Leo XIV: Conclave elects first American Pope, Robert Francis Prevost, in the Vatican
Robert Francis Prevost was elected the 267th pope Thursday by 133 cardinals to lead the world's 1.4 billion Roman Catholics. The first pope from the United States, he chose the name Leo XIV. Robert Francis Prevost, 69, was born in Chicago and served for two decades in Peru, where he became a bishop and a naturalized citizen, then rose to lead his international religious order. Until the death of his predecessor, Francis, he held one of the most influential Vatican posts, running the office that selects and manages bishops globally. A member of the Order of St. Augustine, he resembles Francis in his commitment to the poor and migrants, and to meeting people where they are. He told the Vatican's official news website last year that "the bishop is not supposed to be a little prince sitting in his kingdom." He has spent much of his life outside the United States. Ordained in 1982 at 27, he received a doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. In Peru, he was a missionary, parish priest, teacher and bishop. As the Augustinians' leader, he visited orders around the world. He also speaks Spanish and Italian.
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Scroll.in
3 hours ago
- Scroll.in
A century later: A renewed open letter against the return of fascism
On May 1, 1925, with Mussolini already in power, a group of Italian intellectuals publicly denounced Mussolini's fascist regime in an open letter. The signatories – scientists, philosophers, writers, and artists – took a stand in support of the essential tenets of a free society: the rule of law, personal liberty, and independent thinking, culture, art, and science. Their open defiance to the brutal imposition of the fascist ideology – at great personal risk – proved that opposition was not only possible, but necessary. Today, a hundred years later, the threat of fascism is back – and so we must summon that courage and defy it again. Fascism emerged in Italy a century ago, marking the advent of modern dictatorship. Within a few years, it spread across Europe and the world, taking different names but maintaining similar forms. Wherever it seized power, it undermined the separation of powers in the service of autocracy, silenced opposition through violence, took control of the press, halted the advancement of women's rights, and crushed workers' struggles for economic justice. Inevitably, it permeated and distorted all institutions devoted to scientific, academic, and cultural activities. Its cult of death exalted imperial aggression and genocidal racism, triggering the Second World War, the Holocaust, the death of tens of millions of people, and crimes against humanity. At the same time, the resistance to fascism and the many other fascist ideologies became a fertile ground for imagining alternative ways of organising societies and international relations. The world that emerged from the Second World War – with the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the theoretical foundations of the European Union, and the legal arguments against colonialism – remained marked by deep inequalities. Yet, it represented a decisive attempt to establish an international legal order: an aspiration toward global democracy and peace, grounded in the protection of universal human rights, including not only civil and political, but also economic, social, and cultural rights. Fascism never vanished, but for a time it was held at bay. However, in the past two decades we have witnessed a renewed wave of far-right movements, often bearing unmistakably fascist traits: attacks on democratic norms and institutions, a reinvigorated nationalism laced with racist rhetoric, authoritarian impulses, and systematic assaults on the rights of those who do not fit a manufactured traditional authority, rooted in religious, sexual and gender normativity. These movements have re-emerged across the globe, including in long-standing democracies, where widespread dissatisfaction with political failure to address mounting inequalities and social exclusion has once again been exploited by new authoritarian figures. True to the old fascist script, under the guise of an unlimited popular mandate, these figures undermine national and international rule of law, targeting the independence of the judiciary, the press, institutions of culture, higher education, and science; even attempting to destroy essential data and scientific information. They fabricate 'alternative facts' and invent 'enemies within'; they weaponise security concerns to entrench their authority and that of the ultra-wealthy 1%, offering privileges in exchange for loyalty. This process is now accelerating, as dissent is increasingly suppressed through arbitrary detentions, threats of violence, deportations and an unrelenting campaign of disinformation and propaganda, operated with the support of traditional and social media barons – some merely complacent, others openly techno-fascist enthusiasts. Democracies are not flawless: they are vulnerable to misinformation and they are not yet sufficiently inclusive. However, democracies by their nature provide fertile ground for intellectual and cultural progress and therefore always have the potential to improve. In democratic societies, human rights and freedoms can expand, the arts flourish, scientific discoveries thrive, and knowledge grow. They grant the freedom to challenge ideas and question power structures, propose new theories even when culturally uncomfortable, which is essential to human advancement. Democratic institutions offer the best framework for addressing social injustices, and the best hope to fulfil the post-war promises of the rights to work, education, health, social security, participation in cultural and scientific life, and the collective right of peoples to development, self-determination and peace. Without this, humanity faces stagnation, growing inequality, injustice and catastrophe, not least from the existential threat caused by the climate emergency that the new fascist wave negates. In our hyper-connected world, democracy cannot exist in isolation. As national democracies require strong institutions, international cooperation relies on the effective implementation of democratic principles and multilateralism to regulate relations between nations, and on multi-stakeholder processes to engage a healthy society. The rule of law must extend beyond borders, ensuring that international treaties, human rights conventions, and peace agreements are respected. While existing global governance and international institutions require improvement, their erosion in favor of a world governed by raw power, transactional logic and military might is a regression to an era of colonialism, suffering and destruction. As in 1925, we scientists, philosophers, writers, artists and citizens of the world, have a responsibility to denounce and resist the resurgence of fascism in all its forms. We call on all those who value democracy to act: Defend democratic, cultural and educational institutions. Call out abuses of democratic principles and human rights. Refuse preemptive compliance. Join collective actions, locally and internationally. Boycott and strike when possible. Make resistance impossible to ignore and costly to repress. Uphold facts and evidence. Foster critical thinking and engage with your communities on these grounds. This is an ongoing struggle. Let our voices, our work, and our principles be a bulwark against authoritarianism. Let this message be a renewed declaration of defiance. Signatories include Richard J Roberts, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1993) Leland Hartwell, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2001) Paul Nurse, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2001) Barry James Marshall, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2005) Craig C Mello, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2006) Mario R Capecchi, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2007) Jack W Szostak, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2009) Edvard I Moser, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2014) May-Britt Moser, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2014) Peter J Ratcliffe, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2019) Charles Rice, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2020) Harvey James Alter, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2020) Victor Ambros, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2024) Gary Ruvkun, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2024) Wolfgang Ketterle, Nobel Prize in Physics (2001) Anthony James Leggett, Nobel Prize in Physics (2003) John C Mather, Nobel Prize in Physics (2006) Brian P Schmidt, Nobel Prize in Physics (2011) François Englert, Nobel Prize in Physics (2013) Michel Mayor, Nobel Prize in Physics (2019) Takaaki Kajita, Nobel Prize in Physics (2015) Giorgio Parisi, Nobel Prize in Physics (2021) Pierre Agostini, Nobel Prize in Physics (2023) Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2016) Joachim Frank, Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2017) Eric Maskin, Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (2007) Roger B Myerson, Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (2007) Alvin E Roth, Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (2012) Lars Peter Hansen, Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (2013) Oliver Hart, Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (2016) Daron Acemoglu, Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (2024)
Time of India
18 hours ago
- Time of India
Soldiers, Strykers and 100-degree temps: Inside Trump's border military zone
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads BORDER BUILDUP 'COVERED BY DESERT SAND' The weapons system atop a drab green U.S. Army Stryker swivels, its camera shifting downward toward a white Ford F-150 driving slowly along the U.S.-Mexico the watchful eye of the 26-ton armored vehicle perched on a sand dune above them, humanitarian volunteers are driving the dirt road next to the border wall to see if they can continue to search for migrant remains inside one of two military zones established along the border by the Trump administration in April and they get their not long before an unmarked gray pickup appears, makes a U-turn in the sand, and puts on its siren, here in the desert 5.6 miles (9 km) west of the Santa Teresa, New Mexico border driver pulls alongside, introduces himself as a U.S. Border Patrol agent, and tells the volunteers they can no longer be Holman, founder of the Battalion Search and Rescue group, whose volunteers also hand water to migrants through the bars of the barrier, he vents his frustration."We're ramping up all this military and taking this public land away, it doesn't make sense, and it's theater, it's deadly, deadly theater," says Holman, 59, a former are in one of two so-called " National Defense Areas " set up along 260 miles (418 km) of the U.S. southern border in New Mexico and Texas as part of the Trump administration's military buildup on the border.U.S. President Donald Trump has long shown interest in using the military for civilian law enforcement, sending Marines to Los Angeles this week in their first domestic deployment in over 30 border military zones are one of his most audacious attempts yet to use troops trained for overseas combat in roles normally carried out by Border Patrol or local Army has not made public the zones' boundaries. The New Mexico area may run over three miles into the United States, in places, based on "restricted area" warning signs in English and Spanish posted along State Road 9 parallel to the zones are classified as U.S. Army installations , giving troops the right to temporarily detain and question migrants and other civilian trespassers caught in the primary mission is to detect and track illegal border crossers as part of the Trump administration's quest for "100% operational control" of the border at a time when migrant arrests are near an historic the international boundary, Reuters saw warning signs posted inside the United States around 45 feet north of the border barrier around every 100 meters, facing south. That meant if you had crossed the border and could read them, you were already in the caught illegally crossing the border into the zones face new trespassing charges on top of unlawful entry to the country, with combined penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment. Attempts to prosecute them for trespassing have in May, federal judges in Texas and New Mexico have dismissed trespassing charges against migrants caught within the area and acquitted a Peruvian woman brought to trial, ruling there was no evidence they saw signs before entering the border crossings fell to a record low in March after the Biden administration shut down asylum claims in 2024 and Mexico tightened immigration who banned people from claiming asylum on the southern border shortly after starting his second term in January, nonetheless says the military areas are needed to repel an "invasion" of human traffickers and drug the past four months Trump raised the number of active-duty troops on the border to 8,000 from 2,500 at the end of the Biden administration, according to the U.S. since Richard Nixon have used regular troops and reservists for support roles on the border. Trump has taken it a step Bureau of Land Management in April transferred 110,000 acres (172 square miles) of land in New Mexico, an area seven times the size of Manhattan, to the U.S. Army for three years to establish a first zone. A second was created in May with a transfer of International Boundary and Water Commission land in areas are satellites of the Fort Huachuca and Fort Bliss Army bases in Arizona and Texas, gives troops the right to hold and question civilian trespassers without the need for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act. The law lets a president deploy federal forces domestically during events like civil 105 Stryker combat vehicles and around 2,400 troops from the 4th Infantry Division deployed from Colorado Springs in March. They rove in armored personnel carriers across New Mexico, Texas and saw Strykers concentrated in a roughly 20-mile ribbon from El Paso west to Santa Teresa, one of the 2,000-mile border's busiest and most deadly areas for migrant 8-wheeled vehicles, used by Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now by Ukraine in its war with Russia, can be seen parked under a bridge to Mexico, atop a landfill and on a ridge above a gap in the border engines run 24/7 to cool crews in the 100 F. (38 C.) plus heat. Vehicles are unarmed but soldiers have personal weapons. Crews take shifts operating the joystick-controlled camera systems that can see for two miles (3.2 km) and have night vision, according to the Army.A person familiar with Strykers, who asked not to be named, said the work was "monotonous" but said it gave soldiers "a sense of purpose."Troops have alerted Border Patrol to 390 illegal crossings in the nearly two months since the first zone was established. They made their first detentions on June 3, holding 3 "illegal aliens" in New Mexico before handing them over to Border Patrol, according to Army spokesperson Geoffrey Patrol arrested 39,677 migrants in the El Paso sector in the fiscal year to April, down 78% from the year-earlier outside his juice bar in Sunland Park, Harold Gregory says he has seen a sharp drop in migrants entering his store or asking customers for a ride since Strykers arrived."We feel safer," said Gregory, 38. "They do kind of like intimidate so there's not so many people come this way."In neighboring Santa Teresa, trade consultant Jerry Pacheco says the optics of combat vehicles are not good as he tries to draw international firms to the town's industrial park."It's like killing an ant with a sledgehammer," says Pacheco, executive director of the International Business Accelerator , a nonprofit trade counseling program. "I think having the military down here is more of a political splash."About 90 miles (143 km) west, New Mexico rancher Russell Johnson said he saw five Strykers briefly positioned in a gap in the border barrier on his welcomes the zone as an extra layer of security and has testified to the U.S. Congress on illegal border crossers destroying barbed wire fences, cattle thieves driving livestock into Mexico and a pickup stolen at gunpoint by drug is unsure if his home, or over half his ranch, is inside the area but has been assured by U.S. Border Patrol he can continue to work land ranched by his family since 1918."I don't know, I don't think anyone knows," says Johnson, 37, a former Border Patrol agent, of the zone's says the Army has not communicated rules for hunters with permits to shoot quail and mule deer this fall in the military area, or hikers who start or end the 3,000-mile (4,800 km) Continental Divide Trail within Army has been seeking memoranda of understanding with local communities and agencies to continue activities in the New Mexico zone, said Nicole Wieman, a U.S. Army spokesperson."The MOU process for commercial and recreational activities, such as hunting, mining and ranching, is complex," Wieman Jones, Republican state representative for Johnson's area, said Americans can keep doing what they did before in the zone."They can carry their firearms as they would have prior," said Jones, who welcomed the troops to her "neglected" area where only a barbed-wire fence separates the two countries in the east in Las Cruces, the state's second largest city, State Representative Sarah Silva, a Democrat, said the zones have created fear and apprehension"I see this as an occupation of the U.S. Army on our lands," said in desert west of Santa Teresa, Battalion Search and Rescue leader Abbey Carpenter, 67, stands among dunes where the group has discovered the remains of 24 migrants in 18 months, mostly women. She is concerned the area could be absorbed into the military zone."Who's going to look for these remains if we're not allowed out here," she said, showing the jaw and other uncollected bones of a woman her group reported to local authorities in September. "Will they just be covered up by the desert sands?"
NDTV
2 days ago
- NDTV
"Deeply Saddened": Italy PM On Plane Crash In Ahmedabad
New Delhi: Condolences are pouring in from across the world after a London-bound Air India aircraft carrying 242 people, including 12 crew members, crashed near Ahmedabad airport in Gujarat on Thursday. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Chief Advisor of the Interim Government of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, are among the several world leaders who have offered condolences to India in this hour of loss. In a post on X, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni said, "Deeply saddened by the tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad. On behalf of the Italian Government and myself, I express my sincere condolences to the families of the victims and our full solidarity with the Indian people in this moment of great sorrow." The Chief Advisor of the Interim Government of Bangladesh expressed shock at the accident and said that Bangladesh joins in prayers and stands with India in this difficult hour. "Shocked at the tragic crash of #AirIndia flight carrying 242 passengers in Ahmedabad. We join all in prayers for the bereaved ones and their families. #Bangladesh stands in solidarity with people and government of #India at this trying time." European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Europe stands with India in this moment of sorrow. "Heartbreaking news from India with the tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad. My deepest condolences to the families and loved ones grieving this terrible loss. We share your pain. Dear @narendramodi, Europe stands in solidarity with you and the people of India in this moment of sorrow." Sri Lanka President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that Sri Lanka stands with India in this moment of deep sorrow. "I am deeply saddened by the tragic crash of Air India flight AI171 near Ahmedabad today. We offer our heartfelt condolences to the families of all those affected onboard. Equally heartbreaking are the civilian casualties on the ground, including young medical students whose lives and futures were struck by this tragedy. At this moment of deep sorrow, the people of Sri Lanka stand in solidarity with India. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone impacted." The Embassy of Iran expressed heartfelt condolences and offered prayers. The Embassy also wished for swift recovery of the injured and underscored that Iran stands with India in this time of sorrow. "The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of #Iran in New Delhi expresses its deepest sorrow and heartfelt condolences over the tragic crash of a passenger aircraft in #Ahmedabad. We extend our sympathies to the Government and people of #India, especially to the bereaved families of the victims. Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time. We also wish a swift and full recovery to all those who have been injured in this heartbreaking incident. We stand with the people of India in this moment of sorrow" The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan offered condolences on the accident. "We are deeply saddened by the tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad, India. We extend our condolences to the families and loved ones of those affected. We hope for strength and healing in the days ahead", it wrote on X. According to an Air India statement, the Boeing 787-8 aircraft, operating as Flight AI-171, departed from Ahmedabad at 1:38 pm IST with 242 people on board, including crew. "The flight, which departed from Ahmedabad at 1338 hrs, was carrying 242 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft. Of these, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 are British nationals, 1 Canadian national and 7 Portuguese nationals. The injured are being taken to the nearest hospitals. We have also set up a dedicated passenger hotline number 1800 5691 444 to provide more information," the airline said in a statement. Air India Chairman N Chandrasekaran confirmed the crash and expressed deep condolences to the families of the victims. "With profound sorrow, I confirm that Air India Flight 171 operating from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick was involved in a tragic accident today. Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event," he said in a statement. Boeing said on Thursday that it is in contact with Air India regarding the AI-171 flight with 242 passengers and 12 crew bound for London's Gatwick airport, which crashed shortly after it took off in the Meghaninagar area in Ahmedabad. The official X handle of US planemaker Boeing said, "We are in contact with Air India regarding Flight 171 and stand ready to support them. Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected." Air India posted on X that the Boeing Dreamliner 787 flight was carrying 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian and seven Portuguese. The flight crashed in a residential area at 1:39 pm (IST) after taking off from the Ahmedabad-Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport here. Meanwhile, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it is in contact with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) regarding Air India flight AI171
