Russia has accused Ukraine of damaging a nuclear waste storage facility in a drone strike on the Kursk nuclear power plant and said its air defenses shot down a total of eight Ukrainian drones

Pope Francis told a young transgender person that “God loves us as we are”, comments that are being seen as his latest outreach to members of the LGBT+ community. The pope’s comment was in response to Giona, a young Italian individual “torn by the dichotomy between (their Catholic) faith and transgender identity”. The pope was responding to audio messages from young people in a podcast organized ahead of a Catholic youth festival in Portugal, which he is set to attend next week. The pontiff said “the Lord always walks with us.... Even if we are sinners, he draws near to help us. The Lord loves us as we are. This is God’s crazy love.” Pope Francis’s position on the LGBTQ community and gay marriage has been a subject of interest and discussion since he became the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in 2013. While the pope has emphasised the importance of treating LGBTQ individuals with respect, dignity, and love, he upholds the traditional Catholic teaching that marriage is a sacred between a man and a woman. He garnered praise from the LGBTQ community in 2013 when he was asked about a gay priest in 2013 and he replied, “Who am I to judge?” During the course of his pontificate, he has met individually and in groups with transgender people. But at the same time, he has strongly opposed the so-called “gender theory” and upheld the teachings that hold that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered”. In 2021, Pope Francis authorized the release of a Vatican document asserting that the Catholic Church is unable to bless same-sex unions because it is believed that "God cannot bless sin". In an interview with Associated Press, he declared that laws criminalising homosexuality were “unjust” and that “being homosexual is not a crime”. He later clarified that he was merely referring to official Catholic moral teaching that teaches that any sexual act outside of marriage is a sin. In a note in Spanish, Francis reaffirmed that homosexuality “is not a crime,” adding that he spoke out “in order to stress that criminalisation is neither good nor just.” “When I said it is a sin, I was simply referring to Catholic moral teaching, which says that every sexual act outside of marriage is a sin,” he said. Read More Vatican abuse investigators begin their audit of secretive Peru-based Catholic society The pope's Ukraine peace envoy heads to Washington with the plight of children top of his agenda Pope says he knows what non-binary means, welcomes LGBT people to church: ‘All persons are children of God’ Vatican abuse investigators begin their audit of secretive Peru-based Catholic society Jesuits confirm expulsion of priest artist and lament Vatican norms preclude further sanction Vatican is moving ahead with plan to reunite Ukrainian children taken to Russia with their families

Lab testing for the substance found at the White House on Sunday has come back positive for cocaine, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Peterson's call for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to take a strong stance against Palestine was met with disapproval from Tate

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote a letter strongly criticizing an ongoing hold on senior military promotions and nominations in the Senate led by Republican lawmakers, saying it would create a "perilous precedent" for the military and impose "unconscionable" burdens on military families.

Civil rights advocates and Democratic state legislators are defending and praising a state Supreme Court justice for suing to block a state ethics panel from investigating her public comments that she says are protected by the First Amendment

Hong Kong police have arrested four men they accused of providing financial support to people who fled overseas and are involved in activities endangering national security, escalating a high-profile crackdown on dissidents in the semi-autonomous Chinese city

By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON The U.S. Justice Department this week charged the top law enforcement official in

The beginning of the pandemic was devasting for the leader of the indie rock band Black Belt Eagle Scout, Katherine Paul

Documents pertaining to the firing of an Ohio police officer who released his police dog on a surrendering truck driver show he was disciplined days before his termination for his behavior after the incident

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and The Associated Press said Thursday that they’ve made a deal for the artificial intelligence company to license AP’s archive of news stories

Amazon said Friday it will invest $120 million to build a satellite construction facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, as part of its plans to launch a space...