Pope Leo XIV heads to Algeria, first stop of African tour

Oil prices surged and stocks sank Monday after US-Iran peace talks fell apart and Donald Trump announced a blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, adding to fears of energy supplies from the Middle East.

Negotiations in Islamabad at the weekend fell apart with the US delegation -- led by Vice President JD Vance -- blaming Iran's refusal to give up its nuclear programme and Tehran hitting out at "maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade".

The news dealt a blow to hopes for an end to the six-week conflict, which has sent crude prices soaring, pushing inflation up and sending shivers through the global economy.

Oil prices -- which tumbled last week after the United States and Iran agreed to a ceasefire -- jumped around eight percent Monday, with both contracts topping $100 a barrel.

Equities fell across Asia, with Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul off at least one percent, while Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Taipei and Jakarta were also down.

In a lengthy social media post, US President Donald Trump said his goal was to clear the strait of mines and reopen it to all shipping.

But he said that Iran must not be allowed to profit from controlling the waterway -- through which a fifth of global oil and gas usually passes.

"Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

"Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!"

He said the blockade would only apply to vessels travelling to or from Iranian ports.

The US military said Sunday it will blockade all Iranian Gulf ports on Monday at 1400 GMT, effectively seizing control of maritime traffic.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said its security forces had full control over the strait and warned enemies would be trapped in a "deadly vortex" in case of any "wrong move".

Iran's navy chief Shahram Irani called Trump's threat "ridiculous and funny", according to state TV.

After the talks -- the highest-level meeting between the two sides since the 1979 Islamic revolution -- Vance said Washington had made Tehran its "final and best offer," adding: "We'll see if the Iranians accept it."

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the rivals had been "inches away" from a deal, writing on X that "Iran engaged with US in good faith to end war".

But he added "we encountered maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade".

Nicole Grajewski, an assistant professor at the Center for International Research at Sciences Po in Paris, warned that a US blockade was "not a minor coercive signal" but would rather be considered an effective resumption of the war.

Fawad Razaqzada, a market analyst at Forex.com, said: "The fundamental issue remains trust — or rather, the lack of it — between two long-standing adversaries who still appear some distance from common ground."

Investors are also keeping an eye on attempts to resolve the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, as Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said he was pushing to ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

"We will continue to work to stop this war, to ensure the Israeli withdrawal from all our lands, the return of all the prisoners, to rebuild our destroyed villages and towns, and the safe return of the displaced," Salam said.

The prospect of the Middle East crisis continuing for the foreseeable future ramped up inflation fears and weighed on gold amid expectations interest rates would be kept elevated.

Data Friday highlighted the impact of the conflict on prices, with the US consumer price index spiking at 3.3 percent in March, its highest since May last year.

- Key figures at around 0230 GMT -

West Texas Intermediate: UP 8.0 percent at $104.33 a barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 6.9 percent at $101.73 a barrel

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.0 percent at 56,357.40 (break)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.0 percent at 25,627.75

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,981.08

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1686 from $1.1728 on Friday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3401 from $1.3463

Dollar/yen: UP at 159.67 yen from 159.19 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 87.20 pence from 87.11 pence

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Doc Rivers is departing as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks after the NBA team concluded its lackluster regular season Sunday, US media reported.

The 64-year-old indicated as much himself after the Bucks concluded a 32-50 losing season.

"I can tell you we're all on the same page," Rivers told a post-game press conference of his future with the team. "We've talked about it, and we want it out pretty quick.

"I just want them to do it, it's better. But I think you guys pretty much know."

The Bucks did not immediately respond to AFP request for comment, but ESPN reported that Rivers was out as coach but could still move to an advisory role with the club.

Rivers himself hinted earlier this month that he might be contemplating retirement, mentioning how much he missed spending time with his grandchildren when asked about his coaching future.

Rivers's stellar resume includes an NBA title with the Boston Celtics in 2008.

Milwaukee won the NBA championship as recently as 2021, when Greek-Nigerian star Giannis Antetokounmpo earned a second consecutive Most Valuable Player Award.

Having failed to build on that success, the Bucks brought in Rivers in 2024 amid predictions his arrival could propel Milwaukee back to the top of the NBA.

But after two exits in the first round of the playoffs, the Bucks missed out on post-season basketball entirely this time.

Antetokounmpo struggled with injuries and was linked with a mid-season trade before publicly complaining that the team had not allowed him to play. 

There were also reports that Rivers had fallen out with several key players.

"I've personally have enjoyed the challenge. It didn't go the way I wanted it to go, obviously," said Rivers.

"I always say I could do a better job. We could have had better health. We could have had all kinds of things."

"I'm not a big guy at looking back. All you can do is look forward.

"We did a lot of things to improve a lot of the young guys. Unfortunately, that was the road that kind of presented itself for us, and we did that."

Rivers was named NBA Coach of the Year in 2000 after his first league campaign while with Orlando.

Over 27 seasons he has won more than 1,190 games -- the sixth-most by a head coach in NBA history.

Rivers was selected for induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame this year. 

amz/bb

(The Center Square) - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called the Democratic Party the party of the rich and the press "liars" during an hour-long speech at this weekend's California Republican Convention.

Cruz also discussed some of the national Republican Party’s priorities, which include fighting for parental rights, pushing back on transgender ideology and curbing illegal immigration.

“We have seen illegal border crossings drop more than 99%,” Cruz told a ballroom audience of prominent Republicans on Saturday night at the Sheraton San Diego Resort. “What does it mean when illegal border crossings drop 99%? We’ve seen the murder rate across America drop 20%. That’s real results.”

That figure doesn’t affect the issue of drug abuse enough, however, Cruz said at the dinner.

“In 2025, that number dropped to 71,000,” Cruz said about deaths from drug overdoses. “That number is still too high, but there are 36,000 Americans who are still alive today because President Trump was re-elected in 2024 and we have a Republican Senate and a House standing up and securing the border and keeping us safe.”

Cruz also spoke about providing tax cuts to families, increasing national general fund budget allocations to the U.S. military and cutting taxes on tips for workers who hold jobs in which tips are part of their wages.

“We passed new tax cuts, like no tax on tips,” Cruz said. “We passed no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security. April 15 is coming up, and all across the country now, people are getting tax refunds.”

Cruz also spoke about school choice and savings accounts for children created under last year’s federal budget resolution, House Resolution 1 - the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Those savings accounts are known as the “Trump Accounts,” Cruz said.

The Toronto Raptors rolled past the Brooklyn Nets 136-101 and landed the Eastern Conference fifth seed on Sunday as the final pieces of the NBA post-season puzzle fell into place on the last day of the regular season.

RJ Barrett scored 26 points, Brandon Ingram added 25 and Scottie Barnes delivered a triple-double of 18 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists to help the 2019 champion Raptors return to the playoffs for the first time since 2022.

"That was our aspiration for the year," Barnes said. "It's a big relief."

The Raptors came into Sunday at sixth in the East and rose to fifth with the victory along with defeats for the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks.

Toronto will open the playoffs against fourth-seeded Cleveland, who beat the Washington Wizards 130-117.

The Miami Heat warmed up for the play-in tournament with a 143-117 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 26 points off the bench and Bam Adebayo scored 25 points with 10 rebounds for the Heat, who finished 10th in the East and will face the Charlotte Hornets, who secured the ninth seed with a 110-96 victory over the third-seeded New York Knicks.

The Hawks slipped from fifth to sixth, still avoiding the play-in that will see the seventh- through 10th-placed teams battle for the last two playoff berths in each conference.

With the playoffs beckoning, Hawks coach Quinn Snyder rested a host of players including Nickeil Alexander-Walker, CJ McCollum and Jalen Johnson, and the Raptors edged in front of them on head-to-head tiebreaker.

Every team was in action and 10 seedings were still in play on Sunday, but coaches still opted to rest dozens of players in preparation for the post-season.

Second-seeded Boston held out eight regulars, including Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

Baylor Scheirman scored a career-high 30 points to lead the Celtics to a 113-108 victory over Orlando that saw the Magic finish with the eighth seed in the East to book a road play-in road game against the Philadelphia 76ers, who beat the Milwaukee Bucks 126-106.

Eastern conference top seeds Detroit polished off the regular season with a 133-121 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

Paul Reed scored 26 points and Tobias Harris added 24 for the Pistons, who put up 81 points in the first half.

Detroit notched their third straight win and totaled 60 for the season for the first time since the 2005-06 campaign.

In the Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets vied to cement the third seed when they took on the San Antonio Spurs.

The Los Angeles Lakers had a chance to seize the third seed with a victory over the Utah Jazz and a Nuggets defeat.

bb/amz

Winning back-to-back Masters titles has Rory McIlroy yearning for even more major success.

A year after winning his first Masters completed a career Grand Slam and ended a 10-year major win drought, the 36-year-old from Northern Ireland feels like there is more to come following his sixth major triumph.

"I'm not putting a number on it but I certainly don't want to stop here," McIlroy said of his major win total.

McIlroy matched Nick Faldo with six career major triumphs, one shy of the European record set by Britain's Harry Vardon from 1896 to 1914. Let the debate begin over Europe's all-time top golfer.

"There's obviously going to be that conversation, and that debate is going to be hard, but it's a cool conversation to be a part of," McIlroy said.

"It took me 10 years to win my fifth major and then my sixth one has come pretty soon after it."

One reason McIlroy's confidence is boosted is a different feel after this Masters win compared to last year, when victory and the Slam felt like long-sought accomplishments.

"I felt like the Grand Slam was the destination and I realized it wasn't," McIlroy said. "I just won my sixth major and I feel like I'm in a really good spot with my game and my body.

"I feel like this win is just a part of the journey. I still have things I want to achieve, but I still want to enjoy it as well."

"I've waited so long to win the Masters, and all of a sudden I win two in a row, so I still want to enjoy it.

"I've got a couple of weeks off before I go back to play competitive golf, but I don't think I'll go through that lull of motivation or the sort of things I was feeling last year post winning this tournament."

While McIlroy struggled after last year's victory over the magnitude and enormity of the achievement, this one came as more of a relief after woeful tee shots saw him squander a Masters record six-stroke 36-hole lead.

"Just absolutely delighted to be able to get it done," McIlroy said. "Having a six-shot lead going into the weekend, it would have been a bitter pill to swallow if I wasn't able to get myself over the finish line."

Victory came after his tee shot at 18 soared way right over trees. He curled an approach into a greenside bunker and salvaged bogey for a one-stroke victory over top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, who had a bogey-free weekend while McIlroy played the last 36 holes at level par.

"Walking off the 18th tee not knowing where my ball was, I think that was the moment of greatest stress," McIlroy said. "It could be anywhere."

- 'It's amazing' -

There was no emotional drop to his knees or crying after this win as there had been a year ago.

"I was just like 'I can't believe I've just done it again,'" he said. "More joy. Not as emotional, but just, 'wow, it's amazing. I can't believe I did it again.'"

The celebration, however, will be as great as last year's.

"We lose a lot more in golf than we win, so I think when the winning comes around, you have to celebrate it to the fullest," McIlroy said.

Second-ranked McIlroy sees a method for future majors in this week's success.

"It's a good blueprint," he said. "I'm not going to take three weeks off before every major, but to get to the major venues early, do your preparation, actually play. Go out there with one ball, shoot a score, and try to do it that way.

"I did a little bit of that leading up to here, and I think that's certainly a good way to prepare going into the next majors."

McIlroy did learn a key lesson.

"I thought it was so difficult to win last year because of trying to win the Masters and the Grand Slam," McIlroy said. "This year I realized it's just really difficult to win the Masters."

js/amz

The battered wooden trunk had been in the family for a century -- shifted from attic to barn to garage as it was handed down through the generations. No one knew a cinematic treasure was inside.

That was until retired high school teacher Bill McFarland's curiosity got the better of him. 

For the past 20 years, McFarland, 76, had been the keeper of the trunk, which originally belonged to his late great-grandfather who showed silent movies to audiences in rural Pennsylvania at the turn of the 20th century.

"It was just this trunk of films that seemed too good to throw away. But I had no idea what they were or how to show them," McFarland told AFP. 

He offered them to museums and even tried to sell them through an antique store, whose owner soon told him to take them away after learning vintage nitrate film reels were highly combustible and could explode.

Then last summer, McFarland drove from his home in the northern state of Michigan to the US Library of Congress’ National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper in the southern state of Virginia.

He was in for a surprise -- a pleasant one.

- Pioneering short film -

Spliced in the middle of one of the 10 reels was a lost short film by Georges Melies, a French cinema pioneer -- the first to experiment with fictional narratives and special effects at the very dawn of moving pictures.

The 45-second film, "Gugusse and the Automaton," was made in 1897 -- just two years after the Lumiere Brothers staged the world's first public screening of a movie in Paris.

Melies, a theatrical showman and magician, attended that screening and was inspired to make films of his own. He is most famous for "A Trip to the Moon" (1902) with its iconic scene of a rocket landing in the eye of the man in the Moon.

By a decade later, his filmmaking had fallen out of vogue as the center of the movie world shifted from Europe to America.

Melies ended up as a toy seller in Paris’ Gare Montparnasse train station -- a story that was dramatized in Martin Scorsese’s 2011 film, "Hugo." But his legacy endured.

"He was one of the first filmmakers," said George Willeman, leader of the congressional library's nitrate film vault, who said the recovered reel was likely a third-generation copy of the Melies original. "And one of the first to experience film piracy."

- Copy's miraculous survival -

In retrospect, piracy was a salvation for film historians as it means that Melies' work lives on.

Reputedly, he destroyed hundreds of his own negatives, and the celluloid was melted down -- and some of it used as raw material to make soldiers' boots during World War I.

While "Gugusse and the Automaton" was known to be in Melies' back catalogue, no one had seen it until McFarland delivered it to the library in his Toyota sedan last September.

It features a magician -- played by Melies -- cranking up an automaton that grows in size and then beats the magician on the head with a stick. The magician retaliates by bashing the automaton with a sledgehammer until it disappears, shrinking through a surprisingly slick series of jump cuts.

"These single frame cuts are really precise for a movie this old, and the gags are timeless," said Jason Evans Groth, curator of the library's moving image section, who recounted McFarland popping the trunk of his car with the film reels inside when he arrived in Culpeper.

The film's discovery has taken McFarland on another journey -- learning about the life of his great-grandfather William DeLyle Frisbee.

- 'Ticking time bomb' -

Born in 1860 in the rural northwest of Pennsylvania, Frisbee was a stocky, mustached man with many strings to his bow. 

He grew potatoes, kept bees, made maple syrup and taught school three months each year. In his downtime he would travel by horse and buggy across Pennsylvania and neighboring states with what he called his "exhibition": a new-fangled Edison phonograph, a magic lantern slide projector and later on, movies. 

Well-thumbed pocket diaries describe Frisbee's travels. "Gave the exhibition at Garland, $5 receipts, rough crowd," reads one entry, referring to a community in northwestern Pennsylvania.

"I can only imagine Saturday night, they might have been liquored up a little bit," observed McFarland. "I wonder if there were disappointed customers, or if they were just rowdy? Maybe they were excited at seeing these pictures."

A century on, and the archivists at the Library of Congress were excited too.

An alarmed McFarland watched specialists whisk the precious reels to a refrigerated vault, already home to tens of thousands of films from the golden age of Hollywood -- and specially designed to prevent a nitrate-fueled fire.

"It finally really registered that I had been...carrying a ticking time bomb," McFarland said.

Library film preservation specialists spent a week restoring the film reel frame-by-frame and digitizing it. The reel was shrunken through age and frayed, but otherwise in remarkable condition for something stashed in sun-heated attics for years.

It’s now a piece of cinema history, viewable on the library’s website.

msp/sms

Worsening wildfires, soaring heatwaves and rising water levels have prompted Greek officials to take a closer look at protecting priceless archaeological sites that draw hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

The monuments, scattered across the country, earn Greece millions of dollars in tourism revenue.

But many of the sites are in rural areas and officials believe better planning is needed in case large crowds of tourists need to be evacuated in an emergency.

After a three-year study by some of the country's leading scientific institutions, the Greek culture ministry has earmarked 19 monuments that most urgently need protection against natural threats, with several more to be bolstered by 2030.

The ministry says it is the first time a nationwide evaluation of this scope has been attempted.

The sites under scrutiny include Olympia, habitually threatened by forest fires, the ancient theatre of Delphi, where rockslides are a concern, and the sanctuary of Dion which is prone to flooding.

Olympia Mayor Aristides Panagiotopoulos told AFP that protecting the birthplace of the Olympics, which houses the ancient stadium, a sprawling sanctuary and two museums, requires "constant vigilance".

"Our concern remains acute, as the area of Ancient Olympia is extensive, with a large expanse of greenery and dense, often unregulated, spontaneous vegetation," Panagiotopoulos said in an email.

"Despite the significant interventions that have been carried out, it is clear that they are not sufficient on their own to cover all needs."

In 2007, wildfires in Olympia decimated the natural environment around the archaeological site and left over 40 dead in the broader region of Elis.

Panagiotis Lattas, the head forester for the region of Elis, told AFP that more recently, major fires have broken out in the area in 2021, 2022 and 2024.

Lattas noted that significant rainfall this year generated additional vegetation that must be cleared in both urban and agricultural areas before wildfire season.

"This year, after a very large amount of rainfall—about 40 percent above the annual average—and with the hot and dry conditions expected during the dry season, vegetation will be particularly abundant," he said.

- Long-term plan -

Greece has already reduced visiting hours at its most popular archaeological site, the Acropolis in Athens, to shield visitors from heatwaves during the warmest hours of the day.

But the increasing frequency of extreme events calls for something more extensive.

From 2022 to 2025, scientists at the National University of Athens and the National Research Foundation examined past and present climate and geological conditions at the 19 sites, looking at prior damage to help determine future vulnerability to extreme events.

Exposure to fire, floods, heatwaves and rising sea levels were studied by a team of climatologists, geologists, engineers, conservators, architects and building material experts.

In addition to Olympia, Delphi and Dion, they scrutinised Brauron near Athens, Philippi in the north, Mycenae, Messene, Mystras and the temple of Apollo Epicurius in the Peloponnese, Minoan palaces including Knossos in Crete, the ancient city of Rhodes, and Delos and the Heraion in Samos, which face coastal erosion.

The National Observatory of Athens and the capital's Demokritos research centre also contributed research on weather, wildfires and building resilience to the project, which was budgeted at over 20 million euros ($23 million) in EU and national funding.

The plan is to cover a network of 40 sites by 2030, Culture Minister Lina Mendoni told a conference in Athens last month.

- 'Exposed' landscape -

"Our homeland has a uniquely high density and wide geographical distribution of outdoor monuments, inextricably tied to the landscape, which are exposed to fluctuations in temperature, increased humidity, heavy rainfall, and wind," Mendoni told the conference.

"Climate change does not necessarily create entirely new risks from scratch. It usually intensifies existing ones, increasing the frequency and severity of such phenomena."

According to the culture ministry, new fire sensors at 21 sites are to be delivered this year, and fire protection plans drawn up for over 60 archaeological sites, the ministry said.

According to official statistics, Ancient Olympia in 2024 drew over 300,000 visitors. Knossos had over a million, and Delphi over 290,000. 

The mayor of Delphi, Panagiotis Tagalis, told AFP that rockfalls on the Amfissa-Livadeia road in November 2024 caused "serious problems for access to the archaeological site and museum of Delphi, as well as for the residents, employees, businesses, and visitors of the wider area".

The culture ministry installed wire mesh to the side of cliffs overlooking the archaeological site, and the municipality said it had cleared a nearby rural road as a backup emergency route for small vehicles.

"Twenty years ago it was absolutely forbidden to create firebreaks...in protected areas," Mendoni said.

"Fortunately, the mentality has changed."

jph/jxb/ceg

Liverpool have a mountain to climb to oust holders Paris Saint-Germain from the Champions League but are hoping the Anfield factor can salvage a bitterly disappointing season.

Crowned champions of England less than a year ago, the Reds sit fifth in the Premier League and fell short in both domestic cup competitions.

The Champions League represents one final chance of silverware but it is a long shot after the team were outclassed 2-0 in the first leg of their quarter-final at the Parc des Princes.

Six-time European champions Liverpool are still alive in the competition thanks to PSG's profligacy and they have overcome greater odds in the past under the lights at Anfield.

"It's down to us to be in the best shape possible to make a special evening on Tuesday," said captain Virgil van Dijk.

"We are at home and we have to show belief that we can do it. It needs a special performance but I'm lucky I have been part of special performances so I will try and bring that across for the team."

Van Dijk was part of the side that beat Lionel Messi's Barcelona 4-0 in 2019, overturning a 3-0 first-leg deficit in the semi-finals on Liverpool's way to Champions League glory.

That night may have been the high point of Jurgen Klopp's glorious reign, which included three Champions League finals in five seasons.

Barring a miraculous fightback, Tuesday could be the final Champions League chapter for the key figures in that Klopp side.

- Slot's future in doubt -

Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson have both confirmed they will leave Anfield at the end of the season.

Van Dijk and goalkeeper Alisson Becker remain for now, but there is no guarantee Liverpool will be in the competition next season despite five English sides being assured of qualification.

A 2-0 win over Fulham on Saturday gave Slot's men some breathing space from the chasing pack in the battle for Champions League football and also snapped a three-game losing streak.

Adding to uncertainty, Slot's position remains in serious doubt towards the end of his second campaign in charge.

Liverpool fans chanted the name of former midfield favourite Xabi Alonso after last weekend's 4-0 demolition by Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Alonso, who left Real Madrid in January, is the prime candidate to take over should Slot be dismissed at the end of the season.

The Dutchman issued a rallying cry after the Fulham win to try and get the fans back onside for the visit of the European champions.

"This was a massive win not only for the league but looking forward to Tuesday. Not only for the players but also for the fans. After a 4-0 loss and a 2-0 loss everybody could do with this win," said Slot.

"One thing is clear is that on Tuesday we need our fans. There were fans in Paris but we had a very hard time. 

"Anfield has shown many times that it can lift the team to another level and we need that again. Half an hour before the game the players need that support and need to feel it is going to be another special evening."

At the very least Slot needs his side to salvage some pride.

Another embarrassment like the ones suffered recently in Manchester and Paris, but this time on home soil, could be the final straw for many fans.

kca/jw/mw

Pope Leo XIV begins an 11-day tour of Africa on Monday, his first major international trip since becoming pontiff and the first ever by a leader of the world's Catholics to the Muslim country of Algeria.

Leo is due to depart Rome Monday morning on the papal plane for the Algerian capital of Algiers, a trip aimed at continuing to "build bridges between the Christian and Muslim worlds," the Archbishop of Algiers Jean-Paul Vesco told AFP. 

Before meeting with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and addressing authorities and diplomats, the pope will pay tribute to the victims of Algeria's 1954-1962 war of independence against France at the Martyrs Memorial overlooking the city.

Already in Algiers ahead of the historic visit, the atmosphere of an imminent celebration pervaded the air, with walls repainted, roads repaved and green spaces adorned with plants and flowerpots. 

Leo's packed trip covering 18,000 kilometres in total also includes the central African countries of Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, with the pope due to return home on April 23. 

The American pope's visit coincides with war in the Middle East, which shows no signs of abating after the failure to reach an agreement between the United States and Iran.

On Saturday, Leo said "Enough to war!" in a fiery speech from St Peter's Basilica imploring warmongers to stop the violence. 

But the visit to Algeria is also infused with personal significance for the Augustinian pontiff, with the country holding "a special place in his mind and heart because of St Augustine," Vesco said.

The influential fifth-century Christian theologian laid the foundations for the 13th century Augustinian order to which Leo belongs, one based on communal living and service. 

In his very first speech as pope, Leo presented himself as a "son" of Augustine, whose writings he often quotes. As head of the order, before becoming pope, the former Robert Francis Prevost twice visited Algeria.  

On Tuesday, the pope will visit the northeastern city of Annaba -- formerly the ancient Roman city of Hippo -- the one-time home of the saint whose autobiographical "Confessions" is a seminal work within the Christian tradition. 

Father Fred Wekesa, the rector of the Saint Augustine Basilica at Annaba where Leo will celebrate mass, said the pope's upcoming visit would give his small flock a "message of encouragement and solidarity".

- 'Capable of peace' -

Monday's itinerary includes a visit to the Great Mosque of Algiers -- with the world's highest minaret -- and the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa, overlooking the Bay of Algiers.

Leo plans to pray privately in the chapel dedicated to 19 priests and nuns murdered during Algeria's 1992-2002 civil war. 

The pope will not, however, visit the Tibhirine monastery, whose monks were kidnapped and murdered in 1996, an event still shrouded in mystery.  

Wekesa lamented shadows still cast by Algeria's bloody civil war, when 200,000 people were killed in the conflict between Islamists and security forces.

Although some people still viewed Algeria "through the lens of the 'dark years'," Leo's visit will allow the world to see "the hospitality and generosity of the Algerian people," said Wekesa. 

"We are capable of living together in peace."

Although Algeria's constitution guarantees freedom of worship, subject to conditions, human rights groups say the repression of religious minorities is continuing. 

Three human rights groups called on Leo last week to push the issue during his visit. 

ams/giv/ceg

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani marked his 100th day in office on Sunday with a rally to tout early successes and vow to follow through on his unabashedly "socialist" agenda.

"I know there are many who use 'socialist' as a dirty word, something to be ashamed of," the 34-year-old told a packed room in Queens.

"They can try all they want, but we will not be ashamed of using government to fight for the many, not simply the few," he said.

Mamdani pointed to a program to fill city street potholes -- over 100,000 since January 1 -- as evidence he is committed to making the lives of everyday New Yorkers better.

"If government can't do the small things, how could you ever trust it to do the big ones? How can we promise to transform our city if we can't pave your street?"

The young mayor was joined at the rally by his close ally, 84-year-old leftist icon Bernie Sanders.

Mamdani touted progress on signature campaign promises, such as launching city-run grocery stores -- the first of which will open next year -- and providing free childcare for young children.

He has also reshuffled city committees that could pave the way for freezing rent increases in the coming months.

Free bus rides, however, are still only under discussion with New York State authorities, he said.

The new mayor's approval rating, according to two polls released this week, stood at 48 percent with New York residents and 43 percent among voters.

According to the Emerson College Polling/PIX11 survey of voters, 54 percent praise his initiatives on childcare and 49 percent on housing costs.

However, the survey also shows that 68 percent of Hispanic voters and 58 percent of Black voters believe the city is "on the wrong track."

Although highly critical of Donald Trump during his campaign, Mamdani has apparently struck up a cordial relationship with the Republican US president, visiting the White House twice in recent months.

According to a Marist Poll, 59 percent of New Yorkers believe he has struck the "right balance" with Trump.

pel/des/sla