Alabama is headed to the first significant revamp of its congressional map in three decades after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the state’s bid to keep using a plan with a single majority-Black district

It is believed Justin Bieber is about four inches taller than his ex Selena Gomez

China has reported its economic growth showed more signs of rekindling in October as retail sales and factory output picked up even though the property sector remained sluggish

Harry and Meghan have complained that the death of Queen Elizabeth II overshadowed the premiere of Meghan's 'Archetypes' podcast last year

A rally in the ruble that’s propelling it toward the strongest since July is the latest piece of

Donald Trump, the front-runner in the GOP presidential primary race, may not have gotten a welcome from union leaders as warm as President Joe Biden did in Michigan when he skipped the second GOP debate and instead addressed current and former union members outside Detroit.

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 21, 2023--

"It's good to have an enemy," says George Birnbaum, one of the godfathers of modern populism.

Pope Francis told a young transgender person that “God loves us as we are”, comments that are being seen as his latest outreach to members of the LGBT+ community. The pope’s comment was in response to Giona, a young Italian individual “torn by the dichotomy between (their Catholic) faith and transgender identity”. The pope was responding to audio messages from young people in a podcast organized ahead of a Catholic youth festival in Portugal, which he is set to attend next week. The pontiff said “the Lord always walks with us.... Even if we are sinners, he draws near to help us. The Lord loves us as we are. This is God’s crazy love.” Pope Francis’s position on the LGBTQ community and gay marriage has been a subject of interest and discussion since he became the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in 2013. While the pope has emphasised the importance of treating LGBTQ individuals with respect, dignity, and love, he upholds the traditional Catholic teaching that marriage is a sacred between a man and a woman. He garnered praise from the LGBTQ community in 2013 when he was asked about a gay priest in 2013 and he replied, “Who am I to judge?” During the course of his pontificate, he has met individually and in groups with transgender people. But at the same time, he has strongly opposed the so-called “gender theory” and upheld the teachings that hold that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered”. In 2021, Pope Francis authorized the release of a Vatican document asserting that the Catholic Church is unable to bless same-sex unions because it is believed that "God cannot bless sin". In an interview with Associated Press, he declared that laws criminalising homosexuality were “unjust” and that “being homosexual is not a crime”. He later clarified that he was merely referring to official Catholic moral teaching that teaches that any sexual act outside of marriage is a sin. In a note in Spanish, Francis reaffirmed that homosexuality “is not a crime,” adding that he spoke out “in order to stress that criminalisation is neither good nor just.” “When I said it is a sin, I was simply referring to Catholic moral teaching, which says that every sexual act outside of marriage is a sin,” he said. Read More Vatican abuse investigators begin their audit of secretive Peru-based Catholic society The pope's Ukraine peace envoy heads to Washington with the plight of children top of his agenda Pope says he knows what non-binary means, welcomes LGBT people to church: ‘All persons are children of God’ Vatican abuse investigators begin their audit of secretive Peru-based Catholic society Jesuits confirm expulsion of priest artist and lament Vatican norms preclude further sanction Vatican is moving ahead with plan to reunite Ukrainian children taken to Russia with their families

Donald Trump was in attack mode as he spoke to supporters Saturday evening in Columbia, South Carolina. The former president, not known for holding back against his enemies, was more combative than ever as he spoke at a South Carolina Republican Party fundraiser in the wake of his indictment on criminal charges related to his attempt to overturn the 2020 election. While some moments were clearly scripted and focused his rage against President Joe Biden and the Department of Justice, others were not as he veered into attacks against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republicans tied to leadership in the Senate who have resisted his calls to use their power to help him — both on January 6, and now, as he faces criminal prosecution. “These guys, what they’re doing with this election interference ... the Senate needs to step up. The House is doing a lot of things…They have something on Mitch McConnell,” the former president argued, presumably meaning either Democrats or the Department of Justice, or both. “There’s no way he’s doing this. They got something on Mitch McConnell.” It was the kind of blunt attack, launched from the backyard of Senator Lindsey Graham, that is likely to cause further headaches for the Senate GOP caucus, which mercifully can avoid reporters’ questions about the matter until the end of the August recess. Mr Graham has traded blows publicly with McConnellworld in recent months, earning a vicious rebuke and accusations of flip-flopping from a former top aide to the Senate GOP leader. The remark could also be awkard for Senator Tim Scott, the other member of South Carolina’s Senate delegation, who is running against Mr Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination but has yet to take a strong line of attack against the former president. Mr Trump’s remarks about the House of Representatives “doing a lot of things” refers to the efforts by the House Judiciary Committee to battle the Department of Justice as well as prosecutors in Manhattan over their offices’ respective prosecutions of Mr Trump; those actions by the Judiciary panel, however, have largely amounted to show and have done little if anything to hinder the investigations themselves. Given the Democratic majority in the Senate, it’s not clear what else the president has in mind for his allies to accomplish. Some individual senators have taken to blocking appointments to various federal agencies until their demands are met, but these actions have not yet been undertaken or endorsed by GOP leadership. Others attacked by Mr Trump during his speech on Saturday included his former attorney general, Bill Barr, who has affirmed in public interviews that he believes the Department of Justice’s prosecutions of his ex-boss to be legitimate and serious, and Jack Smith, the special counsel leading the Department of Justice’s prosecution of Mr Trump in two matters: The alleged unlawful retention of classified material and other presidential records, and the campaign to overturn the election ending on January 6. His most scripted attacks were predictably aimed at Mr Biden however, whom he accused once again of using his power to enrich himself and his family. The charge has been leveled at his own family in the wake of their departure from the White House, in particular given a massive Saudi-backed investment into his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s business secured shortly after the end of his time in government. “Crooked Joe Biden only cares about enriching his family,” Mr Trump said. “I care about enriching your family.” “Under my leadership, we built the greatest economy in the history of the world,” said the former president.“When I get back in office, I’m going to reverse Bidenomics and restore the trajectory I created toward increasing this country’s financial prosperity.” Mr Trump was in Washington this past week for his indictment on charges related to the 2020 election. He entered a plea of not guilty as the number of criminal counts formally filed against him continued to climb, and immediately began making statements about the investigation that have forced prosecutors to seek a protective order from the judge that would limit what he can say publicly. He continues to persist as the far-and-away leader of the Republican 2024 primary field, even as it appears likely that he and/or members of his legal team could face further charges filed against them later this month in Georgia as a grand jury investigation into his efforts to change election results in that state comes to a head. The former president and his allies continue to wrongfully insist that the 2020 election was “stolen” by Mr Biden even as every reputable expert and agency with authority to monitor elections have said that his claims about the results are false. Read More DeSantis steps up dire warning to GOP about distraction from Biden, amid Trump's latest indictment Trump attacks ‘delusional’ Pence over key role in election indictment: ‘Gone to the dark side’ Mike Pence heckled by Trump supporters at town hall after rolling out mocking merch Trump goes on kooky rant about how long it takes to wash his ‘gorgeous head of hair’ Vivek Ramaswamy's Hindu faith is front and center in his GOP presidential campaign Trump demands Judge Tanya Chutkan be removed from election case after ruling against him

The collapse of the Black Sea export corridor, which allowed the export of more than 32 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain over the past year, should have little immediate impact but over the medium term...

Derek Rosa, 13, was taken into custody after he apparently confessed to killing his mother, Irena Garcia, while she slept with her newborn daughter