ITALY
A Catholic parish’s statue of a saint, that was on display in the church for two decades, recently appeared to be crying. A parishioner of Santa Maria delle Grazie in the town of Casalba noticed the statue of St. Padre Pio with a red-colored tear, resembling blood, which looked like it was falling from its eye. After the parish priest tried to clean the statue of the Italian friar, who was canonized in 2002 — to no avail — it was removed from the church for further examination.
ECUADOR
To celebrate its World Cup win over Germany, Ecuador President Daniel Noboa declared June 26 a public holiday. Noboa, who was in the stands at MetLife Stadium for Friday’s game, gleefully wrote on X: “Thank you to the players and the coach who, despite the criticism, the insults, and the tough times they went through, managed to bounce back and bring this immense joy to the entire country. Tomorrow is a holiday! Long live Ecuador.”
JAPAN
Japan’s Cultural Affairs Agency held a meeting this week to discuss the global expansion of the country’s print culture. The agency is working on a plan to spread Japanese literature, including the implementation of an inquiry desk to field questions from overseas publishers and translators. “In recent years, interest [for Japanese literature] is on the rise with works by Japanese writers gaining recognition from major literature prizes in U.K. and the U.S.,” Gakuji Ito, the agency’s commissioner, told The Japan News. “We’d like to seize this opportunity and make an all-Japan effort to promote our print culture.”
ENGLAND
A new Frida Kahlo exhibition set a record for the Tate Modern museum in London. With over 41,000 tickets sold before its opening, “Frida: The Making of an Icon,” is the most pre-sold exhibition in the museum’s over 25-year history. The exhibit, which opened on June 25, includes over 30 of the famed late artist’s works.
CANADA
A Canadian boat owner is facing a lawsuit after his vessel leaked oil in a Nova Scotia harbor that cost a staggering $2.88 million to clean up. The Canadian Coast Guard worked to move the Craig Trans from Marie Joseph, which included dealing with the contaminated water around it and shelling out cash for the ship to be dismantled.
With Wires
