All 133 Catholic cardinals who will vote for a new pope have arrived in Rome, the Vatican said on Monday, two days before they gather in a conclave to elect the next head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.Hailing from 70 countries across five continents, the group — summoned following the death of Pope Francis on April 21 — is the largest and the most international ever.At stake is the direction of the Catholic Church, a 2,000-year-old institution with huge global influence but which is struggling to adapt to the modern world and recover its reputation after the scandal of widespread child sex abuse by priests.The 133 cardinals who will vote — all those aged under 80, minus two who are absent for health reasons — will gather on Wednesday afternoon under the frescoed splendour of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel.They are sworn to secrecy, risking excommunication if they reveal what happens — as are their support staff, from medics to lift operators, canteen and cleaning staff, who took their oath on Monday.The Vatican announced on Monday that it would also cut the phone signals within the tiny city state for the duration of the conclave, although this will not cover St Peter’s Square, where thousands of pilgrims are expected to gather to see the new pope.On Monday morning, technicians installed red curtains on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica overlooking the square, where the new pontiff will make his first appearance.Cardinals of all ages had met earlier on Monday for the latest in a series of closed-door preparatory meetings.Discussions so far have covered everything from the Vatican’s finances to the abuse scandal and Church unity.On Monday morning “the focus was on the missionary nature of the Church: a Church that must not withdraw into herself”, the Vatican said.Cardinals discussed the profile of the next pope — “a figure who must be present, close, capable of being a bridge and a guide, of favouring access to communion for a disoriented humanity marked by the crisis of the world order”.He should be “a shepherd close to the real life of the people”, the Vatican added.- ‘Spectacular’ conclave -Francis was an energetic reformer from Buenos Aires who helped open up the Church during his 12-year-long papacy but was accused by critics of failing to defend key Catholic doctrine.The question now is whether his successor will follow a similar progressive line, or take the Church on a more conservative, traditionalist path.Francis appointed 80 percent of the current cardinal electors — but experts caution that they may not choose someone in his mould, with many warning that there could be surprises.Vatican affairs specialist Marco Politi told AFP that, given the unknowns, the conclave could be “the most spectacular in 50 years”.  The conclave begins on Wednesday afternoon and could continue for days, weeks or even months — although both Francis and his predecessor were elected within two days.The cardinals will vote once the first day and four times a day thereafter until one of them has the two-thirds majority to be elected pope.They will stay at the nearby Santa Marta guesthouse and are forbidden from contacting the outside world until they have made their choice.Under a centuries-old ritual, they will inform the waiting world of their progress by burning their ballots, with black smoke indicating no winner, and white smoke signalling a new pope.- ‘Tough pope’ -Italy’s Pietro Parolin, who was secretary of state under Francis, is one of the favourites, as is Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.Amongst the so-called “papabili” are also Luis Antonio Tagle from the Philippines and Hungarian conservative Peter Erdo.But many more names have been discussed and a surprise candidate could emerge, as was the case when Francis — then an Argentinian known as Jorge Bergoglio — was picked in 2013.Amongst the pilgrims and sightseers who gathered in St Peter’s Square on Monday, opinions varied widely about who could or should take over.”Maybe more of Pope Francis than Pope Benedict,” said German visitor Aurelius Lie, 36.”As long as he’s not too conservative (and) influenced by modern political leaders — (Giorgia) Meloni, (Donald) Trump,” he said, referring to the Italian prime minister and the US president.”Maybe the Church will be thinking: ‘We need a tough pope now to deal with these people’. But their terms will end in a couple of years.”burs-ar/db/bc

It’s the first Monday in May, which means it’s time for the Met Gala, the extravagant Manhattan charity ball that this year spotlights Black style through the lens of dandyism’s subversive history.The blockbuster night’s theme explores the rich and complicated history of the sharply tailored dandy aesthetic and its sociopolitical layers.It also celebrates the opening of a corresponding exhibit, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.But for the fashionistas, the Met Gala is simply one of the world’s top red carpets with blinding star power.Musician and designer Pharrell Williams, rapper A$AP Rocky, Oscar-nominated actor Colman Domingo and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton are the co-chairs of fashion’s marquee event overseen by Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue.Basketball legend LeBron James was named as an honorary chair, but withdrew Monday from appearing at the event, confirming reports that he suffered a knee injury last week and saying on X: “Hate to miss an historical event!”A host committee featuring OutKast’s Andre 3000, star gymnast Simone Biles, rapper Doechii, sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson and director Spike Lee promise a memorable style parade.The evening comes five years after the enormous anti-racist uprising of the Black Lives Matter movement, which pushed a number of cultural institutions in the United States to grapple with their representation of race and diversity.This Met theme is years in the making but now coincides with Donald Trump’s recent efforts to quash institutional initiatives to promote diversity — a push to keep culture and history defined on the Republican president’s terms.The Met Gala and its exhibit promises a sharp contrast to that notion, a deep dive into Black dandyism from the 18th century to today.- ‘Freeing and invigorating’ -Guest curator and Barnard professor Monica Miller’s book “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity” was the Met’s inspiration.Her book details how dandyism was a style imposed on Black men in 18th century Europe, when well-dressed “dandified” servants became a trend.But Black men throughout history subverted the concept as a means of cultivating power, transforming aesthetic and elegance into a means of identity establishment and social mobility.During the vibrant Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, men wore sharp suits and polished shoes as a show of defiance in racially segregated America.”Whether a dandy is subtle or spectacular,” Miller said at the theme’s announcement last fall, “we recognize and respect the deliberateness of the dress, the self-conscious display, the way in which this reach for perfection might seem frivolous, but can pose a challenge to… social and cultural hierarchies.””Superfine” is a rare Costume Institute exhibition to spotlight men and male fashion, and the first to focus on Black designers and artists.”Black men have always been on guard. They had to be,” wrote longtime Washington Post critic Robin Givhan of the show.”Yet fashion was also a way of amplifying their voice when it was deliberately muted or readily ignored. It was freeing and invigorating.”Monday’s red carpet is sure to include odes to the late Andre Leon Talley, Vogue’s first Black creative director and one of fashion’s towering figures.At the theme’s announcement ceremony, Williams — Louis Vuitton’s creative director of menswear — called the exhibit “a dream.””As an artist who was literally born and raised in the shadow of where the African diaspora expanded into the country that would become America, celebrating an exhibit centered on Black dandyism and the African diaspora is really, for me, a full circle moment,” said Williams, who is from Virginia. Not only did members of the Black diaspora survive the horrors of slavery, he said, “but we carried the music, the culture, the beauty and the universal language across an ocean and over a quadruple century.”The Met Gala was first organized in 1948 and for decades was reserved for New York high society — until Wintour transformed the party into a high-profile catwalk for the rich and famous in the 1990s.It remains a fundraiser for the Costume Institute, but it’s also a social media extravaganza where stars and sponsors mingle at a party that celebrates fashion in its most over-the-top form.According to The New York Times, a seat at the dinner in 2024 cost $75,000 and a full table went for $350,000. The famed Manhattan museum reported last year’s edition raked in some $26 million.

Situated on a tiny island off San Francisco, Alcatraz prison for years held high-profile criminals — most famously mob boss Al Capone — before it was decommissioned and turned into a popular tourist attraction.Here are five things to know about the notorious California jail that US President Donald Trump wants to see brought back into operation.- Isolated -The prison sits on Alcatraz Island, a rocky slab of just 22 acres in San Francisco Bay, two kilometers (1.25 miles) from the mainland.The jail, which closed its doors in 1963 after 29 years in operation, is flanked by cold water with strong currents.It was rumored to be surrounded by man-eating sharks, but the sharks that live in the bay are actually only bottom-feeders.- Infamous inmates -Several notorious criminals were held at Alcatraz after it was transformed in 1934 from a military jail to a maximum-security federal prison.They included Al Capone — the Chicago crime boss of the Prohibition era — as well as George “Machine-Gun” Kelly and Alvin Karpis, once declared “Public Enemy No. 1” by the FBI.- Escape attempts -From 1934 to 1963, a total of 36 men were involved in 14 separate escape attempts, according to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP).In 1962, three inmates fled the prison after they put paper-mache model heads into their beds and broke out through ventilation ducts before leaving the island on a raft.Their fate remains a mystery, and the getaway was recounted in the 1979 film “Escape from Alcatraz,” starring Clint Eastwood as the ringleader Frank Morris.- Expensive operation -Alcatraz was almost three times more expensive than any other federal prison due to its remote location, according to the BOP.Costly necessities included food shipments to the island and the weekly delivery of one million gallons (3.8 million liters) of drinking water.It never reached its capacity of 336 inmates and at any given time held less than one percent of the federal prison population, the BOP says. – Tourist hotspot -After it shuttered in the 1960s due to operating costs, Alcatraz Island became part of the National Parks network and opened to the public in 1973. More than a million people visit the island each year, with many drawn to exploring its morbid past.

The Trump administration said Monday it will pay for the travel and give $1,000 to undocumented migrants who “self-deport” back to their home country.US President Donald Trump said some of the undocumented migrants who take advantage of the self-deportation scheme will be given a path to legally return to the United States.”We’re going to pay each one a certain amount of money, and we’re going to get them a beautiful flight back to where they came from,” Trump told reporters during an event at the White House.”We’re going to work with them so that maybe someday, with a little work, they can come back in if they’re good people, if they’re the kind of people that we want in our (country),” he said. “It will give them a path to coming back into the country.”Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, announcing the travel assistance and $1,000 stipend program, said “self-deportation is the best, safest and most cost-effective way to leave the United States to avoid arrest.”The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is “offering illegal aliens financial travel assistance and a stipend to return to their home country through the CBP Home App.”CBP Home refers to an app already created by the DHS through which people can deport themselves.DHS said the stipend of $1,000 will be paid after a person’s return to their home country has been confirmed through the app.”Self-deportation is a dignified way to leave the US and will allow illegal aliens to avoid being encountered by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),” the department said in the statement.DHS said that even with the payment of travel assistance and the stipend “it is projected that the use of CBP Home will decrease the costs of a deportation by around 70 percent.”It said that the average cost currently to arrest, detain, and remove an undocumented migrant is $17,121.DHS said an undocumented migrant from Honduras had already taken advantage of the program to return home.Trump pledged during his presidential campaign to carry out mass deportations and claimed during the White House event that there are as many as 21 million undocumented migrants in the United States.However the number of undocumented migrants stood at 11.0 million in 2022, according to Pew Research Center estimates based on data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.