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Colombia inaugurates its new president in Cali, in photos

By The Associated Press

CALI, Colombia (AP) — Conservative Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in as Colombia’s president in the southwestern city of Cali, breaking with the tradition of holding the inauguration in Bogotá.

Europe’s tallest statue of the Virgin Mary is inaugurated in a small Polish village

By The Associated Press
KONOTOPIE, Poland (AP) — An enormous statue of the Virgin Mary that is believed to be Europe's tallest was inaugurated on Saturday in a small Polish village, in the presence of legendary anti-communist leader Lech Walesa. Hundreds of people took part in the consecration of the monument, which towers 55.6 meters (182 feet) over Konotopie in central Poland, the home of fewer than 150 people. While helicopters scattered miniature red roses over the crowd, priests in white robes celebrated Mass and the popular Mazowsze folk ensemble sang and danced to traditional Polish music. The Polish statue is taller — if less dramatically located — than the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which measures some 38 meters (125 feet) including its pedestal. Its height includes a crown-shaped 15-meter (49-foot) pedestal.
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