Pope Francis to appoint 21 new cardinals on Dec. 8
Voice of America
FILE - Maltese cardinal Mario Grech (L), Pope Francis (C) and cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes attend the Second Session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops at the Paul VI audience hall, in The Vatican, Oct. 2, 2024.
Pope Francis on Sunday announced he will appoint 21 new cardinals of the global Catholic Church, in an unexpected push to influence the powerful group of churchmen that will one day choose his successor.
Investigators work near a scooter at the place where Igor Kirillov, head of Russia's Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense Forces, and his assistant were killed by an explosive device in Moscow, Dec. 17, 2024.
Officials from India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and China pose for a photo before the six-country informal consultation to discuss ways to address shared concerns, in Bangkok, Thailand, Dec. 19, 2024. Participants attend an informal consultation among ASEAN member states on Myanmar in Bangkok, Dec. 20, 2024.
FILE - A worker installs names of the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on the wall of the Tsunami Museum ahead of the 10th anniversary of the killer waves in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia, Dec. 4, 2014. The 20th anniversary will be observed on Dec. 26 this year.
FILE - Debra Tice, mother of U.S. journalist Austin Tice who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012, holds a dated portrait of him during a press conference in the Lebanese capital Beirut on July 20, 2017.
Myanmar's army-appointed Foreign Minister Than Swe attends a six-country informal consultation on the situation in Myanmar, in Bangkok, Dec. 19, 2024. (Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Handout via Reuters) Group picture taken before a six-country informal consultation on the situation in Myanmar, in Bangkok, Dec. 19, 2024. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Handout via Reuters) FILE - Gen. Min Aung Hlaing inspects officers during a parade to commemorate Myanmar's 78th Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, March 27, 2023. Thailand's Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa looks on during a press conference following a 6-Country informal consultation, comprising Bangladesh, China, India, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Thailand on the situation in Myanmar, in Bangkok, Dec. 19, 2024.
U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello speaks to VOA, in this screenshot from the interview.
FILE - Elon Musk arrives before a joint meeting of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, July 24, 2024. Musk called the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) the country's savior. FILE - Alice Weidel, co-leader of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, holds a bouquet of flowers she was given by party co-leader Tino Chrupalla during a press conference on Dec. 7, 2024 in Berlin,
Palestinians pray next to the bodies of their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Dec. 19, 2024.
FILE - The American and Chinese flags wave at Genting Snow Park ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics, in Zhangjiakou, China, on Feb. 2, 2022.
FILE - Pakistani military personnel stand beside a surface-to-surface ballistic missile during a Pakistan Day military parade in Islamabad on March 23, 2019. A White House official said on Dec. 19, 2024, that Pakistan is developing missile capabilities that could reach the U.S.
Macao's new leader, Sam Hou Fai, left, is sworn in by China's President Xi Jinping during an inauguration ceremony as part of marking the 25th anniversary of Macao's handover from Portugal to China, in Macao, Dec. 20, 2024.