“Violence is always self-destructive,” Francis said. He appealed to a “high sense of responsibility” by leaders to “calm souls” to prevent further violence.
“Nothing is gained with violence, and so much is lost,” the pontiff said in remarks delivered from inside the Apostolic Palace, instead of from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square because of the pandemic.
“I exhort the authorities of the state and the entire population to maintain a high sense of responsibility with the aim of calming souls, promoting national reconciliation and safeguarding the democratic values rooted in American society,” Francis said.
— Associated Press
CONGO
Six rangers killed in attack at Virunga park
Gunmen killed at least six rangers in Virunga National Park, the latest attack in the part of eastern Congo that is home to some of the world’s last mountain gorillas, officials said Sunday.
The violence occurred Sunday in Nyamitwitwi, located in the Rutshuru area of the park, said a spokesman for the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, though past attacks on Virunga park rangers have been blamed on groups vying for control of eastern Congo’s natural resources. Among those rebel groups is the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, known by its French initials FDLR, an ethnic Hutu group opposed to the government of neighboring Rwanda and one of the last factions of Rwandan rebels active in Congo.
In April, an ambush near Virunga National Park killed 12 rangers and five civilians and critically injured several others.
More than 200 rangers have been killed since Virunga became a national park in 1925, according to officials.
— Associated Press
AFRICA
Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia deadlocked over dam
Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia failed to achieve a breakthrough in the African Union-led talks to revolve their years-long dispute over the dam that Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile, the three countries said Sunday.
Foreign and irrigation ministers of the three nations met online for the second time in a week in efforts to agree on an approach to resume their talks on the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam.
Sunday’s meeting, held over videoconference, failed to yield common ground to more forward “because of differences over how to resume the talks and procedural aspects related to the negotiating process,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said.
Key questions remain in the talks, including how much water Ethiopia will release downstream if a multiyear drought occurs and how the three countries would settle any future disputes. Egypt and Sudan call for a legally binding agreement on the dam’s filling and operation, while Ethiopia insists on guidelines.
Ethiopia is building the dam on the Blue Nile, which joins the White Nile in Sudan to become the Nile River, and about 85 percent of the river’s flow originates from Ethiopia. Officials estimate that the dam will reach full power-generating capacity in 2023, helping pull millions out of poverty.
— Associated Press
Kyrgyz nationalist wins presidential election: Nationalist Sadyr Japarov won a landslide victory in Kyrgyzstan's snap presidential election, which was triggered by the collapse of the previous government. Japarov has won almost 80 percent of the vote, preliminary results cited by Kyrgyzstan's election commission showed, meaning there will be no runoff. Protests that erupted in October sprung Japarov, 52, from jail to the prime minister's chair and culminated in his assuming the interim presidency before he ran for the full-time role. Japarov, who was sentenced to a lengthy prison term for kidnapping a provincial governor as part of a protest, had his verdict quashed during the October unrest.
Landslides in Indonesia kill at least 11: Two landslides triggered by heavy rain in Indonesia killed at least 11 and injured 18, officials said. The second landslide in Cihanjuang village in West Java province occurred as rescuers were still evacuating people after the first disaster, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman. Rescuers were among the victims, he said. Seasonal rains and high tide in recent days have caused dozens of landslides and widespread flooding across Indonesia.
Huge power outage hits Pakistan: A major technical fault in Pakistan's power generation and distribution system caused a power outage that plunged the country into darkness overnight Saturday, Energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan said. Power had been restored to much of the country by late Sunday. Ayub said the Guddu power plant in southern Sindh province developed a fault that triggered the shutdown of other power plants in seconds.
— From news services