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When news broke that Pope Francis had used an offensive anti-gay slur while speaking to Italian bishops at a conference last month, many Catholics were shocked and dismayed. How could a pope known for his openness and acceptance of LGBTQ people use homophobic jargon and warn prelates against allowing gay men into seminaries?But the question, and the apparent inconsistency in Francis' message, reflect the profound contradictions and tensions that underlie the Roman Catholic Church's and Francis' relationship with homosexuality.The Church maintains that “homosexual tendencies” are “intrinsically disordered.” When it comes to ordination, church guidelines state that people with "deep-rooted" gay tendencies should not become priests.Yet ordination has also long been a kind of ref...

When the media titans Brian Roberts, John Malone and Barry Diller cast off in early February on Mr. Diller’s 156-foot, two-masted yacht, named Arriva, the waters off the coast of Jupiter, Fla., were placid.The same could not be said for their sprawling entertainment businesses.The three men meet occasionally to discuss the state of the industry, and lively disagreements have a been a staple of their discussions. But by the time they met on the yacht, they had all agreed that the money-losing status quo in the streaming business was unsustainable. The old cable model was a melting ice cube.But what will take its place?“There was peace in the valley for a period of time,” Mr. Malone mused in a rare recent interview, recalling the days before video-streaming upended the lucrative cable busine...

After hundreds of pilgrims died in the scorching desert heat during the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, the Egyptian government is cracking down on tourism companies that facilitated travel to Saudi Arabia and said on Saturday it had suspended the licenses of 16 companies.At least 450 people died during the pilgrimage, during which travelers had to endure extreme temperatures which ranged from 108 degrees to 120 degrees Fahrenheit (42 to 49 degrees Celsius). But the actual number of victims is expected to rise much more as governments get more accurate death counts. (Egypt, for example, has officially acknowledged only 31 deaths.)In announcing the suspension of the 16 travel companies, the Egyptian government said the companies had failed to offer pilgrims important services such as med...

Pets are more popular than ever. According to the American Pet Products Association, about two-thirds of American homes have at least one pet, up from 56% in 1988, and Americans spent $136.8 billion on their pets in 2022, up from 123, 6 billion dollars in 2021. An estimated 91 million households in Europe own at least one pet, an increase of 20 million over the last ten years. India's pet population reached 31 million in 2021, up from 10 million in 2011.And our pets are becoming more and more like us – or at least, that seems to be our goal. We pamper them with personalized nutritional plans and backpack carriers, hydrotherapy for dogs and stays in boutique cat hotels. At All the Best, a high-end pet store chain in Seattle, the most popular items are enrichment toys for cats and do...

A Swiss court on Friday found members of Britain's richest family guilty of exploiting domestic workers at a luxury villa in Geneva, but acquitted them of the more serious charge of human trafficking.Prosecutors had charged four family members: Prakash Hinduja; his wife, Kamal Hinduja; their son Ajay Hinduja; and their daughter-in-law Namrata Hinduja – with the trafficking and exploitation of several workers from India.They were accused of confiscating employees' passports and forcing them to work 16 hours a day or more without overtime pay at the villa. Lawyers representing the Hindujas had denied the allegations.The court on Friday sentenced Prakash and Kamal Hinduja to four years and six months in prison, and Ajay and Namrata Hinduja to four years, according to news agencies...

Deb Schmill has become a fixture on Capitol Hill. Last week alone she visited the offices of 13 lawmakers, one of more than a dozen trips she has made from her home near Boston in the past two years.In every meeting, Ms. Schmill talks about her daughter Becca, who died in 2020 at the age of 18. Ms Schmill said Becca had died after taking fentanyl-based drugs bought on Facebook. Before that, she said, her daughter was raped by a boy she met online, then she was the victim of cyberbullying on Snapchat.“I need to do what I can to help pass legislation to protect other children and to prevent what happened to Becca from happening to them,” said Ms. Schmill, 60. “It's my coping mechanism.”Ms. Schmill is among dozens of parents who are lobbying for the Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA, a ...

After months of escalating violence along Israel's northern border with Lebanon, the UN chief warned on Friday that "the risk of conflict in the Middle East widening is real – and must be avoided."Speaking to reporters in New York, the leader, Secretary-General António Guterres, said that “a reckless move” by Israel or Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese group that targets Israel in alliance with fighters Hamas in Gaza could trigger a "catastrophe that will spread." well beyond the pale and, frankly, beyond imagination.”World leaders have been trying for months to calm tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, trying to prevent a real war. But instead of quelling the conflict, cross-border attacks and counterattacks have become more intense – and rhetoric from leaders on both sides has ...

It can take years before generic drug makers are ready to produce a drug, and they need to have an idea of ​​the potential market to commit to investing in production. So in the meantime, Gilead will aim to ship “sufficient volumes” of lenacapavir to low-income countries as soon as it wins regulatory approval, he said.Lenacapavir and the two pills studied are all known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, drugs. Another effective injectable PrEP drug is available in some African countries, but its introduction has been plagued by access problems. Long-acting cabotegravir, which is given by injection every two months, has also shown excellent results in clinical trials in Africa. It is produced by ViiV Healthcare, majority-owned by pharmaceutical giant GSK; the company charges $180 pe...

His ominous warnings, at the end of a two-day trip to North Korea and Vietnam, placed Russia and the West in a new phase of escalation over Ukraine. They come against a backdrop of distraction and political uncertainty among Kiev's core supporters, with potentially game-changing elections on the horizon in the United States and France.In addition to using nuclear weapons or causing further destruction on the battlefield in Ukraine, the Russian leader is trying to demonstrate that he can pressure and antagonize the West in other ways and in other places.“I fear that we are in a bad spiral, that politicians have the illusion of control,” said Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. “The truly dangerous part of what is happening is that Russia is ready to act a...

Thousands of auto dealerships across the United States and Canada are experiencing disruptions to their businesses due to cyber attacks against a provider of critical software and data services used in auto retailing.The provider, CDK Global, said it was targeted in two attacks on Wednesday, prompting the company to shut down its systems to prevent the loss of customer data and to allow testing and other measures to restore its services.“We are evaluating the impact and providing regular updates to our customers,” CDK Global said in a statement. “We remain vigilant in our efforts to restore our services and return our retailers to normal operations as quickly as possible.”CDK provides services to more than 15,000 stores. Its dealer management systems store customer records and automate m...