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US President Donald Trump on Monday ordered new limitations on a form of biological research his administration says caused the Covid-19 pandemic through a lab leak in China.The United States will halt funding in certain countries for so-called “gain-of-function” experiments — aimed at enhancing the properties of pathogens —- according to an executive order Trump signed Monday at the White House.”There’s no laboratory that’s immune from leaks — and this is going to prevent inadvertent leaks from happening in the future and endangering humanity,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote on X.”Any nation that engages in this research endangers their own population, as well as the world, as we saw during the COVID pandemic,” added Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health.Trump has long championed the theory that SARS-CoV-2 leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology as a result of gain-of-function research — an alternative to the theory that the virus spilled over naturally from wild animals to humans at a seafood market in the same city.The US government website Covid.gov, which previously focused on promoting vaccine and testing information, is now devoted to highlighting arguments that favor the lab leak.Several US agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Energy, and, most recently, the Central Intelligence Agency  — which shifted its stance under Trump’s second term — now lean toward a lab origin. Several other intelligence agencies favor natural spillover.During the 2010s, the National Institutes of Health funded bat coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute via the US-based nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance — a grant axed by Trump in 2020 during his first term, but later partially restored under president Joe Biden.Complicating matters, former top infectious disease official Anthony Fauci has maintained that the work in Wuhan did not meet the federal definition of gain-of-function, though some virologists and US officials have disputed that claim.Trump’s order names China as an example of a “country of concern” where such research should not be supported.The order also seeks to end funding for other types of life sciences research in countries deemed to lack sufficient oversight, significantly broadening the types of foreign research that could be targeted.It further calls for the development of a strategy to “govern, limit, and track dangerous gain-of-function research across the United States that occurs without federal funding” — though the extent of the government’s control over non-federal research is unclear, and the order also calls for new legislation to fill any gaps.Trump’s executive order comes amid broader efforts by his administration to reshape American science and health policy, including mass firings to government scientists and steep slashes to research budgets.

Donald Trump’s plan to reopen Alcatraz was mocked online Monday by people who suggested the US president got the idea from watching TV.The order to resurrect the once-notorious island prison in San Francisco Bay came out of the blue over the weekend with a post on Trump’s social media platform.”Today, I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders,” he said.The island fortress entered American cultural lore after a 1962 escape by three inmates, which became an inspiration for the film “Escape from Alcatraz” starring Clint Eastwood.Social media users were quick to spot that the film had been shown on television in south Florida on Saturday night including in West Palm Beach, where Trump spent the evening at his Mar-a-Lago resort.”Is it possible Trump watched the movie and got caught up in it? Which led to the so-called brilliant idea of rebuilding Alcatraz?” wrote @HansonRitta on X.”Are we getting American policy from TV shows?””This is really funny,” wrote @MatthewSpira.”We’re going to spend a half billion dollars fixing up Alcatraz to never serve as a supermax in the San Francisco Bay all because an old man was bored and flipping through channels on a Saturday night.”- No sharks -Asked Monday how he had come up with the idea, Trump appeared to acknowledge the cinematic influence.”I guess I was supposed to be a movie maker,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.”It represents something very strong, very powerful, in terms of law and order,” he said.”Nobody ever escaped. One person almost got there, but they… found his clothing rather badly ripped up, and it was a lot of shark bites.” he said.The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) notes on its website that 36 people tried to escape from Alcatraz and while most were caught or died in their attempts, the fate of five is unknown and they are listed as “missing and presumed drowned.”But they definitely didn’t get eaten by sharks — a popular myth that has surrounded Alcatraz.”There are no ‘man-eating’ sharks in San Francisco Bay, only small bottom-feeding sharks,” the BOP says.However the president got the idea, his new prisons director William Marshall told US media he was working on the plan.”The Bureau of Prisons will vigorously pursue all avenues to support and implement the President’s agenda,” he said.”I have ordered an immediate assessment to determine our needs and the next steps. “We will be actively working with our law enforcement and other federal partners to reinstate this very important mission.”- High costs -Alcatraz — originally a military garrison — closed in 1963 due to high operating costs after being used as a prison for just 29 years.Because of the physical isolation of the island, operation costs were three times those of other institutions in the US, with food, supplies, fuel and even drinking water having to be brought to the island every week.Maintenance and restoration work required at the time of its closure would have cost up to $5 million, and officials decided it was cheaper to build new prisons elsewhere instead.The island was occupied for 19 months from November 1969 by Native American protestors, who said they were reclaiming abandoned federal land.In 1973 it became a tourist site, and now attracts more than one million visitors each year.Visitors can take a tour of the dilapidated cell blocks, where broken toilets remain in the spartan cells.On an audio tour narrated by former inmates and prison guards, they are taken around the refectory, where guides explain how discipline was maintained — and how it occasionally broke down.The tour showcases the brutal, pitch-dark isolation cells in which prisoners were kept if they ran afoul of the feared warden.Exhibitions detail the size of the prison population in the United States, and highlight how the system contains a disproportionate number of Black people and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.A gift shop sells everything from t-shirts and posters to fridge magnets with institutional rules.

Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker was released by the team on Monday as the NFL veteran battles allegations of sexual misconduct made by 16 women.”Sometimes football decisions are incredibly difficult, and this is one of those instances, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said in a statement, paying tribute to Tucker’s “focus, drive and resilience.””We sincerely wish him and his family the very best in this next chapter of their lives,” DeCosta added.The 35-year-old Tucker has strongly denied claims made by multiple massage therapists that he had behaved inappropriately during treatments.Allegations against the kicker include exposing his genitals and brushing some of the therapists’ thighs with his fingers.Reports have said that two of the spas involved deemed Tucker’s behavior so egregious he was banned from using the facilities again.Tucker in January described the allegations as “unequivocally false.””I have never before been accused of misconduct of any kind, and I have never been accused of acting inappropriately in front of a massage therapist or during a massage therapy session or during other bodywork,” Tucker said.”I have never received any complaints from a massage therapist, have never been dismissed from a massage therapy or bodywork session, and have never been told that I was not welcome at any spa or other place of business,” he added.In a separate statement, Tucker said he had “never intended to disrespect anyone, cross any boundary or make anyone feel uncomfortable.”

The first day of jury selection wrapped Monday in New York in the blockbuster federal sex trafficking trial of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who stands accused of years of harrowing abuse.Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty on all counts, insisting that any sex acts were consensual, but prosecutors say that for years, he coerced victims into drug-fueled sex parties using threats and violence.”Come on up, don’t be shy,” Judge Arun Subramanian said as the first batch of prospective panelists entered.As at his pre-trial hearings, Combs appeared aged, his once jet-black hair now gray. In accordance with the judge’s order, he was allowed to switch from prison attire to civilian clothing for his trial appearance.Jurors were given a supplementary 14-part questionnaire about their ability to fairly hear evidence from hip-hop artists, sex workers, and people involved in the use and distribution of drugs.They had already undertaken an exhaustive questionnaire on their ability to serve before arrival.After a marathon day of questions, both written and oral from the judge, prosecution and defense, 19 prospectives had been identified. Jury selection was due to continue Tuesday with only those potential jurors requested to attend follow-up questioning required to be present.Subramanian said he expected evidence to begin May 12.Combs faces one charge of racketeering conspiracy, the federal statute known by its acronym RICO that was once primarily used to target the mafia but in recent years has been wielded in cases of sexual abuse, including against the fallen R&B star R. Kelly.It allows government attorneys to project a long view of criminal activity rather than prosecuting isolated sex crimes.If convicted, the one-time rap producer and global superstar, who is often credited for his role in ushering hip-hop into the mainstream, could spend the rest of his life in prison. He reportedly turned down an 11th-hour plea deal.- ‘Freak-offs’ -Over the decades, Combs — who has gone by various stage names including Puff Daddy and P. Diddy — amassed enormous wealth for his work in music but also his ventures in the liquor industry.He was arrested by federal agents in New York in September 2024 and denied bail multiple times. Combs is being held at Brooklyn’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Center, a facility plagued by complaints of vermin and decay as well as violence.Core to the case against him is his relationship with his former girlfriend, singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, who is expected to be a key trial witness.A disturbing surveillance video from 2016, which was widely broadcast by CNN last year, shows Combs physically assaulting Ventura at a hotel.Prosecutors say that encounter occurred following one of the “freak-offs” — coercive, drug-fueled sexual marathons including sex workers that were sometimes filmed, according to the indictment.It is unclear how much of the CNN video will be shown to jurors as evidence — the footage’s quality has been a sticking point between the opposing legal teams — but Subramanian has ruled that at least some of it will be admissible.On Monday, one prospective juror was struck out for cause by the judge after describing the video as potentially “damning.”Another was dismissed after saying that his wife, a former attorney, had told him about taking depositions related to a deadly crowd crush at an event organized by Combs in 1991.”She found his behavior disturbing, she does not like him,” said the man.- ‘Perfect storm’ -In 2023, Ventura filed a civil suit alleging Combs subjected her to more than a decade of coercion by physical force and drugs as well as a 2018 rape.It was quickly settled out of court, but a string of similarly lurid sexual assault claims against the Grammy winner from both women and men followed.Industry watchers are monitoring Combs’s case as a potential inflection point in the music world which, beyond the case of Kelly, has largely evaded the #MeToo reckoning that has rocked Hollywood.Caroline Heldman — co-founder of the Sound Off Coalition, which is focused on sexual violence in music — said Combs’s case is a flashpoint of a broader pattern of industry tolerance and cover-up of abuse.”In the music industry, I think it’s the perfect storm of what celebrity does to people and what power does to people. It gives them an empathy deficit where the rules don’t apply to them,” she said.The proceedings will last an estimated eight to 10 weeks.

It’s the first Monday in May, which means the stars are hitting the red carpet 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 sharply tailored dandy aesthetic and its rich, complicated history. It also celebrates the opening of a corresponding exhibit 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.Oscar-nominated actor Colman Domingo and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton, two of the co-chairs of fashion’s marquee event, were among the early arrivals alongside gala supremo Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue.Domingo paid tribute to the late Andre Leon Talley, Vogue’s first Black creative director and one of fashion’s towering figures, in a royal blue Valentino cape with a glittering white collar over a snazzy black and gold jacket and gray tweed trousers.Hamilton meanwhile wowed in a sharp cream suit and matching backwards cap, diamonds glittering in his ears, as well as on his lapel, cuffs and hands.And musician and designer Pharrell Williams, another co-chair, looked snappy in a short, pearl-encrusted white jacket and flared black tuxedo trousers. Among the women in attendance, actress Teyana Taylor definitely understood the assignment, arriving in a tailored black suit with red pinstripes and matching huge red coat, the back fully pleated and “Harlem Rose” embossed in the fabric.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, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” promises a sharp contrast to that notion, a deep dive into Black dandyism from the 18th century to today.”Obviously, this exhibition was planned many years ago, and we didn’t know what would be happening in the political arena, but it’s taken on a new sense of importance and purpose,” Wintour told AFP. – ‘Dream’ -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.”Superfine” is a rare Costume Institute exhibition to spotlight men and male fashion, and the first to focus on Black designers and artists.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. 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.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!”

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on Monday ordered at least a 20 percent reduction in the number of active-duty four-star generals and admirals in the US military, a memo from the defense secretary said.The move is the latest major shakeup at the Pentagon under President Donald Trump’s administration, which has already fired a series of senior officers this year. The memo also calls for an additional 10 percent reduction in the number of general and flag officers, and a 20 percent cut in the number of general officers in the National Guard.It did not specify how the reductions would be accomplished.There were 38 four-star officers — the highest rank that can usually be achieved in the US military — and a total of 817 generals and admirals in the active-duty forces as of March 2025.The cuts are aimed at removing “redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership by reducing excess general and flag officer positions,” the memo said.Hegseth later posted a video on X about the changes, which he dubbed “less generals, more GIs.” In it, he said that despite the overall size of the military being far larger during World War II, there were fewer top officers at the time.Hegseth said the cuts would be carried out in two phases, starting with those to four-star officers and National Guard generals, and followed by the 10 percent cuts to the overall number of generals and admirals.- ‘Where fat can be cut’ -“This is not a slash and burn exercise meant to punish high ranking officers,” he said, adding: “This has been a deliberative process by working with the Joint Chiefs of Staff with one goal, maximizing strategic readiness and operational effectiveness,” he said.During his confirmation hearing in January, Hegseth argued that the Pentagon’s bureaucracy was top-heavy and in need of cuts, telling lawmakers: “It’s going to be my job, working with those that we hire and those inside the administration, to identify those places where fat can be cut, so it can go toward lethality.”Since beginning his second term in January, Trump has overseen a purge of top officers, including chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff general Charles “CQ” Brown, whom he fired without explanation in February.Other senior officers dismissed this year include the heads of the Navy and Coast Guard, the general who headed the National Security Agency, the vice chief of staff of the Air Force, a Navy admiral assigned to NATO, and three top military lawyers.Hegseth has insisted the president is simply choosing the leaders he wants, but Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns about the potential politicization of the traditionally neutral US military.The Pentagon also announced in February that it aimed to reduce the number of its civilian employees by at least five percent, as Trump’s administration moved to slash the federal workforce in the name of cost-savings.

Shares in US film studios slid on Monday following a threat by US President Donald Trump to impose 100 percent tariffs on foreign-made productions.Meanwhile oil prices tumbled after OPEC+ countries announced an output hike despite oversupply concerns and growing fears that Trump’s trade war could weaken demand.Globally, stock markets were mixed in holiday-thinned trading ahead of central bank decisions on interest rates later in the week.Wall Street indices finished a choppy session lower, with the S&P 500 losing 0.6 percent to snap a nine-day streak of gains.US stocks are coming off two strong weeks, with gains last Friday driven by strong jobs data and improving sentiment about US-China trade talks. Monday’s retreat “was indicative of consolidation after the market’s solid run off April lows,” said Briefing.com, which pointed to “ongoing resilience” that limited Monday’s losses.Shares in entertainment firms slid after Trump said Sunday he was ordering new tariffs on all films made outside the United States, claiming Hollywood was being “devastated” by a trend of US filmmakers and studios working abroad.Lionsgate Studios dropped five percent, while Netflix, whose foreign productions for its subsidiaries have often become popular globally, saw its shares fall around two percent.Disney, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery also retreated.Shares in Berkshire Hathaway fell around five percent after influential investor Warren Buffett said Saturday that he would retire from leading the firm he built into a conglomerate worth more than $1 trillion.In Europe, Paris ended lower while Frankfurt climbed as Germany’s conservatives and center-left Social Democrats reached a coalition deal for governing.London was closed for a public holiday, as were Tokyo and Hong Kong in Asia.Investors are waiting for interest rate decisions this week, with the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England holding policy meetings on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.”Our US economists expect the Fed to keep rates steady and avoid explicit forward guidance about the policy path ahead,” Deutsche Bank analysts said.- Brent below $60 per barrel -Oil prices fell sharply after Saudi Arabia, Russia and six other members of the OPEC+ oil cartel announced an output increase of 411,000 barrels a day for June, a month after a similar move had already caused prices to fall.Brent’s international benchmark crude fell below $60 per barrel for the first time since 2020 before rebounding somewhat.The price of crude has also been sliding because of fears of a global economic slowdown on the back of Trump’s tariff onslaught.Analysts were still trying to pinpoint the oil cartel’s motivation.”The weekend news wasn’t a shocker but the reasons behind the move remain uncertain,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.”The official communication says the group is bringing barrels back to the market because ‘fundamentals are healthy and inventories are low,'” Ozkardeskaya said.”Yet global growth expectations have been crumbling due to a heated trade war between the US and the rest of the world, and rising output only worsens oversupply concerns,” said Ozkardeskaya.- Key figures at around 2050 GMT -West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.0 percent at $57.13 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.7 percent at $60.23 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 41,218.83 (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.6 percent at 5,650.38 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.7 percent at 17,844.24 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.6 percent at 7,727.93 (close) Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.1 percent at 23,344.54 (close)London – FTSE 100: closed for holidayTokyo – Nikkei 225: closed for holidayHong Kong – Hang Seng Index: closed for holiday Shanghai – Composite: closed for holidayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.1319 from $1.1297 on FridayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3296 from $1.3270Dollar/yen: DOWN at 143.72 yen from 144.92Euro/pound: UP at 85.10 pence from 84.10burs-jmb/bjt

Ford reported a 65 percent drop in first-quarter profits Monday, citing a near-term drag on auto sales from new vehicle launches, as it withdrew its forecast amid tariff uncertainty.The carmaker estimated a full-year hit of about $1.5 billion in adjusted operating earnings following President Donald Trump’s myriad tariff actions since returning to the White House in January.Profits came in at $471 million, beating analyst expectations but just over a third of the level in the 2024 period, with revenues falling five percent to $40.7 billion.In the first quarter, Ford wholesale units fell seven percent from the year-ago level, a drop the automaker had previously telegraphed due to slowed output at plants in Kentucky and Michigan where new vehicles are being launched.In March, Ford began shipping the new Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator to customers.Profits fell in Ford’s “Pro” division, which is geared toward fleet and sales to businesses, and in its “Blue” division, which consists of conventional internal combustion engine cars. But losses declined in Ford’s electric vehicle division.Ford described its underlying business as “strong,” saying it had been on track with the prior projection of between $7 and $8.5 billion in adjusted operating earnings, excluding tariff-related impacts.Ford is “suspending” its guidance due to myriad uncertainties. Besides tariffs and potential retaliatory tariffs, Ford cited other “material near-term” risks as including potential supply chain disruption and uncertainty over emissions policy changes in Washington.”These are substantial industry risks, which could have significant impacts on financial results, and that make updating full year guidance challenging right now given the potential range of outcomes,” Ford said.The company expects 2025 pricing to be flat to slightly higher.As far as car sales, “we’re seeing a strong first half in the industry,” Chief Financial Officer Sherry House said of a period that included an uptick in sales to buyers who wanted to get ahead of tariffs.House expects “some potential compression” in sales in the second half of 2025 when prices could tick higher amid tariffs, resulting in a net for all of 2025 of flat or up about one percent.Ford fell 2.2 percent in after-hours trading.

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.