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ary in Krakow that is competing for pilgrims with the neighboring God's Mercy sanctuary.
• Some 20,000 pilgrims from around Poland gathered in the two centers.
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In rare acknowledgment, Abbas calls Holocaust 'most heinous crime' of modern history
• RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday called the Holocaust "the most heinous crime" of modern history and expressed his sympathy for the victims, a rare acknowledgment by an Arab leader of Jewish suffering during the Nazi genocide.
• Abbas' comments appeared, in part, aimed at reaching out to Israeli public opinion at a time of deep crisis in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. The remarks were published by the Palestinian official news agency WAFA just hours before the start of Israel's annual Holocaust commemoration.
• The decades-old conflict has been accompanied by mutual mistrust among Israelis and Palestinians about the other side's intentions.
• Many Israelis fear that the Palestinians aren't truly ready to accept a Jewish presence in the Holy Land, and that widespread ignorance or even denial of the Holocaust among Palestinians is an expression of that attitude.
• Denials or attempts to minimize the Holocaust, which saw the systematic killing of 6 million Jews in World War II, are widespread in the Arab world.
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SKorean PM resigns over ferry sinking, blames 'deep-rooted evils' in society
• JINDO, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea's president accepted her prime minister's resignation Sunday over the government's handling of a deadly ferry sinking, although she didn't set a last day in office. In an extraordinary resignation statement to reporters, the prime minister blamed "deep-rooted evils" in society for a tragedy that has left more than 300 people dead or missing and led to widespread shame, fury and finger-pointing.
• The resignation comes amid rising indignation over claims by the victims' relatives that the government didn't do enough to rescue or protect their loved ones. Most of the missing and dead were high school students on a school trip. Officials have taken into custody all 15 people involved in navigating the ferry that sank April (Continued on page 40)
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