Nation & World Glance
ASSOCIATED PRESS Pope presides over Easter Vigil, delivers 10-minute homily after skipping Good Friday at last minute
ROME – Pope Francis presided over the Vatican’s somber Easter Vigil service on Saturday night, delivering a 10-minute homily and baptizing eight people, a day after suddenly skipping the Good Friday procession at the Colosseum as a health precaution.
Francis entered the darkened, silent St. Peter’s Basilica in his wheelchair, took his place in a chair and offered an opening prayer. Sounding somewhat congested and out of breath, he blessed an elaborately decorated Easter candle, the flame of which was then shared with other candles until the whole basilica twinkled.
Over an hour later, Francis delivered a 10-minute homily in a strong voice, clearing his throat occasionally.
The evening service, one of the most solemn and important moments in the Catholic liturgical calendar, commemorates the resurrection of Jesus. The Vatican had said Francis skipped the Good Friday procession to ensure his participation in both the vigil service Saturday night, which usually lasts about two hours, and Easter Sunday Mass a few hours later.
The 87-year-old Francis, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, has been battling respiratory problems all winter that have made it difficult for him to speak at length. He and the Vatican have said he has had bronchitis, a cold or the flu.
Ships with a second round of aid for Gaza have departed Cyprus as concerns about hunger soar
JERUSALEM – A threeship convoy left a port in Cyprus on Saturday with 400 tons of food and other supplies for Gaza as concerns about hunger in the territory soar.
The World Central Kitchen charity said the vessels and a barge carried enough to prepare more than 1 million meals from items like rice, pasta, flour, legumes, canned vegetables and proteins. Also on board were dates, traditionally eaten to break the daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan.
It was not clear when the ships would reach Gaza. The first ship earlier this month delivered 200 tons of food, water and other aid.
The United Nations and partners have warned that famine could occur in devastated, largely isolated northern Gaza as early as this month. Humanitarian officials say deliveries by sea and air are not enough and that Israel must allow far more aid by road. The top U.N. court has ordered Israel to open more land crossings and take other measures to address the crisis.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s staterun Al Qahera TV said truce negotiations between Israel and Hamas will resume Sunday, citing an unnamed Egyptian security source. The channel has close ties to the country’s intelligence services.
Zelenskyy fires more aides in a reshuffle as Russia launches drones and missiles across Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed a longtime aide and several advisers on Saturday in a continuing reshuffle while Russia unleashed fresh attacks overnight.
Zelenskyy dismissed top aide Serhiy Shefir from his post of first assistant, where he had served since 2019. The Ukrainian president also let go three advisers, and two presidential representatives overseeing volunteer activities and soldiers’ rights.
No explanation was given immediately for the latest changes in a wide-reaching personnel shakeup over recent months. It included the dismissal on Tuesday of Oleksii Danilov, who served as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, and Valerii Zaluzhnyi as head of the armed forces on Feb. 8. Zaluzhnyi was appointed Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom earlier this month.
Ukraine’s air force said Saturday that Russia launched 12 Shahed drones overnight, nine of which were shot down, and fired four missiles into eastern Ukraine.
Russia unleashed a barrage of 38 missiles, 75 airstrikes and 98 attacks from multiple rocket launchers over the last 24 hours, Ukraine’s armed forces said in social media posts.
Two people were killed and one wounded in Russian shelling in Ukraine’s partially occupied Donetsk province, regional Gov. Vadym Filashkin said Saturday.
Ukrainian energy company Centrenergo announced Saturday that the Zmiiv Thermal Power Plant, one of the largest thermal power plants in the eastern Kharkiv region, was completely destroyed following Russian shelling last week. Power outage schedules were still in place for around 120,000 people in the region, where 700,000 people had lost electricity after the plant was hit on March 22.
A man suspected of holding 4 hostages for hours in a Dutch nightclub has been arrested
EDE, Netherlands — Dutch police detained a man Saturday after he left a nightclub where four people had been held hostage for hours, bringing a peaceful end to a tense standoff.
“We are exceptionally happy that it ended this way. That the victims came out safely and that we were able to arrest this suspect without using violence,” said Marthyne Kunst, head of the regional public prosecutor’s office.
There was no immediate word on a motive, but police and prosecutors said they did not believe it was a terrorist incident. Police said the hostage-taker was armed with knives, and a backpack he carried was being examined to establish if it contained explosives.
The hostage-taking in the central Dutch market town of Ede, 85 kilometers (53 miles) southeast of Amsterdam, ended around midday when a man walked out of the Cafe Petticoat club and was ordered by armed police to kneel with his hands on his head. He was then handcuffed before being led into a waiting police car.
Kunst told reporters that the man was known to law enforcement authorities and had previously been convicted of threatening behavior. She gave no further details, citing privacy and the ongoing investigation.