In Chile, pope met with protests, passion and skepticism
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Pope Francis flew in to Chile’s capital Monday night for a visit expected to be met with protests over sexual abuse by priests and confronted by many Chileans deeply skeptical about the Roman Catholic Church.
It’s the pope’s first visit to the Andean nation of 17 million people since taking the reins of the church in 2013. It comes at a time when many Chileans are furious over Francis’ 2015 decision to appoint a bishop close to the Rev. Fernando Karadima, who the Vatican found guilty in 2011 of abusing dozens of minors over decades.
The Rev. Juan Barros, bishop of the southern city of Osorno, has always denied he knew what Karadima was doing when he was the priest’s protege, a position that many Chileans have a hard time believing.
“It’s not just time for the pope to ask for forgiveness for the abuses but also to take action,” said Juan Carlos Cruz, a victim of Karadima.
Cruz added that if it wasn’t possible to jail bad bishops, “at the very least they can be removed from their positions.”
Warning: Stifling sneezes can be health hazard in rare cases
LONDON (AP) — Tempted to stifle a loud or untimely sneeze? Let it out instead, doctors in England warned Monday based on the very unusual case of a man who ruptured the back of his throat when he tried to suppress a sneeze.
In a case study published in the journal BMJ Case Reports, doctors described their initial confusion when the previously healthy man turned up in the emergency room of a Leicester hospital, complaining of swallowing difficulties and “a popping sensation” in his swollen neck.
The 34-year-old patient told them his problems started after he tried to stop a forceful sneeze by pinching his nose and closing his mouth. He eventually lost his voice and spent a week in the hospital.
“When you sneeze, air comes out of you at about 150 miles per hour,” said Dr. Anthony Aymat, director for ear, nose and throat services at London’s University Hospital Lewisham, who was not involved in the case. “If you retain all that pressure, it could do a lot of damage and you could end up like the Michelin Man with air trapped in your body.”
While examining the sneeze-averse patient, doctors in Leicester heard “crackling in the neck” down to his ribcage, a sign that air bubbles had seeped into his chest. Worried about infection and other possible complications, they admitted him to the hospital, gave him a feeding tube and administered antibiotics, according to details published in BMJ Case Reports.
Dolores O’Riordan, voice of The Cranberries, dies at 46
LONDON (AP) — Dolores O’Riordan, whose urgent, powerful voice helped make Irish rock band The Cranberries a global success in the 1990s, died suddenly on Monday at a London hotel. She was 46.
The singer-songwriter’s publicist, Lindsey Holmes, confirmed that O’Riordan died in London, where she was recording,
“No further details are available at this time,” Holmes said, adding that O’Riordan’s family was “devastated” by the news.
Her Cranberries bandmates — Noel Hogan, Mike Hogan and Fergus Lawler — tweeted that O’Riordan “was an extraordinary talent and we feel very privileged to have been part of her life.”
London’s Metropolitan Police force said officers were called just after 9 a.m. Monday to a hotel where a woman in her 40s was found dead. The police force said the death was being treated as “unexplained.”
Casino company: Boat that caught fire had no past problems
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A casino company said Monday it never had a problem with the shuttle boat that burst into flames off Florida’s Gulf Coast, leading to the death of a female passenger.
Tropical Breeze Casino spokeswoman Beth Fifer said the company does not know what caused Sunday’s huge blaze, which gutted the 12-year-old shuttle boat and forced about 50 passengers to jump into chilly waters off Port Richey.
“We are deeply saddened for the loss of our passenger, the 14 injured and anyone else who was affected by this tragedy,” Fifer said.
Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point spokesman Kurt Conover said Monday that the passenger arrived at the hospital’s emergency room at 10 p.m. Sunday and died shortly afterward. He said she had apparently gone home after the fire but became ill.
Pasco County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Kevin Doll said the victim was 42. Her name has not been released and a cause of death has not been determined. Conover said eight other passengers were treated at the hospital and released.
Melania Trump’s style evokes Europe roots, not America First
PARIS (AP) — Slovenian-born Melania Trump has been unafraid to go against her husband’s “America First” agenda and stay true to her roots, if there’s a message to be taken from her bold, foreign-flavored wardrobe in 2017.
In her first year as first lady, Mrs. Trump has often wrapped herself in the clothes of her home continent as several American designers publicly refused to dress her in what was a fashion industry-wide backlash against her unpopular spouse.
The first first lady to be born in continental Europe, Trump grew up in Sevnica in Slovenia, in the southern Balkans, just over 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the Italian border. Her first real taste for fashion came while living in Paris as a young model in the mid-1990s, years before she got U.S. citizenship in 2006.
From designs by Dolce & Gabbana, Del Pozo, Christian Dior, Emilio Pucci, Givenchy and Valentino to daringly high Christian Louboutin heels, the 47-year-old first lady’s touchstones have not only been the Old World, but its most established — and expensive — design houses.
As the wife of a billionaire, Mrs. Trump can afford to spend into the five figures for a garment and seems unconcerned about how that squares with voters in President Donald Trump’s political base.