Pope speaks of ‘shame’ for humanity

ROME — Thousands of people endured exceptionally tight anti-terrorism checks to pray at the Good Friday procession at the Colosseum, where Pope Francis expressed shame over humanity’s failings.

After the 90-minute procession, the pope read a prayer he composed that alternated expressing shame for humanity’s failings and hope that “hardened hearts” will become capable of forgiving and loving.

Such shame, he said, derives from “all those images of devastation, destruction, shipwrecks, that have become routine in our lives.” Hundreds of thousands of migrants have endured hardships at the hands of human traffickers to try to reach Europe, which has increasingly been rejecting them, and thousands have perished at sea during the last few years.

U.S. aid defended

BIDI BIDI CAMP, Uganda — Face-to-face with victims of South Sudan’s famine and civil war, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee strongly supported U.S. foreign aid on Friday despite President Donald Trump’s proposed deep cuts in humanitarian assistance.

Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee visited the world’s fastest-growing refugee crisis in northern Uganda, just across the border from South Sudan.

Without “U.S. leadership, these people would have no hope,” Mr. Corker told The Associated Press. “I think Americans, if they saw what I see here, and I see in other places, would be glad that our country does what it does.”

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds significant sway over the foreign budget, and the proposed cuts almost certainly would need Corker’s approval.

The U.S. is the world’s largest provider of humanitarian assistance, but the Trump administration has thrown such funding into doubt. At the same time, Mr. Trump wants to boost military spending.

British student slain

JERUSALEM — A British exchange student was fatally stabbed Friday by a Palestinian attacker just steps from Jerusalem’s Old City, where thousands of Jews and Christians gathered for religious holidays at one of the busiest times of the year, officials said.

The student, identified as Hannah Bladon, 21, was treated for stab wounds in a hospital and later died, police said.

Israel’s Shin Bet security agency named the suspected attacker as 57-yearold Jamal Tamimi from East Jerusalem, a mostly Arab area. They said he had mental health issues.

Vandalism hits Japan

Pillars, gates and other property at six locations in Japan, including temples and shrines across Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara and Okinawa prefectures, have been vandalized with an oil-like liquid. There was a similar series of occurrences in 2015.

A special squad of the Metropolitan Police Department is conducting a full-scale probe on the theory that the perpetrator could be a copycat criminal who is imitating the incidents from two years ago.

On April 3, the Cultural Affairs Agency required prefectural boards of education to take thorough measures to prevent crimes against cultural assets. Temples and shrines have since been on higher alert.