One last blessing by Pope Francis
FEW world events have the power to draw so many people together.
The spectacle of Pope Francis being laid to rest in Rome yesterday was mesmerising.
The dignified ritual inevitably triggered deep outpourings of emotion among the hundreds of thousands of mourners gathered in the Vatican.
But the sight of so many international leaders converging to remember the life of a humble man of peace was also inspirational.
Kings, queens, presidents and VIPs including Prince William witnessed a seamless, centuries-old ceremony that symbolised timeless values.
And astonishingly the funeral itself became an opportunity to grasp peace.
The image of US President Donald Trump sitting with his Ukrainian counterpart President Volodymyr Zelensky in the setting of St Peter’s was striking.
Their last meeting was an ill-tempered public row in the White House. So this face-to-face conversation can only boost hopes that an end to the bloody Ukraine war is within reach.
What better answer could there be to the prayers of the late Pope than a lasting and just peace?
Looking for trouble
THE staggering number of workplace ballots for industrial action that have been triggered by just one militant union is chilling.
As we reveal today, the hard-left leaders of Unite — the rabble-rousers behind the Birmingham bin chaos — called such votes more than 2,000 times in just two years.
And there has been a 300 per cent surge since firebrand leader Sharon Graham took over in 2021. Shockingly, 38 of these ballots were held even though only one person was eligible to vote.
These disturbing figures come from a period when the Tories were still in office.
Imagine how bad it will get when Labour hands its union paymasters more power with crazy employment laws that will make striking even easier.
A tragic reminder
PRINCE Andrew has always denied the sex accusations levelled against him by Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre.
But at the time of his legal settlement with her in 2022, he pledged to support “the fight against the evils of sex-trafficking and . . . its victims.”
Sadly we have seen precious little evidence of that happening.
Now, following her tragic death, it is surely time for him to turn his words into action.
