International
Rio to hold New Year’s party, after all
AFP
Rio de Janeiro will hold its famed New Year’s Eve party after all, Mayor Eduardo Paes announced Thursday, five days after canceling the celebration over concerns about Covid-19.
The iconic Brazilian beach city will go ahead with its annual fireworks display, though the huge concert that usually follows remains canceled, Paes told a news conference.
“The city is open. The city is going to celebrate,” he said.
“Rio de Janeiro has low (Covid-19) infection rates, low numbers of hospitalizations, and thanks to God and the vaccine, a very low number of deaths. That enables us to hold this event in complete safety.”
The mayor had tweeted Saturday that Rio had to cancel the festivities “with sadness,” amid concerns over the new Omicron variant.
But he said Thursday that Governor Claudio Castro told him he may have spoken too soon.
After further meetings with Rio state and city health officials, authorities decided to go ahead with a reconfigured event, Paes said.
In addition to the world-famous fireworks show on Copacabana beach, the city will hold fireworks displays in nine other spots, and encourage revelers to go to the nearest one to avoid excessive crowds.
Copacabana will be closed to car traffic and public transportation, and tour buses will not be allowed into the city after the evening of December 30.
Paes said officials would set up spots where people could be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Brazil has registered more than 615,000 deaths in the pandemic, second only to the United States.
But with 65 percent of the country’s 213 million people now fully vaccinated, the number of infections and deaths has plunged.
Rio’s announcement came amid cautious optimism from world health authorities over Omicron.
The variant is spreading fast, but early evidence suggests it causes less severe disease, according to the World Health Organization.
Paes did not address another famed Rio party threatened by Covid-19, the annual carnival celebration scheduled to kick off on February 25.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
International
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
he Vatican’s post offices and select collector shops began selling special edition stamps this week to mark the period between the death of Pope Francis and the election of his successor.
Known as “Sede Vacante” stamps, they feature an image used on official Vatican documents during the interregnum between popes — two crossed keys without the papal tiara. These stamps went on sale Monday and will remain valid for postal use only until the new pontiff appears at the window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
Until then, they can be used to send letters, postcards, and parcels. “Once the new pope is elected, the stamps lose their postal validity, but their collectible value rises,” said Francesco Santarossa, who runs a collectors’ shop across from St. Peter’s Square.
The Vatican has issued the stamps in four denominations: €1.25, €1.30, €2.45, and €3.20. Each is inscribed with “Città del Vaticano” and “Sede Vacante MMXXV” — Latin for “Vacant See 2025.”
International
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
The conclave, which in the coming weeks must choose the successor to Pope Francis, will strictly follow a precise protocol refined over centuries.
The 135 cardinal electors, all under the age of 80, will cast their votes four times a day — except on the first day — until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority. The result will be announced to the world through the burning of the ballots with a chemical that produces the eagerly awaited white smoke, accompanied by the traditional cry of “Habemus Papam.”
The start date for the conclave could be announced today, as the cardinals are set to hold their fifth meeting since the pope’s passing. Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich suggested it could begin on May 5 or 6, following the traditional nine days of mourning. According to German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the conclave could last only “a few days.”
Although the late Argentine pontiff appointed the majority of the cardinal electors, this does not necessarily ensure the selection of a like-minded successor. Francis’ leadership style differed significantly from that of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, a German theologian who was less fond of large public gatherings. It also marked a contrast with the popular Polish pope, John Paul II.
The Argentine Jesuit’s reformist papacy drew strong criticism from more conservative sectors of the Church, who are hoping for a doctrinally focused shift. His tenure was marked by efforts to combat clerical sexual abuse, elevate the role of women and laypeople, and advocate for the poor and migrants, among other causes.
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
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