How Pope Francis’ legacy will influence the selection of the next pope 

Sacred Nation

A group of 133 Catholic cardinals from 71 different countries are convening on Wednesday for a secretive conclave that will end with the selection of a new pope. Vatican watchers are wondering whether the next pontiff will be a reform-minded modernist, like Pope Francis himself, or a conservative traditionalist, like many of Francis’ critics. Among the cardinals voting for a new pope, 80% were elevated by Francis. But that doesn’t mean they’re all like-minded.

The tug-of-war over an anti-Nazi pastor’s legacy

Global Politics

Norwegian city turns pipes into rivers to adapt to climate change

The Big Fix

Soviet spacecraft coming back to Earth

International Cricket Council pledges funding, support for Afghanistan’s exiled cricketers

Sports

Bhutanese refugees stuck in Nepal remain in limbo

Refugees

Thousands of Nepali-speaking Bhutanese citizens were forced to flee their country in the early 1990s. Today, they remain in limbo without the proper documentation to go back or to integrate into Nepalese society.

‘I can do what I can to save people’: This chief rabbi stayed in Ukraine to help people and honor his son who died in battle  

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wasn’t the only leader who decided to stay in Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion. Other politicians, athletes, cultural figures and religious leaders also remained — including one of Ukraine’s chief rabbis, Moshe Azman, who stayed in Kyiv and continues to lead his congregation.

Defying tyranny: Maria Ressa on journalism under authoritarian rule

Global Politics

Journalist Maria Ressa, the co-founder of the Filipino investigative news site Rappler, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and the author of “How to Stand Up to a Dictator,” speaks with The World’s Carolyn Beeler. They discuss how the slide toward authoritarianism Ressa experienced firsthand in the Philippines is eerily similar to what she’s seeing today in the US.

Spain tests AI-based speed limit system

Transportation

Spain is testing new artificial intelligence technology that will change the speed limit based on weather conditions, traffic, time of day and road conditions. The government hopes the system will help alleviate gridlock and increase safety on one of the country’s busiest highways.

Vietnam celebrates 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon

Conflict & Justice

Fifty years ago today, the fall of Saigon on April 30th, 1975, marked the end of the Vietnam War. Most Americans remember it as one of US history’s longest and most unpopular conflicts. But in Vietnam, the anniversary is being celebrated as the end of a much longer struggle for liberation, one that predates US involvement by several decades.

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