(  )  A judge in Zambia has sentenced two men to two-year terms in prison with hard labor after they were convicted of plotting to kill the president using witchcraft.  While such a charge would seem absurd in the West, many people in Africa believe in witchcraft and think it can be used to commit crimes.  A 2018 study by the Zambia Law Development Commission found that 79 percent of Zambians believe in witchcraft.  The two men were convicted of possessing charms, including a live chameleon, an animal tail and 12 bottles of concoctions and had intended to use them to put a spell on the president and kill him.

(  )  The new leader of the world’s Catholics has sat for his first interview with a Catholic news organization.  Pope Leo addressed a number of topics including the on-going priest sex abuse scandal.  He admits it is a “real crisis” that has not yet been solved, and that the church still hasn’t found a way to help victims heal. But he also thinks the rights of priests must be respected. The pope adds that the scandal “cannot become the center focus of the church.”  Leo was instrumental in helping victims of an abusive Peruvian group find justice but he has been accused by a U.S. victim advocacy group of not doing enough to help other Peruvian victims.

(  )  The Unification Church, a cult with significant power in several Asian nations, is again in the spotlight.  The leader of the church has been questioned by investigators over allegations that she bribed the wife of South Korea’s jailed former President and a lawmaker to secure business favors.  Hak Ja Han, the widow of church founder Sun Myung Moon, may also be arrested as early as next week.  The South Korean investigation follows intense scrutiny in Japan, sparked by the 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.   The killer blamed the Unification Church for bankrupting his family.  Japan kicked the church out this year.