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Pope jokes ‘some wanted me dead’ after surgery: report

AFP

Pope Francis joked that “some people wanted me dead” and cardinals were already preparing to replace him after his colon surgery this summer, according to a media report Tuesday.

The 84-year-old pontiff made the comments during a meeting with fellow Jesuits in Bratislava on September 12, according to Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica.

Asked by one of those present how he was, Francis replied: “Still alive, even though some people wanted me dead.

“I know there were even meetings between prelates who thought the pope’s condition was more serious than what was said. They were preparing for the conclave. Ah well!”

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When a pope dies or retires, cardinals meet in a secret conclave to elect his replacement from among their peers.

“Thank God, I’m well. Undergoing that surgery was a decision I didn’t want to take,” Francis continued. 

“It was a nurse who convinced me. Nurses sometimes understand the situation more than doctors because they are in direct contact with the patients.”

Francis underwent an operation on July 4 after suffering from a type of diverticulitis, an inflammation of pockets that develop in the lining of the intestine. He was discharged from hospital after 10 days.

It is not the first time he has commented on rumours sparked by his health. 

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After media reports last month that he might step down, he told Spanish radio Cope that “it didn’t even cross my mind”.

Francis was in Bratislava as part of a four-day trip to Slovakia and Budapest.

The Argentine was elected pope in 2013 after the shock resignation of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who became the first pontiff since the Middle Ages to quit the role.

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International

Trump urges Putin to reach peace deal

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his desire for Russian President Vladimir Putin to “reach a deal” to end the war in Ukraine, while also reaffirming his willingness to impose sanctions on Russia.

“I want to see him reach an agreement to prevent Russian, Ukrainian, and other people from dying,” Trump stated during a press conference in the Oval Office at the White House.

“I think he will. I don’t want to have to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil,” the Republican leader added, recalling that he had already taken similar measures against Venezuela by sanctioning buyers of the South American country’s crude oil.

Trump also reiterated his frustration over Ukraine’s resistance to an agreement that would allow the United States to exploit natural resources in the country—a condition he set in negotiations to end the war.

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International

Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links

A flight carrying 175 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrived in Caracas on Sunday. This marks the third group to return since repatriation flights resumed a week ago, and among them is an alleged member of a criminal organization, according to Venezuelan authorities.

Unlike previous flights operated by the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, this time, an aircraft from the U.S. airline Eastern landed at Maiquetía Airport, on the outskirts of Caracas, shortly after 2:00 p.m. with the deportees.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who welcomed the returnees at the airport, stated that the 175 repatriated individuals were coming back “after being subjected, like all Venezuelans, to persecution” and dismissed claims that they belonged to the criminal organization El Tren de Aragua.

However, Cabello confirmed that “for the first time in these flights we have been carrying out, someone of significance wanted by Venezuelan justice has arrived, and he is not from El Tren de Aragua.” Instead, he belongs to a gang operating in the state of Trujillo. The minister did not disclose the individual’s identity or provide details on where he would be taken.

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International

Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”

Guatemalan court decides Wednesday whether to convict journalist José Rubén Zamora

The son of renowned journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, José Carlos Zamora, has denounced as “illegal” the court order that sent his father back to a Guatemalan prison on March 3, after already spending 819 days behind barsover a highly irregular money laundering case.

“My father’s return to prison was based on an arbitrary and illegal ruling. It is also alarming that the judge who had granted him house arrest received threats,” José Carlos Zamora told EFE in an interview on Saturday.

The 67-year-old journalist was sent back to prison inside the Mariscal Zavala military barracks on March 3, when Judge Erick García upheld a Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the house arrest granted to him in October. Zamora had already spent 819 days in prison over an alleged money laundering case.

His son condemned the situation as “unacceptable”, stating that the judge handling the case “cannot do his job in accordance with the law due to threats against his life.”

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