Nicole Winfield and Trisha Thomas, Associated Press
Published 5:58 a.m. ET Aug. 25, 2018 | Updated 6:12 a.m. ET Aug. 25, 2018

DUBLIN – Pope Francis arrived Saturday in Ireland, ground zero of the Catholic Church’s sex abuse crisis, with the institution under fire across the globe for its systemic failures to protect children or to punish bishops who hid the crimes.

Francis was expected to meet with victims during his 36-hour trip, the first papal visit to Ireland in almost four decades, and will have “many opportunities” to speak out about abuse, the Vatican said.

But neither Francis’ words nor a new meeting with abuse victims is likely to calm the outrage among rank-and-file Catholics following new revelations of sexual misconduct and cover-up in the United States, an ongoing crisis in Chile and prosecutions of top clerics in Australia and France.

Ireland has had one of the worst records of abuse in the world, crimes that were revealed to the deeply Catholic nation’s 4.8 million people through a series of government-mandated inquiries over the past decade. The reviews concluded that thousands of children were raped or molested by priests and physically abused in church-run schools while bishops covered up for abusers.

After the Irish church atoned for its past and enacted tough new norms to fight abuse, it had been looking to the first visit by a pope in 40 years to show a different, more caring church that understands the problems of ordinary Catholic families today.

More than 37,000 people – most of them young Catholics – signed up to attend a Vatican-sponsored World Meeting of Families that started in Dublin on Tuesday and runs through Sunday, more than twice the number as for the last family rally held in Philadelphia three years ago.

And many faithful were hopeful.

“I see a lot of new life amongst young people who have a deep committed faith, Catholic faith,” said Sean Ascogh, a churchgoer at a recent service in Blessington southwest of Dublin. “Obviously, they are very disappointed by what has been happening in the church in the last few years, particularly the whole abuse scandals, but I think people can see beyond that.”

But Ireland’s tortured history of abuse has left its mark.

In a country where Catholic bishops held such sway that they advised the drafters of the republic’s constitution in the 1930s, voters in recent years have turned their backs on core Catholic teachings. They have overturned a constitutional ban on abortion and legalized divorce, contraception and same-sex marriage.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who will greet Francis at Dublin Castle on Saturday, is openly gay.

Francis was welcomed on the tarmac of Dublin International Airport by a small official delegation mostly composed of clergy, but no public crowd as would be the norm, especially in a Catholic country.

More: Pope Francis blasts ‘atrocities’ by clergy: ‘We showed no care for the little ones

Related: Amid fallout from Pennsylvania report, Pope Francis to meet with abuse victims in Ireland

Irish abuse victims and their supporters were expected to hold a solidarity rally on Sunday in Dublin, at the same time Francis is celebrating his final Mass to close out the family conference.

Separately, survivors of Ireland’s wretched “mother and baby homes” – where children were exiled for the shame of having been born to unwed mothers – are holding their own demonstration Sunday. The location is Tuam, site of a mass grave of hundreds of babies who died over the years at a church-run home.

Francis will be nearby, visiting the Marian shrine at Knock, but has no plans to visit the grave site.

On the eve of Francis’ arrival in Dublin, Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley – the pope’s top abuse counselor – said protecting children and vulnerable adults was now the single most crucial issue facing the church.

“All endeavors at evangelization and other great works will be dependent upon our ability to own our crimes and failings and to make the protection of children and vulnerable adults our No. 1 priority,” O’Malley said in a statement read out to a safeguarding panel at the World Meeting of Families.

O’Malley had been expected to headline the panel in person, but he backed out at the last minute, citing a new inquiry he launched into his diocesan seminary amid sexual misconduct allegations – one of three big U.S. seminaries that have launched such investigations in recent weeks.

Irish abuse survivor and advocate Marie Collins, who resigned in frustration from O’Malley’s board last year, told the safeguarding panel that if Francis claims to be on the side of victims, the Catholic Church should no longer lobby to block the ability of victims to sue and prosecute abusers after the statute of limitations expires.

“The actions of the church do not match the words, and they are in fact totally the opposite,” Collins said. She called for “robust structures” and strong sanctions to hold accountable bishops and even Vatican officials who fail protect children.

But Francis offered no such structures or sanctions in a letter he penned on the eve of his Irish visit to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, vowing only to spare no effort to fight the abuse problem. He has vowed “zero tolerance” since the start of his pontificate.

Francis’ first speech in Ireland on Saturday is an address to Irish government officials and civil society, where he will likely refer to the scandal. In the evening, he presides over a vigil. On Sunday, after praying at Knock, Francis celebrates the final Mass in Dublin’s Phoenix Park before returning to Rome.

When St. John Paul II visited Ireland in 1979, in the first-ever papal visit, some 1.25 million people turned out for his inaugural Mass in Phoenix Park, a third of the country’s population and the largest gathering in Irish history at the time.

Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2BNf1l4

Andy Murray is set to make his return to Grand Slam tennis at the US Open on Monday – his first Grand Slam appearance in 14 months after a hip injury led to surgery. In his regular BBC Sport column, the 31-year-old Scot talks about why the US Open is special to him, where he hangs out in New York during the tournament and becoming an Instagram ‘sensation’…

Playing at the US Open holds a special place in my heart and I’m pleased to be making my Grand Slam return here.

I still wish I was able to play at Wimbledon and not have to pull out on the eve of the tournament, but it is nice to be playing my first Slam in 14 months here in New York.

I enjoy the tournament because of the energy. When I was younger I used to love coming to visit the city and the tournament itself is very different to the other Slams.

It has an amazing energy, it is a great place to play, I love the centre court and having played my first Grand Slam final here, and then winning my first Grand Slam here, I have some great memories.

My family came over to New York a few days ago, so I hadn’t seen them for three or four weeks.

Obviously the kids change a lot in that time, which is nice in some ways to see after a period because you’ve changed a bit, but also sad that maybe you’ve missed some stuff.

That was the best part about being injured, or the only good part about being injured, was I got to spend lots and lots of time with them growing up. That’s been nice.

I’m happy they’re here. We went to Central Park with Amelie Mauresmo and her kids which was nice. And we’ve got friends here with their children so you just find family-friendly things to do.

There is plenty going on in New York!

‘Posting on Instagram is fun and stops misinterpretation’

Recently I’ve been posting a lot on Instagram while I’ve been training in the States – videos of me and Nick Kyrgios on a rollercoaster, pictures of old haircuts and answering some ‘interesting’ questions from fans…

It is fun and something I enjoy.

I used to post on Twitter a lot, then stopped using it so much. I’m a very visual person myself and there is a bit less abuse on Instagram!

After beating Marius Copil in Washington, I put on a post with a caption saying ‘Boring, miserable, no personality’ – it was just something fun and not because I’m trying to change public perception of me.

That’s something I was branded as from a very young age just because in interviews I didn’t give much away.

I remember the very first time I played at Wimbledon people were saying ‘he’s absolutely brilliant, he’s a fresh of breath air, he says what he thinks, so different to Greg Rusedski and Tim Henman’.

Then I learned very quickly that all it takes is a couple of comments and a couple of jokes that get taken the wrong way.

Posting things from your own Instagram account is something that you’re ultimately able to control more than how someone interprets your words in an article.

‘UN visit was really cool’

As a long-time Unicef ambassador, I went to the offices here in New York which are next to the UN headquarters.

I had a tour of the Unicef building and met the team who co-ordinate the emergency response when disasters or war strikes around the world. They do an amazing job and are responsible for getting aid and relief to families and children in need.

We then walked over to the UN building, where most of the world leaders regularly gather.

It was interesting. One of the security guards showing us around had some funny stories but I’m not sure I am allowed tell them!

There are lots of artefacts around the grounds, which is considered to be on international territory even though it’s in the US, as all of the member states have donated something.

There is a piece of the Berlin Wall there from Germany, Slovenia had donated Slovenian bees so they have beehives in the garden, and all sorts of other things from the different nations.

‘Playing five-set matches again is positive – whatever happens’

Having not played a five-set match for a long time, I won’t know how my body will cope with that until I actually get there and do it.

I’m sure I’ll be able to tough it out if I need to – but it might not be particularly comfortable.

That’s something I will find out if I’m in that situation.

It is important for me to go through that and see exactly where I’m at, to see how I feel after playing an extremely long match.

That will inform what I do over the next few months as well, maybe show I need to adjust things building up to Australia next year.

I’m glad to be back competing in a Slam and it’s going to be positive for me putting myself in that position again.

Andy Murray was speaking to BBC Sport’s Jonathan Jurejko

Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa has rejected a court ruling that threw out his election challenge to Emmerson Mnangagwa’s election victory, saying he has a legitimate claim to lead.

Chamisa’s opposition group, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Alliance, had brought the legal challenge saying that July 30’s vote was marred by “mammoth theft and fraud”.

“I have a legitimate claim that I should lead Zimbabwe,” Chamisa told reporters at a news conference in the capital Harare on Saturday.

The MCD president and MP took to Twitter on Friday, telling his supporters “I hear your cries and feel your pain. I know you feel cheated, but take heart – your victory is not lost.

“Your will is sacred and we’ll listen to you on the path of peace and course of action to be taken to rescue our beautiful Zimbabwe from the jaws of poverty, corruption and dishonesty.”

I hear your cries & feel your pain. I know you feel cheated, but take heart — your victory is not lost. Your will is sacred & we’ll listen to you on the path of peace & course of action to be taken to rescue our beautiful Zimbabwe from the jaws of poverty, corruption & dishonesty

— Nelson Chamisa (@nelsonchamisa) August 24, 2018

Chief Justice Luke Malaba said on Friday that the MDC alliance had failed to prove fraud accusations during last month’s vote.

“The application is dismissed with costs … Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa is duly declared the winner of the presidential elections held on the 30th of July 2018,” Malaba said in his ruling.

Mnangagwa, 75, said he was “not surprised by the court’s decision” and called for unity and peace.

“Nelson Chamisa, my door is open and my arms are outstretched, we are one nation, and we must put our nation first. Let us all now put our differences behind us. It is time to move forward together,” Mnangagwa wrote on Twitter shortly after the court announced its ruling.

The MDC’s legal challenge cited a catalogue of alleged discrepancies, including incorrect counting and fake polling stations, as well as instances at voting centres where there were more ballots cast than registered voters.

“There has been a massive doctoring of evidence,” Thabani Mpofu, a lawyer representing the MDC, told the top court when it started sitting on Wednesday.

Mnangagwa, of the ruling ZANU-PF party, won the election with 50.8 percent of the vote – just enough to pass the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff against Chamisa, who finished second with 44.3 percent.

European Union observers said that the ZANU-PF candidate had benefitted from an “un-level playing field” and some voter intimidation, though international monitors largely praised the conduct of the election.

The legal challenge delayed Mnangagwa’s planned inauguration for August 12. It will now take place on Sunday.

On a balmy Caribbean evening in August, crew members aboard the the 184-foot exploration vessel the Alucia tied dead fish to the front of a small yellow submarine. 

They tightly wound the fish to a metal pole extending out from the undersea craft to tempt whatever might be lurking, three thousand feet below.

But Dean Grubbs, one of the researchers preparing the bait, didn’t intend to catch anything. Grubbs, a shark scientist at Florida State University, only hoped to attract a little-seen creature that largely dwells in the lightless ocean depths: the sixgill shark.

“They’re one of the oldest lineages of living sharks. That, by itself, makes them cool,” Grubbs, who with his long black hair and dark beard looks like he would fit right in at an Iron Maiden concert, said.

Unlike the charismatic sharks often spotted near the surface — hammerheads, great whites, and tiger sharks — the sixgill spends most of its life in the deep ocean, some 700 feet to 3,200 feet (200 to 1,000 meters) below the surface. It’s not easy to understand the sixgills, though Grubbs has glimpsed the sharks’ mysterious existence by tagging their dorsal fins with GPS devices.

Image: Bubby Pavlo/OceanX Media

Far under the sea, the sixgill has carved out a niche as the biggest, dominant predator of the deep tropical and temperate latitudes — a huge swath of ocean.

It’s mostly lightless down there, at least to humans. But the sixgills, and their creepy, vivid green eyes, are adapted to this black world. 

“It’s pitch dark to us, but to them, it’s daylight,” said Grubbs.

This species of shark is also ancient. At some 200 million years old the sixgill — so named for its sixth gill when most sharks have five — predates most dinosaurs.

Beyond their mystique, Grubbs has good reason to seek out these sharks. 

For years he’s been tracking where these ancient creatures go, why they go there, and the role they play in the deeps. But this requires catching the massive beasts, hauling them to the surface on a fishing line, and attaching a GPS tracker to their dorsal fin before releasing them back into the water. 

It rattles them, said Grubbs. 

So he’s come aboard the exploration vessel Alucia, operated by the deep sea exploration organization OceanX, to try a new idea. He’ll meet the sixgills where they live, thousands of feet beneath the surface. As the sharks swoop by to investigate the dead fish attached to the submersible, Grubbs will attempt to tag them with a GPS dart. 

Credit: Cape Eleuthera Island School/OceanX Media

On that evening at sea in August, Grubbs climbed through the hatch atop the Alucia and sat down inside the craft’s big bubble, which is sandwiched between two yellow slabs holding cameras and propellers. 

The bubble may initially appear vulnerable, but it’s built out of seven-inch thick plexiglass, designed to withstand the unrelenting weight of water pressing down on the craft, and the three occupants inside. 

Using a great hook dangling from the Alucia’s crane, submarine crew members raised the submersible into the air before gently plopping it into the Caribbean waters off of Eleuthera, a long, thin island in the eastern Bahamas. 

A wild-haired diver leapt off the Alucia’s nearby dinghy to unhitch the bobbing submersible from the crane, and then Grubbs, along with another scientist and submarine pilot, began to sink beneath the surface, and soon disappeared. 

Credit: OceanX Media

The submersible dropped down to the ocean floor like a space capsule parachuting down to Earth in slow motion. 

All is still in this forever wilderness, save the robotic sounds of the submersible. At first, an omnipresent blue glow pervades everything, dying human skin an alien, indigo color. Then, the light dims to dusk as the craft continues its descent. Eventually, there’s little to no light. Here, the sixgills dwell.

Down in the dark, one realizes why the sixgills evolved eons ago, but remain unchanged. They had no need to evolve.

“They’ve been living in a pretty constant environment for a very, very long time,” Chip Cotton, a marine scientist who also researches sixgills, but took no part in this expedition, said in an interview. 

On the surface, volcanoes rumble, continents collide, ice ages pass, and warfare ensues. But the sixgill shark, who holds dominion over this distant black realm, doesn’t flinch. 

The shark has spent millions years passing lethargically through the deep sea, said Cotton. And for good reason. 

“If you think about energy expenditures, food is kind of a luxury down there,” explained Cotton, saying that the creatures don’t needlessly waste energy by zipping around the sea floor.

The sixgills are masters of eating the dead. Their teeth, which have remained mostly unaltered for some 200 million years, are uniquely designed for twisting and tearing off big chunks of fallen whales, or large dead fishes.

“It’s a good way to make a living,” said Cotton.

Down in the dark, Grubbs waited patiently for the sixgills to arrive at the submersible. 

The night before, a curious sixgill swam right in front of him, just beyond the glass bubble. But he couldn’t get off a safe shot to tag the shark on its cartilaginous fins. The shark only exposed its underbelly, an area Grubbs didn’t want to risk harming.

Still, when Grubbs returned to the surface, he considered the mission a success. It almost worked. 

Now, down in the depths again for five hours, Grubbs hoped other sixgills would be tempted by the easy meal perched directly in front of the submersible, and within sight of the dart guns. 

Credit: Cape Eleuthera Island School/OceanX Media

But on this night, no sixgills came to visit the bait. 

Grubbs mused they needed to bring a larger hunk of meat, perhaps a pig. 

Yet, the mission wasn’t a failure. It’s precisely the type of experiment that interests OceanX, which in 2012 captured the first and only footage of the legendary giant squid wrapping its tentacles around part of the very same submersible Grubbs sat in.

“We’re into trying unprecedented things out there,” Vincent Pieribone, a Yale neuroscientist who oversees OceanX’s science operations, said in an interview. “What’s interesting to us is the untested, high-risk, high-reward type stuff.”

Grubbs hopes to return to realm of the sixgills again, and give the mission another shot.

Protecting the sixgills

Sharks that live in deep waters are generally vulnerable to overfishing. They get caught in nets like other fish, and hauled to the surface.

But not the sixgill. These large sharks have been mostly safe in their dark realms. Here, they’re numerous, but hard to find.

“We don’t go to their house often looking for them, so they’re perceived as rare,” said Cotton. 

They’re generally too big to catch, and too strong for hooks and lines, said Grubbs.

But every once in a while, someone accidentally snags a sixgill, and they take the sharks’ valuable livers.

Credit: Edie Widder and Dean Grubbs

“They throw the rest overboard,” said Grubbs. “The rationalization was the sharks were going to die anyways,” due to the trauma of being caught and taken from their usual waters.

But Grubbs wondered, is that true?

In 2005, he decided to do something that had never been done in order to figure out an answer to that question. He wanted to catch the elusive sixgill sharks, to see if they could survive the trauma after being forced out of the water.

Grubbs was told that it simply could not be done. Capturing a large deep sea shark is a daunting task. Doing it many times is beyond reason.

“We took that as a challenge,” said Grubbs.

Grubbs set out at sea, and has since caught 23 sixgills in an ongoing project that continues today. 

After releasing them into the water with GPS tags, he found 90 percent of them survived, and continued roaming the depths. 

It seemed sixgills needn’t be slaughtered just because they were hauled to the surface.

“Lo and behold, that assumption was totally wrong,” said Cotton. 

In their dark ocean homes, the sixgills might be king, but it’s not as if other predators aren’t lurking in these waters.

Tiger sharks, large dominant predators near the coast, sometimes venture into the sixgills’ realm. It’s likely they chew up smaller sixgills said Cotton. 

“I would be surprised if they didn’t,” he said, emphasizing that it might be the sixgills’ territory, but there are no walls keeping other predators out. 

“None of these things exist in a vacuum,” said Cotton. “Everything is interconnected in some way.” 

And in the a cold, lightless world where food is scarce and one eats what is available, both Grubbs and Cotton said the sixgills also hunt each other.

Even a monstrous 17-foot long sixgill Grubbs once hauled aboard a research vessel needs to look over its shoulder.

“There’s always a bigger predator,” he said. 

 

Belgian Grand Prix final practice and qualifying live – Live – BBC Sport

<!–

<!–

<!–
<!–

<!–
<!–

<!–

<!–

<!–

Five airlines that fly to the flooded Indian province Kerala have said they will deliver relief goods for free to the affected areas.

Three of the airlines are from India; Air India, Jet Airways and Air Vistara, and two from the Middle East; Qatar Airways and Emirates SkyCargo.

“Jet Airways, India’s full service, premier international airline, has waived off air freight charges on all domestic cargo shipments of relief material to Kerala,” Jet Airways said in a press release.

The airline will work with several NGOs to deliver relief goods to Kerala.

Vistara, another domestic airline, said it was also partnering with several NGOs to bring supplies, adding that it would fly doctors, nurses and other specialized people to the flooded areas too.

#AllForKerala: Please read this for important information on Vistara support options for Kerala floods relief. pic.twitter.com/TfHVaYl0P0

— Vistara (@airvistara) August 21, 2018

Qatar and Emirates

Qatar Airways said earlier this week it would deliver 50 tonnes of goods to Kerala after pleas from relatives living in Qatar.

“We have received earnest requests from the Indian community residing in Qatar seeking support to transport relief aid to Southern Kerala, where many of their families and relatives are affected by the worst flood in a century,” Qatar Airways Chief Officer Cargo, Guillaume Halleux, said according to The Peninsula.

“Given the devastating situation, we have rapidly activated a humanitarian operation to offer free transportation of relief goods from Doha to Trivandrum on our daily passenger flight,” he added. 

#QatarAirwaysCargo offers relief to flood-hit Kerala by transporting donations from Doha this Eid al-Adha. #Movedbypeople pic.twitter.com/x5u3MAJzKH

— Qatar Airways (@qatarairways) August 19, 2018

In an official statement, Emirates said it would bring over 175 tonnes of goods to Kerala.

“The goods, including lifesaving boats, blankets and dry food items, will be handed over to the local flood relief and aid organisations for distribution,” the statement said.

Emirates SkyCargo joins the UAE community in their support of the people of Kerala, India by transporting over 175 tons of flood relief cargo. #UAEsupportsKerala https://t.co/1w74tYCFNr pic.twitter.com/NgMsdrskRj

— Emirates Airline (@emirates) August 23, 2018

Flights to Kerala’s Kochi airport have been halted because of flood damage to the transport hub. Therefore, the relief goods will be delivered to Kerala’s capital, Trivandrum. 

The floods have also damaged hundreds of kilometres of roads and disrupted train services.

The province has been lashed by torrential monsoon rains since the end of May, triggering landslides and flash floods that have swept away entire villages.

Incessant downpours since August 8 have killed more than 190 people and left thousands more stranded. 

Medical officials and NGOs, meanwhile, warned of a heightened risk of waterborne disease outbreaks due to the flooding.

Local health officials said earlier this week they were prepared to deal with any such emergence of disease and had distributed preventive medicines in a bid to avert an outbreak.

The floods caused an estimated $3bn of damage, with about 10,000km of Kerala’s roads and more than 100,000 houses needing to be reconstructed.

This is One Good Thing, a weekly column where we tell you about one of the few nice things that happened this week.

Bruno, the beloved and very ~thicc~ polydactyl cat, has officially been adopted. We can all breathe a sigh of relief.

The extremely high-maintenance feline captured the hearts of internet users everywhere after Wright Way Rescue Animal Shelter in Morton Grove, Illinois, shared his adoption listing on Facebook on Aug. 15. 

A week later, a Chicago couple decided to adopt him.

For those of you who need a refresher, Bruno’s long list of quirky habits and super extra requests includes, but is not limited to:

• Laying around

• Sleeping at the end of his foster parents’ bed 

• Getting neck/face scratches

• Getting pet on ONLY the head and spine

• Talking a lot. Like, A LOT…

• Drinking water, but only in a room that doesn’t contain his food

• Standing on hind legs

Amazing, right? There’s no denying Bruno, the seven-year-old, 25lb cat who’s been with the shelter since April, is hella extra. But he knows that and completely owns it. That’s why it’s no surprise his adoption listing quickly went viral.

On Wednesday, a week after Wright Way Rescue Animal Shelter’s call for adoption, Buzzfeed reported that Bruno had finally found a loving home.

A Chicago couple — Lauren Paris, 29, and her boyfriend, Jason Bartlett — officially adopted Bruno on Tuesday. They were one of 161 applications that came in.

“When I saw a photo of Bruno that had been shared on Facebook I just…freaked,” Paris told BuzzFeed News. “It was this wild combination of an excited laugh/cry. And I felt this insane drive — I knew I would do whatever it took to be his forever home.”

And because Bruno is such an extra cat, Paris made a truly extra plea to the shelter by performing a personalized song called, “Gimmie That Fat Cat.”

A match made in heaven.

According to BuzzFeed, the song wasn’t all Paris did to secure Bruno’s adoption. She reportedly sent a letter of intent to the shelter, too, and recorded a video tour of her house to show Bruno would have a nice home. Now that’s dedication.

To watch Bruno Bartlett’s homecoming and keep up with his wonderfully lazy life, be sure to follow him on Instagram. Gotta love a good real-world happy ending. :’)

HONOLULU — Roadways were virtually empty, stores closed, no buses are running and some buildings were boarded up as Honolulu prepared for the arrival of Lane, originally a hurricane but downgraded to a tropical storm Friday afternoon. 

The National Weather Service warned that even a tropical storm can bring maximum winds of 70 miles per hour and that the threat of flooding was still present through Saturday. 

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” Governor David Ige said at a press conference in Honolulu.

The island of Oahu, home to 69 percent of Hawaii’s population, has been preparing for days for the storm’s slow, 5 mph approach. The possible arrival of a Category 5 hurricane — Lane’s strength on Tuesday — was reason enough to batten down the hatches. 

The city ended bus service Thursday evening and was thinking of reopening limited service at least to the airport from downtown on Friday, but decided against it. 

“Any gusts of winds over 40 mph are dangerous for bus drivers and riders,” Mayor Kirk Caldwell said. Tropical storms can have winds as high as 74 mph.

Several homes in the city have lost roofs due to gusting winds, while downed trees have been a problem in some areas, leading to pocket power outages.

Close to 1,100 people are staying in the 20 shelters set up at Honolulu schools, Caldwell said. But there’s more room for those who feel their homes might not be safe during possible torrential rains and winds.

More: Has Hawaii dodged the bullet? Hurricane Lane weakens to a tropical storm

Related: Why are hurricanes so rare in Hawaii? It’s a lucky quirk

Also: Shelter shortage? Hawaiian officials face questions as Hurricane Lane approaches

For most people in the city, Friday was restful. Businesses were closed, giving many people an impromptu holiday.

“There isn’t much to do, you can’t go shopping, everything’s closed. So we’re all hanging out, watching the TV news, and going out for walks,” said Desiree Beveridge, who with her partner Eric Smythe was out walking their dog Bruce Wayne.

The difference of being on an island when danger approaches is that there’s nowhere to go, said Smythe, a Honolulu resident originally from Florida. 

“If this were Florida, this would all be under mandatory evacuation and we’d all have driven north. Here there’s nowhere to go, you’ve just go to ride it out,” he said. 

Silent streets, full beaches

Whereas much of the city was quiet, the sidewalks near Waikiki beach were full Friday afternoon. Thousands of tourists staying in the dozens of hotels in the area walked around looking at boarded-up and sandbagged stores, searching for anyplace open that had food.

“We bought a couple of pizzas and that’s what we had for lunch and what we’ll have for dinner,” said Bruce Webber of Auckland, New Zealand.

He and his wife had spent the last ten days in Hawaii and are due to fly home Monday. 

“We bought some potatoes and we figure that if worse comes to worse we can cook them in the microwave in our room and make potato salad,” his wife, Raewyn Webber, said. “Though if they don’t open the stores by Sunday we may well run out.”

Maui fires

In a cruel twist of fate, the island of Maui dealt with three wildfires, possibly caused by downed power lines and whipped by strong winds.

As many as 2,300 acres burned and at least seven homes were damaged or destroyed, officials said. Hundreds of homes were evacuated.

Big Island flooding

On the Big Island of Hawaii, the rains continued Friday even as Lane swept past, with some areas receiving as much as 35 inches of precipitation. Streams and rivers were rising above their banks, while roads were washed out or impassable due to flooding and homes have been destroyed. 

Guy Berryessa in San Francisco got a call from the tenants of a house his family owns in Papaikou, just north of Hilo on the island, and received a startling update.

“The entire backyard is gone,” Berryessa said about the home. 

The previous owner had put in a 30-foot rock retaining wall and extensive drainage to protect against flooding from nearby creeks, but the 26 inches of rain the town got in 48 hours overcame them. 

“I fear it’s a total loss,” Berryessa said. But he’d spent the day finding other housing for his tenants. “We’ll worry about the house later, they’re more important right now.”

Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2BJlayI

Editors, USA TODAY
Published 3:39 a.m. ET Aug. 25, 2018

 

Funeral planned for University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts

A funeral for Mollie Tibbetts, the 20-year-old University of Iowa student whose body was found earlier this week after she was reported missing, will be held Sunday in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa. On Thursday, authorities confirmed Tibbetts died from “multiple sharp force injuries.” Tibbetts vanished after going for a run in her hometown on July 18, which captured national attention. Police arrested Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24, and charged him with first-degree murder. He is currently being held in the Poweshiek County Jail on a $5 million bond. 

Women’s Equality Day honors the right to vote

Sunday marks Women’s Equality Day, honoring the 98th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, , which gave women the right to vote.  According to data by the Center for American Women and Politics, 73.7 million women reported voting whereas just 63.8 million men reported the same. This year is particularly notable for women and politics, as a record number of women are running for office. 

Burning Man festival kicks off amid controversy

The annual countercultural festival known as Burning Man, which attracts nearly 80,000 people to Northern Nevada’s Black Rock Desert each year, kicks off Sunday. The festival —which runs through Sept. 3 — describes itself as “a vibrant participatory metropolis”  and will focus on the theme of Isaac Asimov’s “I, Robot.” The event is not without controversy though as organizers have threatened to file a lawsuit after reports that tribal and federal law enforcement are conducting frequent traffic stops on the only road to and from the event. The Feds say it’s not about Burning Man, it’s about drugs. 

Pope Francis heads to Ireland amid global outrage over sex abuse

Pope Francis is expected to meet with victims of sexual abuse during an upcoming trip to Ireland this weekend, less than two weeks after a bombshell grand jury report found Catholic priests in Pennsylvania abused more than 1,000 children over six decades.Earlier this week, Francis apologized to the church community and condemned the “atrocities” of sexual abuse by priests and the hierarchy that covered up the crimes. The papal visit to Ireland, which has a devastating history of priests who raped and molested children and bishops who covered up for them, will be the first since 1979.

Coveted 1962 Ferrari GTO goes up for auction

Would you pay tens of millions for a used car? On Saturday night, a rare 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO could go for $45 to $60 million at a Sotheby’s auction being held during the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance car week. This legendary motor car is just one of 36 GTOs hand-built between 1962 and 1964. Few GTOs ever change hands publicly. When the last one came up for auction, in 2014, it went for $38 million. Start your engines.

Contributing: Associated Press

Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2BLiUa0