposition Democratic National Committee, has vowed to fight for the “soul of the country” and ensure the victory of Democrats in every corner of the US in the crucial upcoming mid-term elections. “We are fighting now for the soul of our country -- for our democracy and for opportunity,” Nanda, the first Indian- American ever to be the Chief Executive Officer of either the Democratic National Committee or the Republican National Committee took over reigns of the main opposition party last week on July 23.

14 killed in Vietnam wedding party car crash

HANOI : Fourteen members of the same family were killed in a car crash in central Vietnam on Monday enroute to a wedding party, including the groom who died instantly when their van hit a container truck, police said.

AP

Russia link probe: Former Trump aide set to go on trial

WASHINGTON: Paul Manafort on Tuesday will become the first of President Donald Trump’s former aides to go on trial, accused of bank and tax fraud by investigators probing Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Prosecutors are expected to argue that Manafort’s lavish spending did not match the he income declared and that he misled lenders when he borrowed millions against New York real estate. REUTERS

Somalia, Eritrea agree to establish diplomatic ties

NAIROBI: The presidents of Somalia and Eritrea on Monday signed an agreement to establish diplomatic ties after over a decade of animosity. “The two countries will establish diplomatic relations and exchange ambassadors,” said a “joint declaration on brotherly relations” signed in Asmara by Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Somali counterpart Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed.