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A weeklong Jubilee celebration for young Catholics in photos

A weeklong Jubilee celebration for young Catholics in photos

Toronto Star2 days ago
ROME (AP) — Young Catholics from around the world have gathered in Rome for the largest event of the 2025 Holy Year — a weeklong Jubilee celebration culminating in an outdoor vigil, overnight campout and a Mass led by Pope Leo XIV.
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Book Review: ‘The Devil Reached Toward the Sky' weaves thorough account of Atomic Age's start
Book Review: ‘The Devil Reached Toward the Sky' weaves thorough account of Atomic Age's start

Winnipeg Free Press

time16 minutes ago

  • Winnipeg Free Press

Book Review: ‘The Devil Reached Toward the Sky' weaves thorough account of Atomic Age's start

The story of the Atomic Age's start is a fascinating one about the power of invention and a chilling one about its consequences. In 'The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb,' Garrett M. Graff skillfully tells both. The power of Graff's oral history is the diversity of voices he relies upon in crafting a comprehensive history of the atomic bomb's inception, creation and use during World War II. He creates a comprehensive account of a what seems like a well-told piece of history by including voices that have been either little-heard or missed altogether in the six decades since the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Graff at the outset acknowledges his book is adding to a history that feels well-worn, from historian Richard Rhodes to filmmaker Christopher Nolan. But Graff manages to stand up to even those accounts with voices that help the reader help what it was it was like on the ground. It includes life at Los Alamos, New Mexico; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Hanford, Washington as scientists raced to develop the atomic bomb before Nazi Germany. 'The Devil Reached Toward the Sky' focuses not just on the voices of scientists like Robert Oppenheimer and Edward Teller. Graff also explores overlooked pieces of the Manhattan Project's history, such as how segregation affected life at Oak Ridge. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. But the most powerful portions come in the final chapters of the book, which focus on the bombing and the aftereffects of the bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. No writer could describe better the hellscape that the bombs unleashed better than those on the ground who survived it. 'My God, what have we done?,' Capt. Robert A. Lewis, co-pilot of the Enola Gay, is quoted in the book as saying. The voices Graff mines help begin to answer at least part of that question. ___ AP book reviews:

Dozens killed as Palestinians in Gaza scramble for aid from air and land
Dozens killed as Palestinians in Gaza scramble for aid from air and land

Winnipeg Free Press

timean hour ago

  • Winnipeg Free Press

Dozens killed as Palestinians in Gaza scramble for aid from air and land

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Dozens of Palestinians were killed or wounded on Monday as desperate crowds headed toward food distribution points and airdropped parcels in the Gaza Strip, according to witnesses and local health officials. Israel's blockade and military offensive have made it nearly impossible to safely deliver aid, contributing to the territory's slide toward famine nearly 22 months into the war with Hamas. Aid groups say Israel's week-old measures to allow more aid in are far from sufficient. Families of hostages in Gaza fear starvation affects them too, but blame Hamas. Several hundred Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since May while heading toward food distribution sites and aid convoys, according to witnesses, local health officials and the United Nations human rights office. The military says it has only fired warning shots and disputes the toll. As international alarm has mounted, several countries have airdropped aid over Gaza. The U.N. and aid groups call such drops costly and dangerous for residents, and say they deliver far less aid than trucks. AP video shows scramble for airdropped aid Many food parcels dropped by air have splashed into the Mediterranean Sea or landed in so-called red zones from which Israel's military has ordered people to evacuate. In either case, Palestinians risk their lives to get flour and other basic goods. On Monday, Palestinians cheered as pallets of aid were parachuted over Zuweida in central Gaza. Associated Press footage showed a desperate scramble when the parcels hit the ground, with hundreds of people racing toward them. Fistfights broke out and some men wielded batons. 'I wish they would deliver it through the (land) crossings,' Rabah Rabah said earlier as he waited for the airdrop. 'This is inhuman.' At least one parcel fell on a tent where displaced people had been sheltering, injuring a man who was taken to a hospital. His condition was not immediately known. 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'It's like yesterday, and the day before,' said Ayman Ruqab, a young Palestinian who said he had tried unsuccessfully to reach the site for the past three days. 'It's a death trap.' The Israeli military said it fired warning shots at people who approached 'in a manner that posed a threat to the troops,' without elaborating. It said it was not aware of any casualties. Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. They still hold 50 hostages, around 20 of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed more than 60,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count but says around half the dead have been women and children, is staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and other independent experts view its figures as the most reliable casualty count. Sundays Kevin Rollason's Sunday newsletter honouring and remembering lives well-lived in Manitoba. Israel has disputed the figures but hasn't provided its own. ___ Magdy reported from Cairo. ___ Follow AP's war coverage at

Israel euthanizes crocodiles after repeated escapes and inhumane treatment
Israel euthanizes crocodiles after repeated escapes and inhumane treatment

Winnipeg Free Press

time3 hours ago

  • Winnipeg Free Press

Israel euthanizes crocodiles after repeated escapes and inhumane treatment

PETZAEL, West Bank (AP) — A bask of crocodiles brought to an Israeli settlement in the West Bank decades ago is meeting its end, as authorities euthanize the aging reptiles after years of their repeated escapes from a long-neglected farm. Israeli authorities said Monday that government veterinarians had culled the crocodiles because they threatened the area's residents and were themselves suffering from inhumane treatment. The exact number of crocodiles euthanized and the method of culling were not immediately clear. 'The Nile crocodiles at the farm were being kept in an abandoned compound under poor conditions that constitute animal abuse, with insufficient access to food, which had driven them to cannibalistic behavior,' COGAT, the Israeli defense body that administers civilian affairs in the West Bank, said. The crocodiles were initially brought to the town of Petzael as a tourist attraction — a business adventure derailed by violence between Israel and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. They were later purchased by an entrepreneur who hoped to sell their skin. Their fate has been an open question since Israel in 2012 passed a law classifying the reptiles as protected animals and banned raising them for sale as meat or merchandise. 'I don't want to think of what will happen if a crocodile manages to escape and reaches the Jordan River, and then we'll have an international incident,' the head of the local community told The Associated Press in 2018, referencing the border with Jordan 4.2 miles (6.8 kilometers) away. COGAT said that authorities had spent hundreds of thousands of Israeli shekels (more than $29,000) to re-fence the dilapidated farm, which has been in a state of disrepair since it was shut down in 2013. It said that veterinarians were consulted on how to humanely exterminate the animals.

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