U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrives in New Delhi, India, Monday, April 21, 2025. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP, Pool)2025-04-21T04:24:44Z NEW DELHI (AP) U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrived in India on Monday for a four-day visit as New Delhi looks to avoid U.S. tariffs, negotiate a bilateral trade deal with Washington and strengthen ties with the Trump administration.Vance will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the first day of his largely personal visit. The two leaders are expected to hold discussions on bilateral ties outlined in February when Modi met President Donald Trump in Washington.The U.S. is Indias largest trading partner and the two countries are now holding negotiations aiming to seal a bilateral trade agreement this year. They have set an ambitious target of more than doubling their bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. If achieved, the trade deal could significantly enhance economic ties between the two countries and potentially strengthen diplomatic ties as well. Vances first visit to New Delhi comes amid the backdrop of Trumps now-paused tariff program against most countries, including India. It also coincides with a rapidly intensifying trade war between Washington and Beijing, which is New Delhis main rival in the region. Modi and Vance are expected to review the progress in bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and global developments of mutual interest, Indias Foreign Ministry said last week.We are very positive that the visit will give a further boost to our bilateral ties, spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. Vance was greeted with an Indian classical dance performance after he arrived at New Delhis Palam airport on Monday, following his visit to Rome, where he met Pope Francis on Easter Sunday. He is accompanied by his wife, Usha Vance, a practicing Hindu whose parents are from India, along with their children and officials from the U.S. administration.The couple and their three young children visited the Akshardham Hindu temple in New Delhi after their arrival and are expected to tour the iconic Taj Mahal monument and the 12th-century Amer Fort a UNESCO world heritage site during their trip. India is a close partner of the U.S. and an important strategic ally in combating the rising influence of China in the Indo-Pacific region. It is also part of the Quad, which is comprised of the U.S., India, Japan and Australia and is seen as a counterbalance to Chinas expansion in the region. Trump is expected to attend a summit of Quad leaders in India later this year.Modi established a good working relationship with Trump during his first term in office and the two leaders are likely to further boost cooperation between their countries.He was among the first leaders to visit the U.S. and hold talks with Trump after he returned to the White House. During his visit, Modi hailed a mega partnership with the U.S., and kickstarted a negotiation process to minimize the possible fallout of Trumps tariffs.The two leaders also said they planned to grow their defense partnership, with India signaling compliance with the Trump administrations demands, saying it will purchase more oil, energy and defense equipment from the U.S. Regardless, Trump targeted India with a 26% levy, part of which has since been paused. However, he has continued to call India a tariff abuser and tariff king.The trade negotiations are especially urgent for New Delhi as it could be hit hard by Trumps reciprocal tariffs, particularly in the agriculture, processed food, auto components, high-end machinery, medical equipment and jewelry sectors. SHEIKH SAALIQ Saaliq covers news across India and the South Asia region for The Associated Press, often focusing on politics, democracy, conflict and religion. He is based in New Delhi. twitter mailto

Canada Liberal Leader Mark Carney visits the Sheridan College Police Foundations department in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, April 10, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP, File)2025-04-21T05:01:49Z TORONTO (AP) Mark Carneys political career is only months old, and its already been a roller-coaster ride. The former central banker appeared destined to become one of Canadas shortest-serving prime ministers until President Donald Trump picked a fight with the U.S.'s northern neighbor. Carney, who was sworn in on March 14 following Justin Trudeaus resignation and a Liberal Party leadership race, now leads in the polls heading into the April 28 parliamentary elections, marking a dramatic turnaround for a party that seemed headed for a crushing defeat until the American president started attacking Canadas economy and sovereignty almost daily. Trumps trade war and threats to make Canada the 51st state have infuriated Canadians and led to a surge in Canadian nationalism that has helped Liberals flip the election narrative. In a mid-January poll by Nanos, Liberals trailed the Conservative Party by 47% to 20%. In the latest Nanos poll, which was conducted during a three-day period that ended April 19, the Liberals led by six percentage points. The January poll had a margin of error 3.1 points while the latest poll had a 2.7-point margin. Timing is everything in politics and Carney entered the political arena at a most favorable time, said Daniel Bland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal. Carneys opponent is Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, a career politician and firebrand populist who has campaigned with Trump-like swagger, even taking a page from the America First president by adopting the slogan Canada First. This election is a test about whether Canada will embrace or reject populism, Bland said, suggesting many voters view Carney as reassuring because of his experience and calm. Without the Trump effect, the Conservatives would probably be in a much stronger position in the polls right now. If Trump wasnt currently in the White House, it would be hard to imagine the Liberals being the favorites in this federal race, considering how unpopular they were just a few months ago. Who is Carney?Carney navigated crises when he ran Canadas central bank and when he later became the first non-U.K. citizen to run the Bank of England since its founding in 1694.His Bank of England appointment won bipartisan praise in Britain after Canada recovered from the 2008 financial crisis faster than many other countries.Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson called it extraordinary that a country would choose a foreigner to head its central bank, and that its a mark of how admired Carney is. He is calm and cool in a crisis, Paulson said. Hes a clear thinker and he understands finance cold. Hes very well prepared.Carney, 60, is credited with keeping money flowing through the Canadian economy by acting quickly in cutting interest rates to their lowest level ever, working with bankers to sustain lending through the financial crisis and, critically, letting the public know that rates would remain low so they would keep borrowing. He was the first central banker to commit to keeping them at a historic-low level for a definite time a step the U.S. Federal Reserve would follow. Carney also helped manage the worst impacts of Brexit in the U.K. Paulson said Carney has the perfect background for these challenging times. Everything hes done, hes excelled at. Every job the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, Paulson said. I dont know anyone who has dealt with him that doesnt respect him. Whether they agree or disagree with him, they respect him. Hes got a very, very nice manner.Both Conservative and Liberal prime ministers tried to make Carney their finance minister, the second-most powerful position in Canadas government. Former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper named Carney the Bank of Canada Governor and later offered to make him finance minister. Trudeau, Carneys Liberal predecessor, long wanted him as his finance minister. Carney is a former Goldman Sachs executive. He worked for 13 years in London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto before being appointed deputy governor of the Bank of Canada in 2003. He was born in Fort Smith, in Canadas remote Northwest Territories. When he was 6, his family moved to Edmonton, where his mother taught school and his father became a professor of education history at the University of Alberta.Carney earned a partial scholarship to Harvard University, where he was the backup goalie on the hockey team. Influenced by John Kenneth Galbraith, who pioneered the popular notion that economics should be accessible to the masses, Carney took up economics.A married father of four, Carney earned a bachelors degree in economics from Harvard in 1988, and masters and doctoral degrees in economics from Oxford University. What would a Carney win mean for Canada-US relations?Carney has said Canadas close friendship with the U.S. has ended, and he squarely blamed Trump.Trump mocked Carneys predecessor by calling him Governor Trudeau. He has not trolled Carney. But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said this month that Trump had not changed his position that Canada would benefit greatly by becoming the 51st state.Carney said the 80-year period when the U.S. embraced the mantle of global economic leadership and forged alliances rooted in trust and mutual respect is over. There is no going back. We in Canada will have to build a new relationship with the United States, he said. If elected, Carney said he would accelerate renegotiations of the free trade deal with the U.S in an effort to end the uncertainty hurting both economies. President Trump is trying to fundamentally restructure the international trading system and in the process hes rupturing the global economy, Carney said.The core question is who is going to be at the table for Canada, he said.

Carlo Ancelotti praised Federico Valverde as "the key" after the midfielder's 93rd-minute goal gave Real Madrid a dramatic 1-0 win over Athletic Club on Sunday to react to their Champions League exit in midweek.

Cavaliers sparkplug Ty Jerome went off in Game 1 against the Heat, scoring or assisting on 24 consecutive points to close out the victory in the fourth.

Immanuel Hoxobeb assists Alicia who participates in the "Enabling Through the Horse," therapy program outside Windhoek, Namibia, on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dirk Heinrich)2025-04-21T04:15:57Z WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) Susan de Meyers horses have different effects on different children. Hyperactive kids learn to be a little quieter around them while nonverbal children are moved to communicate and to bond with them.De Meyer runs a program in the southern African country of Namibia that harnesses the power but also the gentleness of horses to help children with learning disabilities and conditions like ADHD and autism.Each weekday morning, de Meyers dusty paddock just outside the capital, Windhoek, is enlivened by a group of eight to 10 children from one of the special schools she helps. The children ride the horses, groom them, stroke them and often, de Meyer says, talk to them.De Meyer grew up on a farm surrounded by horses and theyve always been part of her life. She said they have a quality that is invaluable: They dont judge the children, no matter how different they are. The horse is the hero in this whole situation because these kids dont want to be around a lot of people, de Meyer said. Merci who participates in the Enabling Through the Horse, therapy program outside Windhoek, Namibia, pets a horse on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dirk Heinrich) Merci who participates in the Enabling Through the Horse, therapy program outside Windhoek, Namibia, pets a horse on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dirk Heinrich) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More De Meyers program, Enabling Through the Horse, is supported by the Namibian Equestrian Federation and won an award last year from the International Equestrian Federation because it underlines the wonderful characteristics of the horse in exuding sensitivity and intuition.Horse therapy has been promoted by autism groups and those that work with children with learning disabilities as having a positive impact. And animal therapy in general has been found to be useful in many instances, like dogs that help military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and therapy cats that are taken to hospitals and nursing homes. Some survivors of the devastating 2023 Hawaii wildfires found relief in horse therapy while grieving loved ones they had lost.De Meyer jokes she has two-and-a-half horses. These include two Arabians a white mare named Faranah and a brown gelding, Lansha while the half is a miniature horse called Bonzi, who is about head-high for a 5-year-old. The Arabians are often the most useful for the childrens therapy because of their size, de Meyer said. Immanuel Hoxobeb assists children participating in the Enabling Through the Horse, therapy program outside Windhoek, Namibia, on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dirk Heinrich) Immanuel Hoxobeb assists children participating in the Enabling Through the Horse, therapy program outside Windhoek, Namibia, on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dirk Heinrich) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More It gives them self-esteem. When they stroke the horse, the therapy starts because this is a very big animal compared to their height, and they are not scared to stroke the horse ... and then to ride it and tell the horse what they want, she said.De Meyer works with children with a range of conditions or disabilities, including autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Down syndrome, those who are nonverbal or touch sensitive, and some who were born with fetal alcohol syndrome and have developmental problems. She has received interest from other countries in Africa and Asia to start similar programs there.The changes that Ive seen with the learners are significant, said Chriszell Louw, a teacher at Dagbreek School, which says it is one of just two government schools in Namibia for children with intellectual disabilities. We have a learner that likes to talk a lot. When we come here, she knows she has to keep quiet. She sits in her place.Some of them you see they are more open, they are happy. Some of them were very scared when they started with the horse riding but now they are very excited. When they hear were going to the horses they are very excited and just want to go by themselves, Louw said.De Meyer said her program helps with fine-motor skills, gross-motor skills, muscle strengthening, coordination, balance and posture, all important for kids who struggle to sit at a desk at school and learn.One simple exercise de Meyer has children do when they ride is to let go of the reins and stretch their arms out straight and to the sides, using only their torso and lower body to balance as a groom leads the horse around the paddock.Some of the kids break out in smiles when they let go and look like theyre soaring.We make the world different for these kids, de Meyer said.___For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse___ The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

In his first playoff game with the Warriors, Jimmy Butler delivered 25 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals Sunday night to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead over the Rockets in their first-round playoff series.

Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava officially announced his transfer to UCLA via a social media post Sunday, citing an "incredibly difficult" decision.

Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who chose the name of Pope Francis, waves to the crowd from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica after being elected 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, file)2025-04-21T08:21:35Z VATICAN CITY (AP) Key events in the life of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who became Pope Francis and died on Monday:Dec. 17, 1936: Jorge Mario Bergoglio is born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the eldest of five children to Mario Jose Bergoglio, an accountant from Italy, and Regina Mara Svori, the daughter of Italian immigrants.Dec. 13, 1969: Ordained a priest with the Jesuit religious order, which he would lead as Argentina provincial superior during the countrys murderous dictatorship that began in the 1970s.May 20, 1992: Named auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires and in 1998 succeeds Cardinal Antonio Quarracino as archbishop of the Argentine capital.Feb. 21, 2001: Elevated to cardinal by St. John Paul II.May 2007: Helps draft the final document of the fifth meeting of the Latin American bishops conference in Aparecida, Brazil, synthesizing what would eventually become his concerns as pope for the poor, Indigenous peoples and the environment and the need for a missionary church. March 13, 2013: Elected 266th pope, the first from the Americas, the first Jesuit and the first to take the name of Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi. April 13, 2013: Creates a kitchen cabinet of eight cardinals from around the globe to help him govern the church and reorganize its bureaucracy.May 12, 2013: Canonizes the Martyrs of Otranto, 813 Italians slain in 1480 for defying demands by Turkish invaders to convert to Islam. With one ceremony, Francis nearly doubled the 480 saints made by St. John Paul II over his quarter-century pontificate, which at the time was more than all his predecessors combined for 500 years. July 8, 2013: Makes first trip outside Rome to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa to meet with newly arrived migrants and denounces the globalization of indifference shown to would-be refugees.July 30, 2013: Declares Who am I to judge? when asked about a gay priest during a news conference, signaling a more welcoming stance toward LGBTQ+ community. Nov. 26, 2013: Issues mission statement for his papacy in Evangelii Gaudium, (The Joy of the Gospel), denouncing the world financial system that excludes the poor and declaring the Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.May 25, 2014: Makes an unscheduled stop to pray at wall separating Israel from West Bank town of Bethlehem, in a show of support for the Palestinian cause.June 8, 2014: Hosts Israeli and Palestinian presidents for peace prayers in the Vatican gardens.March 20, 2015: Accepts the resignation of the rights and privileges of Scottish Cardinal Keith OBrien after adult men accuse him of sexual misconduct.June 18, 2015: Issues his environmental manifesto Laudato Si (Praised Be), calling for a cultural revolution to correct the structurally perverse global economic system that exploits the poor and has turned Earth into an immense pile of filth.July 10, 2015: Apologizes in Bolivia for the sins and crimes of the Catholic Church against Indigenous peoples during the colonial-era conquest of the Americas. Sept. 8, 2015: Overhauls the annulment process to make it faster, cheaper and simpler so divorced Catholics can remarry in the church.Sept. 24, 2015: Challenges Congress to rediscover Americas ideals by acting on climate change, immigration and poverty reduction in the first speech by a pope at the U.S. Capitol.Nov. 29, 2015: Inaugurates the Jubilee of Mercy by opening the Holy Door of the cathedral in Bangui, Central African Republic, rather than at the Vatican.Feb. 12, 2016: Meets Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill during a stopover in Havana and declares We are brothers, in first such meeting between a pope and patriarch in over 1,000 years.Feb. 18, 2016: Prays for dead migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, later says then-presidential candidate Donald Trump is not a Christian for wanting to build a border wall.April 8, 2016: Opens the way to letting divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receive Communion in a footnote to the document Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love). April 16, 2016: Visits a refugee camp in Lesbos, Greece, and brings 12 Syrian Muslims to Rome aboard his papal plane in an appeal for solidarity toward migrants.Sept. 19, 2016: Is questioned in a letter by four conservative cardinals seeking clarification of his opening to divorced and remarried Catholics.Dec. 1, 2017: Declares at a meeting in Bangladesh with Myanmar Rohingya refugees that, The presence of God today is also called Rohingya.Jan. 19, 2018: Accuses sex abuse victims of slander during a visit to Chile, further undermining Catholic Churchs credibility. Subsequently orders a Vatican investigation into Chiles abuse crisis.April 12, 2018: Admits to grave errors in judgment in Chiles sex abuse scandal. Later summons Chilean bishops to Rome to secure their resignations and invites abuse victims to Vatican to apologize. Aug. 3, 2018: Declares capital punishment inadmissible under all circumstances in a change to official church teaching.July 28, 2018: Accepts the resignation of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick from the College of Cardinals, orders him to penance and prayer pending an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct with minors and adults.Aug. 26, 2018: Retired Vatican ambassador Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano publishes bombshell accusation claiming U.S. and Vatican officials for two decades covered up McCarricks sexual misconduct, demands Francis resign.Sept. 22, 2018: Vatican and China sign landmark agreement over bishop nominations.Oct. 14, 2018: Canonizes slain Salvadoran Archbishop scar Romero after his saint-making process was held up for decades by conservative cardinals.Feb. 4, 2019: Signs the Human Fraternity document with the imam of Al Azhar, establishing collaborative relations between Catholics and Muslims.Feb. 16, 2019: Defrocks McCarrick after Vatican investigation finds he sexually abused minors and adults.Feb. 21, 2019: Opens first Vatican summit on child protection, warns bishops the faithful demand action, not just condemnation of clergy sexual abuse.May 9, 2019: Issues new church law requiring clergy sex abuse to be reported in-house, although not to police; establishes procedures for investigating accused bishops, cardinals and religious superiors.Oct. 25, 2019: Apologizes to Amazonian bishops, tribal leaders after conservative activists steal Indigenous statues from Vatican-area church and throw them into Tiber River in show of opposition to the pope.Nov. 24, 2019: Declares the use and possession of nuclear weapons immoral during a visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.Dec. 17, 2019: Abolishes use of pontifical secret in clergy sex abuse cases, allowing bishops to share internal documentation about abusers with law enforcement.Feb. 12, 2020: Declines to approve ordination of married men as priests after appeals from Amazonian bishops, sidestepping issue in document Querida Amazonia (Beloved Amazon).March 27, 2020: Delivers solitary evening prayer to the world facing the coronavirus pandemic from the promenade of St. Peters Square.Oct. 4, 2020: Issues encyclical Fratelli Tutti (Brothers All,), arguing the pandemic proves theories of market capitalism failed and a new type of politics is needed to promote human fraternity.Nov. 10, 2020: Vatican report into McCarrick finds Vatican, U.S. bishops, cardinals and popes played down or dismissed reports of sexual misconduct but spares Francis.March 5-8, 2021: Becomes first pope to visit Iraq, meeting with its top Shiite Muslim cleric.July 4, 2021: Undergoes intestinal surgery at Romes Gemelli hospital, has 33 centimeters (13 inches) of colon removed.Jan. 5, 2023: Presides at funeral Mass for Pope Benedict XVI.Jan. 24, 2023: Declares in an Associated Press interview that Being homosexual is not a crime.March 29, 2023: Is admitted to Romes Gemelli hospital for respiratory infection; is released April 1.June 7, 2023: Undergoes surgery to remove intestinal scar tissue and repair a hernia in the abdominal wall.Oct. 4, 2023: Opens a synod on making the church more responsive to ordinary faithful during which women are allowed to vote alongside bishops for the first time.Nov. 28, 2023: Cancels visit to Dubai to address U.N. climate conference and outline a new ecological manifesto Laudate Deum (Praise God) because of a new case of acute bronchitis.Dec. 16, 2023: Vatican tribunal convicts Cardinal Angelo Becciu of embezzlement and sentences him to 5 years in prison in one of several verdicts in a complicated financial trial that aired the city states dirty laundry and tested its justice system.Dec. 19, 2023: Approves blessings for same-sex couples provided they dont resemble marriage, sparking fierce opposition from conservative bishops in Africa, Asia and elsewhere.July 5, 2024: Vatican excommunicates leading Francis critic Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano for schism.Sept. 10, 2024: Some 600,000 people, half of East Timors population, attend Francis Mass in Dili in what is believed to be the biggest turnout for a papal event in terms of the proportion of the population.Dec. 26, 2024: Opens the holy door of Romes Rebibbia prison, two days after formally inaugurating the 2025 Jubilee.Jan. 16, 2025: Appears wearing a sling after a fall that bruised his right arm, just weeks after another apparent fall bruised his chin.Feb. 14, 2025: Is hospitalized after a bout of bronchitis worsens and then develops into a complex lung infection and double pneumonia.Feb. 28, 2025: His doctors briefly consider suspending treatment after a breathing crisis but decides instead on an aggressive course that risks organ damage. March 13, 2025: Marks the 12th anniversary of his election as pope while hospitalized.March 23, 2025: Is released from the hospital after 38 days of treatment but looked weak and frail earlier that day when appearing on a balcony to greet the crowd below.April 17, 2025: Still recovering from double pneumonia, Francis keeps his Holy Thursday tradition of spending time with the least fortunate, visiting inmates at Romes Regina Caeli prison. Although he says he couldnt perform the ritual of washing the feet of 12 people in a gesture of humility, he adds he wanted to be with them and do what Jesus did on Holy Thursday.

Pope Francis appears on the central lodge of St. Peter's Basilica to bestow the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and to the world) blessing at the end of the Easter mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)2025-04-21T07:57:28Z VATICAN CITY (AP) Pope Francis, historys first Latin American pontiff who charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change, has died Monday. He was 88.At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of his Church, Cardinal Kevin Ferrell, the Vatican camerlengo, said in an announcement.Bells tolled in church towers across Rome after the announcement.Francis, who suffered from chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, was admitted to Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14, 2025, for a respiratory crisis that developed into double pneumonia. He spent 38 days there, the longest hospitalization of his 12-year papacy.From his first greeting as pope a remarkably normal Buonasera (Good evening) to his embrace of refugees and the downtrodden, Francis signaled a very different tone for the papacy, stressing humility over hubris for a Catholic Church beset by scandal and accusations of indifference. After that rainy night on March 13, 2013, the Argentine-born Jorge Mario Bergoglio brought a breath of fresh air into a 2,000-year-old institution that had seen its influence wane during the troubled tenure of Pope Benedict XVI, whose surprise resignation led to Francis election. But Francis soon invited troubles of his own, and conservatives grew increasingly upset with his progressive bent, outreach to LGBTQ+ Catholics and crackdown on traditionalists. His greatest test came in 2018 when he botched a notorious case of clergy sexual abuse in Chile, and the scandal that festered under his predecessors erupted anew on his watch. And then Francis, the crowd-loving, globe-trotting pope of the peripheries, navigated the unprecedented reality of leading a universal religion through the coronavirus pandemic from a locked-down Vatican City. He implored the world to use COVID-19 as an opportunity to rethink the economic and political framework that he said had turned rich against poor.We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, Francis told an empty St. Peters Square in March 2020. But he also stressed the pandemic showed the need for all of us to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other.Reforming the VaticanFrancis was elected on a mandate to reform the Vatican bureaucracy and finances but went further in shaking up the church without changing its core doctrine. Who am I to judge? he replied when asked about a purportedly gay priest.The comment sent a message of welcome to the LGBTQ+ community and those who felt shunned by a church that had stressed sexual propriety over unconditional love. Being homosexual is not a crime, he told The Associated Press in 2023, urging an end to civil laws that criminalize it.Stressing mercy, Francis changed the churchs position on the death penalty, calling it inadmissible in all circumstances. He also declared the possession of nuclear weapons, not just their use, was immoral. In other firsts, he approved an agreement with China over bishop nominations that had vexed the Vatican for decades, met the Russian patriarch and charted new relations with the Muslim world by visiting the Arabian Peninsula and Iraq.He reaffirmed the all-male, celibate priesthood and upheld the churchs opposition to abortion, equating it to hiring a hitman to solve a problem.Roles for womenBut he added women to important decision-making roles and allowed them to serve as lectors and acolytes in parishes. He let women vote alongside bishops in periodic Vatican meetings, following longstanding complaints that women do much of the churchs work but are barred from power.Sister Nathalie Becquart, whom Francis named to one of the highest Vatican jobs, said his legacy was a vision of a church where men and women existed in a relationship of reciprocity and respect.It was about shifting a pattern of domination from human being to the creation, from men to women to a pattern of cooperation, said Becquart, the first woman to hold a voting position in a Vatican synod. The church as refugeWhile Francis did not allow women to be ordained, the voting reform was part of a revolutionary change in emphasizing what the church should be: a refuge for everyone todos, todos, todos (everyone, everyone, everyone) not for the privileged few. Migrants, the poor, prisoners and outcasts were invited to his table far more than presidents or powerful CEOs.For Pope Francis, it was always to extend the arms of the church to embrace all people, not to exclude anyone, said Cardinal Kevin Farrell, whom Francis named as camerlengo, taking charge after a pontiffs death or retirement.Francis demanded his bishops apply mercy and charity to their flocks, pressed the world to protect Gods creation from climate disaster, and challenged countries to welcome those fleeing war, poverty and oppression. After visiting Mexico in 2016, Francis said of then-U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump that anyone building a wall to keep migrants out is not Christian.While progressives were thrilled with Francis radical focus on Jesus message of mercy and inclusion, it troubled conservatives who feared he watered down Catholic teaching and threatened the very Christian identity of the West. Some even called him a heretic.A few cardinals openly challenged him. Francis usually responded with his typical answer to conflict: silence.He made it easier for married Catholics to get an annulment, allowed priests to absolve women who had had abortions and decreed that priests could bless same-sex couples. He opened debate on issues like homosexuality and divorce, giving pastors wiggle room to discern how to accompany their flocks, rather than handing them strict rules to apply.St. Francis of Assisi as a modelFrancis lived in the Vatican hotel instead of the Apostolic Palace, wore his old orthotic shoes and not the red loafers of the papacy, and rode in compact cars. It wasnt a gimmick.I see clearly that the thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful, he told a Jesuit journal in 2013. I see the church as a field hospital after battle.If becoming the first Latin American and first Jesuit pope wasnt enough, Francis was also the first to name himself after St. Francis of Assisi, the 13th century friar known for personal simplicity, a message of peace, and care for nature and societys outcasts.Francis sought out the unemployed, the sick, the disabled and the homeless. He formally apologized to Indigenous peoples for the crimes of the church from colonial times onward.And he himself suffered: He had part of his colon removed in 2021, then needed more surgery in 2023 to repair a painful hernia and remove intestinal scar tissue. Starting in 2022 he regularly used a wheelchair or cane because of bad knees, and endured bouts of bronchitis.He went to societys fringes to minister with mercy: caressing the grossly deformed head of a man in St. Peters Square, kissing the tattoo of a Holocaust survivor, or inviting Argentinas garbage scavengers to join him onstage in Rio de Janeiro.We have always been marginalized, but Pope Francis always helped us, said Coqui Vargas, a transgender woman whose Roman community forged a unique relationship with Francis during the pandemic.His first trip as pope was to the island of Lampedusa, then the epicenter of Europes migration crisis. He consistently chose to visit poor countries where Christians were often persecuted minorities, rather than the centers of global Catholicism.Friend and fellow Argentine, Bishop Marcelo Snchez Sorondo, said his concern for the poor and disenfranchised was based on the Beatitudes -- the eight blessings Jesus delivered in the Sermon on the Mount for the meek, the merciful, the poor in spirit and others.Why are the Beatitudes the program of this pontificate? Because they were the basis of Jesus Christs own program, Snchez said.Missteps on sexual abuse scandalBut more than a year passed before Francis met with survivors of priestly sexual abuse, and victims groups initially questioned whether he really understood the scope of the problem.Francis did create a sex abuse commission to advise the church on best practices, but it lost its influence after a few years and its recommendation of a tribunal to judge bishops who covered up for predator priests went nowhere.And then came the greatest crisis of his papacy, when he discredited Chilean abuse victims in 2018 and stood by a controversial bishop linked to their abuser. Realizing his error, Francis invited the victims to the Vatican for a personal mea culpa and summoned the leadership of the Chilean church to resign en masse.As that crisis concluded, a new one erupted over ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the retired archbishop of Washington and a counselor to three popes.Francis had actually moved swiftly to sideline McCarrick amid an accusation he had molested a teenage altar boy in the 1970s. But Francis nevertheless was accused by the Vaticans one-time U.S. ambassador of having rehabilitated McCarrick early in his papacy.Francis eventually defrocked McCarrick after a Vatican investigation determined he sexually abused adults as well as minors. He changed church law to remove the pontifical secret surrounding abuse cases and enacted procedures to investigate bishops who abused or covered for their pedophile priests, seeking to end impunity for the hierarchy.He sincerely wanted to do something and he transmitted that, said Juan Carlos Cruz, a Chilean abuse survivor Francis discredited who later developed a close friendship with the pontiff.A change from BenedictThe road to Francis 2013 election was paved by Pope Benedict XVIs decision to resign and retire the first in 600 years and it created the unprecedented reality of two popes living in the Vatican.Francis didnt shy from Benedicts potentially uncomfortable shadow. He embraced him as an elder statesman and adviser, coaxing him out of his cloistered retirement to participate in the public life of the church.Its like having your grandfather in the house, a wise grandfather, Francis said.Francis praised Benedict by saying he opened the door to others following suit, fueling speculation that Francis also might retire. But after Benedicts death on Dec. 31, 2022, he asserted that in principle the papacy is a job for life.Francis looser liturgical style and pastoral priorities made clear he and the German-born theologian came from very different religious traditions, and Francis directly overturned several decisions of his predecessor.He made sure Salvadoran Archbishop scar Romero, a hero to the liberation theology movement in Latin America, was canonized after his case languished under Benedict over concerns about the credos Marxist bent.Francis reimposed restrictions on celebrating the old Latin Mass that Benedict had relaxed, arguing the spread of the Tridentine Rite was divisive. The move riled Francis traditionalist critics and opened sustained conflict between right-wing Catholics, particularly in the U.S., and the Argentine pope.Conservatives oppose FrancisBy then, conservatives had already turned away from Francis, betrayed after he opened debate on allowing remarried Catholics to receive the sacraments if they didnt get an annulment a church ruling that their first marriage was invalid.We dont like this pope, headlined Italys conservative daily Il Foglio a few months into the papacy, reflecting the unease of the small but vocal traditionalist Catholic movement that was coddled under Benedict.Those same critics amplified their complaints after Francis approved church blessings for same-sex couples, and a controversial accord with China over nominating bishops.Its details were never released, but conservative critics bashed it as a sellout to communist China, while the Vatican defended it as the best deal it could get with Beijing.U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke, a figurehead in the anti-Francis opposition, said the church had become like a ship without a rudder.Burke waged his opposition campaign for years, starting when Francis fired him as the Vaticans supreme court justice and culminating with his vocal opposition to Francis 2023 synod on the churchs future.Twice, he joined other conservative cardinals in formally asking Francis to explain himself on doctrine issues reflecting a more progressive bent, including on the possibility of same-sex blessings and his outreach to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics.Francis eventually sanctioned Burke financially, accusing him of sowing disunity. It was one of several personnel moves he made in both the Vatican and around the world to shift the balance of power from doctrinaire leaders to more pastoral ones.Francis insisted his bishops and cardinals imbue themselves with the odor of their flock and minister to the faithful, voicing displeasure when they didnt.His 2014 Christmas address to the Vatican Curia was one of the greatest public papal reprimands ever: Standing in the marbled Apostolic Palace, Francis ticked off 15 ailments that he said can afflict his closest collaborators, including spiritual Alzheimers, lusting for power and the terrorism of gossip.Trying to eliminate corruption, Francis oversaw the reform of the scandal-marred Vatican bank and sought to wrestle Vatican bureaucrats into financial line, limiting their compensation and ability to receive gifts or award public contracts.He authorized Vatican police to raid his own secretariat of state and the Vaticans financial watchdog agency amid suspicions about a 350 million euro investment in a London real estate venture. After a 2 1/2-year trial, the Vatican tribunal convicted a once-powerful cardinal, Angelo Becciu, of embezzlement and returned mixed verdicts to nine others, acquitting one.The trial, though, proved to be a reputational boomerang for the Holy See, showing deficiencies in the Vaticans legal system, unseemly turf battles among monsignors, and how the pope had intervened on behalf of prosecutors.While earning praise for trying to turn the Vaticans finances around, Francis angered U.S. conservatives for his frequent excoriation of the global financial market that favors the rich over the poor.Economic justice was an important themes of his papacy, and he didnt hide it in his first meeting with journalists when he said he wanted a poor church that is for the poor.In his first major teaching document, The Joy of the Gospel, Francis denounced trickle-down economic theories as unproven and naive, based on a mentality where the powerful feed upon the powerless with no regard for ethics, the environment or even God.Money must serve, not rule! he said in urging political reforms.He elaborated on that in his major eco-encyclical Praised Be, denouncing the structurally perverse global economic system that he said exploited the poor and risked turning Earth into an immense pile of filth.Some U.S. conservatives branded Francis a Marxist. He jabbed back by saying he had many friends who were Marxists.Soccer, opera and prayerBorn Dec. 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was the eldest of five children of Italian immigrants.He credited his devout grandmother Rosa with teaching him how to pray. Weekends were spent listening to opera on the radio, going to Mass and attending matches of the familys beloved San Lorenzo soccer club. As pope, his love of soccer brought him a huge collection of jerseys from visitors.He said he received his religious calling at 17 while going to confession, recounting in a 2010 biography that, I dont know what it was, but it changed my life. ... I realized that they were waiting for me.He entered the diocesan seminary but switched to the Jesuit order in 1958, attracted to its missionary tradition and militancy.Around this time, he suffered from pneumonia, which led to the removal of the upper part of his right lung. His frail health prevented him from becoming a missionary, and his less-than-robust lung capacity was perhaps responsible for his whisper of a voice and reluctance to sing at Mass.On Dec. 13, 1969, he was ordained a priest, and immediately began teaching. In 1973, he was named head of the Jesuits in Argentina, an appointment he later acknowledged was crazy given he was only 36. My authoritarian and quick manner of making decisions led me to have serious problems and to be accused of being ultraconservative, he admitted in his Civilta Cattolica interview.Life under Argentinas dictatorshipHis six-year tenure as provincial coincided with Argentinas murderous 1976-83 dictatorship, when the military launched a campaign against left-wing guerrillas and other regime opponents.Bergoglio didnt publicly confront the junta and was accused of effectively allowing two slum priests to be kidnapped and tortured by not publicly endorsing their work.He refused for decades to counter that version of events. Only in a 2010 authorized biography did he finally recount the behind-the-scenes lengths he used to save them, persuading the family priest of feared dictator Jorge Videla to call in sick so he could say Mass instead. Once in the junta leaders home, Bergoglio privately appealed for mercy. Both priests were eventually released, among the few to have survived prison.As pope, accounts began to emerge of the many people -- priests, seminarians and political dissidents -- whom Bergoglio actually saved during the dirty war, letting them stay incognito at the seminary or helping them escape the country.Bergoglio went to Germany in 1986 to research a never-finished thesis. Returning to Argentina, he was stationed in Cordoba during a period he described as a time of great interior crisis. Out of favor with more progressive Jesuit leaders, he was eventually rescued from obscurity in 1992 by St. John Paul II, who named him an auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires. He became archbishop six years later, and was made a cardinal in 2001.He came close to becoming pope in 2005 when Benedict was elected, gaining the second-most votes in several rounds of balloting before bowing out.___Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

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Pope Francis attends a prayer on the occasion of the World Day of the Creation's care in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca, File)2025-04-21T08:56:16Z Follow live updates on the death of Pope Francis. VATICAN CITY (AP) Pope Francis changed the Catholic Churchs teaching in areas such as the death penalty and nuclear weapons, upheld it in others such as abortion, and made inroads with Muslims and believers who long felt marginalized.Where Francis, who died on Monday, stood on key issues:AbortionFrancis upheld church teaching opposing abortion and echoed his predecessors in saying that human life is sacred and must be defended. He described abortion, as well as euthanasia, as evidence of todays throwaway culture and likened abortion to hiring a hit man to resolve a problem.But he didnt emphasize the churchs position to the extent his predecessors did, and said women who had abortions must be accompanied spiritually by the church. Francis also allowed ordinary priests not just bishops to absolve Catholic women who had intentionally terminated a pregnancy.He didnt approve of attempts by U.S. bishops to deny Holy Communion to President Joe Biden because of his abortion-rights stance, saying bishops should be pastors, not politicians. AbuseFrancis greatest scandal of his papacy was when he discredited Chilean sexual abuse victims by siding with a bishop whom they accused of complicity in the abuse. After realizing his error, he invited the victims to the Vatican and apologized in person. He then brought the entire Chilean bishops conference to Rome where he pressed them to resign.In his most significant move, Francis defrocked former U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick after a Vatican investigation determined he abused minors as well as adults. Francis later passed church laws abolishing the use of pontifical secrecy and establishing procedures to investigate bishops who abuse or cover up for predator priests.But he was dogged by some high-profile cases where he seemed to side with accused priests. BenedictIn 2013, Pope Benedict XVI resigned in the first such papal retirement in 600 years, and Francis was elected to replace him.With Benedict living on the Vatican grounds until his 2022 death, Francis said it was like having a wise grandfather at home, part of his belief the elderly have a wealth of experience to offer.There was friction at times, however, including when Benedict co-authored a book strongly backing priestly celibacy at the precise moment Francis was considering an exception to resolve a clergy shortage in the Amazon.He praised Benedict for humility and courage by setting a precedent for retired popes, although after the German-born pontiff died, Francis said the papacy should be a job for life.CapitalismSome conservative U.S. commentators accused Francis of having Marxist sympathies, given his frequent denunciations of economic systems that idolize money over people and clear distaste for U.S.-style capitalism.He called for a universal basic income, dignified wages and working conditions, and said that while globalization had saved many from poverty, it has condemned many others to die of hunger because its a selective economic system.This economy kills, he said of globalization, defending his positions as those of the Gospel, not communism. CelibacyFrancis upheld celibacy for Latin Rite priests even after bishops from the Amazon asked him to make an exception to allow married priests to address a shortage of clerics. Francis had long said the celibacy requirement could change, since it was not a matter of doctrine. But he said the debate was too politicized and that he didnt want to be the pope to take the step.ChinaIn 2018, Francis authorized a deal over bishop nominations in China to end a decades-long dispute and regularized the status of a half-dozen Chinese bishops who had been consecrated without papal consent.Details of the accord were never released, but his conservative critics bashed it as a sellout to communist China, while the Vatican defended it as the best deal it could get before Beijing closed the door entirely. ContraceptionFrancis defended the churchs opposition to artificial contraception, but he also said Catholics need not breed like rabbits and should instead practice responsible parenthood through approved methods.The church endorsed the Natural Family Planning method, which involves monitoring a womans cycle to avoid intercourse when she is ovulating.At the same time, Francis suggested in 2016 that women threatened with the Zika virus which was causing malformations in thousands of children at the time could use artificial contraception because avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil in light of epidemics.COVID-19Like the rest of humanity, Francis was grounded during COVID-19, prevented from traveling, celebrating Mass in public or presiding over audiences. He repeatedly urged the world to use the pandemic as a wake-up call showing the need to reset priorities and policies in favor of the most vulnerable.Francis strongly supported vaccination campaigns and demanded the poor have priority. The Vaticans doctrine office said it was morally acceptable to be vaccinated, even with shots that used cell lines from aborted fetuses in research and production processes, putting Francis at odds with conservatives who refused the shots on moral grounds. Death penaltyFrancis went beyond his predecessors and changed Catholic teaching to state that the death penalty is inadmissible in all cases, regardless of the severity of the crime.Francis also called life in prison without parole a hidden death penalty and solitary confinement a form of torture, saying both should be abolished.DivorceFrancis divided the church by issuing an opening to divorced and civilly married Catholics to receive Communion.Church teaching holds that, without a church-issued annulment declaring the initial marriage invalid, these Catholics are committing adultery and thus cannot receive the sacrament.Francis first made it easier to get an annulment. Then, he didnt create a blanket admission to the sacraments to these Catholics without one, but in a footnote to his 2016 encyclical The Joy of Love, he suggested bishops and priests could accompany such couples on a case-by-case basis.EnvironmentFrancis became the first pope to use scientific data in a major teaching document by calling global warming a largely human-caused problem.In his 2015 encyclical Praised Be, Francis denounced a structurally perverse world economic system that exploits the poor and risks turning the Earth into an immense pile of filth. A 2023 update singled out the U.S. for its emissions and warned the world was nearing a breaking point.He pressed the issue at a 2019 meeting of bishops from the Amazon and in his preaching on the coronavirus pandemic. While Francis pressed the ecological issue harder than his predecessors, many popes before him called for better care for Gods creation.Indigenous peoplesFrancis made sweeping apologies for the crimes against Indigenous peoples during the colonial and post-colonial conquest of the Americas.He apologized in Bolivia in 2015 and again during a penitential pilgrimage to Canada in 2022 for the churchs role in the forced assimilation of Indigenous children in church-run residential schools.The Vatican also formally repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery, theories backed by 15th century papal bulls, or charters, that legitimized the colonial-era seizure of lands and form the basis of some property laws today, even though it didnt rescind the bulls themselves.Francis also held up as a model economic system the Jesuit-run missions in Paraguay that brought Christianity and European-style education and economic organization to the natives in the 17th and 18th centuries.He canonized the 18th century missionary Junipero Serra during his 2015 trip to the U.S. over objections from some Native American groups who accused Serra of forced conversions, enslaving converts and helping wipe out Indigenous populations through disease.IslamFrancis made significant progress in the Vaticans troubled relations with Islam by forging ties with Sunni and Shiite religious leaders and emphasizing a shared commitment to peace, solidarity and dialogueHe signed a landmark document on the need for greater human fraternity with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, the seat of Sunni learning in Cairo.He was the first pope to visit both the Arabian Peninsula and Iraq, the birthplace of Abraham, a prophet important to Christians, Muslims and Jews. While in Iraq, he met with the countrys top Shiite cleric and a revered figure in the Shiite world, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.Latin MassIn one of his most controversial moves, Francis reversed Benedict and reimposed restrictions on celebrating the old Latin Mass. Francis said he had to act because the spread of the so-called Tridentine Rite after Benedict relaxed restrictions in 2007 was becoming a source of division in the church.This outraged his traditionalist and conservative critics, who called the move an attack on them and the ancient rite. It fueled right-wing opposition to Francis that already was angered at his outreach to gays and divorced Catholics.LGBTQ+Francis famously said, Who am I to judge? when asked in 2013 about a Vatican monsignor who was purportedly gay. Francis followed up by assuring gay people that God loves them as they are, that being homosexual is not a crime, and that everyone, everyone, everyone is welcome in the church.During his pontificate, the Vatican reversed itself and said transgender people could be baptized, serve as godparents and witnesses at weddings; and approved same-sex blessings. But while he met several times with members of the LGBTQ+ community, Francis didnt change church teaching stating that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.As archbishop of Buenos Aires, he opposed efforts to legalize same-sex marriage and proposed, unsuccessfully, that the country approve civil unions instead.He articulated support for those Argentine civil union protections in a 2019 interview with Mexican broadcaster Televisa, making him the first pope to come out in favor of them.MigrationFrancis denounced the globalization of indifference shown to migrants and urged Europe and other countries to open their doors to those seeking better lives.His first trip outside Rome as pontiff in July 2013 was to the Italian island of Lampedusa, a key site in Europes migration crisis.In 2016, he brought a dozen Syrian refugees to Rome with him from a camp in Greece and repeated the gesture in 2021 while visiting Cyprus and Greece. We cannot allow the Mediterranean to become a vast cemetery! he told European lawmakers.He also decried inhuman conditions facing migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. In 2016, Francis said of then-candidate Donald Trump that anyone building a wall to keep migrants out is not a Christian.Nuclear weaponsFrancis went further than his predecessors -- and church teaching -- by saying that not only the use, but the mere possession of nuclear weapons was immoral.The church previously held that nuclear deterrence could be morally acceptable in the interim as long as it went toward mutual, verifiable disarmament.Vatican reformFrancis was elected on a mandate for bureaucratic reform after centuries of waste, mismanagement and market crises put the Vaticans financial health at risk.He imposed regulations to bring order, transparency and modern accounting to the books, requiring competitive bidding procedures, caps on gifts, salary cuts for cardinals and the centralization of assets and investments in one office with a unified, ethical and green investment policy.He created a Secretariat for the Economy to supervise the Holy Sees finances, staffed mostly with lay experts, and he authorized a sweeping criminal trial into the Vaticans botched investment in a London real estate deal that resulted in losses of tens of millions of euros.WomenFrancis consistently called for a greater role for women in governing the church and made significant appointments and changes to church law to prove his point.He named an Italian nun as prefect of the Vatican office for religious orders and another Italian nun as head of the Vatican City State administration, two jobs previously held only by cardinals. He also named a French nun as an undersecretary in the Vatican Synod of Bishops office, giving her a vote in the previously all-male process and opened up the synod itself to voting women members.He named three women to the Vatican office that vets bishop appointments, a first. He appointed women to half the seats on the Vaticans economic council, appointed two study commissions into whether women could be ordained deacons, put Mary Magdalene on par with the male apostles by declaring a feast day for her, and formally allowed women to serve as lectors and acolytes, services previously open to them on an ad hoc basis.But he reaffirmed the all-male priesthood and ruled out, for now, ordaining women as deacons.

Pope Francis appears on the central lodge of St. Peter's Basilica to bestow the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and to the world) blessing at the end of the Easter mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025.(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)2025-04-21T08:44:05Z Follow live updates on the death of Pope Francis. The text of the announcement of the death of Pope Francis, which was read Monday by Cardinal Kevin Ferrell, the Vatican camerlengo, from the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta, where Francis lived. Farrell was accompanied by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, Archbishop Edgar Pea Parra, substitute chief of staff and Archbishop Diego Ravelli, master of liturgical ceremonies. Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow, I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 this morning, The Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the Fathers house. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His church.He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with faithfulness, courage, and universal love, especially for the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of God, One and Triune.

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by Mark Olalde ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. When a firefighter dies in the line of duty, a small team of federal health workers is often called on to pinpoint what went wrong and identify how to avoid similar accidents in the future.Thats what happened after two firefighters died in California in 2020 while searching for an elderly woman in a burning library. It happened in 2023 when a Navy firefighter died in Maryland after a floor collapsed in a burning home. And it happened last year in Georgia when a career battalion chief died after a semitrailer truck exploded.But President Donald Trumps administration has taken steps to fire nearly all of the Department of Health and Human Services employees responsible for conducting those reviews.At least two-thirds of the employees at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, an agency within HHS, were notified on April 1 that they had been laid off or will be in June. These cuts included seven of the eight members of the Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program, the team that studies firefighter line-of-duty deaths, one of the laid-off investigators told ProPublica. Most nonunionized NIOSH workers were given until the end of the day to clear out their desks. The layoffs were so abrupt, staff said, that lab animals were left without staff to care for them and had to be euthanized, and an experimental mine used to test protective gear beneath the agencys Pittsburgh campus was at risk of flooding and polluting the surrounding environment.It was pure chaos, another NIOSH employee said.The fatality investigation team was examining deaths at 20 fire departments when the layoff notices arrived. Those probes are now unlikely to be completed, the investigator said.The whole intent of this program was that people would learn through tragedy what happened to one person so we can prevent it from happening to others, the investigator said.The administrations moves will also halt a first-of-its-kind study of the causes of thousands of firefighters cancer cases and disrupt a program that provides health care to emergency personnel who responded to the World Trade Center terrorist attacks.ProPublica spoke with five NIOSH employees who either led or contributed to firefighter health initiatives and received layoff notices. Most requested anonymity for fear of retribution from the administration.The existence of NIOSH is a hard-earned right by the people of America to have a healthy and safe working environment, said Micah Niemeier-Walsh, vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3840, which represents agency employees. This is an attack on NIOSH employees and federal employees, but it is also an attack on American workers generally.Neither the White House nor Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency, which has called the shots on many of the administrations cuts, responded to a request for comment. A NIOSH spokesperson referred questions to HHS.HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made some public indications that aspects of the World Trade Center program could be spared, but details remain sparse. The departments spokesperson said in a statement that programs required by law such as some of those focused on firefighter health will continue to operate.They did not respond to a follow-up question about how those programs will continue after their staffs were terminated.It Breaks My HeartThe investigations performed by the Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program are initiated at the request of the fire department that suffered the casualty. The findings are shared with the firefighters family in hopes of providing some closure. And the reports are then published, so the broader firefighting community can strengthen its procedures to avoid similar losses.The Trump administration had already hamstrung the program shortly after the inauguration, initially barring the investigative team from traveling to conduct research, communicating with other agencies and publishing reports, according to the investigator. While the department eventually allowed several of the casualty reports to be published, the rest remain unfinished.It breaks my heart that were going to just destroy these programs that have made so much progress in protecting the health and safety of our firefighting community, the investigator said.The layoff notice the investigator received from HHS said that termination of much of the agencys staff was because your duties have been identified as either unnecessary or virtually identical to duties being performed elsewhere in the agency.Leadership at HHS are appreciative of your service, the notice stated.The federal firefighting force faces a daunting year, with spending cuts canceling prescribed burns to reduce flammable vegetation and the termination of hundreds of firefighting support staff, even in the face of climate-change-lengthened wildfire seasons.At a time when we need to be bolstering these efforts and personnel, its pretty damn appalling that wed be trying to diminish the health benefits for our firefighters and first responders, a Forest Service firefighter said.Dismantling the Worlds Largest Firefighter Cancer StudyOn April 1, the Trump administration also began laying off much of the staff working on the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer.Its creation in 2018 was a landmark win in a yearslong fight to study why firefighters suffer from certain types of cancer at vastly higher rates than the general population. Both chambers of Congress unanimously passed the bill to create the registry. Trump signed it into law during his first term.While HHS said in a statement that programs required by law would remain intact, it did not answer a question about whether it would bring back staff to keep the registry running.Wildland firefighters dont typically wear respirators while theyre exposed to high levels of smoke. And the protective clothing firefighters wear while battling active blazes contains high levels of PFAS, or forever chemicals, that have been linked to various types of cancer. But the exact causes of some cancers that occur at high rates among firefighters are not well understood. Female-specific cancers such as ovarian and cervical, for example, have only recently been linked to firefighting.More than 23,000 firefighters have signed up to participate since the registry launched in April 2023, and the research team recently began an outreach campaign to get to 200,000 participants. With this trove of data, NIOSH researchers planned to dig into numerous under-studied questions, such as what workplace exposures led to cancers that specifically harmed female firefighters, a NIOSH scientist who worked on the program told ProPublica.Among the thousands who signed up was a federal wildland firefighter who was concerned about spending a career breathing wildfire smoke without a respirator. The decision to throw away such research is disturbing, the firefighter told ProPublica. I was hoping that something would happen with all that research, that they would protect wildland firefighters.With a hollowed-out IT department, the registrys portal to enroll firefighters quickly went offline.Its devastating, said Judith Graber, an associate professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health and co-chair of the board that advises the registry research team. She said the study is the largest effort ever taken anywhere to understand cancer in firefighters, but its an effort that cant simply be restarted after the researchers running it are laid off.Diane Cotter became an activist when her husband, a career firefighter, developed prostate cancer, and she fought for funding of research such as the registry. While shes a Kennedy supporter, Cotter said the administration went too far in cutting the program and other first responder health initiatives such as the World Trade Center program, which she called sacred.Its very important we hold the line on these studies, she said.

Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, file)2025-04-21T09:02:47Z Follow live updates on the death of Pope Francis. VATICAN CITY (AP) Some takeaways about the life of Pope Francis, who died Monday:BackgroundJorge Mario Bergoglio was born Dec. 17, 1936, to Italian immigrants in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the eldest of five children. He was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1969 and led the religious order in Argentina during the countrys murderous dictatorship from 1976-83. He became archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and elevated to cardinal in 2001 by St. John Paul II. He was elected the 266th pope on March 13, 2013, on the fifth ballot.Francis Firsts The first pope from the Americas. The first from the Jesuit order to be elected pope. The first to take the name of Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi. The first to visit Iraq, meeting its top Shiite Muslim cleric in 2021.Humility and simplicityAs Buenos Aires archbishop, Francis denied himself the luxuries his predecessors enjoyed, riding the bus, cooking his own meals and regularly visiting slums. This simplicity continued as pope, marked by Francis taking the name of the 13th century saint known for personal simplicity. He lived in the Vatican hotel instead of the Apostolic Palace, wore his old orthotic shoes and not the red loafers of the papacy, and set an example to the clerical classes by using compact cars. MigrantsAdvocating for migrants was one of Francis priorities as pope. His first trip outside Rome in 2013 was to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa to meet with newly arrived migrants. He denounced the globalization of indifference shown to would-be refugees. He prayed for dead migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2016 and brought 12 Syrian Muslims to Rome on his plane after visiting a refugee camp in Lesbos, Greece. His plea for welcome put him at odds with U.S. and European policies. He said in 2016 of then-candidate Donald Trump that anyone building a wall to keep migrants out is not a Christian. LGBTQ+ stanceEarly in his papacy, Francis signaled a more welcoming stance toward LGBTQ+ people, declaring Who am I to judge? when asked about a gay priest. In a 2023 Associated Press interview, he declared that, Being homosexual is not a crime, and later approved blessings for same-sex couples, provided they dont resemble marriage vows. Environmental stanceFrancis became the first pope to use scientific data in a major teaching document and made care for Gods creation a hallmark of his papacy. In 2015, his environmental manifesto Praised Be, urged a cultural revolution to correct what he called the structurally perverse global economic system that exploits the poor and turned Earth into an immense pile of filth. Many popes before him, though, also called for better care for the environment. Clergy sexual abuse stanceThe greatest scandal of his papacy came in 2018, when he discredited Chilean victims of clergy sexual abuse by siding with a bishop whom they accused of complicity in their abuse. Realizing his error, he invited them to the Vatican and apologized in person. He also brought the entire Chilean bishops conference to Rome, where he pressed them to resign. He convened a summit of the Catholic hierarchy in 2019 on abuse and sent a strong signal by defrocking former U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick after a Vatican investigation determined he abused minors as well as adults. Francis passed church laws abolishing the use of pontifical secrecy and establishing procedures to investigate bishops who abuse or cover up for predator priests. But he was dogged by high-profile cases where he seemed to side with accused clergy. His criticsIn his first years as pope, critics had a living alternative in Pope Benedict XVI, who had resigned and was living on the Vatican grounds. That amplified the right-wing opposition to Francis reform agenda. Some called him a heretic after he opened the way in 2016 to letting divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receive Communion. In 2018, the Vaticans retired U.S. ambassador Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano published an accusation that U.S. and Vatican officials for two decades covered up McCarricks sexual misconduct and demanded that Francis resign. After Vigano amplified his criticisms and drew a following of his own, the Vatican in 2024 excommunicated him for schism.

Trucks move past piles of containers stacked at a container terminal port on the Yangtze River in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Chinatopix Via AP)2025-04-21T07:06:15Z BEIJING (AP) China on Monday warned other countries against making trade deals with the United States to Chinas detriment. Governments including those of Taiwan, Japan and South Korea have begun negotiations with Washington after President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs against almost all of Americas trading partners on April 2. The import taxes were quickly paused against most countries after markets panicked, but he increased his already steep tariffs against China.China firmly opposes any party reaching a deal at the expense of Chinas interests, Chinas Commerce Ministry said in a statement. If this happens, China will never accept it and will resolutely take countermeasures in a reciprocal manner. China is determined and capable of safeguarding its own rights and interests.U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this month the countries currently negotiating trade deals with the U.S. should approach China as a group together with Washington. The U.S. tariffs against other countries are economic bullying, the ministry said in the statement attributed to an unnamed spokesperson. Appeasement cannot bring peace, and compromise cannot win respect, it added. For ones own temporary selfish interests, sacrificing the interests of others in exchange for so-called exemptions is like seeking the skin from a tiger. It will ultimately only fail on both ends and harm others without benefiting themselves. China said its open to talks with Washington but no meetings have been announced. Trump made China the target of his steepest tariffs, imposing several rounds of tariffs totaling 145% duties on Chinese imports. Beijing has retaliated with tariffs of 125% on U.S. imports.The tariffs have spooked exporters and stalled shipments, while threatening to drag on the global economy.

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The FBI says it is unable to find records related to its purchase of a series of hacking tools, despite spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on them and those purchases initially being included in a public U.S. government procurement database before being quietly scrubbed from the internet.The news highlights the secrecy the FBI maintains around its use of hacking tools. The agency has previously used classified technology in ordinary criminal investigations, pushed back against demands to provide details of hacking operations to defendants, and purchased technology from surveillance vendors.Potentially responsive records were identified during the search, a response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request I sent about a specific hacking tool contract says. However, we were advised that they were not in their expected locations. An additional search for the missing records also met with unsuccessful results. Since we were unable to review the records, we were unable to determine if they were responsive to your request.In other words, the FBI says it identified related records, then couldnt actually find them when it went looking.The FOIA request was for records related to the FBIs purchase of multiple hacking tools for $250,000 from anti-child abuse charity The Innocent Lives Foundation. This purchase was initially included in a public U.S. government database that lists what agencies are buying. After I reported on that purchase, the listing was removed from the database.Presumably, if the FBI spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on hacking technology, it might have records about that purchase, even if details have been removed from public view. And especially when the FOIA request provided the unique identifier for that particular contract.When I previously reported on the removal of the contract from the U.S. procurement database Scott Amey, general counsel at watchdog group the Project on Government Oversight, said Transparency of federal spending ensures that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely. While there are timing delays and completeness problems with federal spending data, the public deserves to see what the federal government is buying and for how much, and Congress should be enhancing spending transparency laws so that we have a more complete picture.The FBI did not respond to a request for comment.

Trent Alexander-Arnold has a big decision to make: sign a new deal at Liverpool this summer or leave for (we think) Real Madrid. Considering recent trends at both teams, he should reconsider joining Los Blancos.

Doncic's time in Dallas ended with a shocking trade on Feb. 2, but the beginning of the end dates to the summer of 2023.

Pope Francis appears on the central lodge of St. Peter's Basilica to bestow the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and to the world) blessing at the end of the Easter mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)2025-04-21T11:05:09Z Follow live updates on the death of Pope Francis. VATICAN CITY (AP) Pope Francis died on Easter Monday at the age of 88. Here are the key things to know about the death of the Argentine pontiff, historys first from Latin America, who presided over the Catholic Church for more than 12 years.The timing of Pope Francis deathThe death of Francis was announced by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Irish-born Vatican camerlengo, a position that will be important in the coming weeks as he takes charge of the administration of the Holy See until a new pope is elected.Farrell made the announcement at 9:47 a.m., just over two hours after Francis had died. Farrell spoke from Domus Santa Marta, the apartment on Vatican grounds where Francis lived and where he had returned to recover less than a month after being hospitalized for double pneumonia.At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father, Farrell said. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of his Church. A final farewell on Easter SundayFrancis made his final public appearance a day earlier on Easter Sunday, though he had delegated the celebration of the Easter Mass to another cardinal.He blessed a crowd of faithful from the loggia of St. Peters Basilica. Brothers and sisters, Happy Easter, he said from the same loggia where Jorge Mario Bergoglio was introduced to the world on March 13, 2013 as the 266th pope.Francis also made a surprise ride in the square in his popemobile, drawing wild cheers and applause. Beforehand, he met briefly with U.S. Vice President JD Vance.I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill, Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, said on Monday during a visit to India. Reactions and global mourningEven before the great bells of St. Peters Basilica began tolling to mark Francis death, messages of tribute began pouring in from across the world. Catholic and non-Catholic leaders alike honored a spiritual leader who was a voice for the marginalized and the weak, for migrants and LGBTQ+ people, and who showed concern for nature.He cared about the great global challenges of our time migration, climate change, inequalities, peace as well as the everyday struggles of the one and all, European Council President Antnio Costa said.The outgoing German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said that the world had lost an advocate for the weak, a reconciling and a warm-hearted person.Other religious leaders also praised him for seeking dialogue. The head of the Church of England remembered him for his commitment to improving relations among the worlds religions, while Romes chief rabbi described Francis pontificate as an important new chapter in relations between Judaism and Catholicism.The popes last months, and final dayFrancis, who suffered from chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, was admitted to Gemelli hospital in Rome on Feb. 14, 2025, for a respiratory crisis that developed into double pneumonia. He spent 38 days there, the longest hospitalization of his papacy.For the faithful, those were weeks of fear that his illness could be fatal or lead to another papal resignation after that of Pope Benedict XVI, a surprise move that led to the election of Francis.The pontiffs return to the Vatican on March 23 brought relief to many at the time. Mourning, funeral and then a conclaveFrancis death now sets off the process of allowing the faithful to pay their final respects, first for Vatican officials in the Santa Marta chapel and then in St. Peters for the general public.A precise sequence of events will include the confirmation of death in the pontiffs home, the transfer of the coffin to St. Peters Basilica for public viewing, a funeral Mass and burial. The dates havent been announced yet, but the burial must take place between the fourth and sixth day after his death.After the funeral, there are nine days of official mourning, known as the novendiali.During this period, cardinals arrive in Rome to participate in a conclave to elect the next pope. To give everyone time to assemble, the conclave must begin 15-20 days after the sede vacante the vacant See is declared, although it can start sooner if the cardinals agree. The cardinals will vote in secret sessions, and after each voting sessions, the ballots will be burned in a special stove. Black smoke will indicate that no pope has been elected, while white smoke will indicate that the cardinals have chosen the next head of the Catholic Church.___Vanessa Gera reported from Warsaw, Poland. Colleen Barry contributed to this report from Milan. NICOLE WINFIELD Winfield has been on the Vatican beat since 2001, covering the papacies of St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and the Francis pontificate and traveling the world with them.

An American flag is displayed on the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)2025-04-21T02:56:03Z NEW YORK (AP) U.S. stocks are sinking Monday as investors pull away from the United States because of the uncertainty caused by President Donald Trumps trade war and his criticism of the Federal Reserve.The S&P 500 was 1.2% lower in early trading and back to 15% below its record set two months ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 430 points, or 1.1%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.5% lower.Perhaps more worryingly, U.S. Treasury bonds and the value of the U.S. dollar also sank as a retreat continues from U.S. markets. Its an unusual move because Treasurys and the dollar have historically strengthened during past episodes of nervousness. But this time around, its policies directly from Washington that are causing the fear and potentially weakening their reputations as some of the worlds safest investments. Trump continued his tough talk on trade over the weekend, even as economists and investors continue to say his stiff proposed tariffs could cause a recession unless theyre rolled back.The golden rule of negotiating and success: He who has the gold makes the rules, Trump said in all capitalized letters on his Truth Social Network. He also said that the businessmen who criticize tariffs are bad at business, but really bad at politics, also in all caps. Trump has recently focused more on China, the worlds second-largest economy, which upped its own rhetoric against the worlds largest economy. China on Monday warned other countries against making trade deals with the United States at the expense of Chinas interest as Japan, South Korea and other countries try to negotiate agreements that would lower U.S. tariffs on their own products. If this happens, China will never accept it and will resolutely take countermeasures in a reciprocal manner, Chinas Commerce Ministry said in a statement. Also hanging over the market are worries about Trumps anger at Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Trump last week criticized Powell again for not cutting interest rates sooner to help give the economy more juice.The Fed has been resistant to lowering rates too quickly because it does not want to allow inflation to reaccelerate after it has slowed nearly all the way down to its 2% goal from more than 9% three years ago.A move to fire Powell would likely send another bolt of fear through financial markets. While investors would love to see lower interest rates, because they would give at least a short-term boost to prices for stocks and other investments, the larger worry is that a less independent Fed would be less effective at keeping inflation under control in the long run. It would further weaken, if not kill, the United States reputation as the worlds safest place to keep cash. On Wall Street, several Big Tech stocks helped lead indexes lower ahead of their latest earnings reports coming later this week.Tesla sank 4.4%, for example. The electric vehicles stock came into Monday roughly 50% below its record set in December on criticism that its stock price had gone too high and that its brand has become too entwined with Elon Musk, whos leading the U.S. governments efforts to cut spending. On the winning side of Wall Street were Discover Financial Services and Capital One Financial, which jumped after the U.S. government approved their proposed merger. Discover rallied 4.6%, and Capital One rose 2.6%. In the bond market, shorter-term Treasury yields fell as investors keep alive hopes that the Fed may cut its main overnight interest rate later this year in order to support the economy. But longer-term yields rose as doubts continue to rise about the United States standing in the global economy.The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.38% from 4.34% at the end of last week and from just about 4% earlier this month. Thats a substantial move for the bond market.The U.S. dollars value, meanwhile, fell against the euro, Japanese yen, the Swiss franc and other currencies.In stock markets abroad, Tokyos Nikkei 225 fell 1.3%. Indexes fared better in Seoul, where stocks rose 0.2%, and in Shanghai, which saw a 0.4% gain.___AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Few guards got more space to shoot this season than Josh Hart. Making playoff defenses pay for it could fuel a Knicks run.

Orlando's first defeat of 2025 cost the Pride, who fell behind KC and Washington in ESPN's NWSL Power Rankings.

Pope Francis speaks during a meeting with the media at the Pope VI hall, at the Vatican, Saturday, March 16, 2013. Speaking of the moment of his election and his conversation with his friend, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, in the Sistine Chapel as the votes were going his way. When things were looking dangerous, he encouraged me. And when the votes reached two-thirds, there was the usual applause, because the pope had been elected. And he gave me a hug and a kiss and said: Don't forget the poor! And those words came to me: the poor, the poor. Then, right away, thinking of the poor, I thought of Francis of Assisi. Then I thought of all the wars, as the votes were still being counted, till the end. Francis is also the man of peace. That is how the name came into my heart: Francis of Assisi. How I would like a Church which is poor and for the poor! (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)2025-04-21T09:06:11Z Follow live updates on the death of Pope Francis. VATICAN CITY (AP) Pope Francis, who died on Monday, had an informal, lighthearted speaking style, and sometimes he even created words in a combination of his native Spanish with the Italian that he spoke as pope.Some of his memorable quotes: A simple, initial greetingBrothers and sisters, good evening! -- Francis first words delivered from the loggia of St. Peters Basilica after his election as pontiff on March 13, 2013.___A plea to remember the poorWhen the votes reached two-thirds, there was the usual applause, because the pope had been elected. And he gave me a hug and a kiss and said: Dont forget the poor! And those words came to me: the poor, the poor. Then, right away, thinking of the poor, I thought of Francis of Assisi. Then I thought of all the wars, as the votes were still being counted, till the end. Francis is also the man of peace. That is how the name came into my heart: Francis of Assisi. How I would like a Church which is poor and for the poor! Francis, speaking to journalists on March 16, 2013, recounting how Cardinal Claudio Hummes gave him the idea of choosing the name Francis.___ A plea for mercyIn these days, Ive been able to read a book by a cardinal Cardinal Kasper, a good theologian about mercy. And this book has done me a lot of good, though dont think Im just doing publicity for my cardinals books! Its not like that. But its done me so much good. Cardinal Kasper said that feeling mercy, this word changes everything. Its the best thing we can feel: It changes the world. A bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just. Francis First Angelus prayer from his studio window, March 17, 2013. ___ A greeting for BenedictWe are brothers. Francis, upon meeting Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI for the first time after the election, at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, March 23, 2013. ___ A welcoming phraseWho am I to judge? Francis, responding to a question about a purportedly gay priest, in a comment that set the tone for a papacy more welcoming to LGBTQ+ Catholics, July 28, 2013. ___ A greeting for the patriarchWe are brothers. Francis, to Patriarch Kirill during the first-ever papal meeting with the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, in the Havana airport, Feb. 13, 2016. ___A message on the sacramentsIn certain cases, this can include the help of the sacraments. Hence, I want to remind priests that the confessional must not be a torture chamber, but rather an encounter with the Lords mercy. I would also point out that the Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak. Footnote 351 in encyclical Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), referencing Francis writings about access to the Eucharist, April 8, 2016. ___An outreach to IslamThe meeting is the message. Francis, upon meeting Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, the prestigious Sunni Muslim center of learning, after a long freeze in relations, May 23, 2016. ___On criticismIts an honor if the Americans attack me. Francis quip to French journalist-author Nicholas Seneze, referring to U.S. conservative criticism, aboard the papal plane about Senezes book How America Wants to Change the Pope, Sept. 4, 2019.___ On the pandemicWe have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time, important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other. Francis, praying for an end to the coronavirus pandemic in St. Peters Square, March 27, 2020.___On Indigenous peopleI am sorry. I ask forgiveness, in particular, for the ways in which many members of the church and of religious communities cooperated, not least through their indifference, in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of that time, which culminated in the system of residential schools. Francis, apologizing for abuses of Indigenous peoples in Canadas residential schools, at the site of a former school in Maskwacis, Alberta, July 25, 2022.___On ArgentinaI dont know if youre familiar with this theological-cultural history, that the guardian angels of some countries got mad with God and told him: Father, you were unfair to us you gave each of our countries a wealth: cattle, agriculture, mining. And to the Argentines you gave them everything. Everything! They have all the wealth. And it is said that God thought a little. But to balance it out, I gave Argentina Argentines. Francis, in an interview with The Associated Press, Jan. 24, 2023.___ On homosexualityBeing homosexual is not a crime. Francis, in an interview with The Associated Press, referring to countries that criminalize homosexuality, Jan. 24, 2023. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Boston Marathon Race Director Dave McGillivray, right, sends a group of Massachusetts National Guard members across the start line, launching the 129th edition of the race, in Hopkinton, Mass, early Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jennifer McDermott)2025-04-21T11:09:01Z HOPKINTON, Mass. (AP) A group of Massachusetts National Guard members early Monday crossed the Boston Marathon start line, launching the 129th edition of the worlds oldest and most prestigious annual marathon.Race Director Dave McGillivray sent the group of about 40 people in uniform off at 6 a.m. He thanked them for their service and said its a highlight of the day to see them out on the course each year. It was extra special this year since Monday is the 250th anniversary of Patriots Day, McGillivray said. The race is held annually on the state holiday that commemorates the start of the Revolutionary War; the anniversary was marked at the start by a special logo painted on the street, and a ceremonial ride was planned at the finish.We appreciate their service, and just the fact that its Patriots Day gives it even more meaning, he said. One of the military marchers, Lt. John Lee, said that all of the history comes to the forefront on a special day like today. I just wanted to be a part of it, he said. The town of Hopkinton, located about 26.2 miles (42.1 kilometers) west of Boston, is the gathering place for a field of about 30,000 runners preparing for the trek to Copley Square. A group of middle school and high school students from the town wore T-shirts to commemorate the Patriots Day anniversary. They brought American flags to wave at the runners before they cross the start line. Its a good way to welcome the runners and show that they are appreciated in the town, 14-year-old Vanshika Kukunoor said. Race organizers are also celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first wheelchair race. Bob Hall begged his way into the 1975 Boston Marathon, promising to finish the course in 3 hours or less. He did it, and since then the wheelchair marathon has grown into a highly competitive event not just in Boston, but around the world. Forecasts called for partly sunny skies, light winds and temperatures mostly in the 50s to low-60s for those who make it to Back Bay in the afternoon. McGillivray will jump in with the second wave of athletes to start the race with his son, making this his 53rd Boston Marathon.I think itll be perfect conditions for all of us, McGillivray said. This is 12 months of planning. So many different organizations and cities are involved. It all just needs to come together, all aligned. Typically it does. And thats what were expecting. Reigning champions Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia and Hellen Obiri of Kenya return to defend their titles. Lemma separated from the pack of elite mens runners early on last year and ran alone most of the morning, finishing in the 10th fastest time in race history. Most of the top mens finishers from 2024 are returning, including Kenyas Evans Chebet, the two-time Boston Marathon champion who was third last year.Obiri is trying to become the first woman to win three in a row since 1999. Last year Obiri broke away from a large pack late to become the first woman to repeat as Boston Marathon champion since 2005. Top American contenders include Emma Bates. The former Boston resident finished fifth in the womens race in 2023 and 12th last year, making her the highest American finisher both years. This year the womens field will be the fastest ever, with 14 athletes who have personal-best marathon times below 2 hours, 26 minutes, according to the Boston Athletic Association. ___AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports

The Jets will pick up the fifth-year options for the 2026 season for all three of their 2022 first-round picks -- cornerback Sauce Gardner, wide receiver Garrett Wilson and pass rusher Jermaine Johnson -- general manager Darren Mougey announced Monday.

Simone Biles suffered from the "twisties" ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics, five years before she withdrew from the team competition at the Tokyo Games with the same mental block.

A man walks past Google's offices in London's Kings Cross area, on Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Melley, File)2025-04-21T07:00:06Z Google will confront an existential threat Monday as the U.S. government tries to break up the company as punishment for turning its revolutionary search engine into a ruthless monopoly.The drama will unfold in a Washington courtroom during the next three weeks during hearings that will determine how the company should be penalized for operating an illegal monopoly in search. The proceedings, known in legal parlance as a remedy hearing, feature a parade of witnesses that includes Google CEO Sundar Pichai. The U.S. Department of Justice is asking a federal judge to order a radical shake-up that would ban Google from striking the multibillion dollar deals with Apple and other tech companies that shield its search engine from competition, share its repository of valuable user data with rivals and force a sale of its popular Chrome browser. The moment of reckoning comes four-and-half-years after the Justice Department filed a landmark lawsuit alleging Googles search engine had been abusing its power as the internets main gateway to stifle competition and innovation for more than a decade. After the case finally went to trial in 2023, a federal judge last year ruled Google had been making anti-competitive deals to lock in its search engine as the go-to place for digital information on the iPhone, personal computers and other widely used devices, including those running on its own Android software. That landmark ruling by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta sets up a high-stakes drama that will determine the penalties for Googles misconduct in a search market that it has defined since Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded the company in a Silicon Valley garage in 1998.Since that austere start, Google has expanded far beyond search to become a powerhouse in email, digital mapping, online video, web browsing, smartphone software and data centers. Seizing upon its victory in the search case, the Justice Department is now setting out to prove that radical steps must be taken to rein in Google and its corporate parent, Alphabet Inc. Googles illegal conduct has created an economic goliath, one that wreaks havoc over the marketplace to ensure that no matter what occurs Google always wins, the Justice Department argued in documents outlining its proposed penalties. The American people thus are forced to accept the unbridled demands and shifting, ideological preferences of an economic leviathan in return for a search engine the public may enjoy.Although the proposed penalties were originally made under President Joe Bidens term, they are still being embraced by the Justice Department under President Donald Trump, whose first administration filed the case against Google. Since the change in administrations, the Justice Department has also attempted to cast Googles immense power as a threat to freedom, too.The American dream is about higher values than just cheap goods and free online services, the Justice Department wrote in a March 7 filing with Mehta. These values include freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom to innovate, and freedom to compete in a market undistorted by the controlling hand of a monopolist. Google is arguing the governments proposed changes are unwarranted under a ruling that its search engine popularity among consumers is one of the main reasons it has become so dominant. The unprecedented array of proposed remedies would harm consumers and innovation, as well as future competition in search and search ads in addition to numerous other adjacent markets, Google lawyers said in a filing leading up to hearings. They bear little or no relationship to the conduct found anticompetitive, and are contrary to the law.Google also is sounding alarms about the proposed requirements to share online search data with rivals and the proposed sale of Chrome posing privacy and security risks. The breadth and depth of the proposed remedies risks doing significant damage to a complex ecosystem. Some of the proposed remedies would imperil browser developers and jeopardize the digital security of millions of consumers. The showdown over Googles fate marks the climax of the biggest antitrust case in the U.S. since the Justice Department sued Microsoft in the late 1990s for leveraging its Windows software for personal computers to crush potential rivals. The Microsoft battle culminated in a federal judge declaring the company an illegal monopoly and ordering a partial breakup a remedy that was eventually overturned by an appeals court.Google intends to file an appeal of Mehtas ruling from last year that branded its search engine as an illegal monopoly but cant do so until the remedy hearings are completed. After closing arguments are presented in late May, Mehta intends to make his decision on the remedies before Labor Day. The search case marked the first in a succession of antitrust cases that have been brought against a litany of tech giants that include Facebook and Instagram parent Meta Platforms, which is currently fighting allegations of running an illegal monopoly in social media in another Washington D.C. trial. Other antitrust cases have been brought against both Apple and Amazon, too.The Justice Department also targeted Googles digital advertising network in a separate antitrust case that resulted last week in another federal judges decision that found the company was abusing its power in that market, too. That ruling means Google will be heading into another remedy hearing that could once again raise the specter of a breakup later this year or early next year. MICHAEL LIEDTKE Liedtke has been covering technology and wide range of other business topics for The Associated Press since the turn of the century. twitter mailto

This article originally appeared in Bay Area Reporter. Pope Francis, who made the Catholic Church less hostile toward LGBTQ+ people, died Monday in Rome. He was 88.For most of his life, he was Jorge Mario Bergoglio, and at the time he was elected the churchs 266th pontiff, he was the cardinal archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, which made him the first pope from the Americas, and the first from outside Europe since the eighth century.In his 12 years on the throne of St. Peter, Francis invoked the ire of some conservatives in the church who saw in him a move back to the liberalizing tendencies of the mid-20th century that had been halted by his predecessors, popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Francis published a papal encyclical on climate change, spoke on behalf of migrants, and butted heads with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, the latter of whom is Catholic, and whom he met for the first time April 20, which was Easter Sunday.But perhaps nowhere was this dissatisfaction more evident than on the issue of LGBTQ+ peoples place in the church, which with over 1.4 billion members is the worlds largest Christian denomination. Long-standing Catholic teaching is that while homosexuality isnt sinful per se, it is a sin to have sex with someone of the same sex.Shortly after he became pope in 2013, Francis became The Advocates person of the year after he said to a reporter, If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?At the time, the prominent LGBTQ+ publication stated this was a stark change in rhetoric from his two predecessors.Read moreThe post Pope Francis, who changed Catholic approach to LGBTQs, dies appeared first on News Is Out.

With the Trump administrations harsh rhetoric and policies coming into effect, its a difficult year to be queer or a business owner. Kristina Wynne hopes to alleviate some of that.Now entering its sixth year, the Illinois LGBT Chamber of Commerce LGBTQ+ Biz Bootcamp aims to lift up and prepare LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs for a successful future. The program leaves participants with a full business plan they can use to gain sponsors and capital in the future.In 2019, Wynne was working for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, which is where she learned more about supporting business owners and their growth. Then-LGBT Chamber of Commerce Director, Jerome Holston, reached and asked her about potentially starting an LGBT-focused business program through the Chamber, which she accepted.After building the curriculum, Wynne launched the first cohort in 2019. She said she received good feedback at the time and has seen those people doing well today in the business world.The program is eight weeks long and runs five hours every Saturday, with 10-15 people in each cohort. The application is intensiveentrepreneurs should have an LLC filed, a clear list of products and services, a type of financial statement and much more. After submitting, applicants go through an interview. Wynne said this vetting process looks for people who are hungry for growth and know clearly what their business is.The curriculum is geared specifically to those at startup level, Wynne said. Businesses dont even need to be established a full year, just generating revenue and providing a service or product. The final product of the boot camp is a full-fledged, 30-40 page document and pitch deck to talk through the business plan.We want to help that business owner who is new, but making money, create a business plan, she said. We know access to capital is a very large barrier for small, diverse businesses [and] startup entrepreneurs and thats why thats important, because you can use a business plan to apply for a loan, you can use a business plan to write a grant for your business.Some of the main components of the final plan include what products and services entrepreneurs are offering, how theyre pricing and why, who the customer is, what operating systems theyre using, who they are looking to hire and more.Theres also the OUT-Pitch Competition with financial support on the linethe winner of the pitch competition will receive a $2,500 small business grant from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and the runner-up will receive a $1,000 grant from the LGBT Business Foundation of Illinois.The boot camp also receives sponsors, including last years big sponsor, J.P. Morgan Chase. Wynne said its been exciting to see how the program has grown and expanded in the past yearsthe idea to create a firm business plan wasnt fully established until the second year.Tyris Manney, founder of Tyris Manney Beauty, first heard about the boot camp in summer 2023 when he was introduced to the LGBT Chamber of Commerce.What drew me to it was it was just an educational program to help small businesses or startups get to the next level, he said. I needed guidance and help because I hadnt had any help except like, Google.Since participating, he said he and those from his cohort have kept in touch and helped each other out in business. He said he also reaches out to Wynne frequently for advice due to her strong background and network.After completing the program, Manney said his business shot uphe was featured in a number of publications and saw an increase in sales. He said the business plan he formed during the boot camp helped him see his potential and build a plan to get there.This year may mark different challenges outside of work for LGBTQ+ business owners, with the Trump administration fighting to roll back LGBTQ+ and especially trans rights across the nation. Despite rising threats at a federal level, Wynne said she still feels confident in her business owners due to the amount of support and resources available in Illinois and Chicago.The atmosphere, the environment isnt great, she said. It doesnt feel great, but still see the opportunity even in the fog. Really lean into your local opportunitiestheyre still funding business, theyre still putting behind programs, theyre still looking to partner and support.Some of the most memorable feedback Wynne has received over the years is from people who were about to give on their business. Shes had the opportunity to help them put these puzzle pieces together so they feel confident and capable about making business decisions and growing their company. She brings subject matter and classroom mentors in to provide support beyond the curriculum.In future years, Wynne hopes to expand and teach entrepreneurs how to navigate corporate and government contracting as well as LGBT Business Enterprise certification. She said shes seen the impact the business boot camp has had on the lives of business owners, and she hopes people will continue to support and partner with it.We know that small businesses hire each other. Weve seen the economic impact that its having beyond the program as well, she said. Whomever is reading this, it doesnt matter what level of support you are able to offer. All of it helps.This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship lab through News is Out. The lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBCUniversal.The post LGBTQ+ Business Bootcamp aims to uplift and guide queer entrepreneurs appeared first on News Is Out.

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In one of her Instagram posts, multimedia artist Tricia Rainwater stands inside a picnic shelter at Cadron Settlement Park in Cadron, Arkansas.She wears a red plaid dress and black laced-up boots, with some of her tattoos visible on her legs and left hand. Her long, dark hair frames her face, and large hoops hang from her earlobes.Shes looking directly at her cameras lens, her brown eyes windows to a deep soul and complexities.Rainwater, a mixed Choctaw, Indigiqueer femme, spent September 2022 traveling the Choctaw route of the Trail of Tears, retracing the steps of her ancestors. In the 1830s, the Choctaw people and other Indigenous nations were forcibly removed from Deep South states, including Mississippi, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.I had started to have dreams where I was traveling through Mississippi where my grandmother was from and I was like, What if I just rent a car and travel it [i.e., the Trail of Tears] and photograph myself the way I do at home? Rainwater said in a Zoom video call with the Bay Area Reporter.After being awarded a $20,000 SF Artist grant by the San Francisco Arts Commission to fund her project idea, she spent six months researching and combing through historical archives, reaching out to the Choctaw Nation for guidance.Her documentation of her journey included photos of her homelands and herself at notable sites, journaling, collecting soil from the trail in Ziploc bags, and posting on her Instagram page, such as about her stop in Cadron.It was a means for her to process the past, heal in the present, and continue building an archive of her personal and cultural histories.My Indigiqueerness my being Native and queer feels like it factors into everything. It definitely is the lens I make my art through, she said.During her journey along the Trail of Tears, Tricia Rainwater collected soil from homelands and sites connected to the Choctaw people. This photograph, titled Military Trail (2023), was featured in the Falama: To Return exhibition at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Photo: Tricia RainwaterAll things consideredRainwaters Instagram page is a multiyear-spanning account of someone who has repeatedly met hardships head-on, at times taking a step back in order to reassess and then progress.Chock-full of rawness and vulnerability, her posts have the potential to intimidate viewers with their boldness, while also conjuring empathy.The same is the case with her art.Work like mine shines a light on lives that people often look away from. When theyre in a gallery and theyre viewing my photos, they have to sit with it. I get to be in control of the narrative, and they have to look at what I want them to look at, she said.Rainwater, 40, has lived in San Francisco for 17 years, with the overwhelming majority of that time devoted to her art practice. Shes in a good place right now, she said, able to expend energy and effort toward her photography and other projects while also holding down a remote gig at a tech company (the name of which she did not disclose).I tell everyone that I have two full-time jobs, and it truly feels like that. They compete at times, but thats just the creative hustle in San Francisco, she said.Every artist has their origin story about a particular moment when it became clear that art was their calling. For Rainwater, it was taking photographs of nature during childhood, using cameras her parents had gifted her, and then showing her work at the Lodi Grape and Wine Festival in Californias Central Valley.I would enter my photographs these very cute ones of me looking up at trees through the branches. It felt so cool that I had this original idea. And when I started getting ribbons, I was like, Oh, I have something. This is something, Rainwater said.She stuck with it, taking more scenic photos, as well as photos of her family and herself. When she moved to San Francisco in her early 20s, the latter took on a new purpose.I realized how much trauma I had from childhood and that I needed to process it. That began the journey of self-portraiture, where I was photographing my emotions and realizing all I needed to process externally in therapy. And I continued that for years, and it really helped me. It still does, Rainwater said.Facing the cameras lensSelf-portraits became Rainwaters way of confronting and healing from difficult times, such as her fathers alleged abusiveness (she has cut off contact with him) and her mothers long battle with kidney and heart failure and death in 2016.In the photograph Aftermath, which is viewable on her Instagram page, she stands in her mothers narrow kitchen in a black dress and black boots. She gazes solemnly at the camera, holding a bouquet of flowers; similar floral arrangements rest on the countertops.Her death was really, really hard and really impacted my work. I photographed all the objects in her house as I was clearing it out. It was very emotional, but felt very important, Rainwater said.Several years later, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, with the shelter-in-place mandate, face-mask requirement, six-feet-apart social distancing, and the virus itself affecting everyone in some way. Rainwater and her then-spouse found some relief walking in Golden Gate Park with their dogs.She brought along her vintage Nikon D60 camera and captured shots of herself within the parks vast forest sometimes standing openly, surrounded by trees; other times her face or body partially obscured by branches and shrubbery.I was processing all these emotions around family getting sick and dying and working in a place I was unhappy. And so going into Golden Gate Park and escaping into the woods making these beautiful photographs where I was evoking these emotions and getting back into nature felt very healing for me, she said.Rainwater was not quite out of the woods or park when COVID-19 restrictions somewhat lessened, as the time period also proved to be a wakeup call about her marriage.I think I was one of those people when I was in the pandemic who felt like my marriage had had a resurgence and it was going to be fine. And then it hit me, when the pandemic started to ease a bit. I was like, Oh shit, Im really unhappy.The dissolution of her 11-year relationship spurred her back into wanting to confront the challenging aspects of her life.In one of her self-portraits from this period, The Long Goodbye (2021), Rainwater, perceivably distraught, sits on the bed she had shared with her ex; moving boxes are stacked on the floor. In another, titled How it all ends up (2021), her mouth is agape and her wedding rings rest on her tongue.I turned the camera on myself, she said. Things that I think some people have considered really melodramatic felt really empowering to me.A lasting impactIn another Instagram post, Rainwater stands in Joaquin Miller Park in Oakland, wearing a black top, denim skirt, and boots. She stares into the cameras lens, her facial expression stoic yet mournful, as she holds a plastic bag with both hands, close to her chest. She brought back the soil she retrieved from the Trail of Tears to the Bay Area, to her home.The photograph, titled Military Road Meets Joaquin Miller (2024), was featured in the exhibition Falama: To Return at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.Tricia Rainwaters multimedia installation Falamvt ishla chike (2024) draws attention to missing Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people. It was featured in the Allegedly the worst is behind us group exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art San Jos. Photo: Courtesy the artistKija Lucas, CIIS curator for the arts, noted that Rainwaters art is unique.Tricias work is incredibly brave and vulnerable. She is her whole self in these portraits, holding the land in her hands, and the stories of her ancestors in her blood. The portraits ask the viewer to look at her, and consider the weight of generations that she carries with her. They are quiet and direct, stern and soft all at once, Lucas, an ally, wrote in an email to the B.A.R.Since receiving the SFA grant and completing her Trail of Tears project, Rainwaters found that more gallery and institution doors have opened for her.I think people see that I can make the work. And now theyre like, Tricia, come work with us. Ive been at this for 16 years, and there really is a level of having to prove that youre going to make the work and show up, she said.Rainwater continues to center on self-portraiture but has expanded her portfolio more so in recent years, such as with sculpture work, large-scale installations, and murals.In the Allegedly the worst is behind us exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art San Jos, she showcased her work Falamvt ishla chike (2024), which explores the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit (MMIWG2S) people.In a media landscape where Indigenous lives are too often erased or reduced to statistics, Tricia Rainwaters work stands out as an act of radical archiving, wrote Zo Latzer, ICA San Joss curator and director of public programs, in an email to the B.A.R.The immersive installation features a mural of Facebook-sourced missing person posters of MMIWG2S people and four wooden mobiles with fabric ribbons, representing the life of each person and the connection between generations, and metal jingles, symbolizing loss. Rainwaters voice can be heard repeating the Choctaw phrase, Falamvt ishla chike (a wish for someone to return) and saying the names of those missing.She carefully preserves and re-presents the grassroots labor of families and communities searching for their loved ones. Her work insists that these individuals not be forgotten, that their absence be acknowledged publicly, and that the violence behind their disappearance be named. In doing so, [she] reminds us that artists are often the ones doing the vital archival labor that institutions overlookprotecting not just history, but memory, commented Latzer, who is queer and bisexual.Rainwaters friend and fellow artist Caleb Luna, Ph.D., described her as an incredibly important knowledge holder for her people in an email to the B.A.R.Luna, who identifies as queer and nonbinary trans, is currently an assistant professor of feminist studies at UC Santa Barbara.Through Rainwaters work, as well as her friendship, my own knowledge and understanding of issues impacting Indigenous women has been greatly expanded, Luna commented. Rainwaters work shines important light on overlooked issues and pushes the boundaries of Indigenous feminism.Time has told, time will tellDuring the height of the pandemic, Rainwater hand-painted squares of fabric and assembled them together as a sort of patchwork quilt, with How the Fuck Are You OK. embroidered on it (ok., 2020).In a January 30, 2025 Instagram post, she wrote that friends had recently stopped by her studio and expressed that the artwork resonated with them.[The piece] feels on point for this moment, the caption reads. Its been hidden away but lately Ive had it leaned against a door to give it some room to breathe, speak, and maybe inspire new works.It seems to have done just that, as Rainwater is currently busying herself with new projects and plans to return to the South this summer, specifically Mississippi, to take more photographs of her homelands.One can expect for her to take the reins of the narrative in these endeavors and unapologetically so.Artists have a lot of power in that way. They can broach heavy subjects and subjects that people dont want to talk about, Rainwater said. Continuing to do that is important.This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship lab through News is Out. The lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBCUniversal.The post Indigiqueer artist Tricia Rainwater digs deep into personal, cultural histories appeared first on News Is Out.

Kristen Stewart and Dylan Meyer have officially tied the knot!The two reportedly got married at their home in Los Angeles on Sunday, April 20. Theyve been engaged since 2021 roughly two years after they went public with their relationship."We might just go do it this weekend, I dont know, and then, like, just hang out with everyone afterwards," Stewart joked with Stephen Colbert back in 2022. "I just want to do it, you know? Im not a good planner."It certainly took a little longer than that for everything to come together, but the deed is done and we couldnt be happier for them! So to help celebrate, lets take a stroll through some of the cutest moments the notoriously private couple have shared in the public eye.1. Making things Instagram officialSee on InstagramStewart and Meyer had already been spotted hanging out a few months earlier, but they confirmed the dating rumors with this cute pic posted to Instagram in October 2019.2. Wishing Kristen a happy 30th birthdaySee on InstagramMeyers' posts featuring Stewart used to be excruciatingly rare, but we could always count on a great birthday post, starting with this first one from April 2020.3. Twinning!See on InstagramEvery queer couple does it eventually.4. Running errands together (2019)Yes, paparazzi pics are intrusive. But yes, seeing couples just casually out running errands together is adorable. We'll allow it this time!5. Zombies for Valentine's Day (2022)See on InstagramThe couple that plays dead together on Valentine's Day stays together, or something like that.6. Birthday shenanigansSee on Instagram"Time looks good on you, dude," Meyer captioned this 2022 birthday post. We concur.7. This sweet pre-election post.See on InstagramThis 2020 post encouraging people to vote undoubtedly also encouraged a lot of people to go get themselves a girl who looks at them like that...8. At The Hollywood Reporter Nominees Night (2022)...and like this...9. Pre-Oscars cuteness...and also like that.10. At the Academy AwardsLook, they're just cute, okay?11. Valentine's Day again and againSee on InstagramHere's to many more years of adorable posts!

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Lesbian Visibility Week USA kicks off on Monday, April 21 and this years theme is Celebrating Rainbow Families. Powered by Curve Foundation, a nonprofit championing lesbian and queer womens stories and culture, the week-long celebration includes events like the release of the 2025 Curve Power List, National Lesbian flag raisings, panels and a short film festival. Lesbian Visibility Week was founded by Linda Riley in 2020 to shine a light on the experiences of LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary people. Its about increasing visibility, building understanding, and creating a legacy of support for our community. Riley, the publisher and CEO ofDIVA Magazine, has long been a force in LGBTQ+ advocacy, with leadership roles at organizations like GLAAD, Stonewall Housing, and Diversity Role Models. Shes also served as the Labour Partys LGBT Diversity lead since 2017.The Curve Foundation leads Lesbian Visibility Week in the U.S. and is the only national nonprofit dedicated to uplifting LGBTQ+ womens culture and stories through an intergenerational lens. Curves programs center and celebrate the roles lesbians and queer women play in society, and the contributions we continue to make. The foundation is inspired by the work of Curve Magazine, launched in 1991 by Franco Stevens. Stevens reacquiredCurvemagazine in 2020 and gifted it to the Foundation to help amplify its mission and expand the reach of the brand.Want to learn more about Lesbian Visibility Week and how you can participate? Check out the activation pack and visit lesbianvisibilityweek.com.The post Lesbian Visibility Week 2025 kicks off with a slate of events appeared first on News Is Out.

Kristen Stewart and Dylan Meyer have officially tied the knot. The couple wed in an intimate ceremony at their Los Angeles home on Sunday, April 20, 2025, surrounded by close friends and family, including actress Ashley Benson and her husband Brandon Davis. Stewart, 35, and Meyer, 37, first met on the set of the 2013 film American Ultra but reconnected in 2019. Their relationship became publicSource

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Pope Francis receives U.S. Vice President JD Vance, right, before bestowing the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and the world) blessing in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP, HO)2025-04-21T14:28:06Z WASHINGTON (AP) One of Pope Francis final encounters before his death was with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who visited the Vatican over the weekend. The meeting took place on Easter Sunday. Vance, a Catholic convert, entered the room and reached down for the popes hand. Hello, the vice president said. So good to see you.Francis was sitting in a wheelchair, and his words were inaudible in a video released by the Vatican. I know youve not been feeling great, but its good see you in better health, Vance said.A priest serving as a translator spoke for the pope. These are for your children, the priest said as someone presented Vance with chocolate eggs. Next came a tray of additional gifts, including rosaries and a Vatican tie. Thank you, Vance said as he held the dark tie. So beautiful.They posed for a photo, Vance standing to the popes right before bidding him farewell. I pray for you every day, Vance said. God bless you.Vances visit was not without political sensitivities, and he met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin on Saturday for what the Vatican described as an exchange of opinions. The Catholic Church, under Francis leadership, has championed the rights of migrants, while Vance and President Donald Trump have advocated for crackdowns. Vances office said the vice president and the cardinal discussed their shared religious faith, Catholicism in the United States, the plight of persecuted Christian communities around the world, and President Trumps commitment to restoring world peace. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that she had spoken to members of Vances team on Monday morning after Francis death.They expressed how excited and grateful they were for the opportunity to have met with the pope just yesterday, she said. Leavitt added that Francis touched millions of lives throughout his tenure as the head of the Catholic Church and so its a solemn day for Catholics around the world and we are praying for all those who loved the pope and believed in him. Trump issued a statement on Truth Social: Rest in Peace Pope Francis! May God Bless him and all who loved him! At the White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday, Trump said he signed an executive order for U.S. flags to fly at half-staff in the popes honor. He was a good man, the president told reporters. He loved the world and its an honor to do that.Vance, who continued on to India after Italy, posted additional thoughts on social media. I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis. My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him, he wrote on X. I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill.Vance shared a link to remarks that Francis gave on March 27, 2020, as COVID-19 was spreading around the globe. Ill always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of COVID, Vance wrote. It was really quite beautiful.Francis had spoken from St. Peters Basilica in Rome. Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities, he said. It has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void.He encouraged people to rely on their faith to help then endure because with God life never dies. CHRIS MEGERIAN Megerian covers the White House for The Associated Press. He previously wrote about the Russia investigation, climate change, law enforcement and politics in California and New Jersey. twitter mailto

FILE.- Mourners carry the bodies of 8 Red Crescent emergency responders, recovered in Rafah a week after an Israeli attack, as they are transported for burial from a hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on Monday, March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana,File)2025-04-21T18:18:38Z CAIRO (AP) The main Palestinian rescue service in Gaza on Monday condemned Israels probe into the killings of 15 medical workers last month, calling it a fabricated investigation.The army announced the results of its investigation on Sunday, saying it had found professional failures and dismissing a deputy commander in what it described as an accident.A total of 15 people were killed in the March 23 incident including eight medics with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, six members of the Hamas governments Civil Defense unit and a United Nations staffer. Troops bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. U.N. and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later.In a statement, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the investigation underscores the occupations persistence in shielding the truth from the world. It accused Israel of making fallacious allegations that medical rescue teams are part of Hamas and asked why Israel continues to detain a paramedic who survived the attack.We call on the international community to abstain from validating the results of the occupations fabricated investigation, it said. Israel at first claimed the medics vehicles were acting suspiciously and did not have emergency signals on when troops opened fire. But the army later backtracked after cellphone video recovered from one medic showed the ambulances had lights flashing and logos visible as they pulled up to help another ambulance that earlier came under fire.The military said six of those killed were Hamas militants, but has given little evidenced to support the claim.The shootings outraged many in the international community, with some calling the killings a war crime.

Pope Francis's death at 88, just hours after meeting U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Easter Sunday, has ignited a flurry of online speculation and dark humor. The timing of the meeting and the pontiff's passing led to trending hashtags like #JDVanceKilledThePope and #Antichrist.The meeting between Pope Francis and JD Vance was not initially planned. Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, had expressed a desire to meet the Pope during his Easter visit to Rome. Despite initial hesitations due to past criticisms of the Trump administration's immigration policies, Pope Francis agreed to a brief meeting at Casa Santa Marta. During their encounter, Vance conveyed his prayers and well-wishes, noting that the Pope appeared "obviously very ill." (@) The Pope's final address, delivered later that day, emphasized compassion for migrants and the marginalized, themes that have been central to his papacy. Observers noted the contrast between this message and the policies advocated by Vance and the Trump administration, especially in comparison to Trumps rather aggressive Easter message on Truth Social, where he once again attacked Biden and anyone else whod ever questioned him on anything. (@) Online reactions to the timing of the Popes death were swift and pointed. One user remarked, "Not him passing away 4 hours after this. JD Vance is the Antichrist confirmed." (@) Another quipped, "Can you meet with Putin next?" (@) Reddit threads were filled with similar sentiments, with users suggesting that Vance's presence was detrimental to those he met. from picsWhile the online memes are largely tongue-in-cheek, they speak volumes about how Vance is perceived in certain corners of the internet, especially when juxtaposed with a Pope known for preaching compassion and inclusion. In the wake of Franciss death, the symbolism of Vance being among his final visitors has sparked everything from conspiracy theories to commentary about political opportunism.Whether you think its a coincidence, divine irony, or just X doing what X does best, one things clear: the internet is not letting this moment go quietly.Read on for more reactions as users try to make sense of one of the most bizarre Easter headlines in recent memory. (@) "Now I'm not saying that JD Vance killed the Pope, per se. I just think his actions raise some questions, like for example: Did JD Vance kill the Pope?" (@) "Polonium-210 transfer #JDVanceKilledThePope" (@) "This is all the proof I need that JD is in fact the antichrist" (@) "#JDVanceKilledThePope is trending. Because @JDVance killed the Pope." (@) "Is 20 hours the typical length of time it takes to die after encountering a demon sent by the Antichrist?" (@) "Things to keep away from JD Vance: Couches Trophies Popes" (@) "JD Vance started his week breaking the Ohio State Championship trophy...and then killed the Pope on Sunday... #JDVanceKilledThePope #Pope #JDVanceSucks" (@) "Vance meeting the Pope was a bad omen. If he swings by the Dalai Lama next, were in real trouble." (@) "Antichrist is trending." (@) "I'm not even religious but the Pope dying at Easter Monday after meeting with JD Vance when he previously refused his visit is God himself pointing his finger at the Antichrist" (@) "So #JDVancekilledthePope, hm whats next? Trump killing the King of England or Musk killing Obama or the Trump children killing Oprah? No matter what JD Vancedo now, we all are going to think of him pushing and chasing to meet the Pope at Easter(!), then the Pope dies after." (@) "Just a few hours after this meeting with @JDVance the Pope was dead. Can you imagine the conspiracy theories that would come if Vance was a Democrat?!" (@) "The very last thing Pope Francis did was defend immigrants to JD Vances face. He was a good man and a true Catholic. RIP" (@) "If 15m with @JDVance can kill the Pope, imagine the wreckage this cretin will cause on all those who practice unconditional love, kindness and tolerance of all humans despite skin-color or sexual orientation; and who want to see clean water & air for their kids and grandkids." (@) "I cannot believe pope francis' last act before going upstairs was to call for a ceasefire and tell jd vance to eat shit and die. queen shit."