International

Pope Leo XIV signals focus on social justice and AI challenges

Pope Leo XIV explained on Saturday that he chose his papal name to reflect a strong commitment to social causes in response to the challenges posed by the new industrial revolution and the rise of artificial intelligence.

The new leader of the Catholic Church, born in the United States and naturalized Peruvian, has drawn global attention since his election on Thursday. In a speech to the College of Cardinals, the 69-year-old pontiff said the choice of his name was inspired by Pope Leo XIII, known for championing workers’ rights during the 19th century.

“I considered taking the name Leo XIV. There are several reasons, but the main one is that Pope Leo XIII, through his historic encyclical Rerum Novarum, addressed the social question during the first great industrial revolution,” said the new pope.

The 1891 encyclical, which translates roughly to “new things” or “innovations,” is considered the foundation of the Catholic Church’s social doctrine, emphasizing human dignity, solidarity, and the common good.

“Today, the Church offers its body of social teaching to help respond to another industrial revolution and to developments in artificial intelligence, which bring new challenges for defending human dignity, justice, and labor,” he added.

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In the first Mass of his pontificate on Friday, the former missionary from Chicago—who served as a bishop in Peru—lamented the decline of faith in favor of “money,” “power,” and “pleasure.”

Following his election as spiritual leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, Robert Francis Prevost has gradually revealed his pastoral style. On Thursday night, during his first public appearance from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, he addressed the crowd in both Italian and Spanish.

International

Football Fan Killed in Clashes After Colombian League Match

Fans of Cúcuta Deportivo and their traditional rivals Atlético Bucaramanga clashed outside the stadium following their local league match on Tuesday, leaving one supporter dead and several others injured.

The deceased fan was stabbed, according to a senior police official in Cúcuta who confirmed the cause of death in a video statement. Local media reported that the victim was a supporter of the visiting team, Atlético Bucaramanga.

The match ended in a 2-2 draw. Authorities had banned the entry of Atlético Bucaramanga’s organized supporters into the stadium in an effort to prevent disturbances.

Despite the restrictions, violence broke out in the surrounding areas after the game. Among the injured were three police officers, an institutional source told AFP.

The incident adds to a series of recent violent episodes linked to Colombian football. The most recent occurred in December, when supporters of Atlético Nacional and Independiente Medellín clashed in the stands and on the pitch, leaving 59 people injured.

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International

Missing Spanish Sailor Rescued After 11 Days Adrift in Mediterranean

The man had departed from the port of Gandía, on Spain’s eastern coast, with the intention of reaching the southern Spanish town of Guardamar del Segura, a journey of about 150 kilometers, a spokesperson for Spain’s maritime rescue service told AFP.

Search boats and aircraft were deployed on January 17, but the operation was called off on January 22 after efforts proved unsuccessful. Alerts were then issued to vessels navigating the area in case they spotted any signs of the missing sailor.

As hopes were fading, a surveillance aircraft from the European Union’s border agency Frontex spotted the sailboat on Tuesday, along with a person signaling for help, approximately 53 nautical miles northeast of Bejaia, Algeria.

A nearby vessel, the Singapore-flagged bulk carrier Thor Confidence, carried out the rescue and is expected to bring the man to an end to his ordeal when it arrives on Thursday in the southern Spanish port city of Algeciras.

Maritime rescue services shared images on social media showing a small white sailboat drifting at sea and secured alongside the much larger ship.

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It remains unclear how the sailboat ended up hundreds of kilometers off its intended route or how the man managed to survive for so long alone in open waters.

International

Rubio Says U.S. Could Participate in Follow-Up Russia-Ukraine Talks

The United States could join a new round of talks this week aimed at ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday.

Teams from Kyiv and Moscow met last Friday and Saturday in Abu Dhabi in their first publicly acknowledged direct negotiations to discuss the peace initiative promoted by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

“They are going to hold follow-up talks again this week,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “There could be U.S. participation.”

However, Rubio suggested that Washington’s role may be more limited than during last week’s discussions, which included Steve Witkoff, the president’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

The secretary of state indicated that progress may have already been made on security guarantees for Ukraine, one of Kyiv’s key demands in any agreement with Moscow after nearly four years of Russian invasion.

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“There is one remaining issue that everyone is familiar with, and that is the territorial claim over Donetsk,” Rubio said, referring to the eastern Ukrainian region that Russia wants Ukraine to cede.

“I know that active efforts are underway to see whether the positions of both sides on this issue can be reconciled. It remains a bridge we have not yet crossed,” he added during the hearing.

Rubio acknowledged that the territorial question would be particularly difficult for Ukraine to resolve.