Pope Leo XIV will begin his journey to four African countries – Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea – on April 13, 2026.

Africa represents the fastest-growing part of the Catholic Church worldwide, seeing an increase from 281 million members in 2023 to over 288 million in 2024.

The Vatican has announced a theme...Read more

Friends can help us with all kinds of things in life. How could I forget moving that piano for friends in Chicago? Fortunately, none of us ended up in the ER.

One of the most important things friends do, though, might seem surprising: They help us get to know ourselves.

Both in their 50s, Cindy and Ann had been friends since ...Read more

Amid a renaissance in the science of psychedelics, public interest in psilocybin – or magic mushrooms, as they’ve long been known – is surging.

One study found that rates of psilocybin use increased 44% among adults ages 18-29 from 2019 to 2023, and 188% among those over age 30. This amounts to more than 5 million adults using ...Read more

North America’s bee populations are in trouble, but don’t blame the honey bees. While some people argue that an overabundance of managed honey bees – those raised to help pollinate crops and produce honey – is causing native bees to disappear, the evidence doesn’t support the claim.

What is true is that populations of many ...Read more

NEW YORK —Sgt. Erik Duran, the “Cooler Cop” NYPD narcotics officer who killed a fleeing suspect by hurling a cooler at him following a Bronx buy-and-bust operation three years ago was sentenced to three to nine years in prison Thursday.

Duran, 38, was convicted of second-degree manslaughter in February following a Bronx Criminal Court non...Read more

It’s as if no time has passed since Florida residents let out a collective sigh of relief after a quiet hurricane season came to a close in November.

But June 1, the start of hurricane season, approaches. And with it, comes new predictions.

The earliest of which was released Thursday by Colorado State University, a school renowned for its ...Read more

NEW YORK — Top City Hall and NYPD officials took a field trip to Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday to learn more about how the Midwestern city works to de-escalate protests with a special “Dialogue Unit.”

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has previously held up the city’s protest policing methods as a model for ensuring nonviolent responses, and the trip...Read more

The crescent Earth — our oasis holding everything we cherish, now just a speck in the infinite blackness — seemed to kiss the jagged lunar surface. The moon’s thousands of scars projected themselves across the Earth as it slowly slipped out of sight.

“I’m actually getting chills right now just thinking about it,” said Artemis II ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Gov. Wes Moore directed hundreds of millions of dollars toward lowering utility bills when he signed Maryland’s fiscal 2027 budget into law, drawing sharp criticism from Maryland Republicans and mixed reactions from environmental advocates.

“This budget puts $100 million back into people’s pockets through utility fee relief,...Read more

BOSTON — Karen Read’s lawyer David Yannetti will represent the Boston police officer accused of manslaughter in the on-duty shooting of carjacking suspect Stephenson King.

Yannetti wrote that he was honored to defend Officer Nicholas O’Malley, who he described as “a good man who finds himself falsely accused of manslaughter,” in a ...Read more

The California Teachers Association lashed out at Gov. Gavin Newsom this week, as they reported that more than 100 California school districts have issued 2,400 preliminary layoff notices in the last month.

The controversial plan, included in Newsom’s 2026-27 budget proposal, would withhold $5.6 billion in constitutionally mandated, voter-...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Kentucky Court of Appeals judge has denied former Gov. Matt Bevin’s request to overturn a ruling from last year that allowed his son to file for child support.

In an opinion issued April 8, Court of Appeals Judge Will Moynahan said there is a legitimate question in the case if Jonah Bevin, who is now 19 and one of four ...Read more

The United States and Iran prepared for peace talks in Pakistan with a fragile ceasefire largely holding, though issues such as Israel’s offensive in Lebanon and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz remain unresolved.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance is expected to lead the American delegation in discussions scheduled for Islamabad on Saturday, ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Maryland officials said Thursday they have reached a settlement in principle with the owner and operator of the cargo ship involved in the 2024 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, resolving a portion of the state’s claims but stopping short of a final, binding agreement.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced...Read more

NEW YORK — As New York City prepares to launch free child care for 2-year-olds, Mayor Zohran Mamdani plans to open most of the first 2,000 seats in the initiative, known as “2-K,” in programs that operate on a full-day year-round schedule, he’s set to announce Thursday in Brooklyn.

The extended days and hours are meant to ease the ...Read more

NEW YORK — ICE agents operating in New York City and Long Island have conducted scores of suspicionless stops and unlawful arrests of Latinos based solely on the color of their skin, a massive class action suit filed in Brooklyn federal court Thursday claims.

The lawsuit filed by the Legal Aid Society, the NYCLU, Make the Road NY, and others ...Read more

CHICAGO — City Council progressives are among those expressing fresh gripes over Mayor Brandon Johnson’s move to make them cover pension costs for their part-time aides, the latest City Hall rift as fiscal woes and political divisions from the fight over this year’s budget continue to fester.

North Side Ald. Maria Hadden on Wednesday ...Read more

CHICAGO — In Illinois, the line between legal politics and bribery has always seemed a blurry one.

Through the years, it’s been debated in bars, argued in newspapers, litigated in court, decided by juries and appealed all the way to the Supreme Court.

Over the next two weeks, the heavyweight fight over what constitutes legal political ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — You're going to hear a lot about El Niño this year.

The term refers to warmer-than-average waters along the equatorial Pacific that can influence weather across the globe, raising the odds of searing drought in some regions and torrential rain in others. Indicators increasingly suggest such an event will develop later this ...Read more

The U.S. and Iran prepared for peace talks in Pakistan at the weekend with a fragile ceasefire largely holding, though pivotal issues such as control over the Strait of Hormuz and Israel’s offensive in Lebanon remain unresolved.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance is expected to lead the American delegation in Islamabad on Saturday, with Iranian ...Read more