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Indonesian sisters living in East Timor walk on the Esplanade of Taci Tolu, where Pope Francis will lead a mass, ahead of his visit in Dili on 7 September 2024. Photo: YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP By Kate Lamb, Reuters When Pope Francis touches down in the East Timorese capital of Dili this week he will be landing in a totally different nation to the one visited by his predecessor. The last papal visit to Dili was in 1989, when Pope John Paul II arrived in territory then occupied by Indonesia, gifting East Timor's fledgling independence movement an historic boost and rare prominence on the global stage. "It was an opportunity for us to express our right to fight for our liberation," recalled Father Francisco Barreto, who was among the crowd when protesters unfurled banners calling for independ...

Damaged buildings and debris after Typhoon Yagi hit Ha Long, in Vietnam, on 8 September. Photo: AFP/ Nhac Nguyen Typhoon Yagi and the landslides and floods it triggered have killed at least 24 people and injured another 299 in northern Vietnam, the government said, as authorities on Monday warned of more flooding. The typhoon was Asia's most powerful storm this year and made landfall on the country's northeastern coast on Saturday. It has disrupted power supplies and telecommunications in several parts of the country, mostly in Quang Ninh and Haiphong, the government said in a statement issued late on Sunday. The weather agency on Monday warned of more floods and landslides, noting that rainfall ranged between 208mm and 433mm in several parts of the region over the past 24 hours. "Flood...

By Joseph Ax, Rich McKay and Gabriella Borter, Reuters Traffic stopped in the US on Interstate 75 on 7 September, during an 'active shooter incident' near London, Kentucky. Photo: AFP/ Mount Vernon Fire Department Joseph Couch named as suspect, rifle found near his car Laurel County public schools cancel classes on Monday Five people injured, 12 vehicles struck by bullets A US man suspected of opening fire on cars travelling along Interstate 75 in rural Kentucky was at large on Sunday night after a day-long manhunt by multiple law enforcement agencies through rugged, wooded terrain. Kentucky State Police were leading the manhunt for suspect Joseph Couch, 32, whom police identified after finding a vehicle registered to him and an AR-style rifle near the shooting site, about 12.9km ...

Manshika Prasad (middle) has had her throne restored after ‘the real Miss Universe Fiji’, runner-up Nadine Roberts (left) was handed it instead. Photo: Asvin Singh Fiji's first Miss Universe beauty pageant in more than 40 years has been "tainted" by ugly accusations, a New Zealand judge at the contest says. Manshika Prasad, a 24-year-old MBA student, was adorned with her tiara and winner's sash on stage at Fiji's Pearl Resort and Spa last week. Days later, after she had celebrated winning the chance to represent Fiji at the international beauty pageant in Mexico in November, everything changed. Prasad celebrated her win with a photoshoot on a boat around the sparkling waters of the South Pacific island nation. Photo: Asvin Singh Over the weekend, a press release from Miss Universe...

US vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and US former president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Photo: AFP / Jeff Kowalsky, Charly Triballeau Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Vice President Kamala Harris are effectively tied heading into the final weeks of the election, according to a national poll conducted by The New York Times and Siena College. Trump is up one percentage point, 48 percent - 47 percent, over Harris, according to the survey released on Sunday, a difference that is well within the survey's three-point margin of error, meaning a win for either candidate in the 5 November election is well within reach. While the Trump campaign endured a relatively rocky stretch in the weeks after Dem...

Kamala Harris has overtaken Donald Trump in several key polls. Photo: AFP Kamala Harris is making inroads into Donald Trump's lead in the seven vital swing states. But it is only by a nose, and there are plenty of dirty politics to come With less than two months remaining until the 2024 United States presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris has overtaken rival and former President Donald Trump in several key polls - but only by what looks like less than the margin of error. Harris, who officially took over the Democratic ticket in August, is boosting stronger numbers than President Joe Biden did before his sudden exit, especially in the vital swing states. The Detail speaks to Republican strategist John Jordan, and legal and political analyst Danielle Mclaughlin, a New Zealan...