Pope Francis on Monday named the first woman to head a major Vatican office, appointing an Italian nun, Sister Simona Brambilla, to become prefect of the department responsible for all the Catholic Church's religious orders. The appointment marks a major step in Francis’ aim to givewomen more leadership rolesin governing the church. While women have been named to No. 2 spots in some Vatican offices, never before has a woman been named prefect of a dicastery or congregation of the Holy See Curia, the central governing organ of the Catholic Church. The historic nature of Brambilla’s appointm

A Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday, killing the driver and injuring seven others. Jeremy Schwartz, the FBI's Las Vegas agent, stated that authorities are investigating potential links between the Las Vegas explosion and a similar incident in New Orleans. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department reported being called to the scene around 8:40 a.m. Authorities revealed that the truck had been rented in Colorado through Turo, the same car rental app involved in the New Orleans incident. Both explosions occurred just hours apart on New Year's

Jimmy Carter,the peanut farmer who tried to restore virtue to the White House after the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, then rebounded from a landslide defeat to become a global advocate of human rights and democracy, has died.He was 100 years old. The Carter Center said the 39th president died Sunday,more than a year after entering hospice care, at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife,Rosalynn,who died in November 2023, lived most of their lives. A moderate Democrat,Carter ran for president in 1976as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad grin, effusive Baptist faith an

Pakistan’s airstrikes on eastern Afghanistan killed 46 people, mostly women and children, a Taliban government official said Wednesday. Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesman for the Afghan government, said that six people were also wounded in the Paktika province bordering Pakistan. This comes a day after Pakistani security officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with regulations, told The Associated Press that Tuesday’s operation was to dismantle a training facility and kill insurgents in the province of Paktika in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, in a statement, Mohammad Khuras

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday ordered parliament dissolved and set new elections for Feb. 23 in the wake of the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's governing coalition. Scholzlost a confidence voteon Dec. 16 and leads a minority government after his unpopular and notoriously rancorous three-party coalitioncollapsed on Nov. 6when he fired his finance minister in a dispute over how to revitalizeGermany’s stagnant economy. Leaders of several major parties then agreed that a parliamentary election should be held on Feb. 23, seven months earlier than originally planned. Sinc

Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif ruled out any possibility of compromise on the country's nuclear program. Addressing a cabinet meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday, he emphasized that American sanctions hold no significance for Pakistan and reaffirmed the country's commitment to its nuclear program. Sharif's remarks followed sanctions imposed by President Joe Biden's administration on four companies allegedly linked to Pakistan's ballistic missile program last week. The US had expressed concerns that Pakistan was developing long-range missiles capable of reaching the US. In response, Pakist

An explosion at an armament factory in northwest Turkey left at least 12 dead and four injured Tuesday morning. The blast occurred in the capsule production facility of the factory located in the province of Balikesir, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency. Balikesir Governor Ismail Ustaoglu said the explosion collapsed the capsule production building and that the surrounding buildings sustained minor damage. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc wrote on social media platform X that four public prosecutors have been assigned to investigate the cause of the explosion.

Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to take back control of the Panama Canal, which the U.S. controlled until 1999. Trump claims that Panama is charging the U.S. more for using the canal and that China is increasing its influence over the strategic waterway. Trump made these comments while addressing his supporters in Arizona on Sunday. He also shared an AI-generated image on his social media account, with a caption reading, "Welcome to the United States Canal." In response, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino issued a recorded message, stating that every inch of land surr

Bangladesh’s interim government said on Monday that it has sent a diplomatic note to India to send back deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina to Dhaka. Hasina, 77, has been living in exile in India since August 5 when she fled the country amid the student-led protests that toppled her 16-year regime. Bangladesh-based International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has issued arrest warrants for Hasina and several former Cabinet ministers, advisers, and military and civil officials for “crimes against humanity and genocide”. “We have sent a note verbale to the Indian government saying that Banglade