• Machado Seeks Pope Leo's Support
  • Pope Leo Marks End of The Christmas Season
  • Pope Blasts Countries Using Force to Assert Dominion
  • Pope to Visit Spain This Year
  • Pope indicates new governing style for Catholic Church
Pope Leo XIV convenes cardinals and signals reform

VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday opened a new phase of his pontificate by gathering the world’s cardinals to Rome and indicating some reform-minded priorities by calling the modernizing teachings of the Second Vatican Council the “guiding star” of the church.

Pope Leo XIV Closes 2025 Holy Year With Critique of Consumerism

VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday closed out the Vatican’s 2025 Holy Year by denouncing today’s consumerist and anti-foreigner sentiment, capping a Jubilee that saw some 33 million pilgrims flock to Rome and a historic transition from one American pontiff to another.

Vatican claims a Holy Year success with 33 million pilgrims

VATICAN CITY (AP) – The Vatican on Monday gave a final accounting of its 2025 Holy Year, saying more than 33 million pilgrims had participated and that the only real dispute with the city of Rome concerned the style of fountains built for the event’s main public works project.

4.7 Million Social Media Accounts Removed in Australia

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – Social media companies have revoked access to about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children in Australia since the country banned use of the platforms by those under 16, officials said. “We stared down everybody who said it couldn’t be done” communications minister Anika Wells told reporters on Friday.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley see double-digit profit jumps

NEW YORK (AP) – A surging stock market and a flurry of deal making padded the profits of Wall Street’s two big investment banks, which both saw a double-digit jump in profits in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs’s net earnings rose 12% from a year earlier, posting a profit of $4.62 billion, or $14.01 a share. Meanwhile Morgan Stanley said it earned $4.4 billion.

What you need to know about Grok and the controversies surrounding it

NEW YORK (AP) – Elon Musk’s Grok keeps getting into trouble, and this time, more of the world’s governments are trying to intervene. First launched in 2023, Grok is Musk’s attempt to outdo rivals such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini in building an AI assistant powered by a large language model, which is trained on vast pools of data.

Hard-Line Iranian Cleric Calls For Executions and Threatens Trump

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – As Iran returned to uneasy calm after a wave of protests that drew a harsh crackdown, a senior hard-line cleric called Friday for the death penalty for detained demonstrators and directly threatened U.S. President Donald Trump – evidence of the rage gripping authorities in the Islamic Republic.

President Trump: The Latest Updates

Several Middle Eastern allies of the United States have urged the Trump administration to hold off on strikes against Iran for the government’s deadly crackdown on protesters, according to an Arab diplomat familiar with the matter. Top officials from Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have raised concerns in the last 48 hours that a U.S. military intervention would shake the global economy.

Ukraine's Battered Power Grid Faces Unprecedented Challenge

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russia has not spared a single Ukrainian power plant from attack since its all-out invasion, Ukraine’s new energy minister said Friday, as a recent escalation of aerial bombardments left hundreds of thousands of people without heat or light for days during the coldest winter in years.

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s second term has been eventful. You wouldn’t know it from his approval numbers.  An AP-NORC poll from January found that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of Trump’s performance as president. That’s virtually unchanged from March 2025, shortly after he took office for the second time.