World News TheFOXposts

Pope Francis is travelling to Mongolia this week to minister to one of the world's tiniest and newest Catholic communities, the first-ever visit by a Roman pontiff to the East Asian country VATICAN CITY -- When Pope Francis travels to Mongolia this week, he will in some ways be completing a mission begun by the 13th-century Pope Innocent IV, who dispatched emissaries east to ascertain the intentions of the rapidly expanding Mongol Empire and beseech its leaders to halt the bloodshed and convert. Those medieval exchanges between Roman pope and Mongolian khan were full of bellicose demands for submission and conversion, with each side claiming to be acting in the name of God, according to texts of the letters that survive. But the exchanges also showed mutual respect at a time when the Catholic Church was waging Crusades and the Mongol Empire was conquering lands as far west as Hungary in what would become the largest contiguous land empire in world history. Some 800 years later, Fra...

A rescue operation is underway to save an expert American caving instructor who fell ill a week ago while more than 3,400 feet deep in a cave in southern Turkey. A rescue operation is underway to save an American caving instructor who fell ill a week ago while more than 3,400 feet deep in a cave in southern Turkey. Mark Dickey, 40, fell ill on Aug. 31 while on an exploration of the Morca cave in the Taurus Mountains and has been unable to return to the surface since, according to the volunteer group New Jersey Initial Response Team. Dickey is the chief of the group, which specializes in cave and mine rescue, as well as an instructor for the National Cave Rescue Com mission . European Cave Rescue Association (ECRA) members and Turkish gendarmerie officers stand next to the entrance of Morca cave near Anamur, southern Turkey, Sept. 7, 2023. Mithat Unal/Dia Images via AP The expert caver was helping lead an international caving expedition when he started suffering intestinal problems ...

Russia’s new ambassador to the Vatican is meeting with Pope Francis for a protocol visit to present his diplomatic credentials VATICAN CITY -- Russia’s new ambassador to the Vatican met Monday with Pope Francis for a protocol visit, as signs emerged that the Vatican's Ukraine peace envoy could soon be undertaking a second mission to Moscow. The Vatican said Ambassador Ivan Soltanovsky was presenting his credentials to Francis, signaling the official start of his term. His motorcade was seen leaving the Russian embassy Monday morning, bound for the Vatican, and returning about two hours later. Soltanovsky replaced Ambassador Alexander Avdeev, whom Francis met with on Feb. 25, 2022 in a remarkable in-person papal visit to the embassy the day after Moscow’s forces invaded Ukraine. The credential presentation appointment comes after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in recent days that Moscow was ready to meet again with Francis’ Ukraine peace envoy, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, ...

Azerbaijan's prosecutor general says the country has issued an arrest warrant for former Nagorno-Karabakh separatist leader Arayik Harutyunyan YEREVAN, Armenia -- Azerbaijan’s prosecutor general issued an arrest warrant for ex-Nagorno-Karabakh leader Arayik Harutyunyan Sunday as the first United Nations mission to visit the region in three decades arrived in the former breakaway state. Harutyunyan led the breakaway region, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but was largely populated by ethnic Armenians, between May 2020 and last month, when the separatist government said it would dissolve itself by the end of the year after a three-decade bid for independence. Azerbaijani police arrested one of Harutyunyan’s former prime ministers, Ruben Vardanyan, on Wednesday as he tried to cross into Armenia along with tens of thousands of others who have fled following Baku’s 24-hour blitz last week to reclaim control of Nagorno-Karabakh. Harutyunyan and the enclave...

Kenya’s foreign affairs minister has been moved to the tourism post as part of a Cabinet reshuffle just days after he said the country’s police in the Kenya-led Haiti peacekeeping mission would be deployed “within a short time.” NAIROBI, Kenya -- Kenya’s foreign affairs minister was moved to the tourism post Wednesday as part of a Cabinet reshuffle just days after the official said the country’s police in the Kenya-led Haiti peacekeeping mission would be deployed “within a short time.” Alfred Mutua’s statement came shortly after the U.N Security Council approved the force Monday and was issued before President William Ruto’s statement. The president did not mention when the deployment would take place. Kenya has committed to leading a multinational force to combat gang violence in Haiti, a plan that has been controversial locally and internationally. As foreign minister, Mutua was vocal about the Haiti mission, giving prospective deployment times and preparations that are underway. His...