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World leaders arrive in Rome for funeral of Pope Francis

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World leaders arrive in Rome for funeral of Pope Francis

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World leaders including US President Donald Trump are arriving at St Peter’s Square in Rome for the funeral mass of Pope Francis. 

The late pontiff, whose body will be laid to rest on Saturday at Santa Maria Maggiore, his favourite Rome church, broke with centuries of tradition and requested simplified rites for the ceremony.

Scores of global leaders are expected to attend the funeral mass, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Argentina’s right-wing president Javier Milei, and Brazil’s left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

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During his 12 years on the papal throne, Francis sought to make the Catholic church — which claims 1.4bn followers worldwide — more compassionate and accessible, while addressing contemporary problems such as climate change.

His death this week at the age of 88 prompted an outpouring of grief from admirers but also dissent from critics, including influential members of Trump’s Maga movement.

The Vatican said that an estimated 250,000 people had passed through St Peter’s Basilica over the three days Francis lay in state before his coffin was sealed on Friday evening.

Royals including the UK’s Prince William and the monarchs of Spain, Sweden and Denmark are expected to attend the funeral mass on Saturday, as well as heads of international institutions such as the UN and the European Commission. Former US president Joe Biden is also attending.

The Holy See expects that about 200,000 people will flock to St Peter’s Square for the funeral mass, including 220 cardinals and roughly 750 bishops and priests.

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The burial marks the start of a nine-day formal mourning period, after which up to 135 eligible cardinals under the age of 80 will be locked in the Vatican for a secretive conclave to select the new pope.

Early frontrunners include Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the late pope’s secretary of state, Cardinal Luis Tagle from the Philippines and Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu.

Francis last year simplified the papal death rites. Archbishop Diego Ravelli, master of apostolic ceremonies, said at the time that the changes were intended to emphasise that “the funeral of the Roman pontiff is that of a pastor and a disciple of Christ, not a powerful person of this world”.

The homily at the funeral mass will be delivered by Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, aged 91, whose words are likely to be interpreted by many Catholics as spiritual guidance to the cardinal electors on the qualities they should seek in a new pope.

After the mass, the coffin will be taken by hearse from St Peter’s Basilica to Santa Maria Maggiore, which Francis visited before and after every papal trip. He will be the first pope in more than a century to be buried outside the walls of Vatican City.

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The 5.5km funeral procession, which will travel at walking pace, will pass many of Rome’s most famous monuments, including the Coliseum.

Though the burial will be a private ceremony, the church will open soon afterwards so mourners can pay respects to the deceased pope, who will lie under a marble tombstone inscribed simply “Franciscus”. 

Additional reporting by Giuliana Ricozzi

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Man Charged With Posting Bomb Instructions Used in New Orleans Attack

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Man Charged With Posting Bomb Instructions Used in New Orleans Attack

Federal prosecutors have filed charges against a former Army serviceman they accused of distributing instructions on how to build explosives that were used by a man who conducted a deadly attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day last year.

The former serviceman, Jordan A. Derrick, a 40-year-old from Missouri, was charged with one count of engaging in the business of manufacturing explosive materials without a license; one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device; and one count of distributing information relating to manufacturing explosives, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday. The three charges together carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison.

Starting in September 2023, the authorities said, Mr. Derrick was using various social media sites to share videos of himself making explosive materials, including detonators. His videos provided step-by-step instructions, and he often engaged with viewers in comments, sometimes answering their questions about the chemistry behind the explosives.

The authorities said that Mr. Derrick’s videos were downloaded by Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42, who was accused of ramming a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2025, in a terrorist attack that killed 14 people and injured dozens. Mr. Jabbar was killed in a shootout with the police. Before the attack, Mr. Jabbar had placed two explosives on Bourbon Street, the authorities said, but they did not detonate.

The authorities later recovered two laptops and a USB drive in a house that Mr. Jabbar had rented. The USB drive contained several videos created by Mr. Derrick that provided instructions on making explosives. The authorities said the explosives they recovered were consistent with the ones Mr. Derrick had posted about.

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Mr. Derrick’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Derrick was a combat engineer in the Army, where he provided personnel and vehicle support, the authorities said. He also helped supervise safety personnel during demolitions and various operations. He was honorably discharged in February 2013.

The authorities did not say whether Mr. Derrick had any communication with Mr. Jabbar, or whether the men had known each other. In some of Mr. Derrick’s videos and comments, he indicated that he was aware that his videos could be misused.

“There are a plethora of uh, moral, you know, entanglements with topics, any topic of teaching explosives, right?” he asked in one video, according to the affidavit. “Of course, the wrong people could get it.”

The authorities also said that an explosion occurred at a private residence in Odessa, Mo., on May 4, and the occupant of the residence told investigators that he had manufactured explosives after watching online tutorials from Mr. Derrick.

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Mr. Derrick’s YouTube account had more than 15,000 subscribers and 20 published videos, the affidavit said. He had also posted content on other platforms, including Odysee and Patreon. Some videos were accessible to the public for free, while others required a paid subscription to view.

“My responsibility to my countrymen is to make sure that I serve the function of the Second Amendment to strengthen it,” Mr. Derrick said in one of his videos, according to the affidavit. “This is how I serve my country for real.”

Outside of the income he received through content creation, Mr. Derrick did not have any known employment. He did receive a monthly disability check from Veterans Affairs, the affidavit stated.

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The Girls: “This isn’t ringing alarms to y’all?” : Embedded

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The Girls: “This isn’t ringing alarms to y’all?” : Embedded
Allegations pile up, but Child Protective Services declines to investigate and the school district continues to promote Ronnie Stoner. We include an update at the end of the episode. “The Girls” is a 4-part series from the Louisville Public Media’s investigative podcast, Dig.
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Chud the Builder, Known for Racist Confrontations, Charged With Attempted Murder

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Chud the Builder, Known for Racist Confrontations, Charged With Attempted Murder

A streamer known for hurling racist slurs in public settings under the nickname “Chud the Builder” was charged with attempted murder after a shooting outside a Tennessee courthouse on Wednesday, the authorities said.

The streamer, Dalton Eatherly, 28, was involved in a confrontation with an unidentified man that escalated to gunfire outside the Montgomery County Court in Clarksville, about 50 miles northwest of Nashville, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. Both men sustained gunshot wounds and were in stable condition, the office said.

In addition to attempted murder, Mr. Eatherly was charged with employing a firearm during dangerous felony, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, the sheriff’s office said.

Mr. Eatherly, who is white, has accumulated an online audience by livestreaming confrontations in which he uses racist language toward Black people in public.

Law enforcement did not provide any details about the second man involved in Wednesday’s shooting. Mr. Eatherly posted an audio recording online of paramedics treating his wounds in which he claims he shot the man in self-defense.

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A video posted by the website Clarksville Now shows Mr. Eatherly on a stretcher with a microphone attached to his lapel.

Mr. Eatherly is being held at the Montgomery County Jail, pending arraignment, the sheriff’s office said.

According to court records, Mr. Eatherly was scheduled to appear for a court hearing on Wednesday morning in an unrelated case brought by Midland Credit Management, a collections agency.

A lawyer listed in court records from a separate harassment case in which Mr. Eatherly was a defendant in November did not respond to a request for comment.

On Sunday, three days before the shooting in Clarksville, Mr. Eatherly was arrested in Nashville. According to a police affidavit, Mr. Eatherly live streamed his meal at a restaurant, Bob’s Steak and Chop House, on Saturday even though the restaurant had asked him ahead of time not to do so.

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When he was confronted, Mr. Eatherly “became disruptive and started making racial statements, yelling, screaming and otherwise creating a scene,” according to the affidavit.

He then refused to pay for his $370 meal. Mr. Eatherly was charged with theft of services, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He was released on $5,000 bond.

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