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Nuns walk at St. Peter's Square, ahead of the conclave, at the Vatican, on May 6, 2025.
HARD NUMBERS: Betting markets swirl as conclave commences, North Carolina judicial election nears end, Moscow shuts airport due to reported drone attack, US trade deficit sets new record, Trump campaign manager tries to Make Albania Great Again
26: The conclave of 133 cardinals will gather in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel on Wednesday to begin the process of electing a new pope via secret ballot. To win the job with a puff of white smoke, a candidate must garner the support of two thirds of the conclave, plus one. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, a veteran Vatican diplomat, is the favorite, per Polymarket, which gave him a 26% chance of winning.
182: Some 182 days on from the 2024 election, and North Carolina has still yet to certify state Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs’ reelection victory. The Tar Heel State did move one step closer to affirming the result on Tuesday, though, after a federal judge narrowed the number of votes that were under dispute. Last November, Riggs, a Democrat, defeated Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin by 734 votes out of 5.5 million cast.
4: All four major airports in Moscow were ordered to shut after the Kremlin accused Ukraine of launching a drone attack on the Russian capital. There were no casualties in the reported attack, which came days before Russia holds a celebration to mark the 80th anniversary of the Red Army’s triumph over Nazi Germany.
14%: The US trade deficit jumped 14% in March, setting a new record of $140.5 billion as American consumers and businesses rushed to buy foreign goods like pharmaceuticals and computer accessories ahead of President Donald Trump’s announcement of global tariffs in early April. Some economists believe US firms were still frontloading purchases well into April.
18,500: An estimated 18,500 Sudanese have crossed the country’s western border into Chad over the last two weeks alone, per the United Nations, with many severely malnourished. Nearly 800,000 Sudanese have fled to Chad since Sudan’s civil war began two years ago. For more on why one of the world’s deadliest conflicts continues, see here.
>$1 million: Chris LaCivita, who ran Donald Trump’s successful presidential campaign last year, is reportedly earning more than $1 million to advise Albania’s former Prime Minister Sali Berisha. LaCivita is rehashing the MAGA message, only with “Albania” replacing “America.” Berisha, who faces corruption allegations, is hoping to lead the Balkan country again after the parliamentary elections on Sunday.The Graphic Truth: Who’s choosing the next pope?
The conclave to select a new pontiff gets underway on May 7, 2025.
Who selects the next pope? Roman Catholic cardinals, and there are 252 of them worldwide, but only 135 are under the age of 80 and thus eligible to vote for the successor to Pope Francis. Two of them, Antonio Cañizares of Spain and John Njue of Kenya, cannot attend, and of the 133 electors participating, Francis appointed 108 of them.
Is there a list of contenders? The cardinals can vote for their preferred colleague to take the top spot at the Vatican, and there’s no official shortlist of candidates. But there are a handful who are considered frontrunners — our sources say to look at French Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline and Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle on the progressive end, and the Italian Cardinals Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Pietro Parolin for the conservatives.
All eyes will be on how the trajectory of the largest religious institution in world history shifts under a new pope.
Pope Francis greets crowds in Saint Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025.
Pope Francis, 88, dies hours after greeting Easter crowds
Pope Francis, the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on Dec. 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He died Monday morning at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta at age 88.
The sad news, which was announced just before 10 a.m. local time, comes just one day after the pontiff – who had been recovering from a severe bout of pneumonia and a prolonged hospital stay – appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on Easter Sunday and offered the “Urbi et Orbi” blessing to the “City [of Rome] and to the World,” with an aide reading the address. He then took to his popemobile and greeted crowds in St. Peter’s Square for the first time since his hospitalization – and now his final public appearance.
Known as the “people’s pope,” Francis’ papacy was defined by his longstanding commitment to social justice. It was the fruit of personal experience: Francis, the son of Italian immigrants, worked as a janitor, nightclub bouncer, chemical technician, and literature teacher before pursuing the priesthood. His common touch and compassion for the less fortunate were hallmarks of his religious career and represented a departure from the more conservative style of his predecessors, John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
Bergoglio entered the Society of Jesus in 1958 and was ordained as a priest in 1969. Lauded for his work with the poorest parishes in Buenos Aires, he was named the city’s archbishop in 1998 before being elevated to cardinal in 2001. In March 2013, Bergoglio made history as the first Jesuit and first Latin American to ascend to the papacy, choosing the name Francis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, patron saint of nature and the poor.
As pope, Francis maintained his humble approach, choosing not to wear the papacy’s traditional elaborate vestments. He transformed a Vatican plaza into a “palace for the poor” for the homeless, whom he called the “nobles of the street.” He worked to make the church more inclusive, awarding key roles to women and LGBTQ+ individuals, and even inviting transgender individuals to the Vatican. He championed sustainable development and the fight against climate change, publishing the 2015 encyclical “Laudato si',” which called on humanity to care for our “common home.”
Francis also advocated for the rights of migrants, proclaiming in 2024 that “turning away migrants is a grave sin.” In recent months, he has publicly rebuked US Vice President JD Vance’s characterization of “ordo amoris,” the Catholic Church’s “order of love,” as a justification for President Donald Trump’s deportation policies, but he notably met briefly with Vance on Sunday to share Easter greetings. Francis penned a letter to the bishops of America in which he said “The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan,’ that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”
Francis’ stances also put him at odds with conservative elements inside the Church. One of his most controversial moves was reversing a decision by Benedict XVI that prioritized the Latin celebration of Mass. It highlighted a division brewing since the 1960s over whether Mass should be translated into local languages, which conservatives feared could dilute the Church’s traditional messaging. And while Francis appointed more cardinals from the Global South than any other pope, not all shared his progressive views: In 2023, a number of African bishops publicly criticized his blessings of individuals in LGBTQ+ unions.
In many ways, Francis was a pope of his time – and that time, like his life, has now ended, extinguishing a progressive light in the world. Vatican officials will now begin paying their final respects to the pope in the Santa Marta chapel, followed by the general public, before Francis is laid to rest and a conclave is held to elect his successor.
Pope Francis is seen here during Holy Week in April 2022.
Pope Francis is in critical condition
“I have been particularly struck by the letters and drawings from children,” the Argentine pontiff posted on social media.
Ever since he was admitted to hospital on Feb. 14 with a complex respiratory tract infection, the 88-year-old religious leader's condition appears to have deteriorated. Roman Catholics from around the world prayed for his health on Sunday, with Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolanadmitting that the pope is “probably close to death.” Swiss Guards have reportedly started rehearsing funeral arrangements.
Building a legacy: Since taking charge in 2013, Francis has pushed the Catholic Church in a more progressive direction on some issues. He has, for example, encouraged his 1.3 billion disciples to be more inclusive of the LGBTQ community, changed the church's stance on capital punishment to “inadmissible” in all instances, and urged countries to receive more migrants.
When the time comes, a papal conclave will choose Francis’ successor. There are currently 138 cardinals in the conclave who can vote, the vast majority of whom were selected by Francis himself, underscoring the legacy he will have on the future of the church.