▶️Official White House social media accounts repost AI image of US President Donald Trump dressed like Pope

▶️Datum: 2025-05-08

▶️Thursday, May 8,2025On Friday, US White House social media accounts reposted an AI-generated image that appeared to show US President Donald Trump wearing a white bishop's hat and white cassock, with white buttons and white pellegrina. The image bore great similarity to the Pope's garments. President Trump himself had posted the image to his Truth Social account. The posts came as the Catholic Church mourns the death of Pope Francis, which occurred eleven days prior on April 21. Trump had joked about wanting to be Pope to reporters several days before the post was published. A spokesperson for the New York State Catholic Conference criticized the post on X, stating that the president was "mocking" the faith. They said in a statement: "There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President. We just buried our beloved Pope Francis and the cardinals are about to enter a solemn conclave to elect a new successor of St Peter. Do not mock us. " Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi also criticized the post, expressing his belief that the image "offends believers, insults institutions and shows that the leader of the right-wing world enjoys clowning around. "The White House denied that the post was intended to affront or disparage the Catholic Church. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was quoted saying: "President Trump flew to Italy to pay his respects to Pope Francis and attend his funeral, and he has been a staunch champion for Catholics and religious liberty. "The Vatican declined to comment on Trump's post. The event of a pope's death and the subsequent election is traditionally approached with "utmost solemnity" among practionioners of the Catholic faith in the Vatican, according to AP News. Former US President Joe Biden had previously been accused of mocking the Catholic faith due to a gesture at a pro-choice rally.

→Naar het bron artikel.

▶️Robert Francis Prevost elected as Pope Leo XIV

▶️Datum: 2025-05-08

▶️At 18: 07 CEST (16: 07 UTC) on 8 May 2025, white smoke came out from the Sistine Chapel's smokestack at Vatican City, signaling a new pope was selected. Cardinal Protodeacon Dominique Mamberti announced Robert Francis Cardinal Prevost as the 267th Pope. He has taken the name of Pope Leo XIV. Prevost's name previously appeared as papabile, the "front-runner" of the Pope. His openness and support to the late Pope Francis, especially for his commitment to social justice issues sparked some interest from his peers. Pope Leo XIV became the second Pope from Americas, and the first Pope from North America, specifically. He was born on September 14,1955, in Chicago, Illinois. He has served as the Bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023. Since 2023, he has been taking place as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops at the Vatican, which means that he has been in charge in selecting priests and vetting nominations of bishops around the world. He has been appointed as cardinal since 2024 by the late Pope Francis. On February 6,2025, the late Pope Francis promoted him to the Order of Bishops, which granted him the title of the Suburbicarian Church of Albano.

→Naar het bron artikel.

▶️Texas authorities announce manhunt after alleged murderer's ankle monitor found in fire

▶️Datum: 2025-05-08

▶️Thursday, May 8,2025The Kaufman County Sheriff's Office in Texas announced Monday they were searching for Trevor McEuen, 32, who is accused of murder. Authorities say he removed his court-ordered ankle monitor and fled from neighboring Van Zandt County at 5: 33 a. m. CDT (1033 UTC) that day. Opening arguments in McEuen's 2023 murder trial were scheduled for early in the week, though sources differ on whether it was Monday or Tuesday. Firefighters discovered McEuen was missing when they arrived to put out a barn fire on the property where McEuen had been staying while he awaited trial. Kaufman County Sheriff Bryan Beavers told the press he believed McEuen had set the fire: "He did that, I guess thinking it would burn more than what it did, " Beavers said. "When the fire department got there and got everything put out, that's when we found his ankle monitor, his cell phones, and stuff in there, and he wasn't in there. " He later said that he believed McEuen had left the area. United States Marshals are working with Texas law enforcement to apprehend McEuen, who had been released on a US2 million bond. The Kaufman County Sheriff's Office has offered a US10,000 reward for information leading to his capture. McEuen is accused of having killed his neighbor, Aaron Martinez, 35. Martinez was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds in his truck in May 2023. According to Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA, the Kaufman County Sheriff's Office has stated that they do not consider the killing a hate crime. Both Martinez's family and Representative Joaquin Castro have asked prosecutors to file hate crime charges. Castro said at the time of the shooting "three weeks ago, Aaron Martinez was murdered in cold blood by a man who wanted to drive Hispanics out of Kaufman County. "McEuen was released on bail but later re-arrested in September 2024 after threatening Martinez's uncle on Instagram.

→Naar het bron artikel.

▶️People's Action Party wins Singaporean election in landslide victory

▶️Datum: 2025-05-07

▶️Wednesday, May 7,2025On May 3, Singapore's ruling People's Action Party (PAP) won the Singaporean election in a landslide victory against the opposing Workers' Party (WP) obtaining 65.6 of the electorate. The vote was the first significant electoral test for Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who took over from current Senior Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong on May 15,2024.97 seats were originally up for grabs, up from the current 93, a combination of Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) and 15 Single Member Constituencies (SMCs) 18 Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) and 15 Single Member Constituencies (SMCs). However, in a shock development, the WP has decided not to contest Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC as it had done in the past two elections, resulting in a walkover for the PAP, the first since 2011. The PAP won 87 sets in total, while the WP retained ten seats. The PAP has held a supermajority in Parliament since 1959, the longest uninterrupted governing party among modern multiparty parliamentary democracies. In the current, outgoing parliament, the PAP holds a supermajority of 83 of 93 directly elected seats, with 11 additional seats accorded to the "best losers" and nominated members of parliament. The last election, held in 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, saw the opposition making inroads into Parliament, with the WP securing the newly created Sengkang GRC. Nomination Day, the date fixed for candidates to submit their paperwork for the upcoming election, was slated for April 23. The electoral campaign had been set to last just nine days, followed by May 2, when no campaigning was be allowed. The vote was held amid Singapore's 60th year of independence and global economic headwinds. Singapore was not spared the fallout from the imposition of the Trump tariffs, effective April 5, having been hit by the blanket minimum 10 rate on all U. S. imports. Singapore is a "flawed" democracy per The Economist's Democracy Index.

→Naar het bron artikel.

▶️Peruvian police locate bodies of security guards allegedly abducted by illegal goldminers

▶️Datum: 2025-05-07

▶️Wednesday, May 7,2025On Sunday, May 4, in Peru's Pataz province in the northern Department of La Libertad region, near one of Perus largest gold mines, police has found bodies of thirteen security guards who were kidnapped on Saturday, April 26, allegedly by individuals involved in illegal mining. The security guards had been employed by private security firm R&R staff, a security company that serves Libmar, an artisanal miner operating on contract with the mining company Poderosa. On Friday, May 2, the gold mining company, named La Poderosa ("Powerful" in Spanish), stated that it was disappointed that the police were not doing enough to prevent illegal mining. On Saturday, as reported by the local news site Diario Correo, a video, allegedly filmed by the criminals, started circulating on social media, showing the victims being murdered by gunshot at point-blank range. Video of the victims tied up and naked was also reportedly sent to their relatives as a form of ransom prior to their deaths, which was said to have persisted for a week. Authorities believed that the perpetrators were connected with illegal mining. The victims, who were found "tied up in a pit, " were initially dispatched to confront a gang that had ambushed the mine and taken control of it. The attempt to regain control of the mine was unsuccessful, and they were ultimately waylayed and captured, according to BBC. After the discovery of the victims, the government in Peru levied a curfew on the Pataz province for the late-night hours, and gold mining in the area was suspended for 30 days. President Boluarte stated that there would be an armed military presence throughout the La Poderosa mining area, which he described as taking "full control. "Spokesman Pablo de la Flor criticized the decision to shut down formal mining, arguing Thats precisely what illegal mines want. A state of emergency had been in effect for the region since February 2024, though La Ponderosa stated that these measures were nugatory. A spokesperson for the company said on May 2: "The spiral of uncontrolled violence in Pataz is occurring despite the declaration of a state of emergency and the presence of a large police contingent which, unfortunately, has not been able to halt the deterioration of security conditions in the area. "The firm stated that the victims had been kidnapped on April 26, and are among several dozen of its employees who had been killed in gang-related violence within the mining area. Violence related to unlawful mining has been on the rise in the region that the Ponderosa mine is located in, and Luis Guillermo Bringas, a prosecutor in Pataz, called the conflict "a war for mining pits" between mining firms and criminal gangs. The illegal gold mining industry was worth more than 6 billion in 2024, according to the Peruvian Institute of Economics. Peru is one of the world's largest gold producers, mining more than 100 tonnes a year - or about 4 of the entire world's annual supply. Reporterd suggested that similar incidents in Peru could potentially deter investors from doing business in the country.

→Naar het bron artikel.

▶️President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic gets sick, flies home early from US visit

▶️Datum: 2025-05-07

▶️On May 3, Serbian President Aleksandar Vui tried to make a brief visit to the US before having to go home to Serbia and getting sick. He had a short hospital stay on Saturday in Belgrade. A doctor indicated that his condition is "reliable and unchanged". Serbian Finance Minister Sinisa Mali told RTS that President Vui was discharged from Belgrade's Military Medical Academy (VMA) a little after 5: 00 pm (1500 GMT) and informed him that he was feeling better. During his trip to the United States, Vui suddenly experienced severe chest pain. After seeking medical attention and undergoing an examination, he decided to cut his trip short and return to Serbia. Vui has faced criticism for refusing to join Western nations in sanctions against Russia for its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. He has also been under pressure for a deadly roof collapse at a railway station in Novi Sad in November 2024, which sparked a wave of anti-corruption protests.

→Naar het bron artikel.

▶️Competitive local elections held in England

▶️Datum: 2025-05-06

▶️On 1 May 2025, local elections were held in England. The results were disappointing for Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Conservative opposition leader Kemi Badenoch who both suffered historic losses mainly to the party of Nigel Farage, Reform UK. The elections were primarily county councils in rural England as well as one parliamentary by-election. The night began with Reform UK candidate Sarah Pochin winning the 2025 Runcorn and Helsby by-election in North West England by six votes becoming their first female Member of Parliament. The party also won two new metro mayors in Greater Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire. Later results included Reform UK winning strongholds such as Kent and Staffordshire from the Conservatives and County Durham and Doncaster from the Labour Party. Other councils they took outright control of were Derbyshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire. In total they won 677 of over 1,600 council seats across England. Nigel Farage called the results "unprecedented" and said it meant "the end of two-party politics". It was also a good night for the Liberal Democrats who came second with 370 seats. They also took outright control of three county councils; Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire and Shropshire. They also made strong gains in Devon, Cornwall and Wiltshire. The Green Party had mixed results, with some new seats in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire but they came third in the West of England mayoral election behind Labour and Reform UK. The Conservatives lost over 600 councillors and every one of the fifteen of the councils it controlled, which was reportedly among the worst results in the history of the party. They lost many seats in their heartland counties including Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire. Labour only managed to win 98 council seats. Keir Starmer told ITV News "I get it" regarding the "disappointing" result.

→Naar het bron artikel.

▶️CSIRO releases 15 captive bred endemic spotted handfish into wild in Tasmania

▶️Datum: 2025-05-06

▶️On Tuesday, April 29, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) researchers have released 15 juvenile captive bred spotted handfish originated at Seahorse World in Tasmania into the wild, at undisclosed location in River Derwent near Hobart. To help the critically endangered fish adapt to the new environment, the researchers provided them with "handfish hotels". The researchers were planning to remove the "hotels" in approximately two weeks to encourage integration with the surrounding environment; until then, the researchers were planning to closely monitor the fish, with the unique spots being used to identify individuals. The breeding program, supported with funding by the Derwent Estuary Program, had started in 2017 and involved setting up two satellite populations: at Seahorse World and at the Melbourne Aquarium. CSIRO research technician and project lead Carlie Devine said "Today is our first ever release of captive-bred juveniles, so we're very excited to put them in the water. . . . It's been a long journey, first of all we had to work out how to get them to breed in captivity. . . . It is still a very rare event for them to breed in captivity. "Senior biologist Rachelle Hawkins said that the 15 released fish are part of the 35 that hatched, with the remainder staying at the aquarium to continue boosting the captive population. Ms Hawkins said a hurdle to breeding was difficulty with identifying a handfish's sex, which was resolved in 2023 when the aquarium was able to use ultrasound to determine the sex. Tasmanian artist Jane Bamford had been making the artificial spawning habitats that the handfish lays its eggs on in the captive breeding program. Jane has by now hand-crafted 7,500 ceramic poles. Ms Devine said about the "handfish hotels": "We will have an intensive monitoring program. . . we will check on the fish and do a hotel room service every couple of days to make sure they are all good and happy. The fish won't move much, so will be easy to find in the hotels, which they will keep for about two weeks. . . . Once we remove the hotels, hopefully they will go on their merry way and integrate. We want to make sure they can survive in the wild. They are very hardy fish so we are positive that they will be fine. It's a long process and this is just one step in our captive breeding program. "The spotted handfish is an unusual fish, in that it has highly adapted pectoral fins, which appear like hands -- hence the name -- and allow it to walk on the seafloor. The species is classified as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List 2020 and has a restricted range, being found only in the estuary of Derwent River, Tasmania, and nearby areas. It was first listed as critically endangered in 1996, and became the first marine fish to join the list.

→Naar het bron artikel.

▶️Former guitarist of pioneering death metal band Possessed dies in shootout with San Francisco police

▶️Datum: 2025-05-06

▶️Tuesday, May 6,2025On Monday, April 28, Brian Montana, a former guitarist of pioneering death metal band Possessed, was shot and killed in San Francisco by the city's police force during an armed shootout. Montana joined Possessed in 1983, left the band in 1984, and was 60 years old when he died. The shootout lasted approximately 25 minutes. The incident allegedly stemmed from an argument with a neighbor over tree clippings at the 300 block of Arroyo Drive. Montana reportedly pulled a gun on his neighbor when the quarrel escalated, and fired rounds at his neighbor's house. Police arrived on scene after receiving complaints of gunfire, and stated Montana opened fire on them with a handgun, shotgun and rifle. Montana used landscaping scenery and surrounding vehicles in the driveway to shield himself from gunfire during the incident, while police used their squad cars for protection. Police eventually managed to neutralize Montana after successfully landing a shot on him. After life-saving measures were attempted, Montana was pronounced dead at the scene. Police stated that one resident in the house that Montana was firing at sustained what was described as a "graze wound, " and required hospitalization. No other casualties were reported. District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe stated that alcohol was involved in the incident. He was quoted saying, "Montana's death is a tragedy, but its fortunate that nobody else was hit or injured more seriously. Possessed vocalist Jeff Becerra took to the band's official Instagram and wrote: "The Brian I know is from when we were still just kids back in the beginning of Possessed. He was nothing like what I'm seeing being written about him. In fact, I think that's one of the reasons that led to him leaving Possessed. He just wasn't willing to be as dark as we wanted him to be at that time. We were going for that evil imagery, and Brian was just so lighthearted, even goofy in a good way. "

→Naar het bron artikel.

▶️Grand Theft Auto VI release date pushed back until May 2026

▶️Datum: 2025-05-06

▶️Tuesday, May 6,2025On Friday, video game manufacturer Rockstar Games announced that the release date of Grand Theft Auto VI the sixth mainline installment in the Grand Theft Auto video game series and the sequel to 2013's Grand Theft Auto V had been pushed back until May 26,2026. The release had been previously slated for fall 2025. The reason given by Rockstar was "to deliver at the level of quality you expect and deserve. " The company apologized for the delay, explaining: "With every game we have released, the goal has always been to try and exceed your expectations, and Grand Theft Auto VI is no exception. We hope you understand that we need this extra time to deliver at the level of quality you expect and deserve. "Grand Theft Auto VI is "expected to be the biggest entertainment launch of all time, " according to IGN. Its predecessor Grand Theft Auto V remains popular among fans of the series eleven years removed from its launch.

→Naar het bron artikel.

© Copyright
De bovenstaande teksten zijn afkomstig van https://en.wikinews.org en zijn beschikbaar onder de Creative Commons Attribution 2.5
of 4.0 licentie, afhankelijk van de publicatiedatum. Elk artikel bevat een link naar de originele bron.
Voor uitzending in morse zijn afbeeldingen, opmaak en niet in morse bekend zijnde tekens/karakters vervangen of verwijderd.