Mexican Prez asks Pope Francis to apologise
Mexico City: Mexico’s president published an open letter to Pope Francis calling on the Roman Catholic Church to apologise for abuses of Indigenous peoples during the conquest of Mexico in the 1500s. In the letter published Saturday, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador also asks the pope to lend Mexico ancient pre-Hispanic Mexican or colonial-era documents. The Catholic Church, the Spanish monarchy and the Mexican government should make a public apology for the offensive atrocities that Indigenous people suffered,” the letter states. Lopez Obrador asked the pope to make a statement in favour of Miguel Hidalgo, Mexico’s 19th-century independence leader who was once believed to have been excommunicated by the church. (AP)
NZ PM unveils vision for 2030
Wellington: Ahead of the upcoming general elections, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Sunday unveiled her 2030 vision, under which she wants the state housing waiting list to be empty and child poverty to have halved by that year. Ardern’s announcment came while she was addressing a ruling Labour Party rally here ahead of the October 17 general elections, which will determine the membership of the country’s 53rd Parliament. According to a report in The New Zealand Herald newspaper, the state house waiting list is currently about 20,000, up from about 6,000 when the Ardern government came to power in 2017. (IANS)
Lebanon locks 169 towns, villages
Beirut: Lebanon’s Interior Ministry has ordered a lockdown in 169 villages and towns as well as ordering all nightclubs and pubs to close around the country amid a sharp increase of coronavirus cases. The Ministry said Sunday that the lockdown will begin Monday morning and last until October 19. Pubs and nightclubs will be closed until further notice, it said. The new lockdown comes a week after the ministry ordered a lockdown in 111 villages and towns that ends Monday morning. Some of those towns are included under the new restrictions. On Saturday, Lebanon’s Health Ministry registered 1,388 new cases of coronavirus, raising the country’s confirmed total to 52,558 infections and 455 deaths. (AP)
Maryam Nawaz to address rally
Karachi: In a rare public appearance, Maryam Nawaz, Vice President of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), will address the grand anti-government rally on October 18 here organised by the alliance formed by the opposition parties to oust the Imran Khan-led government. On September 20, the leaders of 11 major Opposition parties announced formation of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and launch of a three-phased anti-government movement under an action plan starting with countrywide public meetings, protest demonstrations and rallies. (PTI)
