logo
Roman Catholic cardinals still choosing next Pope on Day 2 of conclave

Roman Catholic cardinals still choosing next Pope on Day 2 of conclave

NHK08-05-2025
Black smoke billowed from a chimney on the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican on Thursday morning, signaling that a successor to the late Pope Francis has still not been found.
A total of 133 Roman Catholic cardinals from around the world resumed voting on the second day of a conclave. They will continue to cast ballots until a candidate wins the two-thirds majority.
Up to two rounds of voting will take place in the afternoon.
If a new pope is elected, white smoke will billow from the chimney of the chapel. If not, black smoke will appear at the end of the afternoon votes.
Many people have gathered at Saint Peter's Square where the chimney can be seen.
A Catholic woman from the United States said she was visiting the square for the second day in a row. She said she personally hopes a new pope is elected on Thursday as she has to leave for the US the next day.
She added that she hopes the cardinals will take time to choose a new pope who will lead the world's Catholics for years to come.
Attention is focused on whether the new leader will continue the reforms promoted by Francis. There is also keen interest in where he is from. The cardinals are from increasingly diverse regions, including Asia, Central and South America and Africa.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Former IMF economist advises Japan to strengthen non-U.S. ties
Former IMF economist advises Japan to strengthen non-U.S. ties

Japan Times

time8 hours ago

  • Japan Times

Former IMF economist advises Japan to strengthen non-U.S. ties

Former International Monetary Fund Chief Economist Maurice Obstfeld has advised Japan to strengthen its cooperation with Asian and European countries, given disruptions to the global economic and financial order caused by U.S. policies. In a recent interview with Jiji Press, Obstfeld expressed concern that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has taken policy measures, including high tariffs and tax laws, that expand the federal debt and unpredictability, thereby undermining confidence in the dollar. He also said such actions are driving trade partners to deepen integration with countries other than the United States. "It will ultimately look attractive to countries to divert their trade links toward deeper integration with other trade partners, just in the interest of protecting themselves from mercurial U.S. policies," Obstfeld explained. Looking forward, Obstfeld stated, "The world is not going to return for a long time, if ever, to what it was before 2017," when the first Trump administration was inaugurated. Given this, Obstfeld urged Japan to strengthen its economic partnerships, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and regional frameworks such as ASEAN Plus Three, whose members are the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations as well as Japan, China and South Korea. Regarding the future of the international monetary system, Obstfeld predicted a "multipolar" era in which the dominance of the U.S. dollar as the key currency would slightly decline, while the presence of the euro and the Chinese yuan would grow. Citing U.S. policies that could undermine confidence in the dollar, he assessed that the yuan, in particular, has significant potential for the future. Obstfeld is a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He has also served as an international adviser to the Bank of Japan's Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies.

Europe races to try to influence U.S. position ahead of Trump-Putin talks
Europe races to try to influence U.S. position ahead of Trump-Putin talks

Japan Times

time16 hours ago

  • Japan Times

Europe races to try to influence U.S. position ahead of Trump-Putin talks

European leaders and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy will speak to U.S. President Donald Trump this week ahead of his summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, amid fears Washington may dictate unfavorable peace terms to Ukraine. Trump announced last week he would meet Putin on Friday in Alaska to negotiate an end to the 3-1/2-year war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbor. Ukraine and its European allies fear that Trump, keen to claim credit for making peace and also hoping to seal lucrative joint business deals with Moscow, could align with Putin to cut a deal that would be deeply disadvantageous to Kyiv. Germany said it was convening a series of top-level video conferences on Wednesday to prepare for the summit including one at 1500 CET (1300 GMT) between European leaders, Zelenskyy, Trump and U.S. Vice President JD Vance. It will be the first time Zelenskyy and Trump have spoken since the Alaska summit was announced. European leaders and EU and NATO officials would coordinate their approach beforehand, a German government spokesperson said. Zelenskyy said on Monday that concessions to Moscow would not persuade it to stop fighting in Ukraine and that there was a need to ramp up pressure on the Kremlin. "Russia refuses to stop the killings, and therefore must not receive any rewards or benefits," Zelenskyy wrote on X. He later held separate phone calls with the leaders of India and Saudi Arabia — which both have cordial ties with Moscow — in an effort to bolster international support for Kyiv's position ahead of the Trump-Putin talks. European Union foreign ministers discussed their support for Kyiv and the upcoming meeting in a video conference on Monday afternoon. "Transatlantic unity, support to Ukraine and pressure on Russia is how we will end this war and prevent future Russian aggression in Europe," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X following the discussion on Ukraine. "EU Foreign Ministers today expressed support for U.S. steps that will lead to a just peace," Kallas wrote. "Meanwhile, we work on more sanctions against Russia, more military support for Ukraine and more support for Ukraine's budgetary needs and accession process to join the EU," she added. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who participated in the video conference, said in a post on X after the talks that "Russia has been imitating the peace process, twisting, manipulating, and throwing dust in our eyes." "No rewards, gifts or appeasement of the aggressor. Every concession invites further aggression," he said. Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told his counterparts on the call that "we support President Trump's efforts and we see some progress," according to Italian officials. "Any diplomatic solution must protect Ukraine's sovereignty, its territorial integrity, and its freedom to choose its own future, including its path toward the EU," Tajani said. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's spokesperson said London supported Trump's efforts to end the war in Ukraine but believed Kyiv must be involved in any settlement on ending the fighting. "We will never trust President Putin as far as you can throw him, but we will support Ukraine and President Trump and European nations as we enter these negotiations," Starmer's spokesperson told reporters. "Any peace must be built with Ukraine, not imposed upon it, and we will not reward aggression or compromise sovereignty." The Alaska meeting comes as Trump has hardened his stance towards Moscow, agreeing to allow additional U.S. weapons to reach Ukraine and threatening tariffs against buyers of Russian oil. Even so, the prospect of Trump hosting Putin — on U.S. soil, in what will be the first meeting between leaders of the United States and Russia since 2021 — has revived fears that he might agree to a deal that forces big concessions from Kyiv or weakens European security. Trump has said any peace deal would involve "some swapping of territories to the betterment of both" Russia and Ukraine, prompting consternation in Kyiv and European capitals. "Regarding territorial issues, the Russian position is framed as a territorial swap, but it appears as a rather one-sided swap," a European Commission official said on Sunday. Russia currently occupies about a fifth of Ukrainian territory, while Ukraine holds barely any Russian territory. European leaders have underscored their commitment to the idea that international borders cannot be changed by force, fearing any deal forced on Kyiv could create a dangerous precedent. "The most robust security guarantee would be that there are no limitations on Ukrainian armed forces and third countries' support to Ukraine," the Commission official said.

Zelenskyy wins EU and NATO backing as he seeks place at Trump-Putin talks
Zelenskyy wins EU and NATO backing as he seeks place at Trump-Putin talks

Japan Times

time2 days ago

  • Japan Times

Zelenskyy wins EU and NATO backing as he seeks place at Trump-Putin talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy won diplomatic backing from Europe and the NATO alliance on Sunday ahead of a Russia-U.S. summit this week where Kyiv fears President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump may try to dictate terms for ending the 3½-year war. Trump, who for weeks had been threatening new sanctions against Russia for failing to halt the war, announced, instead, on Friday that he would meet Putin on Aug. 15 in Alaska. A White House official has said Trump is open to Zelenskyy attending, but preparations are under way for only a bilateral meeting. Russian strikes injured at least 12 in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, the country's foreign affairs ministry said on Sunday. Zelenskyy, responding to the strike, said, "That is why sanctions are needed, pressure is needed." The Kremlin leader last week ruled out meeting Zelenskyy, saying conditions for such an encounter were "unfortunately still far" from being met. Trump said a potential deal would involve "some swapping of territories to the betterment of both (sides)," compounding Ukrainian fears that it may face pressure to surrender land. Zelenskyy says any decisions taken without Ukraine will be "stillborn" and unworkable. On Saturday, the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland and the European Commission said any diplomatic solution must protect the security interests of Ukraine and Europe. "The U.S. has the power to force Russia to negotiate seriously," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Sunday. "Any deal between the U.S. and Russia must have Ukraine and the EU included, for it is a matter of Ukraine's and the whole of Europe's security." French President Emmanuel Macron and Zelenskyy in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 24 | POOL / VIA REUTERS EU foreign ministers will meet on Monday to discuss next steps, she said. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told U.S. network ABC News that Friday's summit "will be about testing Putin, how serious he is on bringing this terrible war to an end." He added: "It will be, of course, about security guarantees, but also about the absolute need to acknowledge that Ukraine decides on its own future, that Ukraine has to be a sovereign nation, deciding on its own geopolitical future." Russia holds nearly a fifth of the country. Rutte said a deal could not include legal recognition of Russian control over Ukrainian land, although it might include de facto recognition. He compared it to the situation after World War II when Washington accepted that the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were de facto controlled by the Soviet Union but did not legally recognize their annexation. Zelenskyy said on Sunday: "The end of the war must be fair, and I am grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine and our people today." A European official said Europe had come up with a counter-proposal to Trump's but declined to provide details. Russian officials accused Europe of trying to thwart Trump's efforts to end the war. "The Euro-imbeciles are trying to prevent American efforts to help resolve the Ukrainian conflict," former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev posted on social media on Sunday. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a vituperative statement that the relationship between Ukraine and the European Union resembled "necrophilia." Roman Alekhin, a Russian war blogger, said Europe had been reduced to the role of a spectator. "If Putin and Trump reach an agreement directly, Europe will be faced with a fait accompli. Kyiv — even more so," he said. U.S. President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy attend a meeting on the sidelines of a NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 25. | UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / VIA REUTERS In addition to Crimea, which it seized in 2014, Russia has formally claimed the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as its own, although it controls only about 70% of the last three. It holds smaller pieces of territory in three other regions, while Ukraine says it holds a sliver of Russia's Kursk region. Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin analyst, said a swap could entail Russia handing over 1,500 sq km to Ukraine and obtaining 7,000 sq km, which he said Russia would capture anyway within about six months. He provided no evidence to back any of those figures. Russia took about 500 square kilometers of territory in July, according to Western military analysts who say its grinding advances have come at the cost of very high casualties. Ukraine and its European allies have been haunted for months by the fear that Trump, keen to claim credit for making peace and hoping to seal lucrative joint business deals between the U.S. and Russia, could align with Putin to cut a deal that would be deeply disadvantageous to Kyiv. They had drawn some encouragement lately as Trump, having piled heavy pressure on Zelenskyy and berated him publicly in the Oval Office in February, began criticising Putin as Russia pounded Kyiv and other cities with its heaviest air attacks of the war. But the impending Putin-Trump summit has revived fears that Kyiv and Europe could be sidelined. "What we will see emerge from Alaska will almost certainly be a catastrophe for Ukraine and Europe," wrote Phillips P. O'Brien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. "And Ukraine will face the most terrible dilemma. Do they accept this humiliating and destructive deal? Or do they go it alone, unsure of the backing of European states?" Ukrainian political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko said on Sunday that Kyiv's partnership with its European allies was critical to countering any attempts to keep it away from the table. "For us right now, a joint position with the Europeans is our main resource," he said on Ukrainian radio. U.S. Vice President JD Vance said a negotiated settlement was unlikely to satisfy either side. "Both the Russians and the Ukrainians, probably, at the end of the day, are going to be unhappy with it," he said on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store