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Thousands of young Catholics began assembling Saturday for an evening prayer vigil  led by Pope Leo XIV, the culmination of a week-long pilgrimage and a key event in the Jubilee holy year that is expected to draw up to a million people.The “Jubilee of Youth” — when the Vatican invites Catholics aged 18 to 35 to the seat of the global Church’s power — has seen young pilgrims from around the world flood Rome, waving flags, singing or praying in groups.It comes nearly three months after Leo, 69, the first American pontiff, began his papacy, and 25 years after the last such massive youth gathering in Rome under Poland’s Pope John Paul II. On Saturday morning, thousands of young pilgrims had already gathered at the vast open space in Rome’s eastern Tor Vergata neighbourhood where the pope will lead the vigil, the ground already dotted with blankets and mattresses. Elsewhere in the Eternal City, numerous groups of young people were seen preparing to set off for the venue. On the plaza outside the Basilica of St John Lateran, they filled water bottles, applied suncream and checked bags of food and snacks — ready to spend the next 24 hours surrounded by a swarm of people and then sleep under the stars.Victoria Perez, who carried a Spanish flag, could not contain her excitement at seeing “the Pope up close.”It’s the first time I’m going to see him, and I can’t wait,” the 21-year-old told AFP, excited to experience the “night of prayers under the stars”. French pilgrim, Quentin Remaury, 26, said he had been inspired by the late Pope Francis’s rousing message to youth during a 2016 visit to Krakow, Poland. “Pope Francis told us to ‘get off your couches,’ and that really gave me a boost,” he said. – ‘What is his message?’ -Since the youth jubilee began on Monday, attendees have participated in various Church-planned events throughout the city.On Friday, approximately 1,000 priests were on hand to take confession at Circus Maximus, one of Rome’s top tourist spots.Some 200 white gazebos lined the hippodrome where chariot races were once held and youths lined up to speak to priests in 10 different languages.Of the many languages heard on the streets of the Italian capital this week, Spanish seemed to dominate. The Vatican has said that more than 146 countries were represented and it expects up to a million people to attend the vigil.The pilgrimage is taking place as economic uncertainty and anxiety over climate change rises among the under-30s, with many saying they were curious to hear the Church’s position on global warming, wars and economic inequalities. Samarei Semos, 29, said she had travelled three days from her native Belize to get to Rome. “We are still trying to understand his leadership,” she said of the new pope, adding she hoped he would have a strong say about “third world countries”. As Parisian student Alice Berry exclaimed: “What does he have to say to us? What is his message for young people?”- Raising voices -The youth pilgrimage also comes amid global alarm over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and more than three years of war in Ukraine. The Vatican has praised young Catholics who managed to travel to Rome from war-scarred countries, with Pope Leo saying the voices of the world’s youth “will be heard to the end of the earth”.   In an unprecedented move, Leo hosted a mass Tuesday for Catholic social media influencers, signalling the Vatican’s openness to supporting the Internet-savvy youth. More than 4,300 volunteers will be working the event to welcome the young pilgrims, along with over 1,000 police, according to organisers. Rome authorities have tightened security in the city — which has seen an unprecedented number of people, with both tourists and pilgrims inundated the city. 

Up to a million young Catholic believers are expected Saturday for a night-time vigil led by Pope Leo XIV, the culmination of a week-long pilgrimage, a key event in the Jubilee holy year.The “Jubilee of Youth” — when the Vatican invites Catholics aged 18 to 35 to the seat of the global Church’s power — has seen thousands of young pilgrims from around the world flood Rome this week.It is taking place just under three months since 69-year-old Leo — the first American pope — took over the papacy.Large groups of pilgrims have packed the streets of Rome all week, waving the flags of their countries or cities and chanting religious songs.Excitement has mounted over the course of the week for the new pope’s final appearance to the youths on Saturday.”I feel mainly curiosity, as we don’t know him very well yet,” Parisian student Alice Berry, 21, told AFP. “What does he have to say to us? What is his message for young people?”- Uncertainty, anxiety -Various events have been planned for them by the Church throughout the city, including at Circus Maximus, where on Friday approximately 1,000 priests were on hand to take confession.Some 200 white gazebos lined the hippodrome where chariot races were once held in Ancient Rome, where youth lined up to speak to priests in 10 different languages.Spanish was one of the main languages heard on the streets of the Italian capital.The pilgrimage is taking place as economic uncertainty hits young people across the world and as climate change anxiety rises among the under-30s. Many young pilgrims said they wanted to hear the Vatican’s position on climate change, wars and economic inequalities. Samarei Semos, 29, said she had travelled three days from her native Belize to get to Rome. “We are still trying to understand his leadership,” she said of the new pope, adding she hoped he would have a strong say about “third world countries”. The pilgrimage also comes amid global alarm over starvation in Israel-blockaded Gaza, and more than three years into Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. – Night vigil -The Vatican has praised Catholic youths who travelled to Rome from war-scarred countries like Ukraine or Syria, with Pope Leo repeatedly calling for the youths to “pray for peace”. The voices of the amassed young people “will be heard to the end of the earth,” Pope Leo told them earlier this week. The Vatican has said that more than 146 countries are represented.  The mass that is the climax of the event will take place in Rome’s Tor Vergata area in a vast open-air space with a newly built stage for the pope.It is the same area used 25 years ago for the last youth jubilee under Pope John Paul II. More than 4,300 volunteers will be working the event to welcome the young pilgrims, along with over 1,000 police, according to organisers. In an unprecedented move, Leo hosted a mass Tuesday for Catholic social media influencers, signalling the Vatican’s openness to supporting the Internet-savvy youth. Rome authorities have tightened security in the city — which has seen an unprecedented number of people, with both tourists and pilgrims inundated the city. 

Global markets reeled Friday after President Donald Trump’s tariffs barrage against nearly all US trading partners as governments looked down the barrel of a seven-day deadline before higher duties take effect.Trump announced late Thursday that dozens of economies, including the European Union, will face new tariff rates of between 10 and 41 percent.However, implementation will …

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Stock markets dived Friday following weak US jobs data that raised doubts about the world’s biggest economy as President Donald Trump moves forward with additional tariffs.Major US indices finished down 1.2 percent or more after spending the entire day in the red. Major indices in Asia and Europe also fell, with Paris and Frankfurt losing …

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President Donald Trump’s special envoy promised a plan to deliver more food to Gaza after inspecting a US-backed distribution centre on Friday, as the United Nations said Israeli forces had killed hundreds of hungry Palestinians waiting for aid over the past two months.The visit by US envoy Steve Witkoff came as a report from global advocacy group Human Rights Watch accused Israeli forces of presiding over “regular bloodbaths” close to aid points run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).The UN human rights office in the Palestinian territories said at least 1,373 Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza had been killed since May 27 — 105 of them in the last two days of July.”Most of these killings were committed by the Israeli military,” the UN office said, breaking down the death toll into 859 killed near GHF sites and 514 along routes used by UN and aid agency convoys.Witkoff said he had spent more than five hours inside Gaza, in an online post accompanied by a photograph of himself wearing a protective vest and meeting staff at a GHF distribution centre.The visit intended to give Trump “a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza,” Witkoff said.Trump echoed this in a phone call with US news site Axios touting a plan to “get people fed”.”We want to help people. We want to help them live. We want to get people fed. It is something that should have happened long time ago,” Trump said according to Axios.- ‘Gunning them down’ -The US president did not say whether his plan would involve reinforcing GHF or a whole new mechanism, the report said.The GHF largely sidelined the longstanding UN-led aid distribution system in Gaza just as Israel in late May began easing a more than two-month aid blockade that exacerbated existing shortages.The foundation said it had delivered its 100-millionth meal in Gaza during the visit by Witkoff and US ambassador Mike Huckabee.Gaza’s civil defence agency said 22 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and air strikes on Friday, including eight who were waiting to collect food aid.In its report on the GHF centres, Human Rights Watch accused the Israeli military of using starvation as a weapon of war.”Israeli forces are not only deliberately starving Palestinian civilians, but they are now gunning them down almost every day as they desperately seek food for their families,” said HRW’s associate crisis and conflict director, Belkis Wille.”US-backed Israeli forces and private contractors have put in place a flawed, militarised aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths.”The Israeli military said in response that the GHF worked independently, but that troops operated near aid sites “to enable the orderly delivery of food” while trying to “minimise… any friction between the civilian population” and its forces.The military accused Hamas of trying to prevent food distribution, and said it was conducting a review of reported deaths.Witkoff on Thursday held talks with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to destroy Hamas and rescue hostages seized in the Palestinian group’s October 2023 attack that triggered the war.But Netanyahu is under mounting international pressure to end the bloodshed that has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry, and threatened many more with famine.- Hostage video -Following his discussions with Witkoff, Netanyahu met Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, who warned that “the humanitarian disaster in Gaza is beyond imagination.”Wadephul urged Israel “to provide humanitarian and medical aid to prevent mass starvation from becoming a reality”.In an investigative report published on Friday, British public broadcaster the BBC said it had gathered accounts from witnesses, medics and other sources of more than 160 children shot in the war, including 95 hit in the head or chest, some by Israeli forces.Responding in a statement to AFP, the Israeli military said any “intentional harm to civilians, and especially to children, is strictly prohibited” by international law and the army’s orders.Hamas’s 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures.The retaliatory Israeli offensive has killed at least 60,249 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry.Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP cannot independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence and other parties.Of the 251 people taken hostage during the Hamas attack on southern Israel, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 declared dead by the Israeli military.After Witkoff’s Gaza visit, the armed wing of Hamas released a short online video showing 24-year-old Israeli hostage Evyatar David, looking emaciated and weak in a narrow concrete tunnel.burs-dc/ami