Pope condemns Mexico’s drug trade

Pope condemns Mexico’s drug trade

ECATEPEC, Mexico

Pope Francis condemned the drug trade’s “dealers of death” and urged Mexicans to shun the devil’s lust for money as he led a huge open-air Mass for more than 300,000 people Sunday in this violence-riddled city.

“Let us get it into our heads: With the devil, there is no dialogue,” the pope said at the biggest scheduled event of his five-day visit to Mexico.

Francis brought a message of encouragement on the second full day of his trip to residents of Ecatepec, a poverty-stricken Mexico City suburb of some 1.6 million people where drug violence, kidnappings and gangland-style killings, particularly of women, are a fact of life.

Turkey shells Kurdish positions in Syria for 2nd day

BEIRUT

Turkey shelled positions held by a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia in northern Syria for a second day Sunday, drawing condemnation from the Syrian government, whose forces are advancing against insurgents in the same area under the cover of Russian airstrikes.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency said Turkish artillery units fired at Kurdish fighters in the Syrian town of Azaz in Aleppo province, saying it was in response to incoming Kurdish fire.

Turkish troops have shelled areas under the control of Syria’s main Kurdish faction, the People’s Protection Units, known as YPG, in the past.

Feds seek borehole test for potential nuke-waste burial

LUBBOCK, Texas

The federal government plans to spend $80 million assessing whether its hottest nuclear waste can be stored in 3-mile-deep holes, a project that could provide an alternative strategy to a Nevada repository plan that was halted in 2010.

The five-year borehole project tentatively was slated to start later this year on state-owned land in rural North Dakota, but it already has been met with opposition from state and local leaders who want more time to review whether the plan poses any public danger.

Snyder seeks more Medicaid coverage for Flint residents

FLINT, Mich.

Gov. Rick Snyder is asking the federal government to expand Medicaid coverage to people under 21 and pregnant women who have been exposed to Flint’s lead-contaminated water.

In a statement released Sunday, Snyder said about 15,000 more Flint residents would benefit if the government approves the request. The governor said the state would help by lining up doctors and behavioral-health specialists and providing other services.

Sanders, Clinton speak at same Las Vegas church

LAS VEGAS

Bernie Sanders may have been the first to make plans to campaign Sunday at Victory Missionary Baptist Church in Las Vegas, but he had to share the pulpit with his rival for the Democratic presidential nomination – and her special guest.

Ahead of next weekend’s Democratic caucuses in Nevada, Hillary Clinton came to the service in the company of Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, the civil-rights icon who has endorsed her candidacy and introduced her to the black congregation on the city’s west side.

Lewis’ appearance was a continuation of Clinton’s efforts to woo black voters, which has intensified after her 22-point loss to Sanders in last week’s New Hampshire primary.

Associated Press