See All of the Most Striking Photos of the Funeral of Pope Francis
Ahead of the funeral, Francis lay in state in St. Peter's Basilica, where popes are traditionally buried. However, in a break from tradition, Francis will be laid to rest at Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major) basilica in Rome following the funeral services today. Similarly, the services themselves were recently simplified by the late pontiff, in line with what he felt was "the need to simplify and adapt certain rites so that the celebration of the funeral of the bishop of Rome may better express the faith of the Church in the risen Christ,' according to the Vatican's master of liturgical ceremonies, Archbishop Diego Ravelli.
Among the numerous people paying tribute to the late pontiff will be members of royal families across Europe, including Prince William, who will represent his father, King Charles, King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain, Belgium's King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, and Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco. Likewise, world leaders including President Donald Trump and his wife Melania, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, and many more are also expected.
Here, a look at some of the most poignant photos from the day's services.
Members of the clergy gathered to pay respects.
Italian cardinal Giovanni Battista Re anoints the coffin of Pope Francis with incense. Laid atop it is a book of gospels.
Prince William was in attendance as a representative of his father, King Charles.
President Donald Trump and his wife Melania attended the event. Seated next to them were President Alar Karis of Estonia and Spain's King Felipe VI.
St. Peter's Square was filled for the funeral.
The cardinals gathered in homage to the late pontiff.
King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain arrive at the ceremony.
France's President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte paid their respects.
Princess Charlene and Prince Albert of Monaco were among the mourners.
Former President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden attended.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was also a guest.
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Time Magazine
an hour ago
- Time Magazine
The Rise of Green Wall Street
The Great Hall in the City of London's Guildhall might seem like an odd place to anchor a climate summit. At a time when leading climate thinkers are increasingly calling for systemic change, it screams tradition. Built in 1411, the medieval auditorium is a homage to age-old British institutions and customs with stained glass windows honoring lord mayors and monarchs. The dissonance is only amplified by its surroundings: a square mile housing the world's leading financial institutions, gleaming towers of banks and investment firms with proprietors historically far more focused on adding up their financial returns than on calculating progress toward net-zero emissions. And yet Guildhall—and the City, as the financial district is known—were the center of the action in June when 45,000 climate advocates from around the world descended on London for its annual 'Climate Action Week.' To participate, attendees hopped between meetings at Guildhall, the London Stock Exchange, and the myriad banks, insurers, and other financial institutions found in the area. The location was no coincidence. To tackle climate change will require moving immense sums of money—and the institutions located in the City of London have money to lend and invest. But the decision wasn't entirely, or even primarily, altruistic. Positioning London as the key node in the world of sustainable finance could pay off big as the sector continues to grow. A boom in jobs and wealth will be bestowed wherever banks and financial institutions focused on this issue set up shop. Estimates on the size of the opportunity vary depending on methodology, but most research suggests that by the 2030s the value of sustainable finance will reach double-digit trillions. 'What we've got here is an economic growth story of the 21st century,' says Alok Sharma, the former British Cabinet minister who served as president of the 2021 U.N. climate conference in Glasgow. 'This isn't just about climate.' Sharma, whose soft-spoken disposition belies his convening power in the climate space, is now charged with the important task of wrangling the financial sector, government, and industry to chart a path forward for the country as the chair of the Transition Finance Council. The council, launched by the British government and the City of London, is working through how to leverage the city's deep capital markets and history of financial innovation to make the city—and the country—the world's green-finance leader. 'We have a financial ecosystem in London which very few markets can actually rival,' he notes. London has succeeded in taking pole position, but it's far from the only place that's caught on. Across the globe, financial hubs—largely in Europe and Asia—have launched efforts to attract the growing sustainable-finance industry. Leaning into their global connections and deep capital markets, Abu Dhabi and Singapore have emerged as leading contenders giving London a run for its money. In many ways, the effort in these three cities—and around the world—is collaborative. Growth in the sector will lift all boats. But it's also fiercely competitive. The city—or cities—that win will not only bring jobs and wealth but also give victors outsize influence shaping the future of both the global financial system and the fight against climate change. Walking through the City of London today can feel a bit like tracing the history of global finance. The modern Bank of England, a cornerstone of the country's financial might, sits only a short stroll from its original 1694 location. The age-old cemeteries sprinkled between today's glass office buildings serve as the final resting place for some of London's original financiers. And, in some cases, even the odd-sounding street names tie back to the city's financial roots: Lombard Street, named for the Italian region known for its bankers and merchants, or Ironmonger Lane, which once housed the metal-trading houses. At its core, London's sustainable-finance opportunity is part and parcel with this history. In today's parlance, innovation tends to refer to technological innovation, but many of the biggest breakthroughs to emerge from London over the centuries were financial—from the launch of the world's first joint-stock companies in the 16th century, which pioneered risk sharing among investors and created some of the world's first tradable securities, to pioneering of the modern insurance market in the 17th century by Lloyd's of London. In short, over some 500 years, British financiers built the foundations of today's global financial system. Now, these foundations need some climate-minded reinvention—and at lightning speed. The International Energy Agency estimates that investment in clean energy must reach $4.5 trillion annually in the 2030s to meet climate goals. To get that money to the Global South, where it is most needed, will require new financial structures that make investing less risky. In some corners of the globe, most importantly the U.S., the push to tweak the rules of the road has been met with soft denial. The federal government has halted efforts to think through the financial disclosure of climate risk and exited cooperative efforts with other countries aimed at greening the financial system. In London, leaders in both government and in the private sector are jumping on the opportunity. 'Britain is open for business,' says Sharma. 'We are a very established market, but you can't sort of sit there and rest on your laurels.' Even for a close watcher of the climate-finance space, it can be difficult to keep track of everything coming out of London. Under both of the country's major parties in recent years, the British government has launched a flurry of efforts to help its financial-services industry lead the global sustainable-finance movement. The Financial Conduct Authority has worked on greenwashing regulations and the standards for applying a sustainable label to products. The Green Finance Institute was created in 2019 to coordinate public-private efforts. In 2021, the Treasury launched green-bonds sales to demonstrate government commitment to the sector. And, last year, the current government created a national wealth fund to invest in a range of low-carbon technologies—attracting private finance in the process. Since launching earlier this year, Sharma's Transition Finance Council has quickly become an essential node. The group focuses specifically on transition finance, the branch of sustainable finance where money is invested not only to build clean technologies but also to decarbonize big sources of emissions. Think of lending to an oil company to fix leaks in its pipes to stop methane from seeping out, or putting up the money for a steel producer to convert to a less emissions-intensive process. In other mainstream approaches, green technology or ESG-related investing that tries to identify and protect against environmental risks is prioritized. In -transition finance, you can run to the problem and spend money trying to fix it—even if that means financing a dirty industry for a short while. In some jurisdictions, transition finance is a thorny subject because it means dealing with polluting industries. But it's a big opportunity—both for the financial sector and the planet. The World Economic Forum estimates that transition finance for carbon-heavy sectors including aviation, shipping, and steel production represents a $13.5 trillion opportunity in the coming decades. These so-called hard-to-abate sectors make up 40% of global emissions today. The Transition Finance Council sounds wonky—and it is. The body of government officials, investors, and top executives in industry and finance was formed to work through the technicalities of key issues hand in hand with the private sector. One subcommittee tackles 'credibility and integrity,' another works on 'pathways, policies, and governance.' The Transition Finance Market Review report released last year ahead of the group's launch explores how firms navigate 'credible third-party standards' and 'carbon budget delivery plans.' Splashy public-facing marketing campaign this is not. And yet, this is the sort of work needed to give firms the confidence to set up their transition-finance shop in London. Vanessa Havard-Williams, who founded the ESG practice at global law firm Linklaters, led the report and described the work as an aggressive consultation effort across the public and private sectors and in countries around the world. The council is currently crafting 'credibility guidelines' at a firm level for transition finance with an eye to launching a global consultation process just ahead of this year's U.N. climate conference in Brazil, she says. Illustration by Kathleen Fu for TIME Despite all of this, many climate advocates have complained that much of the British regulatory regime is moving more slowly than across the Channel in the E.U. But that's part of the plan. Over the past decade, the E.U. laid out a suite of regulations that the financial industry has complained is too onerous. The U.K., which has the freedom to chart its own rules after officially leaving the E.U. in 2020, has tried to take advantage of that dynamic with less complex rule-making. 'I'm not a Brexiteer, but I do think Europe constrained our abilities,' says Chris Hayward, policy chairman of the City of London. 'On green finance, I think we're free to flex our wings.' The complicated history of colonialism offers another advantage. No matter the dark legacies, Britain walked away with relationships with emerging markets and developing countries. The London Stock Exchange hosts more international companies than any other major bourse, with a strong roster of listed firms from Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Commonwealth countries, the network of former colonies that still maintain a loose alliance, still use London as a primary listing venue for their largest companies, and British banks and asset managers have extensive operations across these markets. Not too long ago, London promoters might have said 'the sun doesn't set on the British Empire' to indicate the scope of British influence. Today, as Sharma puts it more delicately, 'we're in a very good time zone.' More than 3,000 miles away, Abu Dhabi has its own global network, forged through its position selling vast quantities of oil to the rest of the world. For that very reason, a cynical climate advocate might look at the city's push into sustainable finance with deep skepticism. Drive across the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and you'll see nonstop reminders that this is oil-and-gas country—from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company logo affixed on prominent skyscrapers to the network of fossil-fuel infrastructure just off the coastline. But also prominently fixed in the city's skyline are the sleek buildings that host the money managers overseeing more than $1 trillion in capital. The funds may have come from selling oil to the world, but leaders in the Emirates know that sooner or later they will need to diversify—and attracting sustainable finance is a key part of their agenda. From a corner office at Al Maryah Tower, in the heart of Abu Dhabi's posh international business district, Majid Al Suwaidi runs a $30 billion climate fund known as Alterra. Financed with money from the Emirati government, the fund is designed to make return-oriented investments that will have meaningful climate impact. Opportunities in the Global South receive particular attention. When it was announced in 2023, experts working at the intersection of finance and climate hailed its approach as unique. Alterra describes itself as a 'fund of funds,' meaning that it takes a broad strategic view while relying on other fund managers to do the on-the-ground investing. And, with its size and influential backing, Alterra works with other co-investors to scale up the impact. The goal is to use the UAE's contribution to mobilize a total of $250 billion. 'In a way, we achieved what we set out to do, which is to prove that there was an appetite and interest for people to invest in the Global South,' says Al Suwaidi. The UAE plans to earn a healthy return on its $30 billion investment, but the opportunity is really much bigger. Alterra is the center of an emerging business cluster, much like venture capital in Silicon Valley or the entertainment industry in Hollywood. By tapping into the business of financing climate infrastructure in the Global South early, the country is placing a down payment for capturing a much bigger opportunity. Emerging markets represent the largest source of emissions reduction or prevention. And that means, sooner or later, significant capital must flow to make it happen. 'The ecosystem is building here,' Al Suwaidi told me from his office, explaining that the Alterra fund has helped attract smaller climate-focused fund managers. Today, ADGM, short for Abu Dhabi Global Market, the city's financial free zone where regulation is based on English common law, counts more than 180 local funds and other institutions that say they are focused on sustainability. Indeed, ADGM, Abu Dhabi's Wall Street, has created an entire system to put wind in the sails of these efforts. The organization has crafted a comprehensive sustainable-finance regulatory framework that includes environmental standards for funds, portfolios, bonds, stocks, and other financial instruments linked to the environment. ESG disclosure standards are clear and simple. 'We've been busy,' says Lawrence Paramasivam, who oversees the sustainability work at the Financial Services Regulatory Authority at ADGM. Paramasivam describes the regulatory approach as 'part of a broader diversification strategy' for ADGM. The global reach and sway of the government in the UAE has helped open doors. The country is a bridge between north and south, east and west, with friendly relations with virtually every country. It follows that it can help navigate those financial flows too. It's hard to find an economic-growth story as revered as Singapore's. The country transformed from a low-income nation into a financial powerhouse in just a few generations, driven in large part by deliberate investments and a thoughtful approach to economic policymaking. Today, Singapore is placing a long-term bet on climate—and hoping that it can own the future of sustainable finance in Asia. 'The timeline is not set by business cycles. It is not set by the electoral cycles,' said Ravi Menon, Singapore's climate ambassador, at a June event in London. 'The planet's timeline will eventually impose its will on us.' And, when it does, Singapore wants to be prepared. To fully understand Singapore's approach would require unpacking a dizzying array of programs, international partnerships, and regulatory structures. Through the Singapore-Asia Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance, the country created a framework to rate investments on their sustainability characteristics. Critically, the program was developed with all of Asia in mind, helping advance the country's position at the middle of the region's flow of sustainable finance. And the government ponied up $500 million as the public-sector contribution to a finance initiative that combines public and private money to invest in climate projects in the region. That effort has attracted other funds, including from the private sector, says Menon. A key asset for Singapore is Temasek, the country's $300 billion state-owned investment fund. The fund's charter includes a mandate to protect the planet, but just as important is the fund's goal of providing long-term returns for generations to come. 'If I'm going to hold assets for the long term, then I've got to think about what it means to be in a climate-challenged position,' said Dilhan Pillay-Sandrasegara, the CEO of Temasek, at a World Economic Forum event in January. 'And so that's what motivates us to invest in things like sustainability-focused sectors or sustainable solutions.' One essential area of interest for Temasek has been carbon-credit companies. Today, carbon credits remain complicated and controversial. And yet most experts deep in the weeds of climate policy and finance see their growth as an inevitability because they provide one of the most effective ways to finance emissions reduction and can easily channel money from the Global North to the Global South. Temasek's investments in carbon-credit companies, combined with government policy to facilitate it, have proved critical in turning Singapore into a carbon-credit hub—certainly the most important in the region and perhaps the world. Today, the country is home to more than 100 carbon-trading firms and a robust regulatory framework for how companies can use credits. In the spring of 2023, as the UAE was in the midst of developing Alterra and Singapore was crafting its taxonomy for Asia, the U.S. was immersed in a fight over whether fund managers can legally take climate change into account in their decisionmaking. Then and now, the mainstream U.S. conversation at the intersection of climate and finance is vastly different from the same conversations happening around the world. As other countries innovate, the U.S. government is at best caught in a defensive posture and at worst pulling back. During the Biden years, the Federal Reserve dipped its toes into the Network for Greening the Financial System before promptly pulling out after Donald Trump's election, and the U.S. federal government has abandoned any efforts to craft financial-disclosure rules around climate. To be clear, big U.S. financial firms with operations outside the U.S. will need to comply with this growing segment of climate regulation; the rules will just be drafted somewhere else. It may not worry Wall Street just yet. While cities like London and Singapore have developed global finance hubs, today there's no question that the U.S. is the epicenter. The country has the deepest capital markets and the world's reserve currency. It houses the biggest and most influential global financial firms. And, yet, as sustainable finance grows, its influence has the potential to eat away at the U.S. position. That road will be long and windy as every place faces its own unique challenges. In the U.K., politicians need to explain to voters why the government is spending so much time on sustainable finance in the midst of other challenges. Indeed, some efforts to bolster sustainable finance have stalled or been dropped entirely, presumably with those political questions in mind. In Abu Dhabi, leaders must confront the skepticism in many corners about the ability of a big oil-producing country to deliver on climate. And Singapore faces the consistent challenge that comes from existing in the shadow of China—which also has designs on developing a sustainable-finance sector. Those questions will eventually be resolved, and a new paradigm will emerge. The winners won't just capture economic opportunity; they will help determine whether the world has the financial infrastructure to avoid the worst effects of climate change. This story is supported by a partnership with Outrider Foundation and Journalism Funding Partners. TIME is solely responsible for the content .
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
Donald Trump's Approval Rating Surges After Putin Summit
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. U.S. President Donald Trump's approval rating surged after his summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. According to polling by InsiderAdvantage, 54 percent of voters said they now approved of the president while 44 percent disapproved. Trump's net +10 percent approval rating is an increase from the publication's last poll in July, which gave him a net +2 percent approval rating—with 50 percent of respondents approving and 48 percent disapproving. Why It Matters Approval ratings are useful in providing a snapshot of the electorate's response to key policies and developments in Trump's presidency. During his presidency, Trump's popularity has fluctuated. Maintaining broad support will be important for the president and the Republican Party more widely, particularly when voters head to the polls for the November 2026 midterms. Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump talk at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, on August 15. Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump talk at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, on August 15. AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson What To Know Trump hosted Putin in Alaska for a summit on Friday during which they spoke for two and a half hours to try to broker a ceasefire deal to end Russia's war with Ukraine. Critics have said Trump conceded too much to Putin and took umbrage with the talks ending without an agreement. Despite this, the new polling indicates the talks have boosted Trump's approval rating. InsiderAdvantage's survey was conducted between August 15 and 17. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.09 percentage points. The poll also suggests Trump is faring better than in other recent polls, which showed declining support for the president. According to a YouGov poll for British newspaper The Times, the proportion of people who disapproved of Trump's job performance increased from 52 percent in April to 57 percent in July. Newsweek analysis also found that Trump's approval rating was positive in 18 of the states he won in the 2024 election and negative in 13. What People Are Saying InsiderAdvantage pollster Matt Towery said in his analysis: "Donald Trump now has an advantage among every age group other than the most senior of voters. He has improved his numbers among African-Americans and Hispanic-Latinos. White voters are at a near record 64 percent. Voters under 65 years of age now approve of his job performance by wide margins. Only the nation's oldest voters disapprove of his job performance, which is consistent with our prior surveys. Overall, his approval numbers are surging upwards post-summit." U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social after the summit: "The Fake News has been saying for three days that I suffered a 'major defeat' by allowing President Vladimir Putin of Russia to have a major Summit in the United States. Actually, he would have loved doing the meeting anywhere else but the U.S., and the Fake News knows this. It was a major point of contention! If we had the Summit elsewhere, the Democrat run and controlled media would have said what a terrible thing THAT was. These people are sick!" What Happens Next Trump's popularity is likely to continue oscillating throughout the remainder of his presidency. Meanwhile, he has discussed plans to secure a trilateral meeting with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He is also meeting with European leaders, including Zelensky, at the White House on Monday.
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Hong Kong pro-democracy activists granted asylum in Australia and Britain
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and a former lawmaker who are wanted by the city's authorities have been granted asylum in Great Britain and Australia, respectively. Tony Chung, an activist who was imprisoned under Hong Kong's sweeping national security law, and Ted Hui, a former lawmaker who was facing trial for his role in anti-government protests in 2019, both announced over the weekend that they have received asylum in the countries where they now live. They are among dozens of activists on the run from Hong Kong authorities. Civil liberties in the city have been greatly eroded since Beijing in 2020 imposed a national security law essentially criminalizing dissent in the former British colony. Both Beijing and Hong Kong have hailed the security law as bringing stability to the financial hub. Hui, who fled Hong Kong in December 2020, is part of a group of overseas activists who are targeted by police bounties of up to 1 million Hong Kong dollars ($127,800). The former lawmaker is now working as a lawyer in Adelaide. He announced on Facebook on Saturday that he and his family have been granted protection visas. 'I express my sincere gratitude to the Government of Australia — both present and former — for recognising our need for asylum and granting us this protection,' Hui wrote. 'This decision reflects values of freedom, justice, and compassion that my family will never take for granted.' While in Hong Kong, Hui had been an outspoken pro-democracy lawmaker. He was also known for disrupting a legislative session after he threw a rotten plant in the chamber to stop a debate of the national anthem bill — controversial legislation making it illegal to insult the Chinese national anthem. He was subsequently fined 52,000 Hong Kong dollars ($6,600) for the act. Chung, who had advocated for Hong Kong's independence, was sentenced to almost four years in prison for secession and money laundering in 2020. He was released on a supervision order, during which he traveled to Japan, from where he fled to Britain seeking asylum. In a post on social media platform Threads on Sunday, he expressed his excitement at receiving refugee status in Britain along with a five-year resident permit. He said that despite his challenges over the past few years, including persistent mental health problems, he remains committed to his activism. British and Australian authorities didn't immediately comment on the activists' statuses. Hong Kong's government did not comment directly on the cases but issued a statement on Saturday condemning 'the harbouring of criminals in any form by any country.' 'Any country that harbours Hong Kong criminals in any form shows contempt for the rule of law, grossly disrespects Hong Kong's legal systems and barbarically interferes in the affairs of Hong Kong,' the statement read.
