DOUALA — Thousands of people were gathering early on Friday in Douala, Cameroon’s largest city and economic hub, for a Mass with Pope Leo that will likely be the biggest event of the pontiff’s four-nation Africa tour.

The Vatican is expecting about 600,000 to fill streets around Japoma Stadium to be part of the celebration and hear an address from the pope, who has become outspoken on war and inequality and drawn the ire of US President Donald Trump.

Amid a heavy security presence, Cameroonians began filing into the stadium on Thursday, staying there overnight so they could witness Leo’s homily in person.

Leo, the first US pope, on Thursday criticized leaders who spend billions on wars and, in unusually forceful remarks in Cameroon, said the world was “being ravaged by a handful of tyrants”.

Leo was due to land in Douala around 9:55 a.m. (0855 GMT), after a one-hour flight by plane from Yaounde, Cameroon’s capital. He will spend about four hours in Douala, where he will also visit a Catholic hospital, before returning to Yaounde.

On a 10-day tour across Africa, the pontiff has also decried violations of international law by “neocolonial” world powers and said “the whims of the rich and powerful” threaten peace.

Cameroon, an oil- and cocoa-producing country, faces grave security challenges, including a simmering Anglophone conflict in which thousands of people have been killed since 2017.

Crowds greeting the pope on his visit have been enthusiastic, lining the streets along his routes and wearing colorful fabrics featuring images of his face.

Bishop Léopold Bayemi Matjei called Leo’s visit “a moment of great joy” and said he hoped it meant God would bless Cameroon.

“Our country needs a lot of blessing, a powerful blessing, so that hope will come to rise again,” said the bishop, who leads the Church in Obala, about an hour north of Yaounde. — Reuters

Myanmar has reduced the sentence of imprisoned ex-leader Aung San Suu Kyi, her lawyer told Reuters on Friday, as part of an amnesty by a new president who ousted her government in a coup five years ago.

Ms. Suu Kyi, 80, was serving a 27-year sentence for a litany of offenses her allies said were politically motivated to keep her at bay, ranging from incitement and corruption to election fraud and violating a state secrets law.

The sentence has been cut by one-sixth, but it remains unclear whether the Nobel Peace Prize winner will be allowed to serve the rest of her sentence under house arrest, the lawyer said.

The wildly popular Ms. Suu Kyi, who had dismissed the charges against her as “absurd”, has not been seen in public since the end of her marathon trials, and her whereabouts have been unknown.

Earlier, state media reported that President Min Aung Hlaing approved an amnesty for 4,335 prisoners, the third such move in the past six months. Amnesties typically take place in Myanmar each year to mark Independence Day in January and New Year in April.

Among the prisoners freed was Win Myint, who served as president from 2018 until the 2021 military coup.

Win Myint, an ally of Ms. Suu Kyi, was “granted a pardon and the reduction of his remaining sentences under specified conditions”, state broadcaster MRTV said.

A spokesperson for the military-backed government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The 2021 coup against Win Myint and Ms. Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government was led by Min Aung Hlaing. It plunged the Southeast Asian country into a nationwide civil war that continues to rage.

Min Aung Hlaing was elected president on April 3 following polls in December and January during which the opposition was stifled and largely absent. Critics and Western governments dismissed the vote as a sham designed to entrench military rule behind a democratic facade. — Reuters

PARIS — France and Britain will chair a meeting on Friday of around 40 countries aimed at signaling to the United States that some of its closest allies are ready to play a role in restoring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz once conditions allow.

Iran has largely closed the strait to ships other than its own since the start of US-Israeli air strikes on February 28. On Monday, Washington imposed a blockade on ships entering or leaving Iranian ports.

US President Donald Trump has called on other countries to help enforce the blockade and has criticized NATO allies for not doing so.

Britain, France and others say joining the blockade would amount to entering the war, but they have said they would be willing to help keep the strait open once there is a lasting ceasefire or the conflict ends.

The initiative being discussed does not for now include the United States or Iran, though European diplomats said any realistic mission would ultimately need to be coordinated with both. Washington will be briefed on the outcome of the talks.

SAFETY OF STRANDED SEAFARERS
According to a note sent to invited nations, the aim of the meeting is to reaffirm full diplomatic support for unfettered freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and the need to respect international law.

The meeting will also address economic challenges facing the shipping industry and the safety of more than 20,000 stranded seafarers and trapped commercial vessels.

It will also outline preparations for the deployment – when conditions are met – of a strictly defensive multinational military mission to ensure freedom of navigation.

A chair’s statement is expected at the end of the meeting to give a more tangible sense of what such a mission could entail, although it is not expected to spell out what specific countries might contribute.

RESOURCES WILL DEPEND ON SITUATION, OFFICIAL SAYS
President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will attend the meeting in Paris, while officials from across Europe, Asia and the Middle East will join by video conference.

China has been invited, although it was not clear whether it will take part.

Several diplomats said the mission might never materialize if the situation in Hormuz returned to normal.

Others said shipping companies and insurers could seek such a deployment during a transitional phase to provide reassurance.

“It can involve intelligence sharing, mine-clearance capabilities, military escorts, information procedures with neighboring countries and more,” a senior French official briefing reporters said.

“The objective is clear, and the resources deployed will naturally depend on the situation.”

Britain said Friday’s talks would feed directly into a multinational military planning meeting next week. — Reuters