Here’s what we know about Pope Francis’ funeral

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Pope Francis died on Monday at age 88, capping a 12-year pontificate characterized by his concern for the poor and message of inclusion, but also some criticism from conservatives who sometimes felt alienated by his progressive bent.

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Thousands of people began filing through St. Peter’s Basilica to pay their final respects to Pope Francis on Wednesday at the start of three days of public viewing ahead of his funeral.

What time is Pope Francis’ funeral?

The funeral has been set for Saturday at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET) in St. Peter’s Square and will be attended by leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Cardinals walk past the body of Pope Francis, who will lie in state for three days, after it arrived in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

When is public viewing?

Francis’ casket is available for public viewing in St. Peter’s Basilica. The basilica will be kept open until midnight on Wednesday and Thursday to allow the faithful to mourn. The public mourning period will end on Friday at 7 p.m. local time.

People queue in St. Peter’s Square to pay their respect to the late Pope Francis, who will lie in state at St. Peter’s Basilica for three days, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

What happens after the funeral?

Francis’ death and funeral will usher in a carefully orchestrated period of transition in the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic Church, with cardinals gathering over the coming days before entering a conclave, the secretive ritual voting in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope.

There are 133 cardinals who are under 80 years old and eligible to vote, after two bowed out for health reasons, and the new pontiff will likely come from within their ranks. The conclave is not expected to begin before May 5.

Contributing: Associated Press

Twin Cities Improv Festival to feature performers from the metro, Chicago and beyond

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The 19th annual Twin Cities Improv Festival will run from June 5 through 8 at the Phoenix Theater in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis trio Five Man Job — Butch Roy, Nels Lennes and Lauren Anderson — founded the festival in 2006 and also run the weekly Improv A Go Go showcase at Minneapolis’ Strike Theater.

The festival features four sets the first three nights and a finale with four troupes on June 8.

In addition to locals, the festival will feature performers from Chicago, Los Angeles, Des Moines and Tokyo.

“The region’s premier celebration of unscripted comedy” will also include a series of workshops, including How to Improvise Like a Married Couple, Be Your Own Action Hero and Character Workout.

For the full schedule and tickets, see twincitiesimprovfestival.com.

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A dozen states sue the Trump administration to stop tariff policy

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By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A dozen states sued the Trump administration in the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York on Wednesday to stop its tariff policy, saying it is unlawful and has brought chaos to the American economy.

The lawsuit said the policy put in place by President Donald Trump has left the national trade policy subject to Trump’s “whims rather than the sound exercise of lawful authority.”

It challenged Trump’s claim that he could arbitrarily impose tariffs based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The suit asks the court to declare the tariffs to be illegal, and to block government agencies and its officers from enforcing them.

A message sent to the Justice Department for comment was not immediately returned.

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The states listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit were Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York and Vermont.

In a release, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes called Trump’s tariff scheme “insane.”

She said it was “not only economically reckless — it is illegal.”

The lawsuit maintained that only Congress has the power to impose tariffs and that the president can only invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act when an emergency presents an “unusual and extraordinary threat” from abroad.

“By claiming the authority to impose immense and ever-changing tariffs on whatever goods entering the United States he chooses, for whatever reason he finds convenient to declare an emergency, the President has upended the constitutional order and brought chaos to the American economy,” the lawsuit said.

Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, sued the Trump administration in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California over the tariff policy, saying his state could lose billions of dollars in revenue as the largest importer in the country.

White House spokesperson Kush Desai responded to Newsom’s lawsuit, saying the Trump administration “remains committed to addressing this national emergency that’s decimating America’s industries and leaving our workers behind with every tool at our disposal, from tariffs to negotiations.”

Trump is putting his ‘touches’ on the White House with flagpoles, art and an Oval Office overhaul

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By DARLENE SUPERVILLE

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is putting his “touches” on the White House with new flagpoles, new artwork, a complete redecoration of the Oval Office and possibly covering up the lawn in the Rose Garden.

Trump, a former real estate developer and hotelier, said Wednesday that he’s adding two “beautiful” flagpoles to the grounds to fly the American flag “in about a week or so.”

The Republican president recently hung new artworks featuring himself, including a rendering of him with his fist raised after last year’s attempted assassination in Pennsylvania. He has spruced up the Oval Office by adding portraits of all of his predecessors, a wall-mounted copy of the Declaration of Independence flanked by dark drapes and many golden accents.

Trump has also talked about paving over the lawn in the Kennedy-era Rose Garden

All families granted the privilege of living in the White House try to find ways to leave their mark on property, and Trump isn’t any different.

Near the end of his first term, he and first lady Melania Trump unveiled refurbished tennis courts and a new pavilion on the south grounds. Michelle Obama’s vegetable garden is still producing.

But Trump is a “real estate developer at heart” and is always looking to improve the White House, spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Wednesday.

New flag poles

Earlier Wednesday, Trump took an impromptu stroll outside toward the Pennsylvania Avenue fence with head groundskeeper Dale Haney and other staff members. Asked what he was doing, Trump said he was scoping out a location for a flagpole.

He told reporters afterward that he’s installing two “beautiful” flagpoles on the grounds because “they’ve needed flagpoles for 200 years.” He said the poles would be “paid for by Trump” and could be installed as soon as next week.

The American and POW/MIA flags fly on the roof of the White House every day. Trump had them lowered on Monday after Pope Francis’ death.

Oval Office overhaul

Trump pledged in his inaugural address to preside over a “golden age of America.” But he appears to have ushered it first into an Oval Office he has redecorated by adding golden accents to the fireplace, doorway arches, walls and other areas of the room. It hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“I really must say the Oval Office has never looked better,” Paul Atkins, the new Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, said Tuesday after his ceremonial swearing-in there. “One could really describe it as glistening, and I’ve heard stories about it. It’s true. It’s the touch of a confident president, leading with optimism towards an American golden age.”

A replica of the Declaration of Independence is pictured during a swearing in ceremony for Dr. Mehmet Oz to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, April 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Every president spruces up the office to their liking, often with new furniture, rugs, draperies and other items. Some hire decorators; former President Joe Biden had one of his brothers to handle it.

Trump seems to have directed the process himself.

“I’ve done some ‘Trump touches’ to the Oval Office,” he told the championship Ohio State football team when he invited them for a tour after he hosted the players and coaches last week. “It’s a little nicer than it used to be, I think.”

New Trump art

Earlier this month, Trump hung a portrait depicting a moment after last summer’s assassination attempt, thereby bumping the official portrait of former President Barack Obama to another wall in the foyer.

The new painting was donated by Andrew Pollock, whose lost his daughter Meadow in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Another image of Trump now hangs on the ground floor between the official portraits of former first ladies Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton.

Revealed in a social media post by first-year Rep. Jimmy Patronis, a Florida Republican, the image of Trump features the red, white and blue of an American flag superimposed over the president’s headshot on a black background.

The White House on Wednesday confirmed that the image is real.

Rose Garden

Trump also wants to pave over the lawn in the famous Rose Garden, which was created during the administration of John F. Kennedy after he was inspired by gardens he saw during a 1961 state visit to France.

Presidents have long used the space for everything from big announcements to Thanksgiving turkey pardons ceremonies.

He shared his plan with Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham as he showed her Oval Office while taping an interview. The Rose Garden is just outside and Trump complained about the lawn always being “soaking wet” and “the women with the high heels.”

“The grass just, it doesn’t work,” Trump told Ingraham, adding that it would be covered with “gorgeous stone.”

Ingraham asked if the roses stay. Trump said they would.

“It’s a rose garden. All of this stays,” he said, explaining that only the lawn would be affected. “I think it’s going to be beautiful. I think it’s going to be more beautiful.”

Paving over the lawn would mark the second makeover of the space under Trump.

In 2020, then-first lady Trump announced a spruce-up of the garden, with the most visually striking change being the addition of a 3-foot-wide limestone walking path bordering the central lawn. Less noticeable alterations included improved drainage and infrastructure, and accessibility for people with disabilities. Audiovisual and broadcasting fixes were also made.