Top World News

by Javier TOVARCardinal Cristobal Lopez Romero, the Spanish-born archbishop of Rabat, admits he is a little anxious ahead of his first conclave, although also curious.The 72-year-old is among 133 cardinals from around the world who will vote for a successor to Pope Francis starting May 7. "I haven't decided anything," he told AFP when asked whom he would vote for as the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics."We believe in the Holy Spirit and we will see what it shows us and where we have to go.""It doesn't necessarily have to be a Francis mark II, a Francis impersonator," said Lopez, who the Argentine pontiff appointed as a cardinal in 2019."I am happy for him to be a good impersonator of Christ, that he is a good Christian, a good person and pays attention to what happens in the world."Born in Spain, Lopez has been the archbishop of the Moroccan capital Rabat since 2017.There, he claims to have experienced a "conversion" -- not to Islam, the overwhelming majority religion in the North African country, but in his approach to his work."I hear confession barely once every six months," Lopez said. Christians make up less than one percent of Morocco's population of 38 million people."That helped me to realise that I wasn't there to serve the Church but rather, as the Church, to serve the world -- in this case the Muslim world."- 'Not worried, but curious' -Lopez has been taking part in the daily cardinal meetings, known as "general congregations", in which those present discuss the priorities for the new pope and future direction of the 2,000-year-old Church."We are listening to people who we have never listened to before... and that guides you," said Lopez, who is a Paraguayan citizen, having lived there for almost two decades.The cardinals taking part in the conclave -- those aged under 80 and able to attend -- are staying in the relatively modest Casa Santa Marta on the Vatican's grounds where Francis lived during his papacy.They are, however, sworn to lifelong secrecy about what happens inside the Sistine Chapel during the conclave.Smartphones are banned, the room will be swept for listening devices and cardinals are barred from reading newspapers, listening to the radio or watching television."I'm not worried, but I am curious," said Lopez. "A little apprehensive because I know the responsibility that this entails, but calm because I believe in the Holy Spirit." In fact, Lopez even feels "a certain happiness" about the whole process -- but hopes it will not last more than "two or three days".There are up to four votes a day until at least two-thirds of the cardinals agree on a single candidate.Two days were needed to elect Francis and his predecessor Benedict XVI, but the longest ever conclave lasted three years."It's already many days that I have been out of Morocco and I'm eager and need" to return, said Lopez.- Like replacing Messi -Like Francis, Lopez wants a missionary Church pushing out especially into areas where Catholicism has few adherents, such as Morocco."Thanks to Pope Francis this has become much clearer, that the Church is universal, Catholic, that there are no geographic borders that limit us," he said.And Lopez has not ruled out the next pope hailing from outside the traditional Catholic heartlands."After 50 years of a Polish pope, a German pope and an Argentine pope, why not think about a pope from Myanmar, East Timor or Australia, or North America, or Africa. It's all open," he said.However, he is ruling himself out of the running."It's as if I said (Lionel) Messi is going to retire and I'm going to replace" the Argentine football legend, he joked.jt/bc/ar/kjm© Agence France-Presse

President Donald Trump's meeting with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the pope's funeral went a lot better than their confrontation in the Oval Office, and sources say there's one big reason for that.The pair briefly met Saturday at the Vatican while attending Pope Francis' funeral, and Axios reported new details of that tête-à-tête as Trump and Zelenskyy attempt to reach an agreement to end Russia's invasion."Zelensky received 'signals' ahead of Pope Francis' funeral that Trump was prepared to meet on the sidelines, the sources say," the website reported. Zelensky's advisers were nervous, and some — still traumatized by the scenes in the Oval on Feb. 28 — told Zelensky they weren't sure it was a good idea."Also read: 'Never so scared': Furious pastor berates cops after witnessing tasing of MTG constituentNo plans were finalized ahead of the meeting, which a source said was initially expected to come after the funeral, but the leaders ran into one another upon arrival and met alone in St. Peter's Basilica, where Zelensky told Trump that Vladimir Putin would not change his position unless Trump applies more pressure."One source said Trump replied that he might have to change his approach to Putin, as he later stated in his Truth Social post [threatening sanctions]," Axios reported. "Zelensky also pushed Trump to return to his initial proposal of an unconditional ceasefire as a starting point for peace talks, which Ukraine accepted but Russia rejected. One source said Trump seemed to agree."Zelenskyy made clear that he would not recognize Crimea as Russian, which Trump insisted he was not asking him to do, but the U.S. president again pressed his counterpart to sign the U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal as soon as possible.Officials for each government declined to comment on the specifics of their conversation, but the sources said it seemed to have gone better than the contentious meeting in February at the White House. "The sources said one potential reason this Trump-Zelensky meeting was more positive was that Vice President Vance and White House envoy Steve Witkoff — whom the Ukrainians see as more supportive of the Russian position — were not there," Axios reported.

Amazon stocks fell by 2% Tuesday after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed the retail giant for a "hostile and political act" over President Donald Trump's tariffs, according to Forbes. Two percent of Amazon's $1.97 trillion USD market capitalization comes out to a loss of $3.9 billion. The White House was responding to a Punchbowl News report "citing an unnamed source with knowledge of the plan...to show how much of a good’s cost on the site comes from tariffs," Forbes reported. Trump called Amazon owner Jeff Bezos directly to harp on the report, according to two White House officials who talked with CNN, adding the president was “pi----” Soon after that call, "an Amazon spokesman released a statement clarifying the move wasn't considered for the main Amazon site but was considered for Amazon Haul." A revised statement asserted, "This was never approved and not going to happen.'" Also read: 'Never so scared': Furious pastor berates cops after witnessing tasing of MTG constituent Bezos endured a well-publicized feud with Trump during the president's first term over unflattering reporting in The Washington Post, which Bezos owns. As Trump prepared to take office for his second term, Bezos and other tech giant billionaires like Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and SpaceX's Elon Musk got onboard with the Trump administration. All three attended Trump's inauguration, and Bezos donated $1 million. Public reaction to transparent tariff pricing was positive at first, with comments like, "Every outlet should do this," from Philadelphia-based journalist Victoria Brownworth on X before news circulated that Amazon was backtracking. Bezos was then trashed on social media, with the likes of MSNBC's Elise Jordan quipping, "For about thirty seconds it seemed like Amazon cared more about customers than the White House but nope." Forbes reported, "Amazon will report earnings for 2025’s first quarter Thursday afternoon. The company brought in $638 billion in revenue last year, trailing only Walmart as the highest company by sales in the world." Read the Forbes article here.

CNN's Alayna Treene reported Tuesday that President Donald Trump called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos purportedly to chew him out over reports that the company planned to reveal price increases due to the administration's imposed tariffs on its website. "Trump called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos Tuesday morning to complain about reports that his company was considering displaying the cost U.S. tariffs next to prices for certain products on its website, two senior White House officials told @CNN."In subsequent posts, Treene wrote, "The call came shortly after one of the senior officials phoned the president to inform him of the story The controversy comes as Trump & Bezos have grown increasingly close in recent months. Bezos often visits the West Wing when in Washington to meet with the president."Treene continued, "Soon after the call between Trump & Bezos, an Amazon spokesman released a statement clarifying the move wasn't considered for the main Amazon site but was considered for Amazon Haul The spox later sent CNN a revised stmt, adding: 'This was never approved and not going to happen.'"Also read: 'Never so scared': Furious pastor berates cops after witnessing tasing of MTG constituentThe situation began with reporting from Punchbowl News that was headlined, "Amazon to display tariff costs for consumers."The White House responded in a Tuesday morning press briefing, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt calling Amazon's reported move as "a hostile and political act by Amazon."CNN's Kaitlan Collins called Leavitt's comments "remarkable" and an "incredibly aggressive response.""If I had told you this was the response from the White House eight years ago, you might not have been as surprised," Collins continued. "That was when the president was openly feuding with Jeff Bezos, was highly critical of The Washington Post and its coverage of him. But Jeff Bezos came to the president's inauguration. He was seated there among him. He has had dinner with him. He's been here at the White House since then. And, so, it is remarkable to to hear what the White House's response to that was."The Washington Post's Jeff Stein then broke the news on X that "Amazon Spox now saying this was never under consideration for the main Amazon website. Says Amazon Haul has considered listing import price duties on certain products."Bezos hasn't yet publicly commented on the controversy.