Pope Leo has said God ignores the prayers of leaders who wage war and have “hands full of blood”, in an apparent rebuke to the Trump administration.
The pontiff made the comments on Sunday as thousands of US troops arrived in the Middle East and days after the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, prayed for violence against enemies who deserved “no mercy”.
During a Palm Sunday mass in St Peter’s Square, the pope said the conflict between Iran, Israel and the US was “atrocious” and that Jesus could not be used to justify war.
“This is our God: Jesus, king of peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” he told tens of thousands of worshippers. “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”
Quoting a Bible passage, Leo added: “‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.’”
there's no end in sight for Chump's war on Iran. Eric Schmitt and Helene Cooper (NEW YORK TIMES) report:
Several hundred U.S. Special Operations forces have arrived in the Middle East, joining thousands of Marines and Army paratroopers in a deployment meant to give President Trump additional options to expand the monthlong war with Iran, two U.S. military officials said on Sunday.
The commandos, including Army Rangers and Navy SEALs, have not yet been assigned specific missions, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.
But as specialized ground troops, they could be deployed to help safeguard the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed. Or they could be deployed as part of a mission to try to seize Kharg Island, Iran’s oil hub in the northern Persian Gulf. Alternatively, they could be used in a mission aimed at Iran’s highly enriched uranium at the Isfahan nuclear site.
The commandos join 2,500 Marines and another 2,500 sailors, who recently arrived in the region. Altogether there are more than 50,000 American troops in the Middle East now, roughly 10,000 more than usual, as Mr. Trump decides on his next step in the war.
Boots on the ground. In a forever war. Things Chump campaigned against. Simon Tisdall (GUARDIAN) observes:
Concern is justifiably growing that a cornered Donald Trump will send US ground troops into combat on Iranian soil to avoid being personally and politically humiliated in a war he started, mismanaged and cannot end. Yet such a self-serving escalation, even if ostensibly limited in duration and scope, could itself prove catastrophic for him and the American people. Think what happened in previous US military interventions. In sum, he’s caught in a modern-day catch-22. Pick your own metaphor for dumb. Trump’s stumped, hoist by his own petard, stuck between a rock and a hard place, and up the creek without a paddle. The creek in question is, of course, the strait of Hormuz.
Firmly ensconced in his weird parallel universe, Trump insists the war is all but won, Iran is suing for peace and talks are making good progress. In the real world, Iran is still fighting on all fronts, Israel is still bombing, the strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, and the Iran-allied Houthi militia in Yemen has joined the war, attacking Israel and potentially blocking Red Sea trade routes. The US and Iran have each issued maximalist demands, but there is no sign of actual negotiations. They are even further apart than they were before Trump, egged on by Benjamin Netanyahu, abandoned diplomacy last month. Sometime soon, Trump will be forced to confront the huge gap between what he wants and what’s on offer. At that point he could turn to the troop buildup in the Gulf and order ground attacks.
As Chump decides on his next step in the war -- he makes it up as he goes along. No planning was put into this. No thought. You had Senator Lindsey Graham whispering to Benjamin Netanyahu about how to win Chump over on the decision to go to war with Iran, you had Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth raring to start a religious war.
Chump is in bed with Netanyahu. Always was. But, hey, Rashida Tlaib couldn't endorse Kamala Harris.
Israeli forces killed at least eight people in attacks on police stations and another location in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday.
Air strikes targeted two police checkpoints in al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, according to local media.
Such police checkpoints had been established across Gaza to help protect displaced families.
Displaced people, including a girl, and three police officers were among those killed, the Palestinian health ministry said. An additional four people were wounded.
The killing in Gaza continues. And Netanyahu continues killing in the region as well. Charbel Mallo, Dana Karni, Kareem El Damanhoury and Max Saltman (CNN) report:
A Lebanese reporter working for a Hezbollah-owned television network was among three journalists killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon.
Hezbollah-owned Al Manar television said its journalist Ali Shuaib was killed in an Israeli strike targeting the vehicle he was in.
"ELIMINATED" the X post read.
"For years, Ali Hassan Shoeib operated as a Hezbollah Radwan Force terrorist under the guise of a journalist. Turns out the 'press vest' was just a cover for terror."
This picture accompanied the post from the Israel Defense Forces's (IDF's) official English language account.
The edited image of Al Manar journalist Ali Shoeib was posted on the IDF's English X account. (X / @IDF)
However, after questions from Fox News, the IDF has reportedly been forced to admit it edited the photo of Shoeib to show him in a military uniform.
In short, the IDF has posted a fake image.
President Donald Trump said yesterday that he would like to “take the oil in Iran” and is considering seizing the export hub of Kharg Island.
“To be honest with you, my favorite thing is to take the oil in Iran but some stupid people back in the U.S. say: ‘Why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people,” the president said in an interview with the Financial Times.
President Donald Trump said yesterday that he would like to “take the oil in Iran” and is considering seizing the export hub of Kharg Island.
“To be honest with you, my favorite thing is to take the oil in Iran but some stupid people back in the U.S. say: ‘Why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people,” the president said in an interview with the Financial Times.
In big cities and small towns across the world, protesters gathered for thousands of rallies against President Trump and his policies and actions, with the self-stated goal of fighting dictatorship.
Demonstrators, including elected officials and community leaders, chanted defiant messages and carried homemade signs that condemned the war in Iran, threats against voting rights and the White House’s mass deportation push, among other topics. Organized by a coalition of activist groups under the banner “No Kings,” it was the third such countrywide protest in the past 10 months.
Lex McMenamin, Fabiola Cineas, Rachel Leingang and Amy Qin (GUARDIAN) explain, "More than 3,000 No Kings protests against the Trump administration were held nationwide and in more than a dozen countries on Saturday, according to a coalition of organizers that includes “anti-authoritarian” groups Indivisible and 50501, labor unions and other grassroots organizations." NPR has a photo essay here. Alan Taylor has a photo essay at THE ATLANTIC. Katie Herchenroeder assembles a photo essay for MOTHER JONES.
In New York, the Heat actor was among those leading the procession, alongside Rev. Al Sharpton and Attorney General Letitia James. During his speech, he called the gatherings a “great rallying cry, and hugely successful as millions of us have answered the call.”
[. . .]
In St. Paul, Minn., Springsteen was also joined by Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Ilhan Omar and Gov. Tim Walz at one of the largest rallies in the country, where he sang “Streets of Minneapolis,” the song he introduced after the ICE killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
“This past winter, federal troops brought death and terror to the streets of Minneapolis,” the heartland rock musician said. “Well, they picked the wrong city. The power and the solidarity of the people of Minneapolis, Minnesota was an inspiration to the entire country. Your strength and commitment told us that this is still America, and this reactionary nightmare and these invasions of American cities will not stand.”
Fonda also appeared, and read a statement from Becca Good, the wife of Renee Good. “The world now knows that my wife sparkled with sunshine and shone with kindness that is unmatched,” Good said in the statement. “We were robbed of an incredible human. It has made people pause, and take a breath, and have to choose sides. We choose the side of love.”
“It feels like our country is a joke … with a government that’s so unjust,” said Jennifer Arteaga, 25, who attended with her 3-year-old son. “It’s his future we’re talking about.”
Jackie Arteaga, 20, lives 20 minutes from the proposed detention facility, and said she worries about seeing ICE agents in her community.
“It’s a scary feeling to know that I might be seeing them at the Wawa by my house,” said Jackie Arteaga. “What do I do?”
Jennifer Arteaga criticized the use of the empty warehouse for ICE, saying that resources could be used to house homeless people in the area instead. Jackie Arteaga also worried about the impact of the facility on her area’s water and sewage system — which state officials cited as barriers in administrative orders earlier this month.
Protesters carried U.S. flags, some of them positioned upside down to signal dire distress. There were many signs critical of the Trump administration.
Megan McKay, a Madison resident who grew up in the Chicago area, told the Wisconsin Examiner that immigration was the main issue that brought her out to protest for a third time since Trump took office, due to personal experience that has shaped her outlook. She said her father immigrated to the U.S. from Belfast, Northern Ireland when he was “wee” but received a deportation letter in 2019. She said they were lucky to be able to work through the system to allow him to stay.
“We, quote, unquote, look like we’re supposed to be here. We speak English. I feel like it’s completely unacceptable what this current administration is doing,” McKay said. “Our country was founded on immigrants. We are the land of opportunity, and we’ve completely lost sight of that.”
McKay said she thinks more people are having an “aha” moment about Trump, and she is confident there could be a blue wave in this year’s midterm elections. Wisconsin will have critical elections on the ballot for governor, the state Legislature and Congressional seats in November
Tim Balk (NEW YORK TIMES) notes:
The war was a central animating force in the Saturday rallies, which were attended by roughly eight million people, according to “No Kings” organizers, though their estimates in some cities were higher than those of local public safety officials. But the fighting in the Middle East was hardly the only issue on the minds of frustrated Democrats.
Many protesters said that the war had brought them out on Saturday. And at least in some places, the conflict appeared to be motivating younger people.
One large rally was held across the street from the University of Iowa, where the youth outreach group Voters of Tomorrow signed students up to join its organizing efforts.
Katy Gates, 22, an organizer, said the crowd was “a lot younger, more diverse and more energetic” than those at previous “No Kings” demonstrations. She attributed the change, in part, to the war.
“Our generation has grown up with this idea of endless war in the Middle East,” Ms. Gates said. “And the idea of getting into yet another is something that people are rightfully really angry about.”
Tom Arndorfer biked to Minneapolis from Edina, Minnesota, to attend a rally because, he said, “democracy is under threat.”
“It’s absolutely tragic what’s happening in this country and around the world,” Arndorfer, who held a sign reading “Elvis is the only king!” told CNN affiliate KARE. “And I just want my voice to be heard with other people.”
Arndorfer said he started attending protests in the wake of an ICE agent fatally shooting Renee Good in January.
Also in Chicago, veteran Chris Holy and his son, Nicholas Holy, told CNN they’ve become so vexed with the Trump administration they felt compelled to protest for the first time.
“I see the injustices going on, in my opinion, what’s happening to the people in our nation, and I wanted to be here to voice my dissatisfaction with them,” Chris Holy said. The father-son duo said they plan to attend more protests in the future.
Chris Holy added that he wants “to celebrate with my son, hopefully bringing a change of a new government, one day. And just be a voice for the people.”
Nicholas Holy echoed his father’s sentiment.
“When you see things going wrong in the community, when you see your fellow citizens being attacked, it feels good to give a voice and to speak up,” Nicholas Holy told CNN.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, joined a Senate Budget Committee hearing on the future of Social Security to highlight immigrants’ essential role in contributing to the United States’ workforce, the economy, and the long-term financial health of Social Security. Padilla questioned witnesses on the harmful impacts of President Trump’s indiscriminate mass deportation agenda on Social Security solvency.
Padilla cited a 2024 Migration Policy Institute report that found that without immigrants and their U.S.-born children, the prime working age population would have shrunk by more than 8 million people between 2000 and 2023. On average, immigrants arriving in the United States are younger than the native-born population and have a higher labor force participation rate, paying into a system they may never become eligible to benefit from themselves.
He underscored that estimates from Social Security Administration actuaries and the Congressional Budget Office’s 2024 surge report show that more immigration always leads to a decrease in the trust fund deficit. Karen Glenn, Chief Actuary at the Social Security Administration, and Molly Dahl, Chief of the Long-Term Analysis Unit of the Labor, Income Security, and Long-Term Analysis Division at the Congressional Budget Office, echoed Padilla’s sentiments, noting that many immigrants who pay into Social Security and have U.S. citizen children will never receive those benefits. Ms. Glenn emphasized that the Trump Administration’s detentions and deportations of legally working immigrants would hurt Social Security’s solvency.
Padilla also made a statement criticizing the Administration’s previously undisclosed data sharing agreement that gave the Department of Homeland Security access to sensitive personal data from the Social Security Administration on nearly every resident, including full social security numbers, addresses, and birth dates, for the purposes of election administration. He warned that the agency’s outdated citizenship information will inevitably result in errors, potentially disenfranchising U.S. citizens and making the data of millions of residents vulnerable to an indiscriminate deportation campaign.
Key Excerpts:
- PADILLA: Question for Ms. Glenn: Social Security actuaries in their estimate of the impact of immigration over 25, 50, and even 75 years have found that more immigration always correlates with a decrease in the trust fund deficit and vice versa. Would you care to comment any further on that?
- GLENN: That’s absolutely correct. All the factors you mentioned, immigrants who are paying into the system, many of them will never receive benefits, and they also have U.S.-born children.
- PADILLA: Ms. Dahl, the CBO’s 2024 surge report made similar findings. Would you care to add any comment?
- DAHL: Absolutely. So in that, in that report that you’re referring to, we looked at the effect of the surge on what we were calling the immigration surge, that increase in immigration that you that you referenced earlier, on the federal budget, and in particular in terms of social security … Immigrants come in, they’re more likely to be of working age. Many work, pay payroll taxes. That is a benefit to the program, and then for a variety of reasons, many will not ultimately claim, and certainly won’t be eligible to claim. They won’t have their 40 quarters of coverage, for instance, inside the 10-year window.
- PADILLA: So is there an impact to the solvency of the Social Security program being felt by this Administration’s mass deportation agenda? I mean, imagine if forget — I won’t even say all immigrants are detained and or deported, but let’s say half because we have cases and reports of it’s not just undocumented immigrants that are being deported and or detained. There’s legal immigrants with work permits that are being deported or, at a minimum, detained, with these arbitrary goals, not just for daily detentions and arrests, but the building out of significant detention center capacity across the country. Does that help or hurt our Social Security solvency?
- GLENN: It would hurt. We do some sensitivity analysis in the trustees report every year speaking to the effect of more and less immigration.
Video of Padilla’s full questioning is available here.
Last year, Padilla joined 15 of his Democratic Senate colleagues in condemning and demanding the reversal of the Social Security Administration’s decision to list certain immigrants as “dead” in the master files. Padilla previously emphasized the dangers and immense economic costs of the Trump Administration’s mass deportation plans during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in 2024.
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