International
Biden to tour New Orleans hurricane damage
AFP
President Joe Biden, who has made threats from climate change a priority, flies to New Orleans on Friday to tour damage from Hurricane Ida, which pounded the Gulf Coast before bringing havoc to New York.
This will be Biden’s first trip out of the Washington area since his administration became consumed by the crisis in Afghanistan, where a sudden Taliban victory prompted the hectic evacuation of the last US troops and more than 120,000 Afghans and foreign citizens.
Biden is scheduled to meet with local and state officials, tour damage on the ground and inspect Ida’s impact from a helicopter.
Keen to return to domestic issues, Biden will likely use his trip to highlight the links between increasing episodes of extreme weather and the broader global climate crisis.
On Thursday, he said Hurricane Ida and uncontrollable wild fires in the US west are “yet another reminder” of the crisis.
“It’s a matter of life and death and we need to meet it together,” he said in a speech at the White House.
Hurricane Ida, a category four storm, delivered huge floods and wind damage in the south, hitting one of the epicenters of the US oil industry, as well as pounding historic New Orleans.
Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi took hits before remnants of the storm rolled north to New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, inundating the New York City subway and flooding streets across the US financial capital.
In the New Orleans area alone, about a million people were left without power and swaths of the city remain without electricity or running water.
On Thursday, Biden told Ida’s victims “we’re all in this together. The nation is ready to help.”
He said he’d ordered the use of drones and military satellites to help survey damage and speed up “complicated and really dangerous” repair work.
He also ordered use of the critical US petroleum reserve to smooth the supply disruption caused by the hurricane at oil refineries.
“My message to the people of the Gulf Coast… (is) we are here for you,” he said.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
International
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
he Vatican’s post offices and select collector shops began selling special edition stamps this week to mark the period between the death of Pope Francis and the election of his successor.
Known as “Sede Vacante” stamps, they feature an image used on official Vatican documents during the interregnum between popes — two crossed keys without the papal tiara. These stamps went on sale Monday and will remain valid for postal use only until the new pontiff appears at the window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
Until then, they can be used to send letters, postcards, and parcels. “Once the new pope is elected, the stamps lose their postal validity, but their collectible value rises,” said Francesco Santarossa, who runs a collectors’ shop across from St. Peter’s Square.
The Vatican has issued the stamps in four denominations: €1.25, €1.30, €2.45, and €3.20. Each is inscribed with “Città del Vaticano” and “Sede Vacante MMXXV” — Latin for “Vacant See 2025.”
International
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
The conclave, which in the coming weeks must choose the successor to Pope Francis, will strictly follow a precise protocol refined over centuries.
The 135 cardinal electors, all under the age of 80, will cast their votes four times a day — except on the first day — until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority. The result will be announced to the world through the burning of the ballots with a chemical that produces the eagerly awaited white smoke, accompanied by the traditional cry of “Habemus Papam.”
The start date for the conclave could be announced today, as the cardinals are set to hold their fifth meeting since the pope’s passing. Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich suggested it could begin on May 5 or 6, following the traditional nine days of mourning. According to German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the conclave could last only “a few days.”
Although the late Argentine pontiff appointed the majority of the cardinal electors, this does not necessarily ensure the selection of a like-minded successor. Francis’ leadership style differed significantly from that of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, a German theologian who was less fond of large public gatherings. It also marked a contrast with the popular Polish pope, John Paul II.
The Argentine Jesuit’s reformist papacy drew strong criticism from more conservative sectors of the Church, who are hoping for a doctrinally focused shift. His tenure was marked by efforts to combat clerical sexual abuse, elevate the role of women and laypeople, and advocate for the poor and migrants, among other causes.
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
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