El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
The Vatican released information on its real estate holdings for the first time on Saturday, revealing it owns more than 5,000 properties as part of its most detailed financial disclosures ever.
The information was contained in two documents, a consolidated financial statement for 2020 for the Holy See and the first-ever public budget for the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See (APSA).
APSA, a sort of general accounting office, manages real estate and investments, pays salaries, and acts as a purchasing office and human resources department.
Between the two documents - each with an unprecedented number of pie charts, graphs and maps - and two explanatory interviews, the Vatican issued more than 50 pages of financial material.
The 30-page APSA budget showed that it owns 4,051 properties in Italy and about 1,120 abroad, not including its embassies around the world.
Only about 14 per cent of its Italian properties were rented at market rates, while the others were rented at cut rates, many to Church employees. About 40 per cent were institutional buildings such as schools, convents and hospitals.
The documentation showed that APSA owns properties as investments in upscale areas of London, Geneva, Lausanne and Paris.
One building, in London's smart South Kensington district, led to enormous losses after it was purchased by the Vatican's Secretariat of State as an investment in 2014.
On Tuesday, the trial of 10 people in connection with its purchase, including a prominent cardinal, starts in the Vatican. They are charged with financial crimes including embezzlement, money laundering, fraud, extortion and abuse of office.
Father Juan Antonio Guerrero, head of the Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy (SPE), told the official Vatican News website that the building would be sold soon.
He said the trial would be a "turning point" in the Vatican's credibility in economic matters and that a similar event could not be repeated because of measures put into place since.
Last year, Pope Francis stripped the Secretariat of State of control over its funds, transferring them to APSA and with oversight by the SPE.
A separate consolidated financial statement for the Holy See issued on Saturday showed a 64.8 million euro deficit in 2020, down from a 79.2 million deficit in 2019.
The Holy See budget includes the central administration of the Roman Catholic Church, known as the Curia, that oversees the governing of the 1.3 billion-member worldwide Church, its global diplomatic representations and media operations.
Vatican City, including the Vatican Museums and the Vatican bank, has a separate budget.
To plug the 2020 deficit, about 50 million euros were taken from Peter's Pence, a fund of donations to help the pope carry out the Church's worldwide work.
The COVID-19 pandemic hit Vatican revenues hard in 2020.
St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museums, the latter a cash cow that received about 6 million paying visitors in 2019, were closed or only partially open for much of 2020.
(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Alex Richardson)
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
The Maple Leafs battled back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Boston Bruins with consecutive 2-1 victories - including one that required extra time - in their first-round playoff series to push the club's Original Six rival to the limit before suffering a devastating Game 7 overtime loss.
Amid scientists' warnings that nations need to transition away from fossil fuels to limit climate change, Canadians are still lukewarm on electric vehicles, according to a study conducted by Nanos Research for CTV News.
Three people have died and two have been hospitalized after a speeding car struck a tree and landed on another vehicle in Fredericton Sunday morning.
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
Madonna put on a free concert on Copacabana beach Saturday night, turning Rio de Janeiro's vast stretch of sand into an enormous dance floor teeming with a multitude of her fans.
Thieves killed two Australians and an American on a surfing trip to Mexico in order to steal their truck, particularly because they wanted the tires, authorities said Sunday.
One person was killed and 23 others were injured when a bus crashed early Sunday on Interstate 95 in northern Maryland, police said.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.