Good morning. We’re covering the start of the conclave to elect the next pope and Indian airstrikes in Pakistan.
Plus, the world’s must-see gardens.
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| The balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, from which the new pope will be announced. Dimitar Dilkoff/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
The world awaits a smoke signal
Scores of cardinals will file into the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel today to cast ballots for the next pope, in one of the world’s oldest dramas. They will be sequestered until a successor to Pope Francis is chosen. No one knows how long the conclave will last.
The largest number of cardinals in history — 133 representing about 70 countries — will gather under Michelangelo’s frescoes to select the next leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
“Once they are in, we’ll know practically nothing,” Jason Horowitz, our Rome bureau chief, told me. “But the puffs of black smoke, which signify an inconclusive election, will tell us something, too.”
“The first vote is generally symbolic, testing the strength of candidates, but if the election goes deep into the second day with only black smoke, we will know that the cardinals are having a hard time reaching a consensus,” Jason said. “Eventually the smoke will turn white and the new pope will be revealed on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.” Here’s more about how the pope will be chosen.
A lot of uncertainty: The conclave is always unpredictable, but the change in the makeup of the cardinals under Francis, who began his tenure in 2013, makes this one even more so.
The contenders: The Vatican’s No. 2, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, is seen as a possible candidate to succeed Francis and someone who could provide continuity. Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, a liberal-leaning cardinal from the Philippines, has for years been deemed a front-runner. He would be the first pope from Southeast Asia. Here are the other possible candidates.
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| Indian soldiers near the border with Pakistan on Sunday. Narinder Nanu/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
India said it carried out strikes in Pakistan
India said early today that it had conducted strikes on what it called “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan, two weeks after an attack by armed militants killed more than two dozen civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Residents said they had heard explosions and jets flying overhead in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. This is a developing story.
A spokesman for the Pakistani Army said two other places had been attacked, in the city of Bahawalpur, in Punjab Province, and in Kotli, a city in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Context: The April assault was one of the worst attacks on Indian civilians in decades, and India was quick to suggest that Pakistan was involved. The two nuclear-armed countries have fought several wars over Kashmir, a shared region that each claims to hold in full.
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| Prime Minister Mark Carney and President Trump in the Oval Office, yesterday. Eric Lee/The New York Times |
Carney told Trump Canada was ‘not for sale’
President Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada met yesterday in Washington, their first meeting since Carney won a stunning election victory on an anti-Trump platform. They sparred over the president’s talk of making Canada the 51st state.
“Some places are not for sale,” Carney said. Trump replied, “Never say never.”
After the meeting, Carney told reporters he felt better about Trump’s posture toward Canada, but stopped short of reporting any concrete negotiations. He said the way forward would be full of “zigs and zags,” but expressed confidence there was a trade deal to be made.
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| Smoke from an Israeli airstrike in Sana, yesterday. Khaled Abdullah/Reuters |
TRADE AND BUSINESS
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| Clive Rose/Getty Images |
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| Chrissie Tully at home in Loughrea, Ireland. Ali Watkins/The New York Times |
Chrissie Tully, 93, gave birth in an Irish home for single mothers, shrouded in secrecy and shame. After 76 years, she’s still waiting for the son she never got to hold.
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| Amir Hamja and Nina Westervelt for The New York Times |
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| Leopold von Ungern/Alamy |
The world’s must-see gardens
A garden is an ideal place to spend a sunny afternoon, but w
