In his first significant address on climate change, Pope Leo XIV called on Catholics and citizens of the world Wednesday to carry on the environmental advocacy of his predecessor, Francis, and not to treat it as a “divisive” issue.

Leo spoke at the opening ceremony of a climate conference to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si, a groundbreaking papal document on the urgent need to protect the health of the planet. “The challenges identified in Laudato Si are in fact even more relevant today than they were 10 years ago,” he said.

Speaking for just over 10 minutes at the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, Leo focused on the action that individuals and local communities can take to alleviate increasing climate pressure.

“Everyone in society, through nongovernmental organizations and advocacy groups, must put pressure on governments to develop and implement more rigorous regulations, procedures and controls,” he said. “Citizens need to take an active role in political decision-making at national, regional and local levels. Only then will it be possible to mitigate the damage done to the environment.”

Judge blocks diversion of NYC terror funding

Citing the 9/11 attacks and other threats, a U.S. judge on Wednesday blocked the federal government from diverting or withdrawing $34 million in funding to protect New York’s transportation system from terrorist attacks.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said the state of New York will “quite likely” be able to prove its claims that the money would be improperly diverted because the Trump administration wanted to punish New York for not cooperating with its massive deportation program.

The state sued the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday, noting that the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks let to the creation of the Rail and Transit Security Grant Program to protect transit systems from chemical, biological, radiological and explosives threats.

The city’s transit system isn’t the only agency facing cuts. The Trump administration slashed federal counterterrorism funding for the New York Police Department from $90 million to nearly $10 million, a move that Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Wednesday called “profoundly bad news.”

Macron: Oil tanker part of Russian shadow fleet

French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that an oil tanker immobilized off the French Atlantic coast had committed “very serious wrongdoings” and linked it to Russia’s shadow fleet, which is avoiding Western sanctions over Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

The tanker was sailing last week off the coast of Denmark and was cited by European naval experts as possibly being involved in drone flights over the country.

French naval forces forcibly boarded the ship a few days ago at the request of prosecutors who suspected wrongdoing, a military official said Wednesday. The prosecutor’s office in the western French city of Brest said a judicial investigation has been opened into the crew’s “refusal to cooperate” and “failure to justify the nationality of the vessel.”

The ship was ordered to stay in place pending further investigation, the military official said.

Trump signs order for U.S. defense of Qatar

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order vowing to use all measures including U.S. military action to defend the energy-rich nation of Qatar — though it remains unclear just what weight the pledge will carry.

The text of the order, available Wednesday on the White House’s website but dated Monday, appears to be another measure by Trump to assure the Qataris following Israel’s surprise attack on the country targeting Hamas leaders as they weighed accepting a ceasefire with Israel over the war in the Gaza Strip.

Trump spoke on the phone later Wednesday to Qatar’s ruling Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, according to a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The White House did not release details about the call.

The order cites the two countries’ “close cooperation” and “shared interest,” vowing to “guarantee the security and territorial integrity of the state of Qatar against external attack.”

“The United States shall regard any armed attack on the territory, sovereignty or critical infrastructure of the state of Qatar as a threat to the peace and security of the United States,” the order says.

Hurricane Imelda heads toward Bermuda

Hurricane Imelda barreled toward Bermuda on Wednesday as forecasters warned that it would swipe past the tiny British territory as a Category 2 storm.

Heavy winds and rain were expected to start hitting the island and continue through Thursday, with Imelda forecast to pass near or over Bermuda on Wednesday night.

A hurricane warning was in effect for Bermuda, a wealthy overseas territory with strong structures that have withstood powerful storms in previous years.

Imelda was located about 190 miles west-southwest of Bermuda. It had maximum sustained winds of 100 mph and was moving east-northeast at 22 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

“This is a dangerous storm system that could bring destructive winds, heavy rainfall and significant coastal impacts,” said Michael Weeks, Bermuda’s national security minister.

Stephen King tops list of banned books in U.S.

A new report on book bans in U.S. schools finds Stephen King as the author most likely to be censored and the country divided between states actively restricting works and those attempting to limit or eliminate bans.

PEN America’s “Banned in the USA,” released Wednesday, tracks more than 6,800 instances of books being temporarily or permanently pulled for the 2024-2025 school year. The new number is down from more than 10,000 in 2023-24, but still far above the levels of a few years ago, when PEN didn’t even see the need to compile a report.

Some 80% of those bans originated in just three states that have enacted or attempted to enact laws calling for removal of books deemed objectionable — Florida, Texas and Tennessee. Meanwhile, PEN found little or no instances of removals in several other states, with Illinois, Maryland and New Jersey among those with laws that limit the authority of school and public libraries to pull books.

NYC tower partly collapses; no injuries

A 20-story public housing building in the Bronx partly collapsed Wednesday morning after what officials described as an explosion in the chimney.

Mayor Eric Adams confirmed at a news conference that “some type of explosion” had occurred in the chimney leading to the boiler room in the building in the Mott Haven neighborhood. Robert Tucker, the fire commissioner, said fire marshals and the Police Department were still investigating the cause of the blast.

Fire officials said rescuers arrived at the scene just after 8 a.m. to find that an incinerator shaft had collapsed. Pictures that the Fire Department shared on social media showed a charred opening running down a corner of the building, which is part of the Mitchel Houses, a development managed by the New York City Housing Authority. The building houses about 3,462 people.

Officials said no injuries were reported at the building, which was built in 1966. Diana Ayala, the City Council member representing parts of the Bronx, said the boiler that exploded provided heat and hot water for the entire building complex.

— News service reports