Newswatch

About 250,000 mourners pay last respects to Pope Francis over 3 days of public viewing

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Three days of public viewing of Pope Francis’ body by ordinary mourners and statesmen alike have ended. Francis died on Monday at age 88 after suffering a stroke. The Vatican said Friday that around 250,000 mourners filed through St. Peter’s Basilica over the three days to pay their last respects as Francis lay in state in a simple wooden coffin. Hundreds of disappointed people were turned away when authorities closed St. Peter’s Square hours before the viewing period ended. The pope’s casket will be closed and sealed later Friday in the next in a series of carefully orchestrated rites set off by the death of a pope. Francis will be buried after a funeral Mass on Saturday.

Ex-US Rep. George Santos sentenced to over 7 years in prison for fraud and identity theft

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — Disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos has been sentenced to over seven years in prison for the crimes that got him ousted from Congress. He apologized and appealed Friday for mercy, then sobbed as he heard his 87-month sentence. He pleaded guilty last summer to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Santos admitted he deceived donors and stole the identities of nearly a dozen people to fund his congressional campaign. He served less than a year in Congress before being expelled in 2023 after his lies and fraud were uncovered. His lawyers had called for two years behind bars. Santos is due to report to prison July 25.

Indian officials say troops exchanged fire with Pakistani soldiers in disputed Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Indian officials says that Indian and Pakistani soldiers briefly exchanged fire along their highly militarized frontier in Kashmir. The exchange comes as tensions soar between the nuclear-armed rivals following a deadly attack on tourists. India has described the massacre in which gunmen killed 26 people, most of them Indian, as a “terror attack.” It accused Pakistan of backing it. Pakistan denied any connection to the attack. It was claimed by a previously unknown militant group calling itself the Kashmir Resistance. With the region on edge, three Indian army officials said that Pakistani soldiers fired at an Indian position in Kashmir late Thursday. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with departmental policy. They said Indian soldiers retaliated.

FBI arrests a Milwaukee judge accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities

MILWAUKEE (AP) — County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan was taken into custody on courthouse grounds Friday by the FBI. The judge has appeared in federal court and been released. FBI Director Kash Patel says investigators believe Dugan “intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse” last week. Dugan’s lawyer says the judge “regrets and protests her arrest.” Attorney General Pam Bondi says the man was facing domestic violence charges.

How the public’s shift on immigration paved the way for Trump’s crackdown

PASSAIC, N.J. (AP) — Since returning to the White House, President Donald Trump has launched an unprecedented campaign of immigration enforcement that has pushed the limits of executive power and clashed with federal judges trying to restrain him. But unlike in his first term, Trump’s efforts have not sparked the kind of widespread condemnation that forced him to retreat from some unpopular positions. Immigration has emerged as one of the Republican president’s strongest issues in public polling. The White House has seized on this shift, mocking critics and egging on Democrats to engage on an issue Trump’s team sees as a win.

ICE is reversing termination of legal status for international students around US, lawyers say

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Government lawyers said the federal government is reversing the termination of legal status for international students after many filed court challenges around the U.S. Judges around the country had already issued temporary orders restoring the students’ records in a federal database of international students maintained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The records had been suddenly terminated in recent weeks, often without the students or their schools being notified. A lawyer for the government read a statement in federal court in California that said ICE was manually restoring the student status for people whose records were terminated in recent weeks.

UN food agency says its food stocks in Gaza have run out under Israel’s blockade

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The World Food Program says its food stocks in Gaza have run out under Israel’s nearly 8-week-old blockade, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the territory. The WFP said in a statement that it delivered the last of its stocks to charity kitchens that it supports around Gaza. It said those kitchens are expected to run out of food in the coming days. Some 80% of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million relies primarily on charity kitchens for food, because other sources have shut down under Israel’s blockade, according to the U.N.

Luigi Mangione pleads not guilty to federal death penalty charge in UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing

NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione has pleaded not guilty to a federal murder charge in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, as prosecutors formally declared their intent to seek the death penalty against him. Mangione, 26, stood with his lawyers as he entered the plea Friday, leaning forward toward a microphone as he addressed U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett. Asked how he wished to plead, Mangione said simply, “not guilty.” Mangione’s arraignment attracted several dozen people to the federal courthouse in Manhattan, including former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who served about seven years in prison for stealing classified diplomatic cables.