Day: May 7, 2025

Some of the cardinals considered top contenders to become the next pope were visible this morning. Among them were Cardinal Pietro Parolin – widely viewed as the frontrunner – and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines, who was spotted in the front row.

Christopher Lamb, CNN’s Vatican correspondent, said that the presence of high-profile cardinals in visible positions is “important to watch,” but cautioned against assuming any clear favorite.

“There is that saying, ‘he who enters the conclave as pope, leaves it as a cardinal,’ so I think in this conclave it’s the outsiders who could storm through,” he said. “The politics do play a role, and I think that it has led some cardinals to think that past conventional wisdom – that there can’t be an American pope – no longer holds.”

Many of the frontrunners are Italian, though Lamb noted that the country’s cardinals have historically struggled to unite behind a single name.

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Islamabad has vowed retaliation as the most intense fighting in years broke out between the nuclear-armed rivals

India has launched “Operation Sindoor,”targeting what it called “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir, in retaliation for a deadly terrorist attack in Baisaran Valley.

Islamabad condemned the strikes as a “heinous provocation” and vowed retaliation.

New Delhi said it hit at least nine targets early Wednesday morning, insisting that the strikes were directed at “terrorist camps” and not the Pakistani armed forces or civilians.

“Our actions have been focused, measured, and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in the selection of targets and method of execution,” the Indian government said in a statement.

Update:

United States: President Donald Trump called India’s military operation against Pakistan “a shame.” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to the national security advisers from India and Pakistan and urged “both to keep lines of communication open and avoid escalation.”

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