By Nicole Winfield
Pope Francis endorsed same-sex civil unions for the first time as pope while being interviewed for the feature-length documentary “Francesco,” which had its premiere at the Rome Film Festival on Wednesday.
The papal thumbs up came midway through the film that delves into issues he cares about most, including the environment, poverty, migration, racial and income inequality, and the people most affected by discrimination.
“Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God,” Francis said in one of his sit-down interviews for the film. “What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally covered.”
While serving as archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis endorsed civil unions for gay couples as an alternative to same-sex marriages. However, he had never come out publicly in favor of civil unions as pope.
Director Evgeny Afineevsky had remarkable access to cardinals, the Vatican television archives, and the pope himself. He said he negotiated his way in through persistence, and deliveries of Argentine mate tea and Alfajores cookies that he got to the pope via some well-connected Argentines in Rome.
With caseloads continuing to rise, more school districts say they can’t safely bring students back in person, and will begin the school year online. Houston and San Francisco are the latest cities to say they’ll start virtually.
Travelers from 22 states are now being told to quarantine or face a heavy fine if they come to New York, as the Tri-State area worries about getting caught in a second wave of infections brought on by outsiders.
Arizona, Texas, and Florida are together reporting about 25,000 new coronavirus cases as new restrictions aimed at combating the spread of the pandemic take hold in the United States and around the world.
The Trump administration has rescinded a rule that would have required international students to transfer schools or leave the country if their colleges hold classes entirely online this fall because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Millions of people thrive in the American West’s deserts today, but not every is thriving. You’ve probably heard of droughts and wildfires in California, of groundwater drying up in Arizona, and of entire communities, like those on the Navajo Nation, that have been left without running water. The region is finally coming to terms with decades of infrastructure projects, coupled with using more water than nature can provide, as the threat of climate change moves in. Cheddar explains why the American West is running out of water.
Burger King has rebalanced the diet of some of the cows by adding lemon grass in a bid to limit bovine contributions to climate change.
Tina Tchen, president and CEO of Time's Up, provides insight into how companies can go about addressing inequities in the workplace.
California is rolling back its re-opening: by order of the governor, most indoor places where people gather will be forced to close as the state’s coronavirus caseload rises.
Authorities say "Glee" star Naya Rivera has been found dead at a Southern California lake.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has extended the closure of bars and indoor dining statewide and has ordered gyms, churches and hair salons closed in most places as coronavirus cases keep rising.
