Latest news with #miracles
Washington Post
3 days ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Euro 2025: Netherlands ready to believe in miracles and win big against France to advance
BASEL, Switzerland — Posed with the question 'Do you believe in miracles?' at the Women's European Championship, the Netherlands said it does. The Dutch likely must beat an in-form France by three clear goals on Sunday to reach the quarterfinals, needing to make up ground after a 4-0 beating by England.
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Euro 2025: Netherlands ready to believe in miracles and win big against France to advance
BASEL, Switzerland (AP) — Posed with the question 'Do you believe in miracles?' at the Women's European Championship, the Netherlands said it does. The Dutch likely must beat an in-form France by three clear goals on Sunday to reach the quarterfinals, needing to make up ground after a 4-0 beating by England. 'Miracles exist,' Netherlands coach Andries Jonker said in translated comments on Saturday. 'After a very heavy 4-0 defeat there is one thing you can do, rise up again.' The scenario in Group D is that France sits top on six points, and England is expected also to end on six points by beating Wales in the final round of games played at the same time on Sunday evening in Switzerland. That would leave just one Dutch path to finish runner-up to England in the standings — a big win over France to lift them in a three-way tiebreaker between the six-point teams. The decider would be goal difference for those three teams in games against each other while excluding their results against Wales. 'Remember Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain,' Jonker said, citing the men's Champions League epic in 2017 that is known in soccer lore as 'La Remontada,' the comeback. Barcelona lost 4-0 in Paris in the first leg of the round of 16, then won 6-1 at home to advance. 'There is no other option,' added Jonker, once an assistant coach at Barcelona, but to deliver an unforgettable game and performance. France coach Laurent Bonadei saw no disrespect when told of Jonker's comments — and countered with humor. 'That's normal, that's his role,' Bonadei said of his counterpart's confidence, though noted his own team's threat after scoring six goals across its two wins so far. 'It's maybe not 3-0 that he needs to win, but 5-2 or 6-3,' said the France coach, whose team needs only a point to top the standings. 'It will be a beautiful game. I would prefer to be in our place than theirs.' Of course, if tournament debutant Wales was to stop England winning — not miraculous, though unlikely after losing to the Netherlands and 4-1 to France — then a win of any kind for the Dutch would be enough to advance. 'Wales is so eager to beat England,' said the Netherlands' veteran No. 10 Daniëlle van de Donk, who also was asked if she believed in miracles. 'I believe in our team,' van de Donk said in translated comments, 'and in football anything is possible.' ___ AP soccer:
Daily Mail
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The Islamic sect operating from an orphanage in Crewe: Beanie-hat wearing founder is self-proclaimed new Pope and 'saviour of mankind' who can 'make the moon disappear'
An Islamic sect whose leader claims to be the new Pope and whose followers say he can perform 'miracles' is operating out of a heavily-guarded former orphanage in Cheshire. Abdullah Hashem Aba al-Sadiq, a former filmmaker who describes himself as the 'saviour of mankind', uses YouTube and TikTok to spread The Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL) and tells followers to 'obey' him. In one video, multiple men, women and children claim that Hashem has performed miracles ranging from resurrecting family members, making the moon disappear, turning leaves into living animals and curing fatal illnesses including cancer. In other clips, a primary school-aged girl claims Hashem cured her of stomach pains by simply placing his hand on her, while a daughter alleges that her mother was on the brink of death before she was revived by the leader. Hashem asks his followers to offer up their salaries or sell their possessions to contribute to the religious sect which combines Islamic theology with conspiracy theories about the Illuminati and aliens secretly controlling US presidents. Lawyers for AROPL told MailOnline say the sect advocates for mainstream medical advice from the NHS in the UK and there is no requirement that other members should sell property or give up salaries. One striking feature of the religion is that they all wear black beanies. Hashem describes the beanie as his 'crown', adding: 'I take the beanie hat and wear it proudly so. This hat is a symbol of the working man. 'That's how it was first invented - to keep the working man warm as he's working outside and he's working all day to feed his family with minimum wage. It became a symbol of the poor man, the working class man.' AROPL was previously based in Sweden but relocated to Crewe in 2021, moving into a Grade II-listed former orphanage, Webb House, The Guardian first reported. Abdullah Hashem (pictured), a former filmmaker who describes himself as the 'saviour of mankind', uses YouTube and TikTok to spread The Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL) and warns followers to 'obey' his every command The he Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL) is operating out of a heavily-guarded former orphanage in Cheshire (pictured) Followers claim that Abdullah Hashem Aba al-Sadiq has cured their relatives just by touching them It's understood around 100 followers live in the £2million Cheshire building, including families with children who are home schooled there. It's believed gatherings take place in the 'basilica' room. AROLP's lawyers say children living there are home-schooled by their individual parents with the approval of the local education authority which monitors their progress. A spokesman added: 'Those members of the faith who chose to live at the Crewe Centre (a small minority of the overall membership) are usually expected to contribute to the running of the centre, but are encouraged to maintain links with their families.' Webb House was originally built as orphanage for children of railway workers who had lost their parents in work-related accidents until 1961 and later became British Rail offices and an NHS specialist mental health facility. AROPL says it is a peaceful religious movement derived from Shia Islam - the second-largest branch of Islam - that has been persecuted around the world due to its belief in equality and human rights. It describes itself as the 'fulfillment of prophecy as per the narrations and scriptures of the Abrahamic faiths' - a term for the elements shared by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Young children often feature in videos where they describe Hashem as their 'father' and 'master'. In one video, a 16-year-old boy describes Hashem as his 'dad, imam, God', while in another a girl an 18-year-old girl who joined the religion aged eight says: 'We are the generation that was raised by [Hashem].' Hashem frequently appears in clips, including one TikTok video addressed to Christians where he says: 'Hear me and obey. I am a messenger sent to you from Jesus Christ... the church is corrupt and no longer upholds the law of God nor does it defend the oppressed. 'The papacy has been stolen and the rightful heir has been pushed aside. 'There is no one else but me that you are obliged to obey. May God be a witness that I have proclaimed.' The camera then pans to a crowd chanting for him, while a caption reading: 'The new Pope is here.' Hashem, an Egyptian-American raised in Indiana, first rose to prominence by making documentaries in which he debunked cults in the US. Hashem and his partner were sued in 2008 after filming an undercover documentary about a UFO religion based in Switzerland. But seven years later, he founded AROPL, declaring himself the Mahdi, a saviour figure from Islamic doomsday prophecy. He also claims to be the new pope and the successor to the prophet Muhammad and Jesus. Hashem condemns false Mahdis - believed to be around 30 - and claims he is the only legitimate leader. In his book, The Goal of the Wise, Hashem says his followers have a 'duty' to donate their whole salary - keeping hold of deductions for basic living - and sell their houses to fund his goal to create a 'divine' state. One woman (pictured) claimed that she had witnessed the Mahdi make the moon disappear His scriptures include bizarre beliefs such as claims epilepsy can be cured by placing a bird of paradise on a patient's genitals. Ex-members told The Guardian how they felt pressured to cut ties with the outside world and were encouraged to sell their homes to fund its activities. One woman claimed she handed over all the money she was gifted for her wedding, while another says he donated about £33,000. AROPL regularly post slick videos on TikTok, Facebook, X and Instagram about its activities, while it also features several Q&As and podcasts about the sect. It has more than 100k followers and subscribers TikTok and YouTube alone. Responding to allegations that the religious group have taken the blood of members and threaten people who leave the faith, Hashem said in one video: 'Nobody has ever been harmed, coerced, we don't eat babies, we don't take blood, none of this stuff is true.' On one TikTok channel, a large group of men, dressed in black beanies, claim they are Hashem's 'soldiers' who will fight and die for him. Hashem says he has lived across the world, from the US, Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Germany, Sweden and now the UK. He claims to have formed a 'religious movement' with a title to 'distinguish it from all of the false practices that Muslims are practicing today'. In one clip about why followers call him 'father' and 'master', a member says: 'It's something we do from ourselves. We call you father, master because you are our Imam in our time and because you have the holy spirit within you. 'You are the representative of God in this day and age.' AROPL has charitable status in the US and the Charity Commission is currently considering its application to have the same in the UK. The sect was based in Egypt and Germany before moving to Sweden, where 69 members had their residency permits revoked. The members were deported after several businesses linked to the group were found to be providing fake visas. Lawyers representing AROPL said there were no sham visas and the businesses in Sweden were affected by Covid and had to reduce the hours of their employees which led in some cases to the employees not earning sufficient to qualify for residency in Sweden. An investigation into the disappearance of a German member, Lisa Wiese, who vanished while visiting India in 2019, is still ongoing. She had travelled there with another AROPL member and has never been seen again. The group also expressed their concern over the recent arrest of one of its members, Mohd Tarmizi bin Mond Ariffin, 39, who has been a believer since April 2024.
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Dog Believed Dead for 4 Years Found Alive at Shelter. But Her Family Faces New Challenges (Exclusive)
Albania Sofia Sagarra believed her dog Sugar was dead for four years, until a Florida shelter called and revealed Sugar was alive Sugar returned home in a viral TikTok, appearing severely malnourished and suffering from multiple health issues Now, Albania is focused on helping Sugar recover, but she's anxious about Sugar's fragile state and the uncertainty surrounding how and why she was abandoned before her returnFor four years, Albania Sofia Sagarra lived with the ache of loss, believing her dog Sugar was gone forever. Then, in a TikTok that swept across millions of screens, Albania was seen with tears streaming down her face as she clutched Sugar, the little dog she thought she'd never see again. 'I still can't believe it,' Albania tells PEOPLE. 'We were told she was gone forever.' The video's caption said it all: 'Miracles do happen.' In the short, grainy clip, Albania hugs Sugar tightly while her mother weeps beside her, both women overcome by the shock and joy of an impossible reunion. Back in 2017, Albania adopted Sugar from a Los Angeles rescue, welcoming the mischievous pup into her family. Sugar was always adventurous, a little escape artist with a knack for finding trouble. Four years later, in 2021, while staying with Albania's sister in Miami, Sugar slipped out of the house. Panic set in instantly, and the family launched a frantic citywide search, plastering flyers everywhere and flooding social media with pleas for help. 'People all over Miami were looking for her,' Albania says. 'We searched for her like we'd lost a family member, because we had.' Then, a few days later, a call came that would change everything. A man who'd seen the flyers claimed he'd witnessed Sugar being hit by a car, even describing how he picked her up and watched her take her last breath. 'He even took us to the spot where it supposedly happened,' Albania tells PEOPLE. 'There was nobody, but his story was so vivid, so detailed, we believed him.' Without a body, closure was impossible. The family mourned Sugar in a haze of confusion and heartbreak, not knowing what to hold onto or let go of. 'It was so hard to accept she was gone without seeing her,' Albania says. 'But what else could we do?' Years passed, and the pain dulled but never disappeared. Then, on an ordinary Sunday, everything changed. 'I got a DM on Instagram from Marianne, the woman who runs the L.A. rescue,' Albania says. 'She said, 'Sugar's been found. She's at a shelter in Florida. Call me immediately.' ' The woman sent a photo, and Albania didn't need a second look. 'I knew it was her,' she says. 'There was no question.' The shelter was closed for the day, so Albania barely slept that night and was at the doors first thing Monday morning. What she found was both joyful and devastating. 'She was a shell,' Albania recalls. 'She was so skinny. Her bones were showing. Her eyes were blank.' Sugar, who once weighed between 13 and 14 lbs., now weighed only 8. She trembled in Albania's arms, too weak to stand, too disoriented to recognize what was safe. 'She didn't even seem to know it was me,' Albania says. 'It broke my heart.' Some online criticized the shelter, but Albania is quick to defend them. 'The shelter did what they could,' she says. 'They found her outside. Someone dumped her like she was trash. They didn't even walk her in.' It wasn't a collar or a tag that saved Sugar: it was the microchip Albania had implanted years ago when she first adopted Sugar. 'People think microchips are GPS, but they're not,' she explains. 'They're a lifeline. An ID. That tiny chip saved her life.' What it couldn't reveal, though, was where Sugar had been or what she had endured. The list of medical issues Sugar now faces is overwhelming. 'She has kidney disease, heart disease, severe dental disease and malnutrition,' Albania says. 'She's very, very sick. We don't know if she'll make it.' To help cover Sugar's mounting medical bills, Albania started a GoFundMe, but the damage is more than physical. Sugar startles easily, flinches at sudden movements and panics when left alone. 'She's just ... not there anymore,' Albania says softly. 'She looks like she has dementia. Sometimes I think she doesn't recognize me.' The man who once declared Sugar dead never called again. No name. No explanation. Just a story that stole four years. 'He gave us 'closure' we didn't ask for,' Albania says. 'And she was still out there suffering.' Now, Sugar is finally home, but the homecoming brings new challenges. 'She can't be left alone,' Albania shares. 'She panics. My mom, my sister, and I rotate care. We make sure someone's always with her.' Every day is a balance between hope and fear. Sugar's life is now filled with vet visits, bloodwork, scans and medication trials. 'We're watching how she responds to treatment,' Albania says. 'If it helps, we stay the course. If not ... we'll have to make tough choices.' Among those choices is one that some might see as unconventional. But for Albania, it's one more way to try and understand. 'Next month, I've booked an animal communicator,' she says. 'Call it what you want, a psychic, whatever. But if she can help us understand what Sugar went through, I'll try anything.' In the description of their GoFundMe page, the family calls Sugar's return 'nothing short of a miracle.' 'Four years ago, we were told Sugar had been hit by a car and believed she was gone forever,' the post reads. 'But this past Sunday, we received an unexpected call from a shelter—Sugar is alive.' Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Donations have helped ease the financial burden, but what's touched Albania the most is the humanity. 'Strangers send us recipes, tips, love,' she says. 'They ask about her. They care. It restored something in me I didn't realize had been lost.' The future is uncertain. The damage to Sugar's body and maybe her mind may be permanent. 'We lost four years, and I'll never get that time back,' Albania says. 'But I have her now. I have today.' It's that thought that keeps her going. The small, fragile victories of one more hour, one more day. 'We give her everything we've got,' she says. 'I think she knows that now. At least I hope she does.' The bond between them, though battered by time and trauma, hasn't broken. If anything, it's become something even deeper. 'Sugar is proof that miracles can happen,' Albania says. 'Even when hope is gone. Your fur babies love you. You're all they have.' Read the original article on People
CNN
12-05-2025
- General
- CNN
Pope! Amigo! Peruvians remember the young American priest who became pope
Chiclayo's main plaza was raucous with the sounds of hammering and music, people milling in anticipation as the scaffolding went up for vast digital screens in front of the city cathedral. Saturday's open-air mass would be a very special one: a celebration marking the ascendency of Pope Leo XIV, the world's first American pope – but better known here as Robert, the world's first Chiclayano pope. Through the cathedral's open doors, a line of women formed in front of the confessional in preparation for the big evening. A children's chorus performed on the steps, competing with the thumping bass of secular life down the street, where two men in short shorts were leading a dance class. Banners draped around the square showed Leo's smiling face, 10 feet high. Signs outside a local restaurant touted its goat stew as his favorite lunch order, back when he lived here. Inside the cathedral, Amalia Cruzado, 52, silently sobbed in the pews, her arms outstretched. 'It's a day of miracles. Chiclayo is so blessed,' she said. After praying, she would head home and pick up the rest of her family to attend the evening mass; her elderly father, suffering from cancer, desperately needed a miracle for his health. Pope Leo was born in the United States as Robert Prevost, but for his adopted nation of Peru – where he acquired citizenship in 2015 – he is a Chiclayano, a son of the bustling northern Peruvian city where he served as bishop for years, after working as a priest in the countryside. Here, everyone has a story about him. Back in the 1980s, Nicanor Palacios was an altar boy with Leo during his early priesthood in nearby Piura, and traveled the area with him for services. 'Being the junior priest, he was often sent out in the field,' recalled Palacios, now an airforce technician. 'He would take us out in the parish's jeep to have lunch.' 'It wasn't hard for him to fit in. There was a small village back then, called Kilometer 50, on the Pan-American Highway. He'd take us there for dry meat and fried plantains. He liked that type of stuff and liked to go to the country. He'd eat just like a northern Peru farmer: yucca, fried fish, maybe a bite of fried meat.' 'What I liked most was his advice, because many young people, even back then, they would get lost, but he was just a young man, 24 or 25 years old, very serious and full of advice,' said Palacios, whose mother died when he was young and for whom Leo and the other altar boys become a second family, he says. Many years later, as a bishop in Chiclayo, Leo's accent was still 'very American,' according to local priest Emerson Lizana, 30, but his presence felt deeply familiar in this northern Peruvian outpost. 'The way he treated people, his presence enveloped you in a sense of trust. He had a Latin American heart,' Lizana said, describing how the then-bishop became part of the daily life of Chiclayo, visiting the city's poorest neighborhoods and carrying a cross through deserted streets during the Covid-19 pandemic. Chiclayo is a city famous for the fervor of its faithful, even in deeply Catholic Peru. According to a 2017 census, Peru's population is 90% Christian and 76% Catholic – more than Italy and far more than in Leo's native United States, where Catholics are under 20%. Leo, widely considered a progressive pope and ideological successor to Pope Francis, worked closely with the neediest in Chiclayo, coordinating local NGOs, churches and religious groups in the late 2010s to assist a flood of Venezuelans fleeing political chaos and economic collapse in their home country. But his tenure has not been without criticism – three women allegedly abused by a local priest released a letter in September last year accusing Leo of failing to fully investigate their claims while he was bishop. The new pope has also been called upon by Catholics for Choice to change his views on abortion; an X account under Prevost's name previously shared articles critical of reproductive rights and 'gender ideology.' Liz Medrano, from the region's Moshikas Diversas LGBTQI+ advocacy group, told CNN that she feared Leo's appointment could fuel religious conservatism in the country. 'We are very worried. As you may have noticed, there is a lot of emotion in the province and in the region about the appointment of the Pope who was from Chiclayo. Ultra-conservativism, fundamentalism, new movements can emerge from evangelical and Catholic roots,' she said. 'Above all it is the Church that has maintained this idea of being against abortions, that abortion is also a sin, that it is murder. And this continues to be referred to and repeated by the Peruvian authorities.' Abortion access is heavily restricted in Peru; in 2023, the United Nations accused Peru's government of violating the rights of a 13-year-old girl who was refused an abortion following years of rape by her father, and then imprisoned by local authorities after she miscarried. Still, for a pope, Leo's social progressivism in other areas is seen locally as an overall 'good direction' by some rights advocates. 'We don't expect that suddenly the Pope goes out and defends the rights of women, but perhaps he will take a position that is a bit more human, and less stigmatizing of women who interrupt their pregnancies,' said Rossina Vasquez, director of a women's rights group in Peru. An interest in seeking truth and justice is part of the worldview of Augustinian priests like Leo, according to Friar Pipé, teacher at an Augustinian-run school in the outskirts of Chiclayo. 'For us Augustinians, God is the truth, and for us searching for the truth is searching for God,' said Pipé. 'What I hope is that Leo can be a pope who becomes a sign of unity for the church: we can always do better, through dialogue and understanding, both inside our Church and with other religions,' he added. Pipé, 30, was personally ordained by Leo in 2023 and blessed him in return per tradition; a blessing that he now jokes may have played some role in Leo's chances during the Vatican's conclave to select a new pope last week. He remembers watching a broadcast of the process on YouTube as it played out in Rome, his fellow Augustinians erupting in whoops of joy and triumph when Leo's name was called out. With a Chiclayano pope, now anything is possible, Pipé joked. 'Let's see,' he laughed. 'When Benedict was the Pope, Germany won the World Cup. Then Francis was the Pope, and Argentina won… now, Robert is Pope, either Peru or the USA are going to win the World Cup.' But for believers like Amalia Cruzado, who have little but their faith, the sense that this is a particularly blessed time for Chiclayo is no laughing matter. In her modest neighborhood, where Cruzado says children often go hungry or cannot afford shoes, dust rose on Saturday evening as a taxi bumped down the unpaved street, the decal on its rear window reading 'La Bendición de Dios.' It was finally time for the evening mass. Her family of eight piled in – freshly dressed and coiffed, from her 9-month-old grandson to her 79-year-old father – for a hair-rising ride through traffic back to the darkening square. Street lights flickered on as they arrived, police still hard at work cordoning off the cathedral's steps for the night's rituals. Cruzado hoisted her grandson in one arm and shepherded her father toward the front, past crowds taking selfies in front of the Pope's illuminated likeness. Soon prayers would begin, followed by a familiar order: readings from the Bible, the homily by Chiclayo's new bishop, communion. 'Papa! Amigo! El pueblo esta contigo!' congregants chanted in the crowd, blasting airhorns and lifting their children in the air as if it were a home team game. 'Pope! Friend! The people are with you! 'Let me tell you, the Pope has two hearts: one is for where he was born, but the other one is for here, for us, the humble people of Chiclayo,' Cruzado said. 'He is our Pope.'
