In front of 45,000 supporters at the rain-soaked Knock shrine in the west of Ireland, the pope spoke of the “open wound” of the Church’s sexual abuse scandal and demanded “firm and decisive” measures to find “truth and justice”.

Later Sunday he said Mass to tens of thousands of flag-waving worshippers at Dublin’s Phoenix Park, before heading back to Rome after his two-day visit to the former Catholic stronghold.

He also acknowledged other abuses by the Irish church, including at its so-called “mother and baby” homes for unwed mothers.

But in the centre of the Irish capital around 5,000 abuse victims and their supporters braved the weather to attend the “Stand for Truth” rally.

A woman dressed as a nun, with fake blood on her hands, and a man handing out homemade placards reading “the church protects pederasts” were among those protesting.

“I think it’s obviously causing quite a lot of distress,” abuse victim and campaigner William Gorry said of the visit.

“Healing is something that’s going to take a long, long time if it’s going to happen at all,” he told AFP.

At another “Nope to the Pope” demonstration, protesters called for gay and transgender recognition, a clearer separation of religion and state in Ireland and the acceptance of contraception by the Vatican — as well as action on abuse.

“I think he should get on his knees and beg forgiveness of the people of Ireland,” Lisa Barcaen, who was dressed as a nun with fake blood on her hands, told AFP.

Papal ‘cover up’

The scandal has dogged the pope’s visit, and intensified overnight when a former Vatican envoy to the United States accused Francis of personally ignoring sexual abuse claims against prominent US cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was forced to resign last month.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano wrote in a letter published in the National Catholic Register that he had told Francis of the allegations in 2013, but that he had responded by lifting sanctions imposed on McCarrick by his predecessor pope Benedict.

“He (Pope Francis) knew from at least June 23, 2013, that McCarrick was a serial predator,” wrote Vigano,” adding that “he knew that he was a corrupt man, he covered for him to the bitter end.”

The pope declined to comment on the letter, telling journalists on his plane back to Rome: “I will not say a word about that. I think that the communique speaks for itself.”

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Saturday directly urged the pope to take action against abuses and ensure justice for victims worldwide.

“Holy Father, I ask that you use your office and influence to ensure that this is done here in Ireland and across the world,” he said, calling the scandals a “stain” on the church and state.

The pope met eight abuse victims on Saturday, including a woman assaulted by a priest when she was in hospital aged 13.

Speaking on the plane back to Rome, Francis said he “suffered a lot” in the meeting, from which came the proposal to ask forgiveness at Sunday’s mass.

The pope was particularly moved by the plight of unmarried girls forced to give up their children for adoption.

“I had never heard of it,” he said. “It was painful for me, but accompanied by the consolation of being able to help clarify these things,” he said.

Paul Jude Redmond, who was illegally adopted from a Church-run “mother and baby home” because his mother was unwed, also met the pope and said he appeared “genuinely shocked” by the stories of abuse.

– Silent vigil –

The pontiff went to Ireland to close the 2018 World Meeting of Families (WMOF) — a global Catholic gathering that addressed issues including the treatment of gay people in the Church.

It was the first papal visit to Ireland since John Paul II spoke in front of 1.5 million people during a visit in 1979.

The Church’s role and standing has been badly dented by the abuse scandals and the Irish have shed traditional Catholic mores, voting earlier this year to legalise abortion after approving same-sex marriage in 2015.

In Tuam, a town in western Ireland not far from Knock, hundreds joined in a silent vigil on Sunday in solidarity with victims of the “mother and baby” homes — institutions accused of being punishment hostels for unwed pregnant women.

“Significant quantities” of baby remains found in makeshift graves at the site of one such home in Tuam last year shocked the country.

Multiple probes in Ireland have found Church leaders protected hundreds of predatory priests and former Irish president Mary McAleese revealed this month that the Vatican had sought to keep Church documents inaccessible to government investigators.

The abuse scandals in Ireland are part of a worldwide crisis for the Vatican.

A devastating report earlier this month accused more than 300 priests in the US state of Pennsylvania of abusing more than 1,000 children since the 1950s.

There are concerns about the harmful influence of microplastics on the ocean’s ecosystem, so the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry plans to develop a device that will automatically measure the amount and type of such waste. The development is scheduled to take five years, from this fiscal year to fiscal 2022.

Microplastics have been found in the oceans and in the bodies of marine animals across the world, but detailed information about this pollution is not available, due to the time needed for observation. The government will speed up efforts to understand the extent of microplastic distribution in the sea and its influence on the ecosystem, according to the sources.

Using information such as the wavelengths of light reflected when a special light is shone through seawater, and images taken with a high-resolution camera, the device will automatically observe the size, shape, type of material and number of pieces of microplastics. It will be able to be installed on a survey ship and gather data based on water scooped up from the sea while sailing.

The system will be able to detect plastic waste even if a piece is smaller than 0.1 millimeters. The AI technology — which will have learned about the features of microplastics — will be able to analyze as much as 300 liters of seawater per hour.

The device will be developed by organizations commissioned by the technology ministry, such as the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) and private companies. They plan to start on a detailed design this summer and conduct tests as early as 2021, with a completion date of fiscal 2022. The development budget is expected to total about ¥200 million.

In the past, researchers used plankton nets to collect microplastics in seawater, then took the waste back to their institutes to analyze it one by one with microscopes and other equipment. The gaps in the mesh of plankton nets are generally as large as 0.3 millimeters, so it is difficult to collect pieces of plastic smaller than that.

Microplastics have spread to the Pacific Ocean, the Arctic Ocean and the Antarctic. They have also been detected in deep-sea fish and shellfish, as well as in small fish such as sardines. According to a survey conducted by the Environment Ministry in fiscal 2016 in the sea surrounding Japan, in some waters no less than about 70 pieces of plastics were found in one cubic meter of seawater.

■Microplastics

Small pieces of plastic less than five millimeters in diameter that originate from such objects as plastic grocery bags and plastic bottles. These waste plastics flow into the sea and are broken down by ultraviolet rays and waves, eventually becoming microplastics that easily absorb toxic chemical substances. A research group from Kyushu University and other organizations plans to study the effects that microplastics have on marine animals such as seabirds, fish and shellfish when they get into their bodies. The research will start this fiscal year.Speech

“I am resolved to steer Japan for another three years as president of the Liberal Democratic Party and as prime minister to pass on this beautiful, tradition-rich homeland to the generation of our children and grandchildren,” Abe said during a press conference in Tarumizu, Kagoshima Prefecture. “Under this determination, I would like to run in the presidential race next month.”

The race is likely to be a showdown between Abe, who will seek a third consecutive term, and former LDP Secretary General Shigeru Ishiba, who has already put his name forward. Official campaigning starts on Sept. 7, with voting taking place on Sept. 20.

The prime minister stressed the achievements, such as in the economy and diplomacy, of his administration, which has lasted for more than 5½ years.

Abe noted that Japan is now facing a turning point, with important events next year such as the Emperor’s abdication, Japan’s first time hosting the Group of 20 summit meeting and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

“The point of contention [in the presidential race] will be on how to make progress in developing Japan further as the nation will face a historic turning point,” Abe said.Speech

They have also been asked not to raise sound levels while conducting a prayer.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs has issued a circular on azan or the Islamic call to prayer, with guidelines on when and how it ought to be broadcast by mosques across the country, amid an outcry over the jailing of a woman who had griped about azan volumes to a neighbour.

Titled “The use of loudspeakers in Mosques, Langgar, and Musholla”, the circular released on Friday (Aug 24) urges religious institutions to follow the instructions of the director-general of Muslim guidance, Tempo news portal reported on Saturday (Aug 25). Langgar and Musholla are terms used in Indonesia for Muslim prayer houses.

The woman, named Meliana, complained to her neighbour in 2016 about the volume of azan being broadcast by a mosque near her home in northern Sumatra. But the neighbour told others about it and soon rumour had it that Meliana was trying to ban azan.

The resulting outrage led to a rampage by Muslims on several Buddhist temples in what is believed to be the worst bout of anti-Chinese violence in the country since 1998.

Read : The Meiliana Case: How a noise complaint resulted in an 18-month jail sentence

After Meliana was sentenced on Tuesday (Aug 28), civil society groups and lawyers denounced the verdict as excessive and silly.

The two biggest Muslim organisations in the country, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, also questioned the use of the blasphemy charge against the woman.

The religious affairs ministry’s instructions on azan runs over six points according to Tempo:

1. Loudspeakers in mosques should be handled by experienced personnel to avoid droning sounds, humming, and other noises that would potentially arouse antipathy towards mosques.

2. Those issuing the azan must possess a melodious and good voice.

3. Do not raise sound levels while conducting a prayer.

4. Except for the azan, do not broadcast sounds when most people are likely to be sleeping, resting, and praying.

5. Azan must fulfil basic requirements including being melodious and easy on the ears.

6. Azan should be broadcast at appropriate times like during the subuh prayer at dawn. Activities such as Quran reciting should utilise only indoor speakers.

The 26-year-old man and his 24-year-old wife from China, whose identities were kept secret, consulted obstetrician Dr Liu Hongmei early this year, Chinese portal Guiyang Evening Post reported.

When asked about the wife’s medical history, the couple told Dr Liu that they had been having sexual intercourse frequently.

The wife said sex had been incredibly painful for her, but she endured it in hopes of conceiving.

The doctor then examined the woman’s anus and identified the reason for their failure to conceive – they had been having anal intercourse for four years.

“The couple are very young. The man is 26 and the woman is 24.  They are very healthy, but even though they have been married for four years they could not get pregnant,” Dr Liu said.

“Because of that their family gave them a lot of pressure,” she added. Dr Liu then reportedly gave the couple a sex education handbook and “guidelines” before allowing them to go home.

The doctor’s advice proved fruitful – the wife became pregnant a few months later. They delivered the good news to Dr Liu by sending 100 eggs and a live chicken to her hospital as a gift.

In a speech in Camp Teodulfo Bautista Headquarters in Jolo, Sulu, on Saturday, Duterte reiterated his support for soldiers in their fight against terrorists.

“I assure you that you have my full support as you conduct intensive military operations against these terrorist groups, particularly those who subscribe to the extremist ideologies of the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda,” Duterte said.

“That’s just a bankrupt – inutil – na ideology. Ang alam lang nito magpatay pati magsira. Destroy and kill. So my order to you: Destroy and kill also. Bakit ka magpalugi?” he added.

The President then stressed that he’s the only commander-in-chief who provides side arms to soldiers, noting the extreme challenge faced by soldiers.

“Ako lang ‘yung Presidente na nagbibigay ng sidearm kasi (ang) giyera dito babuyan,” he stressed.

“Do not surrender. Kaya ako, binigyan ko kayo ng [sidearms] — that’s one magazine deployed, another two. Pag naubos ‘yung dalawa, ‘yang last magazine, iyo ‘yan,” he added.

Duterte also reminded the soldiers to not allow themselves be caught alive by terrorists for they will face torture.

“At kung ma-corner ka, wala ka ng bala, huwag kang magpahuli. Dadalhin ka ng kampo, gawain kang aso doon at pagkatapos, iharap ka sa camera, luglugin (slit/cut) ka,” he said.

“Pero ‘yang sabi ko, huwag kayo magpababoy. Ang sundalo ko, matapang at handang mamatay. Kaya ‘pag wala ka ng bala, ‘yung last magazine, kainin mo na lang,” he added.

“I like this kind of dance which is spiritually influential. When I was young, I had a lot of ailments [which required me to exercise]. This was when I was first drawn to Japanese dance,” she says.

Yamanaka first learned Khmer traditional dance techniques in 1997, before studying the history of dance at the Royal University of Fine Arts (RUFA).

The Tokyo native, who has moved to and fro from the Kingdom to Japan since 2003, introduced her new and innovative performance at her alma mater last week. She plans to embark on performance tours in Japan for two years.

“I have travelled between Japan and Cambodia five times to get more training, and prepare to teach and perform this dance in Japan,” she said.

Reflecting on what initially drew her to the Southeast Asian art form, Yamanaka claimed it gave her more than anything she could get from Japan or the West.

“I was mesmerised by Khmer traditional dance and love it because it has a sense of serenity to it, which made me feel as though I was meditating while dancing.”

After her debut performance at RUFA, Yamanaka will take the dance form back to her native Japan and perform it there in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

Yamanaka is sure that her dance would fit in well with other cultural performances taking place during the Games.

“The recent performance can be described as an opportunity for me to contribute to the celebration of the 65th anniversary of friendship and cooperation between Cambodia and Japan,” she says.

She added that the performance encompasses five types of Khmer dance as well as one new creation.

As if to underscore her dedication to cross-cultural exchange, Yamanaka even composed an original song for her performance which is a combination of Khmer and Japanese poems.

One of them, the former director of the infamous Hoa Lo prison, recalls verbally sparring with the famous inmate and says McCain’s refusal to budge on his views eventually earned his admiration.

“It was his stubbornness, his strong stance that I loved when arguing with him,” retired colonel Tran Trong Duyet told AFP.

In the decades following the Vietnam War, McCain — who died Saturday at the age of 81 — forgave the enemies who once held him captive, and helped reconcile the two countries that today enjoy strong ties.

His five and a half years in prison began in October 1967 when McCain was thrown into the French-built jail after his Skyhawk divebomber was shot down over Hanoi’s Truc Bach lake.

Fished out with a broken leg and two broken arms he was shipped to the cold, crowded facility where some 500 prisoners of war were held.

His captors quickly learned McCain’s father was a navy admiral, and the young prisoner soon developed the nickname “Crown Prince”.

The early years were grim.

McCain was held in solitary confinement and suffered from dysentery. For months on end, he was fed only bread and pumpkin soup. He communicated with fellow inmates by tapping codes on the thick concrete walls.

In his memoirs, McCain wrote that solitary “put me in a pretty surly mood” and that he would ward off depression by hollering insults at guards.

And then there were the interrogations and beatings.

“Ropes were put on me and I sat that night bound with ropes,” McCain wrote after his 1973 release, recalling one brutal session.

“For the next four days, I was beaten every two to three hours by different guards. My left arm was broken again and my ribs were cracked.”

— English classes, jokes —

Duyet denies McCain or others were mistreated and says he punished any fellow guards who stepped out of line.

“There was no torture, Vietnamese people saved him,” Duyet said in an interview earlier this year at his home in the port city of Haiphong, where he displays both photos of American POWs and more recent images of himself in military uniform posing with US officials.

By the end of his long years in prison, Duyet said his relationship McCain started to warm.

“Out of working hours, we considered each other friends,” he said. “He taught me English… he had good teaching skills.”

In his post-prison writings, McCain said things got easier for him in the early 1970s, which he called the “coasting period”.

He read propaganda texts about Vietnam communist revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh, and was allowed to roam the prison yard with fellow Americans, who named different sections of the compound after Vegas hotels.

His former jailor preferred to focus on the rosier memories, recalling how they joked, shared stories about family and travel, and even dished about women.

“We laughed together and agreed that women are the same everywhere — they like flattery, they like to sulk, and they’re jealous,” he told AFP, smiling.

– ‘America’s POW’ –

McCain left the navy in 1981 for a long career in politics, most notably as Republican Senator for Arizona. But his “Hanoi Hilton” experience resonated throughout his life.

Donald Trump said during the campaign for the presidency that McCain was “not a war hero” because he was captured in Vietnam.

The controversial comments inflamed his throngs of supporters, many of whom saw his time as a POW as a defining experience.

“John McCain will always be America’s prisoner of war, that experience is now inseparable from the name John McCain and the person that has been John McCain,” said Alvin Townley, author of “Defiant” about American POWs held in Hoa Lo.

McCain was also celebrated for his role in reconciling the United States and Vietnam, which in the half century since the war’s end have become close allies.

“(His) openness towards Vietnam and the willingness to revisit not only the country, but his experiences there have certainly helped heal a lot of wounds,” Townley said.

McCain visited the Southeast Asian country several times after the restoration of diplomatic ties in 1995, even returning to the “Hanoi Hilton” — now a popular tourist attraction — for an emotional meeting with another former jailor.

Duyet never got a chance to reconnect with McCain, but imagined what he might say if he had.

“If he came to Vietnam, I would greet him, not as a former prisoner and a jailer, but as two veterans, from both sides of the battlefield, now meeting again in the spirit of reconciliation,” he said.

When informed of McCain’s death, Duyet said Sunday he was “so sad.”

“Please if you can, convey my condolences to his family for me.”

The lead-up to the July 29 poll — which Western democracies have slammed — was marked by a clampdown on activists, journalists and the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), paving a clear path for the authoritarian Hun Sen to extend his 33-year rule of Cambodia by another five years.

Released on Saturday was Um Sam An, a dual Cambodian-US national sentenced to two and a half years in prison in late 2016 over his criticism of Hun Sen’s government for using contested maps as a guideline to demarcating the border with Vietnam.

The royal pardon from King Norodom Sihamoni said the 40-year-old lawmaker had been convicted for “inciting crime and racism” with his actions.

The decree did not provide a reason for his early release.

The CNRP had campaigned on the sensitive issue of border demarcation between Cambodia and Vietnam in the previous election, causing critics to question some of the inflammatory rhetoric used by lawmakers.

In an interview with government-aligned media, Um Sam An said his newfound freedom was a chance to “reconcile the nation”.

“Regardless of opposition party or the ruling party, we can love and work together to…protect our border,” he said in an interview broadcast on Facebook Live.

He added that 14 more lawmakers remain behind bars in Prey Sar prison, where he was jailed, while many others — like CNRP head Kem Sokha — are scattered in provinces across the country.

More than half the opposition party fled Cambodia last year in fear of being imprisoned under trumped up charges.

Since his ruling party swept all 125 parliament seats last month, Hun Sen has requested pardons for four land rights campaigners including prominent activist Tep Vanny, who was released earlier this week.

A day later, two journalists who worked for US-backed broadcaster Radio Free Asia received bail after ten months of detention.

On Thursday, Hun Sen said he plans to pardon 12 more who had written him apology letters, but warned that the process would be “put on hold” if anyone comments that he was under pressure from the international community.

This was stated by member of the Legislative Council (LegCo) Yang Berhormat Iswandy bin Ahmad, while delivering a speech as guest of honour at the opening of the ‘Combating Trafficking in Persons’ conference (CTIP 2018) organised by Youth Against Slavery Brunei (YAS Brunei) at the ICTC2 Galley of the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) yesterday.

“We have seen an increase in the occurrence of trafficking in persons in recent years in every part of the world. It has become a global trend which our region is not immune to,” he explained.

“Trafficking in persons is an insult to human dignity and is a heinous crime as it exploits human vulnerability for the purpose of servitude, slavery, forced labour, sexual exploitation and other forms by means of fraud, deception, abuse of power, coercion and abduction.

“The United Nations estimates that human trafficking has victimised 21 million men, women and children around the world. Between 600,000 and 800,000 victims are trafficked across borders globally each year.

“According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), 79 per cent of human trafficking falls in the category of sexual exploitation, followed by forced labour at 18 per cent,” he said.

“Perpetrators make more than USD20,000 a year from each victim of commercial sexual exploitation and about USD4,000 from forced labour exploitation. An International Labour Organization (ILO) report estimates that the Asia-Pacific region leads the world in annual profits of forced labour at USD51.8 billion dollars due to the high number of victims,” he continued.

He further emphasised that traffickers now have become more refined in their use of information and communication technology (ICT) as a tool for recruiting and exploiting their victims.

ASEAN has 689 million mobile subscriptions, exceeding its population of around 660 million and the largest Internet users are people aged 15 to 24, followed by the 25-34 age group.

Yang Berhormat Iswandy highlighted that Brunei is ranked to have the highest usage of ICT and social media, adding that ICT opens up opportunities and also vulnerabilities for both youth and exploiters.

“Social media, as identified by UNODC, is a platform to prey on children for the purposes of sexual exploitation, drug trafficking and child labour,” he said. He further noted that given the popularity of social media use in Asia, communications technology can be an amazing tool to empower individuals and communities to practise positive behaviours that protect them from human trafficking. The LegCo member emphasised on the cooperation between the government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which he said will play a significance role in addressing a multi-faceted problem such as trafficking.

“The government has to enforce existing laws and policies to properly and effectively combat trafficking; business sector has the responsibility to ensure clean supply chains; and NGOs have to promote awareness and provide assistance in protecting victims. Not to forget, every citizen, has a role to play in the campaign against trafficking,” he said.

He concluded the speech by saying, “We need to start from something small. If not us, who? And, if not now, when?”