Pope to make Italian teenager first millennial and digital saint
Rome, Nov 20: Pope Francis said he will canonize Carlo Acutis next April, setting the eagerly awaited date for the late teenager to become the Catholic Church’s first millennial and digital saint. Francis made the announcement at the end of his weekly general audience on Wednesday, saying he would proclaim the church’s youngest contemporary saint during the Jubilee of Adolescents at the Vatican on April 25-27. Officials later confirmed the canonization Mass would occur April 27 at the Vatican. Acutis, who was born to Italian parents in London, was a web designer who died of leukemia in Italy in 2006 at the age of 15. Francis beatified him in 2020 in Assisi, where his tomb draws a steady stream of pilgrims. Touted as the “patron saint of the internet,” Acutis used his natural tech talent to create a website to catalog miracles and took care of websites for some local Catholic organizations. (AP)
Donald Trump to nominate WWE mogul as edn secretary
Washington, Nov 20:President-elect Donald Trump is nominating the billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department, tasked with overseeing an agency Trump has promised to dismantle. McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the US Senate in Connecticut. McMahon served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she has expressed support for charter schools and school choice. (AP)
UN authorises first mpox vaccine for children
Geneva, Nov 20: The World Health Organisation has authorized the first mpox vaccine for children, a decision experts hope will help make immunizations more widely available to one of the hardest-hit populations during the ongoing outbreaks of the disease in Congo and elsewhere in Africa. In a statement, the WHO said it had approved the mpox vaccine made by Japanese company KM Biologics for use in children over 1 year of age as a single dose. (AP)
Spain to legalise undocumented migrants in next three years
Madrid, Nov 20: Spain will legalise about 300,000 undocumented migrants a year, starting next May and through 2027, the country’s migration minister said Wednesday. The policy aims to expand the aging country’s workforce and allow foreigners living in Spain without proper documentation to obtain work permits and residency. Spain has largely remained open to receiving migrants even as other European nations seek to tighten their borders to illegal crossings and asylum seekers. Spain needs around 250,000 registered foreign workers a year to maintain its welfare state. (AP)