Pope Leo XIV addresses cardinals in English at his first Mass

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV, history’s first North American pope, celebrated his first Mass as pontiff on Friday, presiding in the Sistine Chapel with the cardinals who elected him to succeed Pope Francis and follow in his social justice-minded footsteps.

Wearing white vestments, Leo processed into the Sistine Chapel and blessed the cardinals as he approached the altar and Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgment” behind it. He delivered the opening prayers and hymns in Latin, and women read the initial Scripture readings.

Addressing the cardinals in English, he said “you have called me to carry the cross and to be blessed” and asked for their help to spread the Catholic faith. It was the first time Leo made public remarks in English, after he spoke in Italian and Spanish only in his first comments from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday.

Leo, the Chicago-born Augustinian missionary Robert Prevost, was elected Thursday afternoon as the 267th pope, overcoming the traditional prohibition against a pope from the United States.

In his first appearance to the world Thursday evening, the 69-year-old wore the traditional red cape of the papacy — which Francis had eschewed on his election in 2013 — suggesting a return to some degree of rule-following after Francis’ unorthodox pontificate.

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Russia holds Victory Day parade marking the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia marked the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II with a massive military parade on Red Square on Friday attended by President Vladimir Putin and foreign leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Victory Day, which is celebrated in Russia on May 9, is the country’s most important secular holiday. The parade and other ceremonies underline Moscow’s efforts to project its global power and cement the alliances it has forged while seeking a counterbalance to the West amid the conflict in Ukraine that has dragged into a fourth year.

World War II is a rare event in the nation’s divisive history under Communist rule that is revered by all political groups, and the Kremlin has used that sentiment to encourage national pride and underline Russia’s position as a global power.

The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in what it calls the Great Patriotic War in 1941-45, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche.

Speaking at the parade, Putin hailed Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, saying that “we are proud of their courage and determination, their spiritual force that always has brought us victory.”

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Leo XIV's brother recalls feeling of 'disbelief' over his sibling becoming pope

NEW LENOX, Ill. (AP) — When white smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel revealing that a new pope had been chosen, John Prevost turned on his television in Illinois, called his niece and they watched in awe as his brother's name was announced.

“She started screaming because it was her uncle and I was in the moment of disbelief that this cannot be possible because it’s too far from what we thought would happen," Prevost said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press from his home in New Lenox, Illinois.

Next, he said he felt an intense sense of pride that his brother, Cardinal Robert Prevost, had become the 267th pontiff to lead the Catholic Church, making the Chicago-born missionary the first U.S. pope.

“It’s quite an honor; it’s quite a once in a lifetime," he said. “But I think it’s quite a responsibility and I think it’s going to lead to bigger and better things, but I think people are going to watch him very closely to see what he’s doing.”

Robert Prevost, a 69-year-old member of the Augustinian religious order who spent his career ministering in Peru, took the name Leo XIV.

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Indian and Pakistan troops swap intense artillery fire overnight

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Indian and Pakistani soldiers exchanged heavy volleys of shells and gunfire across their frontier in Kashmir overnight, killing at least five civilians in a growing military standoff that erupted following an attack on tourists in the India-controlled portion of the disputed region.

In Pakistan, an unusually intense night of artillery exchanges left at least four civilians dead and wounded 12 others in areas near the Line of Control that divides Kashmir, local police official Adeel Ahmad said. People in border towns said the firing continued well into Friday morning.

“We’re used to hearing exchange of fire between Pakistan and India at the Line of Control, but last night was different,” said Mohammad Shakil, who lives near the frontier in Chakothi sector.

In India, military officials said Pakistani troops barraged their posts overnight with artillery, mortars and gunfire at multiple locations in Indian-controlled Kashmir. They said Indian soldiers responded, triggering fierce exchanges until early dawn.

A woman was killed and two other civilians were injured in Uri sector, police said, taking the civilian death toll in India to 17 since Wednesday. Pakistan said Indian mortar and artillery fire has killed 17 civilians in Pakistan-administered Kashmir in the same period.

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China's exports to US sink, offset by trade with other economies, as US tariffs hit global trade

China’s exports to the United States tumbled in April while its trade with other economies surged, suggesting that President Donald Trump's tariffs offensive is hastening a shakeup in global supply chains.

Total exports from China rose 8.1% last month from a year earlier, much faster than the 2% pace most economists had been expecting. That was much slower than the 12.4% year-on-year increase in March. Imports fell 0.2% in April from the year before.

Shipments to the U.S. sank 21% in dollar terms as Trump’s tariffs on most Chinese exports rose to as high as 145%. With Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods at 125%, business between the two biggest economies has grown increasingly uncertain.

China's imports from the U.S. dropped more than 13% from a year earlier, while its politically sensitive trade surplus with the United States was nearly $20.5 billion in April, down from about $27.2 billion a year earlier.

In the first four months of the year, China’s exports to the United States fell 2.5% from a year earlier, while imports from the U.S. fell 4.7%.

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A US-backed group seeks to take over Gaza aid distribution in a plan similar to Israel's

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A group of American security contractors, ex-military officers and humanitarian aid officials is proposing to take over the distribution of food and other supplies in Gaza based on plans similar to ones designed by Israel.

The Associated Press obtained a proposal from the newly created group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, to implement a new aid distribution system supplanting the current one run by the U.N. and other international aid agencies. The U.N. and aid groups have rejected Israel’s moves to control aid distribution.

It was not immediately clear if the proposal from the new group, which is registered in Geneva, would ease those concerns.

Israel has blocked food, fuel, medicine and all other supplies from entering Gaza for 10 weeks, worsening a humanitarian crisis for 2.3 million Palestinians. It has said it won’t allow aid back in until a system is in place that gives it control over distribution.

The 14-page proposal circulated this week among aid groups and U.N. officials lays out plans similar to ones Israel has been discussing privately for weeks with international aid groups. The proposal reveals for the first time plans to create the foundation and names the people leading it.

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Up to 1,000 transgender troops are being moved out of the military in new Pentagon order

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon will immediately begin moving as many as 1,000 openly identifying transgender service members out of the military and give others 30 days to self-identify under a new directive issued Thursday.

Buoyed by Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision allowing the Trump administration to enforce a ban on transgender individuals in the military, the Defense Department will begin going through medical records to identify others who haven’t come forward.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who issued the latest memo, made his views clear after the court’s decision.

“No More Trans @ DoD,” Hegseth wrote in a post on X. Earlier in the day, before the court acted, Hegseth said that his department is leaving wokeness and weakness behind.

“No more pronouns,” he told a special operations forces conference in Tampa. “No more dudes in dresses. We’re done with that s---.”

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Trump says he is naming Fox News host and former judge Jeanine Pirro as top federal prosecutor in DC

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is naming Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, a former county prosecutor and elected judge, to be the top federal prosecutor for the nation’s capital after abandoning his first pick for the job.

Pirro, who joined Fox News in 2006, cohosts the network’s show “The Five” on weekday evenings. She was elected as a judge in New York’s Westchester County Court in 1990 before serving three terms as the county’s elected district attorney.

Trump tapped Pirro to at least temporarily lead the nation’s largest U.S. Attorney’s office after pulling his nomination of conservative activist Ed Martin Jr. for the position earlier Thursday. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was naming Pirro as the interim U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., but didn't indicate whether he would nominate her for the Senate-confirmed position on a more permanent basis.

"Jeanine is incredibly well qualified for this position, and is considered one of the Top District Attorneys in the History of the State of New York. She is in a class by herself," Trump wrote.

Trump withdrew Martin from consideration after a key Republican senator said he could not support Martin for the job due to his defense of rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

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Freed Palestinian student accuses Columbia University of inciting violence

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A Palestinian student arrested as he was about to finalize his U.S. citizenship accused Columbia University on Thursday of eroding democracy with its handling of campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war.

Mohsen Mahdawi, 34, who led anti-war protests at the Ivy League school in New York in 2023 and 2024, spent 16 days in a Vermont prison before a judge ordered him released on April 30. He spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday, a day after pro-Palestinian protestors clashed with campus security guards inside the university’s main library. At least 80 people were taken into custody, police said.

Mahdawi said instead of being a “beacon of hope," the university is inciting violence against students.

“Columbia University is participating in the destruction of the democratic system,” Mahdawi said in the interview. “They are supporting the initiatives and the agenda of the Trump administration, and they are punishing and torturing their students.”

A spokesperson for Columbia University, which in March announced sweeping policy changes related to protests following Trump administration threats to revoke its federal funding, declined to comment Thursday beyond the response of the school's acting president to Wednesday's protests.

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The Latest: Pope Leo XIV celebrates his first Mass as pontiff a day after his election

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first Mass on Friday, a day after his historic election as the first North American pope in the Catholic Church's 2,000-year history while congratulations poured in from world leaders and statesmen at the start of his papacy.

On Thursday, Cardinal Robert Prevost emerged onto the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, following the conclave and the appearance of white smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney, signaling that a new pontiff has been chosen. His election overcame the traditional prohibition against a pope from the United States.

Leo, a 69-year-old Chicago-born Augustinian missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and took over the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops, wore the traditional red cape — which Pope Francis had eschewed on his election in 2013 — suggesting a return to some degree of rule-following after Francis’ unorthodox pontificate.

Leo's first words to the crowds below — “Peace be with you” — emphasized a message of dialogue and missionary evangelization. He spoke to the crowd in Italian and Spanish, but not English.

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