Voice of America’s immigration news

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Beirut — At a shop nestled in a busy, crowded Beirut district, Hasan El-Makary is weighing out containers of warm, fragrant mufataka, a traditional sweet in the Lebanese capital that is rarely found in stores.   "I've been in this shop for 50 years, but we started specializing in mufataka 30 years ago," Makary said from the humble shop with its aging decor and low ceiling.   A kind of rice pudding made with turmeric, tahini sesame paste, sugar and pine nuts, mufataka is traditional in Beirut but less known even outside the city.   Makary, 73, said he used to sell other sweets but as demand grew for mufataka, he abandoned the rest and now he and his cousin – who is also his business partner – just make the yellow pudding.   "At the beginning you add turmeric, that's the main thing, then tahini, sugar and rice ... we cook it slowly on fire," he said.   The rice must be soaked overnight, and Makary said he comes to the shop at 5:00 a.m. to make the dish, which takes around four hours and requires regular stirring.   He said his father started making mufataka despite initially believing people would not pay money for a dish that is normally prepared at home.   Plastic containers of the pudding, which is eaten with a spoon, dotted trays and tables across the shop, waiting for customers who peered through a window to place their order from the busy street outside.   Customer Iman Chehab, 55, was picking up mufataka for her mother, who used to make it herself.   "She is elderly now and she can't stir ... it takes a lot of work," said Chehab, who works in human resources management.   The dish is "something traditional for us who are from Beirut," she told AFP.  Places like Makary's shop "are the old face of Beirut that we love and always want to remember," she added.   'Heritage'  A few bustling neighborhoods away, Samir Makari, 35, is carrying on the family tradition.   At a gleaming shop also selling Arabic sweets like baklava, Makari attends to a huge copper pot of mufataka behind the counter, stirring it with a long, wooden-handled implement.   He weighs out and mixes the sugar, tahini paste and pine nuts in a second pot, later combining it all.   Mufataka used to be made just once a year on the last Wednesday in April, with families gathering by the sea at Beirut's public beach, father and son said.   The occasion was "Job's Wednesday," a reference to the biblical figure also mentioned in the Koran and who is renowned for his patience, the younger Makari said, noting the virtue is also required for making mufataka.   On the wall of his shop, which he runs with his brother, were photos of his father and his grandfather at work.   He said he sometimes makes mufataka twice a day depending on demand, with some customers taking it outside Beirut to introduce it to those who do not know the dish.   At the original store, the elder Makary said he was happy his children had kept up the tradition.   Mufataka is part of "my heritage," he said, and the family has "taken it from generation to generation."

Paris — Tens of thousands of pupils in France are going through a slightly different return to school this autumn, deprived of their mobile phones. At 180 "colleges," the middle schools French children attend between the ages of 11 and 15, a scheme is being trialed to ban the use of mobile phones during the entire school day. The trial of the "pause numerique" ("digital pause"), which encompasses more than 50,000 pupils, is being implemented ahead of a possible plan to enforce it nationwide from 2025. Right now, pupils in French middle schools must turn off their phones. The experiment takes things further, requiring children to hand in their phones on arrival. It is part of a move by President Emmanuel Macron for children to spend less time in front of screens, which the government fears is arresting their development. The use of "a mobile phone or any other electronic communications terminal equipment" has been banned in nurseries, elementary schools and middle schools in France since 2018. In high schools, which French children attend between the ages of 15 and 18, internal regulations may prohibit the use of a cell phone by pupils in "all or part of the premises." Bruno Bobkiewicz, general secretary of SNPDEN-Unsa, France's top union of school principals, said the 2018 law had been enforced "pretty well overall." "The use of mobile phones in middle schools is very low today", he said, adding that in case of a problem "we have the means to act."   Improving 'school climate' The experiment comes after Macron said in January he wanted to "regulate the use of screens among young children." According to a report submitted to Macron, children under 11 should not be allowed to use phones, while access to social networks should be limited for pupils under 15. With an increasing amount of research showing the risks of excessive screen time for children, the concern has become a Europe-wide issue.   Sweden's Public Health Agency said this week children under the age of two should be kept away from digital media and television completely and it should be limited for more senior ages. One of Britain's biggest mobile network operators, EE, has warned parents they should not give smartphones to children under the age of 11. The French education ministry hopes that the cellphone-free environment would improve "school climate" and reduce instances of violence including online harassment and dissemination of violent images. The ministry also wants to improve student performance because the use of telephones harms "the ability to concentrate" and "the acquisition of knowledge." The experiment also aims to "raise pupils' awareness of the rational use of digital tools." Jerome Fournier, national secretary of the SE-UNSA teachers' union, said the experiment will seek "to respond to the difficulties of schools for which the current rule is not sufficient," even if "in the vast majority of schools it works." 'Complicated to implement' According to the education ministry, "it is up to each establishment to determine practical arrangements," with the possibility of setting up a locker system. Pupils will have to hand in their phones on arrival, putting them in boxes or lockers. They will collect them at the end of classes. The ban also extends to extracurricular activities and school trips. But the enforcement of the measure across all schools in France from January 2025 could be expensive. According to local authorities, the measure could cost "nearly 130 million euros" for the 6,980 middle schools in France. If a phone goes missing from a locker, this would also cause an added financial problem. Education Minister Nicole Belloubet said on Tuesday that the ban would be "put in place gradually." "The financial costs seem quite modest to me," she added. Many are sceptical. For the leading middle and high school teachers' union Snes-FSU, the ban raises too many questions. "How will things work on arrival?" wondered the head of the union, Sophie Venetitay. "How will things work during the day," she said, adding that some students have two mobile phones.   The SE-UNSA teachers' union also expressed reservations. "We're going to need staff to manage arrivals, drops-off and departures, and the collection of mobile phones," said Fournier.  "Sometimes pupils just have time to put their things away when classes end, and run to the bus so as not to miss it," he added. Bobkiewicz of SNPDEN-Unsa, France's top union of school principals, agreed. He said he did not want to rummage through pupils' bags to look for their phones. "It's going to be complicated to implement." 

KAJIADO, Kenya — The blood, milk and meat of cattle have long been staple foods for Maasai pastoralists in Kenya, perhaps the country's most recognizable community. But climate change is forcing the Maasai to contemplate a very different dish: fish. A recent yearslong drought in Kenya killed millions of livestock. While Maasai elders hope the troubles are temporary and they will be able to resume traditional lives as herders, some are adjusting to a kind of food they had never learned to enjoy. Fish were long viewed as part of the snake family due to their shape, and thus inedible. Their smell had been unpleasant and odd to the Maasai, who call semi-arid areas home. “We never used to live near lakes and oceans, so fish was very foreign for us," said Maasai Council of Elders chair Kelena ole Nchoi. “We grew up seeing our elders eat cows and goats.” Among the Maasai and other pastoralists in Kenya and wider East Africa — like the Samburu, Somali and Borana — cattle are also a status symbol, a source of wealth and part of key cultural events like marriages as part of dowries. But the prolonged drought in much of East Africa left carcasses of emaciated cattle strewn across vast dry lands. In early 2023, the Kenya National Drought Management Authority said 2.6 million livestock had died, with an estimated value of 226 billion Kenya shillings ($1.75 billion). Meanwhile, increasing urbanization and a growing population have reduced available grazing land, forcing pastoralists to adopt new ways to survive. In Kajiado county near Kenya's capital, Nairobi, the local government is supporting fish farming projects for pastoralists — and encouraging them to eat fish, too. Like many other Maasai women, Charity Oltinki previously engaged in beadwork, and her husband was in charge of the family's herd. But the drought killed almost 100 of their cows, and only 50 sheep of their 300-strong flock survived. “The lands were left bare, with nothing for the cows to graze on," Oltinki said. “So, I decided to set aside a piece of land to rear fish and monitor how they would perform.” The county government supplied her with pond liners, tilapia fish fingerlings and some feed. Using her savings from membership in a cooperative society, Oltinki secured a loan and had a well dug to ease the challenge of water scarcity. After six months, the first batch of hundreds of fish was harvested, with the largest selling for up to 300 Kenyan shillings each ($2.30). Another member of the Maasai community in Kajiado, Philipa Leiyan, started farming fish in addition to keeping livestock. “When the county government introduced us to this fish farming project, we gladly received it because we considered it as an alternative source of livelihood," Leiyan said. The Kajiado government’s initiative started in 2014 and currently works with 600 pastoralists to help diversify their incomes and provide a buffer against the effects of climate change. There was initial reluctance, but the number of participants has grown from about 250 before the drought began in 2022. “The program has seen some importance,” said Benson Siangot, director of fisheries in Kajiado county, adding that it also addresses issues of food insecurity and malnutrition. The Maasai share their love for cattle with the Samburu, an ethnic group that lives in arid and semi-arid areas of northern Kenya and speaks a dialect of the Maa language that the Maasai speak. The recent drought has forced the Samburu to look beyond cattle, too — to camels. In Lekiji village, Abdulahi Mohamud now looks after 20 camels. The 65-year-old father of 15 lost his 30 cattle during the drought and decided to try an animal more suited to long dry spells. “Camels are easier to rear as they primarily feed on shrubs and can survive in harsher conditions," he said. “When the pasture dries out, all the cattle die.” According to Mohamud, a small camel can be bought for 80,000 to 100,000 Kenyan shillings ($600 to $770) while the price of a cow ranges from 20,000 to 40,000 ($154 to $300). He saw the camel's resilience as worth the investment. In a vast grazing area near Mohamud, 26-year-old Musalia Piti looked after his father’s 60 camels. The family lost 50 cattle during the drought and decided to invest in camels that they can sell whenever they need cattle for traditional ceremonies. Cows among the Samburu are used for dowries. “You have to do whatever it takes to find cattle for wedding ceremonies, even though our herds may be smaller nowadays," said Lesian Ole Sempere, a 59-year-old Samburu elder. Offering a cow as a gift to a prospective bride's parents encourages them to declare their daughter as “your official wife,” he said.

ISLAMABAD — Millions of people in Pakistan continue to live along the path of floodwaters, showing neither people nor the government have learned lessons from the 2022 devastating floods that killed 1,737 people, experts said Thursday, as an aid group said half of the 300 victims killed by rains since July are children. Heavy rainfall is drenching those areas that were badly hit by the deluges two years ago. The charity Save the Children said in a statement that floods and heavy rains have killed more than 150 children in Pakistan since the start of the monsoon season, making up more than half of all deaths in rain-affected areas. The group said that 200 children have also been injured in Pakistan because of rains, which have also displaced thousands of people. Save the Children also said that people affected by floods were living in a relief camp in Sanghar, a district in the southern Sindh province, which was massively hit by floods two years ago. “The rains and floods have destroyed 80% of cotton crops in Sanghar, the primary source of income for farmers, and killed hundreds of livestock,” the charity said, and added that it's supporting the affected people with help from a local partner. Khuram Gondal, the country director for Save the Children in Pakistan, said that children were always the most affected in a disaster. “We need to ensure that the immediate impacts of the floods and heavy rains do not become long-term problems. In Sindh province alone, more than 72,000 children have seen their education disrupted," he said. Another charity, U.K.-based Islamic Relief, also said weeks of torrential rains in Pakistan have again triggered displacement and suffering among communities that were already devastated by the 2022 floods and are still in the process of rebuilding their lives and livelihoods. Asif Sherazi, the group's country director, said his organization is reaching out to flood-affected people. There was no immediate response from the country’s ministry of climate change and national disaster management authority. Pakistan has yet to undertake major reconstruction work because the government didn't receive most of the funds out of the $9 billion that were pledged by the international community at last year's donors' conference in Geneva. “We learned no lessons from that 2022 floods. Millions of people have built mud-brick homes on the paths of rivers, which usually remain dry,” said Mohsin Leghari, who served as irrigation minister years ago. Leghari said that less rain is predicted for Pakistan for monsoon season compared with 2022, when climate-induced floods caused $30 billion in damage to the country's economy. “But the floodwater has inundated several villages in my own Dera Ghazi Khan district in the Punjab province,” Leghari said. “Floods have affected farmers, and my own land has once again come under the floodwater." Wasim Ehsan, an architect, said Pakistan was still not prepared to handle any 2022-like situation mainly because people ignore construction laws while building homes and even hotels in urban and rural areas. He said the floods in 2022 caused damage in the northwest because people had built homes and hotels after slightly diverting a river. “This is reason that a hotel was destroyed by the Swat River in 2022," he said.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

jerusalem — Three people were shot and killed Sunday at the border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, Israeli officials said. The military said the gunman approached the Allenby Bridge Crossing from the Jordanian side in a truck and opened fire at Israeli security forces, who killed the assailant in a shootout. It said the three people killed were Israeli civilians. Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said the three men who were killed were in their 50s. There was no immediate comment from Jordan, which made peace with Israel in 1994 but is fiercely critical of its policies toward the Palestinians. The Allenby crossing is mainly used by Israelis, Palestinians and international tourists. The Israeli-occupied West Bank has seen a surge of violence since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack out of Gaza triggered the war there. Israel has launched near-daily military arrest raids into dense Palestinian residential areas, and there has also been a rise in settler violence and Palestinian attacks on Israelis. In Gaza, meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike early Sunday killed five people, including two women, two children and a senior official in the Civil Defense — first responders who operate under the Hamas-run government. The Civil Defense said the strike targeted the home of its deputy director for north Gaza, Mohammed Morsi, in the urban Jabaliya refugee camp. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. The army says it tries to avoid harming civilians and only targets militants. Gaza's Health Ministry says over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war erupted 11 months ago. It does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count. The war has caused vast destruction and displaced around 90% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million, often multiple times. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the October  7 attack on Israel. They abducted another 250, and are still holding around 100 of them after releasing most of the rest in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel during a weeklong cease-fire last November. Around a third of the remaining hostages inside Gaza are believed to be dead. The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent months trying to broker a cease-fire and the return of the hostages, but the negotiations have repeatedly bogged down. The Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank says at least 691 Palestinians have been killed there since the start of the war. Most appear to have been militants killed during Israeli military operations, but the toll also includes civilian bystanders and rock-throwing protesters. Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — territories the Palestinians want for a future state — in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel withdrew soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005 but maintained control over its airspace, coastline and most of its land crossings. Along with Egypt, it imposed a blockade on Gaza after Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Ha Long, Vietnam — Super Typhoon Yagi ripped roofs off buildings, sank boats and triggered landslides in Vietnam, leaving nine people dead as of Sunday, after tearing through southern China and the Philippines. A family of four was killed in a landslide in the mountainous Hoa Binh province of northern Vietnam early Sunday morning, according to state media. The landslide happened around midnight, after several hours of heavy rain brought by Yagi, when a hillside gave way and collapsed onto a house, VNExpress said, citing local authorities. The home's 51-year-old owner escaped but his wife, daughter and two grandchildren were buried, their bodies recovered soon after. Yagi, which has devastated infrastructure and uprooted trees, made landfall in northern Vietnam on Saturday, packing winds exceeding 149 kilometers per hour. Four people were killed Saturday as roofing flew through the air, disaster management authorities said. A man in Hai Duong province was killed Friday when heavy winds brought down a tree. Several areas of the port city of Hai Phong were under half a meterof flood waters on Sunday, and electricity was out, with power lines and electric poles damaged, according to AFP journalists. At Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site about 70 kilometers up the coast from the city, fishermen were in shock as they examined the damage Sunday morning. At least 23 boats were seriously damaged or sunk at the Hai Au boat lock on Tuan Chau island, according to local residents. Rooftops of buildings were blown off and motorbikes were left toppled over in piles of building rubble and glass, AFP journalists observed. Pham Van Thanh, 51, a crew member of a tourist boat, said all the vessel's crew remained on board since Friday to prevent it from sinking. "The wind was pushing from our back, with so much pressure that no boat could stand," he told AFP. "Then the first one sank. Then one after another. "I have been a sailor for more than 20 years and have never experienced such a strong and violent typhoon," he said. Before hitting Vietnam, Yagi tore through southern China and the Philippines, killing at least 24 people and injuring dozens of others. Typhoons in the region are now forming closer to the coast, intensifying more rapidly, and staying over land for longer due to climate change, according to a study published in July.  

VANIMO, Papua New Guinea — Pope Francis flew deep into the jungle of the Southwestern Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea on Sunday to visit Catholics living in one of the most remote areas of the world and deliver medical supplies and other aid. Traveling 1,000 kilometers in a C-130 cargo aircraft provided by the Royal Australian Air Force, Francis arrived with a small entourage in Vanimo, a township of some 12,000 people in the northwestern corner of country's main island, with no running water and scarce electricity. The 87-year-old pope brought hundreds of kilograms of items to help support the local population, said Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni. They included various medicines and clothing, as well said toys and musical instruments for school children, Bruni said. The pope is visiting the nation of 600 islands as part of his ambitious 12-day, four-country tour of Southeast Asia and Oceania, the longest of his 11-year-old papacy. He came to Vanimo at the invitation of local missionaries with the Catholic Institute of the Incarnate Word. They, like Francis, the first pope from the Americas, are from Argentina. "You are doing something beautiful, and it is important that you are not left alone," Francis told the crowd, which the Vatican estimated at 20,000, of missionaries and Catholic faithful from Vanimo in a meeting outside the town's one-story, wood-paneled cathedral parish. "You live in a magnificent land, enriched by a great variety of plants and birds," said the pope. "The beauty of the landscape is matched by the beauty of a community where people love one another." The Rev. Tomas Ravaioli, one of the missionaries, said he could not believe the pope had actually come to Vanimo. "He is keeping his promise to come," said the priest. "We cannot believe it. At his age he is making an enormous effort." A sprawling country of mountains, jungle and rivers, Papua New Guinea is home to more than 800 languages and hundreds of tribes, including dozens of uncontacted peoples. As with other events throughout his stay in the country, Francis was greeted in a field outside the cathedral with a traditional dance from a group wearing feathered headdresses and straw skirts. Some of the men wore koteka, a traditional gourd covering over the penis. The pope also heard four testimonies from local Catholics. Steven Abala, a lay teacher, described how some rural communities, cut off from roads, must wait weeks or months between visits by priests. Abala presented Francis with a headdress with yellow and brown feathers, which the pope tried on. The Vatican says there are around 2.5 million Catholics in Papua New Guinea, which has a population estimated at anywhere from 9 million to 17 million. The country has become a major target of international companies for its gas, gold and other reserves. In a speech to its political authorities on Saturday, Francis called for better treatment of its workers and appealed for an end to a spate of ethnic violence that has killed dozens in recent months. In Vanimo, the pope asked local Catholics to work "to put an end to destructive behaviors such as violence, infidelity, exploitation, alcohol and drug abuse, evils which imprison and take away the happiness of so many of our brothers and sisters." Before heading to Vanimo, Francis celebrated a Mass on Sunday with about 35,000 people at a sports venue in Port Moresby, the nation's capital. He told the local populace that while they may think they live in "a far away and distant land," God is near to them. The pope will return to Port Moresby on Sunday evening after spending 2½ hours in Vanimo. Round trip, the pontiff will fly some 2,000 kilometers over about four hours. Francis is visiting Papua New Guinea until Monday as part of a tour that first included a stop in Indonesia. He travels next to East Timor, then Singapore before heading back to Rome on Sept. 13.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un underscored the importance of strengthening naval power as he toured a naval base construction site, state media KCNA reported on Sunday. "Now that we are soon to possess large surface warships and submarines which cannot be anchored by the existing facilities for mooring warships, the construction of a naval base for running the latest large warships has become a pressing task," Kim was quoted saying. During the tour, Kim stressed the need to build a naval port capable of operating weapons systems of the warships and revealed military measures to deploy anti-aircraft and coastal-defense systems for defending the port, according to the report. Kim cited geopolitical advantages of the site for the country, bordered by the sea on both the east and west sides. The location of the site was not specified in the report. A recent satellite imagery analysis by 38 North indicated that North Korea's newest ballistic missile class submarine, the Sinpo-C class, was undergoing an extensive fitting-out period at the Sinpo South Shipyard. In a separate visit to a shipyard, Kim ordered the increase of national investments in shipbuilding projects so that immediate tasks and long-term plans for laying the foundation for the development of the shipbuilding industry are pushed forward as scheduled. KCNA also reported on Sunday Kim's visit to a defense industrial enterprise, where he stressed the need to make munitions production more scientific and modernized to guarantee the performance of newly developed military hardware, and an inspection of an artillery academy. Separately, North Korea condemned a recent consultation meeting and simulation drill on extended deterrence conducted by the United States and South Korea, according to a Sunday statement carried by KCNA. The foreign ministry described the activities as "reckless moves of the hostile forces disturbing the regional strategic stability and increasing the possibility of a nuclear clash." "The DPRK will continue to take practical measures to cope with the long-term nuclear confrontation with the U.S.," the ministry said, using the abbreviation of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Meanwhile, North Korea continued its campaign of launching trash balloons toward South Korea for the fifth consecutive day on Sunday, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea — Pope Francis honored the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he celebrated Mass in Papua New Guinea before heading to a remote part of the South Pacific nation with a ton of humanitarian aid to deliver to the missionaries and faithful who live there. An estimated 35,000 people filled the stadium in the capital, Port Moresby, for the morning Mass. It began with dancers in grass skirts and feathered headdresses performing to traditional drum beats as priests in green vestments processed up onto the altar. In his homily, Francis told the crowd that they may well feel themselves distant from both their faith and the institutional church, but that God was near to them. "You who live on this large island in the Pacific Ocean may sometimes have thought of yourselves as a far away and distant land, situated at the edge of the world," Francis said. "Yet … today the Lord wants to draw near to you, to break down distances, to let you know that you are at the center of his heart and that each one of you is important to him." Francis was himself traveling to a distant land on Sunday, flying into remote Vanimo, on Papua New Guinea's northwest coast, to meet with the small Catholic community there served by missionaries from his native Argentina. Francis was being transported by an Australian military aircraft and was bringing with him one ton of humanitarian aid, including medicine, clothes and toys for children, according to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni. Eight suitcases of medicine and other necessities had been prepared by one of the Argentine missionaries, the Rev. Alejandro Diaz, during a recent trip to Rome and left with the Vatican to bring in on the cargo plane, the ANSA news agency reported. Francis has prioritized the church on the "peripheries," saying it is more important than the center of the institutional church. In keeping with that philosophy, Francis has largely shunned foreign trips to European capitals, preferring instead far-flung communities where Catholics are often a minority. Vanimo, population 11,000, certainly fits the bill. Located near Papua New Guinea's border with Indonesia, the coastal city is perhaps best known as a surfing destination. Francis, history's first Latin American pope, has also had a special affinity for the work of Catholic missionaries. As a young Argentine Jesuit, he had hoped to serve as a missionary in Japan but was prevented from going because of his poor health. Now as pope, he has often held up missionaries as models for the church, especially those who have sacrificed to bring the faith to far-away places. There are about 2.5 million Catholics in Papua New Guinea, according to Vatican statistics, out of a population in the Commonwealth nation believed to be around 10 million. The Catholics practice the faith along with traditional Indigenous beliefs, including animism and sorcery. On Saturday, Francis heard first-hand about how often women are falsely accused of witchcraft, then shunned by their families. In remarks to priests, bishops and nuns, Francis urged the church leaders in Papua New Guinea to be particularly close to these people on the margins who had been wounded by "prejudice and superstition." "I think too of the marginalized and wounded, both morally and physically, by prejudice and superstition sometimes to the point of having to risk their lives," Francis said. He urged the church to be particularly close to such people on the peripheries, with "closeness, compassion and tenderness." Francis heads on Monday to East Timor and then wraps up his visit in Singapore later in the week.