“Pope Leo XIV prayed Monday in the Vatican with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, and vowed to keep working to overcome differences ‘no matter how intractable they may appear,’ in a historic meeting with the first female leader of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion. The encounter between Christianity’s two most famous religious figures would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, given the divisions between their two churches over women’s ordination in general and Mullally’s appointment in particular. Leo acknowledged that ‘new problems’ in their relationship had been added onto ‘historically divisive issues.’ But he nevertheless vowed to continue the tradition of past popes to continue to try to reunite the churches. Anglicans split from Rome in 1534, when English King Henry VIII was refused a marriage annulment.” (04/27/26)
“Federal energy regulators have ordered immediate inspections of the Cheboygan Dam powerhouse and other Michigan dams that faced the risk of failure in this month’s historic flooding. Separately, state officials said they plan to inspect dams under their oversight to check for damage from the high waters that nearly overtook several impoundments last week amid spring snowmelt and heavy rains. After similar flooding in 1986, ‘a couple of dams failed weeks later because they sustained damage that didn’t get adequately assessed,’ Luke Trumble, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy’s dam safety chief, told Bridge Michigan. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in a Thursday letter ordered Hom Paper XI LLC, the owner of the Cheboygan Dam powerhouse, to file a report no later than May 15 detailing how it will keep operational a powerhouse that was reactivated as an emergency measure April 17.” (04/27/26)
“After a weekend of co-ordinated attacks across Mali by separatist fighters and Islamist militants, Russian forces who are in the country helping protect the military government have confirmed they have pulled out of the northern city of Kidal. In a series of social media posts, Russia’s Africa Corps said they had ‘left the locality’ along with Malian troops. The separatist Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) group said on Sunday the Russian troops had agreed to withdraw permanently, and claimed control of Kidal, declaring it ‘now free’. Mali has faced insurgencies for years from the separatists in the north, and groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. On Saturday, explosions and sustained gunfire were reported in multiple parts of Mali, including the capital, Bamako.” (04/27/26)
“The U.S. Supreme Court formally reinstated on Monday a redrawn Texas electoral map that was designed to add more Republicans to the U.S. House of Representatives, as President Donald Trump’s party seeks to keep control of Congress in the November congressional elections. The move by the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, formalizes an interim decision it made in December to revive the map of U.S. House districts in Texas. … The Supreme Court in February allowed California to use a new electoral map designed to give Democrats five more congressional seats after that Democratic-led state redrew its House districts in response to the action by Republicans in Texas.” (04/27/26)
“A robbery suspect now faces murder and attempted murder charges along with a long list of other felony counts in the shooting death of a Chicago police officer and the wounding of another at a hospital where they took him for treatment. Alphanso Talley, 26, was scheduled to make his first appearance Monday in Cook County Circuit Court, the state’s attorney’s office said. Officer John Bartholomew, 38, a 10-year veteran of the force, was pronounced dead just before 1 p.m. Saturday after being shot at Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. A second officer was critically wounded in the Saturday morning shooting, police said. His name was not immediately released..” (04/27/26)
“China’s state planner on Monday called for Meta to unwind its $2 billion acquisition of Manus, a Singaporean artificial intelligence startup with Chinese roots. The decision to prohibit foreign investment in Manus was made in accordance with laws and regulations, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a brief statement. It added that it has asked the parties involved to withdraw the acquisition transaction. … The deal had attracted scrutiny from both China and Washington, as lawmakers in the U.S. have prohibited American investors from backing Chinese AI companies directly. Meanwhile, Beijing has increased efforts to discourage Chinese AI founders from moving business offshore.” (04/27/26)
“Twenty-two monks have been arrested at an airport in Sri Lanka after officials discovered 110kg (242lbs) of cannabis concealed in their luggage. Customs officials said each monk was found with around 5kg of Kush — a particularly potent form of the drug — hidden within ‘false walls’ in their luggage when they arrived in the capital Colombo on Saturday. The monks, who were mainly students, were returning from Thailand after being treated to an all-expenses-paid four-day holiday by an unnamed sponsor when they were detained. A 23rd monk, believed to have organised the trip, has since been arrested in a suburb of Colombo, police told BBC Sinhala. According to the acting police spokesman, the monk — who did not join the trip — had told the other monks that ‘these parcels are a donation’ and that a van would come to collect the packages.” (04/27/26)
“South Carolina’s measles outbreak — the worst in the U.S. in more than 35 years — is over, state health officials declared Monday. On Sunday, the state passed the threshold of 42 days with no new outbreak-related cases. In the end, 997 people were sickened by the vaccine-preventable disease since October and at least 21 of them were hospitalized, based on voluntary reports to the state. State health officials estimate the outbreak response cost $2.1 million. ‘The outbreak was predominantly contained to one area of one county and never went statewide, thanks to timely investigations, identification of those exposed, and people’s willingness to stay home,’ said Dr. Edward Simmer, interim director of the South Carolina Department of Public Health.” [editor’s note: I caught the measles at around age 10 or 11; it was no fun, and I spent about a week in lowered light, running from bed to bathroom and back, but it was far from fatal – SAT] (04/27/26)
“Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP party strengthened its position in parliament’s upper house after seven opposition lawmakers joined it, a parliamentary list showed on Monday, a shift that could ease the government’s passage of legislation. All seven defectors are from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by one of Modi’s most high‑profile critics, Arvind Kejriwal. The party governs the northern state of Punjab and previously ran the national capital territory of Delhi. The defections leave the AAP with just three seats in the Rajya Sabha house, while Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party now has 113 members, 10 short of a simple majority in the 245‑member chamber.” (04/27/26)
