Pope Francis has previously warned the Roman Catholic congregation against slander and bearing false witness.

In 2018, he drew criticism for describing allegations of covering up child abuse against Chile’s Bishop of Osorno ‘calumny’.

Pope Francis has warned his flock that gossip is a “worse plague than COVID.”

The pontiff warned the faithful gathered for his Sunday address in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican City not to spread gossip, warning it could be used to divide the Roman Catholic Church.

“The devil is the great gossip. He is always saying bad things about others because he is the liar who tries to split the Church,” the pope said from a window above the square.

The pope has regularly warned of the risks of gossiping and has also railed against Internet trolls.

“If something goes wrong, offer silence and prayer for the brother or sister who make a mistake, but never gossip,” Francis said on Sunday.

In September 2019, Francis called “calumny” and bearing “false witness” a “diabolical cancer” in the body of the church.

“We know that calumny always kills,” he said. “This ‘diabolical cancer’ of calumny – born from a desire to destroy a person’s reputation – also assaults the rest of the ecclesial body and seriously damages it when, for petty interests or to cover their own faults, [people] unite to sully someone.”

The pope’s previous use of the word “calumny” provoked controversy in 2018 when he used it to describe claims Juan Barros Madrid, who Francis had recently appointed Bishop of Osorno in Chile, had covered up child sexual abuse allegations against clergymen. The pontiff later apologised for his comments.

Mali’s ex-President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who was ousted in a coup last month, has left the country.

Keïta, 75, flew to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Saturday for medical treatment after suffering a minor stroke, military officials said.

The junta is currently in talks with opposition and civil society groups about a transition to civilian rule.

It said it will step down in two years, but West African leaders want a quicker transfer of power.

Keïta was overthrown on August 18, following mass protests against his rule over corruption, the mismanagement of the economy and a dispute over legislative elections.

The coup sparked international condemnation, but it was welcomed by many Malians.

Keita was detained by the military, but later freed.

On Thursday, he left a hospital in the capital, Bamako, after a two-day stay during which he was treated for a minor stroke, AFP news agency reported.

His former chief of staff said he could be away for up to 15 days.

Keïta left for the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, after representatives of the regional body, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the United Nations (UN) held talks with the coup leaders.

ECOWAS gave an undertaking to the junta that Keïta would return if he is wanted for any crimes allegedly committed during his seven-year rule, it was gathered

It is the fourth coup in the West African state since it gained independence from France in 1960.

A coup in 2012 led to militant Islamists exploiting the instability to seize territory in northern Mali.

French troops helped regain territory, but attacks continue.

On Saturday, two French soldiers fighting the militants in northern Mali were killed and a third was wounded after a roadside bomb destroyed their armoured vehicle.

In paying tribute to the soldiers, French President Emmanuel Macron repeated his call for a swift transition to civilian rule in Mali.

The coup leaders have promised to respect international agreements on fighting jihadists. Thousands of French, African and UN troops are based in the country to tackle the militants.

Meanwhile, more than 500 representatives of Malian opposition and civil society groups are holding talks with the junta in Bamako to discuss the transition to civilian rule.

“Since August 18, we are charting a new history for our country,” junta number two Malick Diaw told the opening session, AFP reported.

The talks are scheduled to continue until 12 September.

Agency Reporter

Australia has officially fallen into its first recession in 29 years with the biggest fall in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on record.

According to national accounts data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday GDP contracted by 7 percent in the June quarter – more than three times more than the previous biggest fall of 2 percent in 1974.

“This is, by a wide margin, the largest fall in quarterly GDP since records began in 1959,” said Michael Smedes, Head of National Accounts at the ABS.

It marks the second consecutive quarter of economic decline, meaning that Australia is in a recession for the first time since 1991.

“Today’s national accounts confirm the devastating impact on the Australian economy from COVID-19.

“Our record run of 28 consecutive years of economic growth has now officially come to an end.

“Behind these numbers are heartbreaking stories of hardship, being filled by everyday Australians as they go about their daily lives,” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Wednesday.

The ABS found that due to the increased number of recipients and additional support payments, social assistance benefits in cash rose to a record 41.6 percent.

Meanwhile, Australians’ spending on services fell 17.6 percent in the June quarter while hours worked fell a record 9.8 percent and the household saving to income ratio rose from 6 percent to 19.8 percent.

READ ALSO: Australian city closes retail shops, pubs amid rising virus cases

Household expenditure declined by 12.1 percent.

However, Frydenberg said that the government has the “financial firepower” to stimulate the economy in the wake of the pandemic.

“The road ahead will be long, the road ahead will be hard, the road ahead will be bumpy.

“We didn’t go down the path of countries like Sweden which put few restrictions in place.

“At the same time, we didn’t go down the path of countries like France which accepted and adopted extreme lockdowns, totally shutting down large parts of their economy.

“Instead we chose our own path, and put in place 314 billion Australian dollars (230.7 billion dollars) of support for Australians to build a bridge to the other side of this crisis,” he said.

In spite of offering long-term optimism, Frydenberg also warned of a grim short-term outlook, with the September quarter expected to be weighed down significantly by strict stage four coronavirus restrictions introduced in Victoria in August.

Earlier on Wednesday Mathias Cormann, the Minister for Finance said that the government stood by restrictions placed on the economy to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“We were hit by an unexpected crisis which came out of nowhere and clearly the first priority was to protect people’s health and save people’s lives by suppressing the spread of the virus and that was absolutely necessary,” he said.

 

(Xinhua/NAN)

French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has republished cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that made them the target of a deadly terror attack in 2015.

Republication comes a day before 14 people go on trial accused of helping the two Islamist attackers carry out their gun rampage on January 7, 2015.

Twelve people were killed, including famous cartoonists. Five people died in a related attack in Paris days later.

The attacks began a wave of jihadist strikes across France.

The front cover of the latest edition features the 12 original cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, which were published in a Danish newspaper before appearing in Charlie Hebdo. One of the cartoons shows the prophet wearing a bomb instead of a turban. The French headline reads “Tout ça pour ça” (“All of that for this”).

In its editorial, the magazine says that it has often been asked to carry on printing caricatures of the prophet since the 2015 killings.

“We have always refused to do so, not because it is prohibited – the law allows us to do so – but because there was a need for a good reason to do it, a reason which has meaning and which brings something to the debate,” it says.

“To reproduce these cartoons in the week the trial over the January 2015 terrorist attacks opens seemed essential to us.”

Fourteen people are accused of obtaining weapons and providing logistical support for the attackers of Charlie Hebdo’s Paris offices, and subsequent attacks on a Jewish supermarket and a police officer.

Three of the accused are being tried in absentia as they are believed to have fled to northern Syria and Iraq.

There are believed to be some 200 plaintiffs in the trial and survivors of the attacks are expected to testify, France’s RFI broadcaster reports.

The trial had been due to start in March but was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. It is due to last until November.

On 7 January, brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi stormed the offices of Charlie Hebdo, and opened fire killing the editor Stéphane Charbonnier, known as Charb, four other cartoonists including Cabu, two columnists, a copy editor, a guest attending the meeting and the caretaker. The editor’s bodyguard and a police officer were also killed.