A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows shows Pope Francis attending the opening session of a global child protection summit for reflections on the sex abuse crisis within the Catholic Church, at the Vatican. EPA
A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows shows Pope Francis attending the opening session of a global child protection summit for reflections on the sex abuse crisis within the Catholic Church, at the Vatican. EPA
A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows shows Pope Francis attending the opening session of a global child protection summit for reflections on the sex abuse crisis within the Catholic Church, at the Vatican. EPA
A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows shows Pope Francis attending the opening session of a global child protection summit for reflections on the sex abuse crisis within the Catholic C

Abuse survivors describe horrors to world's top Catholic bishops


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Survivors of clerical paedophilia revealed their traumatic experiences to the world's top bishops as the Vatican held a landmark summit on the protection of minors on Thursday.

Pope Francis opened the event saying the world expected "concrete measures" to tackle paedophilia in the Catholic Church.

"The holy people of God looks to us, and expects from us not simple and predictable condemnations, but concrete and effective measures to be undertaken. We need to be concrete," he said.

"Hear the cry of the little ones who plead for justice."

He said the summit, which is the first of its kind, was a moment to "turn this evil into an opportunity for awareness and purification."

Abuse survivors who spoke anonymously about their plight shared harrowing testimonies.

A female victim described the horrors of being forced to undergo three abortions after being abused by a priest.

"I still carry pain. My parents still carry pain at the dysfunction, the betrayal, the manipulation that this bad man -- who was our Catholic priest at the time -- wrought upon my family and myself,” she said.

"I would ask the bishops for leadership. Leadership and vision and courage."

An unnamed victim from Latin America accused the church of having betrayed its faith. "You are the physicians of the soul and yet, with rare exceptions, you have been transformed -- in some cases -- into murderers of the soul, into murderers of the faith.”

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle told the assembly that "we humbly and sorrowfully admit that wounds have been inflicted by us bishops on the victims and in fact the entire body of Christ."

"Our lack of response to the suffering of victims, even to the point of rejecting them and covering up the scandal to protect perpetrators and the institution, has injured our people, leaving a deep wound in our relationship with those we are sent to serve," he said.

The summit aims to educate 114 top bishops and give them tools to spot and deal with abuse and paedophilia at home.

Cardinal Blase Cupich, one the summit's four organisers, said he hoped the summit will constitute a “turning point."

Activists however say Church laws are in need of fundamental change in order to guarantee that these abuses will not happen again.

"Canon law has to be changed: not tweaked, not modified, but fundamentally changed, so that it stops prioritising the priesthood... over the lives of children, and vulnerable adults who are sexually assaulted by them," Anne Barrett Doyle, who is co-director of a public database named BishopAccountability.org that documents cases of sexual abuse, said.

Some churches in Asia and Africa still deny the problem exists. The Catholic Church in the US has also been recently facing one of the worst crises in its history after the defrocking of former cardinal American Theodore McCarrick last week.  He is accused of having sexually abused a teenager 50 years ago.

FIGHT CARD

Sara El Bakkali v Anisha Kadka (Lightweight, female)
Mohammed Adil Al Debi v Moaz Abdelgawad (Bantamweight)
Amir Boureslan v Mahmoud Zanouny (Welterweight)
Abrorbek Madaminbekov v Mohammed Al Katheeri (Featherweight)
Ibrahem Bilal v Emad Arafa (Super featherweight)
Ahmed Abdolaziz v Imad Essassi (Middleweight)
Milena Martinou v Ilham Bourakkadi (Bantamweight, female)
Noureddine El Agouti v Mohamed Mardi (Welterweight)
Nabil Ouach v Ymad Atrous (Middleweight)
Nouredin Samir v Zainalabid Dadachev (Lightweight)
Marlon Ribeiro v Mehdi Oubahammou (Welterweight)
Brad Stanton v Mohamed El Boukhari (Super welterweight

THE SPECS

Engine: 3-litre V6

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 424hp

Torque: 580 Nm

Price: From Dh399,000

On sale: Now

Company Profile

Company name: NutriCal

Started: 2019

Founder: Soniya Ashar

Based: Dubai

Industry: Food Technology

Initial investment: Self-funded undisclosed amount

Future plan: Looking to raise fresh capital and expand in Saudi Arabia

Total Clients: Over 50

'Cheb%20Khaled'
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Profile of Whizkey

Date founded: 04 November 2017

Founders: Abdulaziz AlBlooshi and Harsh Hirani

Based: Dubai, UAE

Number of employees: 10

Sector: AI, software

Cashflow: Dh2.5 Million  

Funding stage: Series A

The specs: 2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross

Price, base / as tested: Dh101,140 / Dh113,800


Engine: Turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder


Power: 148hp @ 5,500rpm


Torque: 250Nm @ 2,000rpm


Transmission: Eight-speed CVT


Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km

The Buckingham Murders

Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu

Director: Hansal Mehta

Rating: 4 / 5

Engine: 80 kWh four-wheel-drive

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 402bhp

Torque: 760Nm

Price: From Dh280,000

Results
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'Shakuntala Devi'

Starring: Vidya Balan, Sanya Malhotra

Director: Anu Menon

Rating: Three out of five stars

Messi at the Copa America

2007 – lost 3-0 to Brazil in the final

2011 – lost to Uruguay on penalties in the quarter-finals

2015 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final

2016 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final

Why it pays to compare

A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.

Route 1: bank transfer

The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.

Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount

Total received: €4,670.30 

Route 2: online platform

The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.

Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction

Total received: €4,756

The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.

The National Archives, Abu Dhabi

Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.

Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en

MATCH INFO

Bayern Munich 2 Borussia Monchengladbach 1
Bayern:
 Zirkzee (26'), Goretzka (86')
Gladbach: Pavard (37' og)

Man of the Match: Breel Embolo (Borussia Monchengladbach)

Wicked: For Good

Director: Jon M Chu

Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater

Rating: 4/5

Water waste

In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.

Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.

A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.

The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.

The specs

Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors

Power: Combined output 920hp

Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic

Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km

On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025

Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000

What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence