Leo

• Leonardo CEO Roberto Mariani warned that Italy must maintain its current growth in defense spending to avoid becoming "EU subordinates" to France and Germany. • Mariani noted that a sudden jump from 1.5% to 3.5% of GDP in military spending would have overwhelmed Italian industries, making a gradual investment path essential. • The warning emphasizes that any three- or four-year interruption in funding would leave Italy unable to compete with the sustained investments of its European neighbors.

Exclusive: health professionals, survivors and politicians voice concerns in open letter over comments by Fatima Maadi Bio, who denies supporting the practiceThe first lady of Sierra Leone has denied that she supports female genital mutilation amid rising anger around her perceived approval of the practice.But in an exclusive response to the Guardian, Fatima Maada Bio, the wife of President Julius Maada Bio, also said she would not openly condemn FGM until she saw “reliable data” that the practice was harmful. Continue reading...

Fatima Jabbe-Bio kept tenancy despite living for much of year in the presidential lodge in FreetownA social housing flat rented by Sierra Leone’s first lady has been seized by a London council.Southwark council confirmed it had repossessed the two-bedroom home in Walworth previously occupied by Fatima Jabbe-Bio, whose tenancy was reported by The Times last year. Continue reading...

As completion of 144-year construction nears, questions swirl over resemblance of church to architect’s original plansTen hours before he was due to pass by, the faithful were already picking their spots along the route Pope Leo XIV will take on his brief journey to bless Antoni Gaudí’s iconic church the Sagrada Família.It’s been a long wait but this evening, 144 years after work began, the pope will bless the basilica’s recently completed central tower in the presence of members of the Spanish royal family, the prime minister and hundreds of bishops. Continue reading...

Pontiff appeals in Catalan for harmony on Barcelona leg of Spain tour after making football foes in cityTo the delight of many, Pope Leo XIV kicked off the Barcelona leg of his week-long visit to Spain with a few words in Catalan, calling on the faithful who had gathered in the city’s cathedral on Tuesday “to build harmony and communion beyond all polarisation”.The pontiff’s familiar and commendable plea for people to set aside their differences may, however, have come a little late. Three days earlier, while chatting to journalists on the flight to Spain, Leo had made an awkward confession. Continue reading...

In his first visit to an EU country outside Italy, pope urges world leaders to stop dividing electorates and to respect ‘every human being’More than a million people have filled the streets near one of Madrid’s main squares to join Pope Leo for an outdoor Mass, likely to be the largest event of his week-long visit to Spain.Throngs of people pressed along barriers near the landmark Cibeles Square, waving flags and shouting “Long live the pope”, as Leo arrived in his white popemobile for the event. Some tossed flower petals as he arrived in the square. Continue reading...

Pontiff to make marginalised a focus of first papal visit since 2011 including meeting with migrants in Canary IslandsPope Leo has urged political leaders to seek unity, rather than divide their populations for political gain, and said they must fight for peace, in the opening speech of his tour in Spain.The pope has made the marginalised a focus of his visit – his first tour of an EU country, apart from Italy – including meeting homeless people in Madrid and migrants in the Canary Islands. The pope, who has clashed with the US president, Donald Trump, over his immigration policies and war with Iran, said his visit was aimed at setting an example of respecting “every human being”. Continue reading...

Pontiff’s resolve to highlight plight of migrants has aligned him with Spanish PM, whose inner circle and party are mired in corruption allegationsWhile Pope Leo XIV isn’t due to touch down in Madrid until 10.30am on Saturday, his presence in the Spanish capital is already verging on the ubiquitous.The smiling, avuncular face of the first US pontiff greets visitors from posters, from the sides of buses, from commemorative travel cards and even from the digital screens on the metro system, where it flickers up between adverts for sun cream and banking deals. Continue reading...

Brandon Johnson, a progressive Democrat, applauded the pope for pushing back against Trump’s policies in meetingBrandon Johnson, the Chicago mayor, cast Pope Leo XIV as a powerful global ally on social justice, migration and reparations after meeting the Chicago-born pontiff at the Vatican, saying their shared roots and priorities could help amplify efforts to protect vulnerable communities.“We are incredibly elated and proud of him,” Johnson told the Associated Press in an interview on Friday, a day after the meeting with the American pope in a private audience. Continue reading...

• Sierra Leone's Ministry of Communication, Technology and Innovation is developing the country's first-ever National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy. • The initiative is being created in collaboration with the World Bank Group and other strategic partners to establish a framework for AI adoption. • This move is critical for expanding digital opportunities and ensuring the proper governance of emerging technologies within the nation.

• Indian duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will face Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin in the men's doubles final of the BWF Super 500 Thailand Open 2026. • The championship match is scheduled for Sunday, May 17, and will take place at the Nimibutr Stadium in Bangkok. • Satwik and Chirag reached the final after a challenging tournament run, including a hard-fought semifinal victory over Malaysia's Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin.

Zainab Sheriff unjustly sentenced to four years in prison for incitement and threatening language, say activistsLawyers, politicians and activists have called for the release of one of Sierra Leone’s best-known celebrities, who they said was unjustly imprisoned as part of a government crackdown on free speech and political dissent.Zainab Sheriff, a singer and reality-TV show contestant who became a political opposition figure, was sentenced in April to four years and two months’ imprisonment for incitement and using threatening language. Continue reading...

Mirroring of each other’s attire may signal alignment – though the look wasn’t a huge departure for either leaderWhen Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met for a welcome ceremony in Tiananmen Square this week with the world’s gaze on them, they mirrored one another in strikingly similar suits.Both were blue, single-breasted with flap pockets. Both had two buttons with only the top one done up. Both wore red ties. Continue reading...

• U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Pope Leo XIV and Cardinal Pietro Parolin at the Vatican on Thursday for 2½ hours to discuss Middle East peace efforts. • The visit aims to mend fences following President Donald Trump's recent public criticisms of the Pope over Iran policy. • Rubio focused on achieving a durable peace amid ongoing U.S. pressures on Tehran, including a naval blockade and peace proposal.

Pontiff responds after US president accuses him of ‘endangering a lot of Catholics’ with stance on Iran warMiddle East crisis – live updatesPope Leo has said he has never supported nuclear weapons and that those who criticise him need to speak the truth, in response Donald Trump’s latest tirade accusing him of “endangering a lot of Catholics” with his stance on the Iran war.Speaking to journalists on Tuesday night after leaving the papal retreat in Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, the first US-born pontiff said: “The mission of the church is to preach the gospel, to preach peace.” Continue reading...

US secretary of state’s two-day visit reportedly intended to thaw Washington’s frosty relations with Vatican and ItalyThe US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will meet Pope Leo on Thursday, weeks after Donald Trump’s unprecedented broadside against the pontiff.Rubio will meet the first US-born pope privately in the Vatican’s apostolic palace at 11.30am (10.30 GMT), the Holy See’s press office confirmed on Monday after media reports on Sunday. Continue reading...

Investigation found Botstein – who had claimed he wasn’t friends with Epstein – made 25 visits to his townhouseLeon Botstein has announced he is stepping down from the helm of Bard College, after an independent review of his contacts with Jeffrey Epstein found the college president’s frequent interactions with the convicted sex offender “could have alerted” him to the possibility that he and Bard would be facilitating Epstein’s abuse of women.An investigation by the WilmerHale law firm, which had been commissioned by Bard’s board of trustees earlier this year to review Botstein’s interactions with Epstein, found the Bard president – who had previously claimed he was not friends with Epstein – made about 25 visits to Epstein’s townhouse, a two-day visit to Epstein’s Little St James Island, and that there were two visits by Epstein to Bard. These visits, WilmerHale reported, included “multiple women” who have since been identified as victims of Epstein. Continue reading...

Sarah Mullally hails Leo for addressing the ‘many injustices in our world’ after private meeting with pope in RomeThe archbishop of Canterbury praised Pope Leo on Monday for speaking “powerfully about the many injustices” in the world, in an apparent reference to the pontiff becoming more outspoken in recent weeks, particularly in his criticism of the US-Israeli war on Iran.Sarah Mullally, who in March became the first woman to lead the Anglican church, arrived in Rome on Saturday for a visit aimed at reinforcing relations with the Vatican. Mullally had a private meeting with Leo, the first US-born leader of the Catholic church, at the Apostolic Palace, the pope’s official residence. Continue reading...

Catholics around Atlanta share mixed feelings on faith and politics as Trump engages in rhetorical war with popeAlex Sullivan tended to his five children on the lawn after a traditional Latin mass at the Catholic Church of Saint Monica in Duluth, Georgia, and contemplated his faith in the light of God and the shadow of Donald Trump.Sullivan, a self-described conservative who once staffed a libertarian state representative at the Georgia capitol, described his faith as almost medieval. Continue reading...

Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, a long supporter of Trump, says president’s feud with the pope is a ‘distraction’A Republican lawmaker has condemned what he refers to as Donald Trump’s “holy war” against Pope Leo XIV.Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, a long supporter of Trump and the ultraconservative Maga movement, condemned the president’s attacks on the pope during a Fox News interview on Saturday. Continue reading...

Pontiff’s comments are another sharp escalation in feud with Trump’s White House over the US-Israeli war on IranSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxPope Leo XIV has said that the world is being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants” who spend billions on war, in comments that will be seen as another sharp escalation in his almost week-long feud with the White House over the US-Israeli war on Iran.The first American-born pontiff did not mention Donald Trump by name, but used his speech in Cameroon on Thursday to denounce world leaders that invoke religion to justify violence against other nations. Continue reading...

Leo doubles down on his message of peace as Trump and JD Vance continue to squabble with and insult the VaticanThe ongoing squabble between the Trump administration and the Vatican over the war in Iran took another twist on Wednesday when Pope Leo shared a message of peace and healing after the latest angry broadside from the White House.On Tuesday, JD Vance capped several days of insults by insinuating the pontiff was not being truthful in matters of theology, and did not understand the concept of war. Continue reading...

• President Trump has escalated his feud with Pope Leo, doubling down on criticism in an exclusive interview with CBS News on April 13, 2026. • The confrontation reflects growing tension between Trump and religious leadership, with reports indicating Trump is losing some support from religious Americans. • The conflict highlights the broader divide between Trump's political stance and traditional religious institutions' positions on various policy matters.

Vice-president effectively tells Leo to stay in his lane after the pope criticized the White House over the Iran warJD Vance has weighed into Donald Trump’s feud with Pope Leo, effectively telling the pontiff to stay in his lane after the head of the Catholic church criticized the White House over the Iran war.“It would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of what’s going on in the Catholic church and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy,” the vice-president said in an interview on Fox News on Monday night. Continue reading...

Pontiff makes first papal visit to country as he starts 11-day tour that will also include stops in Cameroon and AngolaPope Leo XIV arrived in Algeria on Monday for the first papal visit to the country, calling for peace on the opening stop of a tour of Africa that signals the continent’s growing importance to the Catholic church.The 11-day trip, which will include stops in Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, is the longest by Pope Leo since being elected to the papacy in May last year. Continue reading...

In unprecedented attack on the leader of the Catholic church, president says the US-born pope is ‘not doing a very good job’ and is ‘a very liberal person’President Donald Trump delivered an extraordinary broadside against Pope Leo XIV on Sunday night, saying he didn’t think the US-born leader of the Catholic church is “doing a very good job” and that “he’s a very liberal person,” while also suggesting the pontiff should “stop catering to the Radical Left.”Flying back to Washington from Florida, Trump used a lengthy social media post to sharply criticise Leo, then kept it up in comments on the tarmac to reporters. Continue reading...

Decision to choose small, wealthy – but very Catholic – state for first European trip has baffled some Vatican observersPope Leo will travel to Monaco, the semi-enclave famous for casinos and superyachts, on Saturday on his first European trip since being elected pontiff, causing bemusement among some Vatican observers, not least because it comes 488 years after the last papal visit.Leo will travel from the Vatican by helicopter for the one-day trip, and will be greeted at Monaco’s heliport by Prince Albert and his wife, Princess Charlene, before being taken to the palace, which has been the residence of the Grimaldi dynasty since the 13th century. It is the first time a pontiff has visited Monaco since Pope Paul III in 1538. Continue reading...

Pontiff tells Italian airline staff aerial bombings should be banned, in latest condemnation of warMiddle East crisis live – latest updatesPope Leo has said aeroplanes should be “carriers of peace” and that aerial bombardments should be banned, in his latest condemnation of war amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.The Catholic church’s first American pontiff made the comments during a meeting on Monday with staff from the Italian national airline ITA Airways. Continue reading...