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Journalism of Courage
Paris: Some 1,500 visitors were cleared out of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris after a man put a letter on the altar of the 850-year-old monument Tuesday,pulled out a gun and shot himself in the head. Its the first suicide in decades at the landmark site,Monsignor Patrick Jacquin,the cathedrals rector,told The Associated Press. Its unfortunate,dramatic,shocking, Jacquin said. The man was identified as Dominique Venner,78,a long-time essayist and activist linked with Frances far-right. He had written a blog post shortly before his death denouncing an infamous law legalising gay marriage in France. Its highly unusual for the cathedral,visited by some 13 million people from around the world every year,to be evacuated.
Pope Francis performs his first exorcism after mass in Vatican
VATICAN CITY: Is Pope Francis an exorcist?
The question has been swirling ever since Francis laid his hands Sunday on the head of a young man after celebrating Mass in St Peters Square. The young man heaved deeply a half-dozen times,convulsed and shook,and then slumped in his wheelchair as Francis prayed over him. The TV station of the Italian bishops conference said it had surveyed exorcists,who agreed that Francis definitely performed an exorcism. The Vatican was more cautious Tuesday,saying Francis didnt intend to perform any exorcism… he simply intended to pray. Francis is obsessed with the devil,a frequent subject of his homilies.
US can keep bin Laden photos secret,court rules
Washington: A federal appeals court Tuesday backed the US governments decision not to release photos and video taken of Osama bin Laden during and after a raid in which the terrorist leader was killed by Navy Seal commandos. The three-judge panel of the US Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington turned down an appeal from Judicial Watch,a conservative watchdog group,which had filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the images. The Defence Department said it did not turn up anything pertinent to the request. The CIA had found 52 such records,but withheld all of them,citing exemptions for classified materials and information specifically exempted by other laws. In Tuesdays ruling,the appeals court said the CIA properly withheld publication of the images of the al-Qaeda leader.
