In an exclusive interview in his Vatican residence, Francis also denied rumours that he had cancer, joking that his doctors “didn’t tell me anything about it”, and for the first time gave details of the knee condition that has prevented him from carrying out some duties.

In a 90-minute conversation conducted in Italian, with no aides present, the 85-year-old pontiff also repeated his condemnation of abortion following the US Supreme Court ruling last month.

Source: Pope Francis interview covers potential Moscow trip, reaction to US Supreme Court abortion decision, cancer and resignation rumours – ABC News

“We all threw ourselves to the ground,” his daughter, Josefina Toledo, told The Daily Beast. “My dad, since it’s difficult for him to walk … he was sitting on his walker and he was hit in his back and in his head.”

The father of eight, who recently became a great-grandfather, was killed instantly—one of the six people murdered in the massacre carried out by a rooftop sniper.

The parade was a family tradition, said Josefina, who explained that after the marching was over, the clan would gather at the family home to continue celebrating the holiday.

“We all were very happily waiting for the parade when all of a sudden the gunfire started,” she said.

Among the dozens who were wounded by bullets from a high-powered rifle was the boyfriend of one of Josefina’s nieces. He is hospitalized in stable condition but facing surgery to remove the bullet near his lungs.

“There isn’t a safe place anymore,” she said.

Source: Nicolas Toledo, Visiting From Mexico, Among Highland Park Parade Victims

Source: Russia removes last doctors after destroying Mariupol and causing humanitarian disaster

On June 24, 2022, Interior Minister Bassam al-Mawlawi sent an urgent letter to the directorates of Internal Security and General Security instructing them to ban any gatherings aimed at “promoting sexual perversion.” The letter includes vague and overly broad grounds, citing no legal basis, to determine that such gatherings violate “customs and traditions” and “principles of religion.” The interior minister said this decision was in response to calls to his ministry from religious groups to “reject the spread of this phenomenon.” The letter is understood to refer to gatherings by LGBTI groups, citing a message circulated on social media that detailed plans for activities organized by LGBTI activists.

“The Interior Ministry’s unlawful decision to ban events promoting LGBTI rights alarmingly indicates the deterioration of human rights and freedoms in Lebanon,” said Tarek Zeidan, executive director of Helem. “The ban tells LGBTI people that the government is willing to throw away their fundamental rights if others want them to.”

The ban violates LGBTI people’s constitutional rights to equality, free expression, and free assembly and Lebanon’s obligations under international law

Source: Lebanon: Unlawful Crackdown on LGBTI Gatherings | Human Rights Watch

• In Australia, more than 10,000 people have died from COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic
• An epidemiologist predicts another 7,500 Australians will die before the end of 2022
• A decline in mask-wearing and a dip in vaccination rates are the largest factors behind the spike

Source: Since the pandemic began, more than 10,000 Australians have died of COVID-19 and, if this year’s trend continues, it could get a lot worse – ABC News

Ferrer on Thursday noted an uptick in infections related to workplaces, and urged employers to implement infection-control measures in indoor spaces, such as masking and maintaining physical distancing in communal areas. She said one sector in particular — the TV and film industry — has already re-imposed an indoor mask mandate now that the county’s hospitalization rate has reached more than 8 per 100,000 residents.

She said that given the continued high level of virus transmission in the county — particularly with more rapid spread of the highly transmissible BA.4 and BA.5 variants — people should already be masking up indoors.

Because masks are not mandatory, “people are not, I think, heeding our request that people do put those masks back on indoors right now.”

She said the evidence is “crystal clear” that masking, particularly with a higher-grade N95 or KN95 mask, works to prevent spread of the virus.

Source: LA County reports 15,413 new COVID cases over holiday weekend – San Gabriel Valley Tribune