12/05/2025

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Jubilant Peruvians celebrate new pope at outdoor mass

South Korea conservatives choose presidential candidate

new work visa rules and people arriving from Ukraine and Hong Kong under special visa schemes led to a surge in immigration. Net migration, or the number of people coming to Britain minus the number leaving, rose to a record 906,000 people in the year to June 2023, up from the 184,000 people who arrived in the same period during 2019, when Britain was still in the EU. – Reuters SEOUL: South Korea’s People Power Party registered former labour minister Kim Moon-soo as its official presidential candidate yesterday, a day after it attempted to cancel his candidacy. The ruling People Power Party has been in turmoil since former president Yoon Suk Yeol was ousted after he declared martial law in December. Last week, Kim won the party’s primary to run as its candidate in presidential elections on June 3. But before dawn on Saturday, his nomination was cancelled and the party moved to replace him with former prime minister Han Duck-soo, who had resigned to contest the race initially as an independent. The attempt however failed when party members voted down a motion to switch the presidential candidate from Kim to Han – automatically reinstating Kim as the nominee. “Today, I have completed the registration for the presidential candidacy. I would like to express my gratitude to all the citizens who have shown concern and to my fellow party members,” Kim told reporters after he registered his candidacy at the National Election Commission. “This presidential election is crucial as it will determine who can overcome the crisis facing our nation and work toward the happiness of our people,” said the 73-year-old. “I pledge to do my utmost to secure victory and lead South Korea to become an even greater nation.” Kim said he is scheduled to meet Han at the party headquarters soon after, and emphasised that he will do his best to leverage Han’s “remarkable capabilities”. Han held a press conference, announcing he will step down. “I accept everything with humility and respect the outcome. I sincerely wish candidate Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party and his supporters success,” said Han. “Now, I am stepping back from everything and returning to the life of an ordinary citizen.” Analysts say the country’s right needs to rally around a single candidate to avoid an opposition landslide at the election, with Lee Jae myung of the Democratic Party leading in polls. A National Barometer Survey released this week showed Lee, who faces criminal trials, leading Kim 43% to 29%. – AFP

CHICLAYO: Thousands of Catholics gathered on Saturday for an outdoor mass in the Peruvian city of Chiclayo to celebrate the election of Pope Leo XIV, who for years lived, ate and prayed among them. The first American head of the Catholic Church spent nine years in the commercial hub along the Pacific coast, where he is claimed as one of their own. Chiclayo “is a simple town that he loved deeply and that he continues to carry in his heart”, Chiclayo Bishop Edinson Farfan told a packed congregation at St Mary’s Cathedral. Pope Leo, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago, first set foot in Peru four decades ago as a missionary. He returned to the city in 2014 and the following year was named bishop, becoming a naturalised Peruvian citizen in the process. He remained there until he was summoned to Rome by the late pope Francis in 2023. In his first address from the Vatican on Thursday, Leo briefly greeted his “beloved diocese of Chiclayo” in Spanish and paid homage to his “faithful people”. Seven thousand miles away, many in the city could hardly believe “el obispo” is the new pope. “There are no words to explain the emotion, the feeling that our pope has been here, close to us,” said Rosa Maria Bernadese, a 57-year-old teaching assistant, who joined the celebration at St Mary’s Cathedral. Amid a sea of yellow balloons, o Pontiff had lived in city from 2014 to 2023

Parishioners at St Mary’s Cathedral celebrating the appointment of Pope Leo XIV. – REUTERSPIC

be eligible for skilled worker visas. “We inherited a failed immigration system where the previous government replaced free movement with a free market experiment. We are taking decisive action to restore control and order to the immigration system,” Home Minister Yvette Cooper said in a statement. While post-Brexit changes to visas saw a sharp drop in the number of European Union migrants to Britain, he said, while describing the #MeToo movement as a “reign of terror”. Throughout the trial, Depardieu has been supported by his daughter Roxane, his ex-partner Karine Silla and actor Vincent Perez. Long-time friend Ardant, 76, spoke for him. “I have never witnessed anything that I found shocking,” she told the court. “I know that you can say no to Gerard.” – AFP From the front row of the mass, Maria Elena Laboriano, 45, said: “We are very happy that the current pope is a Chiclayan.” Others expressed joy that the pope has cast an international spotlight on Chiclayo, where they hope he will return. “For sure, we will extend an invitation for him to come and visit us,” Farfan said. – AFP

praised his “big heart” and closeness to the poor, migrants, refugees and “those who suffer”. “The city of friendship, the city of the Eucharist, accompanied the Holy Father Leo XIV in his pilgrimage so that he may now accompany and guide the universal Church from Chiclayo, from Latin America, the continent of hope for the whole world,” he said.

some faithful waved pictures from Leo’s time as a bishop. One held a sign that read: “Papa Leo XIV, Chiclayo will always be your home.” “Papa amigo, Chiclayo esta contigo (Pope, my friend, Chiclayo is with you),” they chanted as applause broke out. Farfan described Leo as “deeply sensitive to social justice” and

Verdict on Depardieu sexual assault trial out tomorrow PARIS: A Paris court is to give a verdict tomorrow in the sexual assault trial of French cinema icon Gerard Depardieu. The trial relates to charges of sexual assault during the filming in 2021 of Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters) by director Jean Becker. reported by the two women were “intentional”.

He said Depardieu should also be ordered to undergo psychological treatment, and be added to France’s sex offender registry. The actor has denied sexually assaulting the women. “I’m vulgar, rude, foul-mouthed, I’ll accept that,” he told the court, but he added: “I don’t touch.” “I adore women and femininity,”

The plaintiffs are a set dresser, 54, identified only as Amelie, and a 34-year-old assistant director, who accuse the actor of sexual assault. In March, lead prosecutor Laurent Guy recommended an 18-month suspended jail sentence for Depardieu, arguing that the assaults

Depardieu, 76, who has acted in more than 200 films and television series, is the highest-profile figure caught up in France’s response to the #MeToo movement. He has been accused of improper behaviour by 20 women, but this is the first case to come to court.

UK to end ‘failed free market experiment’ LONDON: The British government outlined plans yesterday to end what it called the “failed free market experiment” in mass immigration by restricting skilled worker visas to graduate-level jobs and forcing businesses to increase training for local workers. UK party in local elections this month. Under the government’s new plans, skilled visas will only be granted to people in graduate jobs, while visas for lower-skilled roles will only be issued in areas critical to the nation’s industrial strategy, and in return businesses must increase training of British workers. be published today setting out how ministers plan to reduce immigration. High levels of migration were one of the major drivers behind the vote to leave the European Union in 2016 with voters unhappy about the free movement of workers across the bloc. After Britain eventually left the EU in 2020, the then Conservative government reduced the threshold to allow workers in categories such as yoga teachers, dog walkers and DJs to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is under pressure to cut net migration after the success of Nigel Farage’s right-wing, anti-immigration Reform The Labour government said the changes will be part of a policy document, known as a White Paper, to