Pope likens abortion to Nazi eugenics
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis denounced abortion Saturday as the “white glove” equivalent of the Nazi-era eugenics program and urged families to accept the children that God gives them.
Thepope spoke off-the-cuff toa meeting of an Italian family association, ditching his preparedremarks to speak fromthe heart about families andthe trials they undergo. Helamented how some coupleschoose not to have any children,while others resort to pre-natal testing to see if theirbaby has any malformationsor genetic problems.
“The first proposal in such a case is, ‘Do we get rid of it?’” Pope Francis said. “The murder of children. To have an easy life, they get rid of an innocent.”
Japan for denuclearization
TOKYO — Regarding the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, agreed to at the U.S.-North Korea summit, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Saturday that the government would help bear the expense related to the denuclearization, but pointed out that the process requires verification by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
But regarding the issue of giving economic assistance to North Korea, he said, “Unless the abduction issue is resolved, Japan will not provide economic assistance.”
Chinese claims on Taiwan
BEIJING— A demand by China that all air carriers worldwide refer to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau on online maps and drop-down menus as Chinese territories — not as independent regions — is being ignored by the U.S.’s biggest airlines.
The order from Beijing came in May, and dozens of foreign-based carriers have already fallen in line. The Associated Press confirmed that 20 carriers, including Air Canada, British Airways and Lufthansa, were referring to Taiwan as a part of China on their global websites. Among those carriers that continue to include the name “Taiwan” on their maps or list of destinations are American, Delta, United and Hawaiian Airlines.
Chinaclaims democratic Taiwanas part of its territory, butthe two have been ruled separatelysince the Chinese civilwar of the 1940s. China hasyet to say what punishmentit may impose on airlinesthat defy its order.
Stampede kills 17 at party
MEDELLIN ,Colombia — Atleast 17 people were killed ina stampede during a graduationparty at a nightclub in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, a uthorities said Saturday.
Néstor Reverol, the country’s interior minister, said on state television that the deaths occurred in the early morning when a fight broke out at the nightclub, El Paraíso, and someone set off a tear-gas canister.
Seven suspects were arrested, state television reported. The club has been closed and its owner arrested on suspicion of not checking patrons for weapons, which is a crime.
Python swallows woman
PERSIAPANLAWELA, Indonesia— For the second time in just over a year, an Indonesian villa ger has been swallowedby a python.
Wa Tiba, 54, left her home on Muna Island to visit her cornfield Thursday night, according to the Jakarta Post.
About100 people from the villageof Persiapan Lawela combedthe fields to look for herwhen she did not return bysunrise. They found the snakea few dozen yards from Ms.Tiba’s belongings. It was 23feet long and so bloated witha long bulge midway thatit could barely move.
A man knelt and carefully cut across the bulge with a machete. He parted the snake flesh, and Ms. Tiba lay intact inside the snake, clothed just as she had when she went to check the corn.
The snakes normally feed on smaller mammals. Attacks on humans are supposed to be as rare as winning the lottery and being struck by lightning at the same time, according to a Washington Post report. In Indonesia, however, two people have now lost to those odds.