Report cites U.S. role in slowed global growth. The International Monetary Fund cut its 2025 forecast Tuesday, saying it would rise 2.8%, down from 3.3% in its January estimate. It forecast China’s growth at 4%, down from 4.6%, and the U.S.’s at 1.8%, from 2.7%. Germany would see no growth, the IMF said. Mexico would fall into recession. It blamed the global slowdown on U.S. tariffs and the uncertainty they’ve caused. But the IMF outlook is based on data from before the Trump administration delayed a new round of tariffs for 90 days and China ratcheted up to 125% its tariffs on U.S. goods. – Staff

At least 26 Indian tourists were killed in Kashmir. The Tuesday attack at a resort in the Indian-controlled region marked a shift in the conflict. “This attack is much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years,” a regional official wrote on social media. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a resistance politician and Kashmir’s top religious cleric, condemned what he described as a “cowardly attack.” Police called the incident a terror attack and blamed militants fighting Indian rule. – The Associated Press
Related Monitor story: Last fall, we reported on how Kashmir’s political dynamics appeared to be changing.

Three remaining prosecutors resigned over Adams case. The three, who brought criminal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, resigned Tuesday in protest of the case’s dismissal. They had been placed on administrative leave after refusing orders by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s office to dismiss the charges against Mr. Adams. In a letter to Mr. Blanche, they wrote that they “will not confess wrongdoing when there was none.” – Reuters
Related Monitor story: In February, we explored how this case deepened concern about politicization at the DOJ.

A State Department reorganization was proposed. The overhaul, announced Tuesday, would eliminate more than 100 offices and cut staff by 15% and combat “ideological capture” at the agency through position cuts. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the bloated structure of the department made it impossible to quickly and efficiently make decisions. U.S. officials in March said the department was also preparing to close nearly a dozen consulates. – Reuters

El Salvador’s president proposed a prisoner deal with Venezuela. The move sparked questions over which authoritarian leader, if either, has in mind protection of human rights. President Nayib Bukele’s El Salvador has imprisoned 252 Venezuelans deported largely without due process from the United States. Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro responded to the proposal by demanding “proof of life” for his “kidnapped” citizens. But many fled Venezuela in the first place due to a democratic meltdown. Mr. Bukele proposed exchanging those he holds for the freedom of political prisoners and their families in Venezuelan prisons. – Staff

Meta moved to thwart age misrepresentation. This week, Instagram began sifting for 13-to-15-year olds posing as adults, which can get them targeted by content on cosmetic procedures or other age-inappropriate material. Debate has been ongoing over where responsibility for age verification lies, and how to ensure it. Meta Platforms says it’s training artificial intelligence to cross-check “signals” like account creation dates, birth dates at sign-up, and interactions. If misrepresentation is detected, accounts get more restrictive Teen Accounts status. Users can appeal using proof of age. – Staff

American universities are a powerful engine of scientific research and development, attracting the world’s best students and scholars as well as significant federal funding. But the Trump administration is freezing or cutting billions of that support as it seeks changes on campus related to issues from antisemitism to the curriculum. The sudden untethering of university research and government dollars is likely to have consequences for a generation of scientific advancement, and Harvard University is now leading the charge to protect not just research but also the First Amendment. Other schools are lining up to join them.

The Catholic Church in Spain is at the forefront of the country’s immigration experience. As church attendance falls across Western Europe and North America, migrants from more religious cultures are bringing new life to this aging institution. Following Pope Francis’ lead, the church is advocating a more inclusive policy. How parishes embrace this transformation, and attend to its tensions, will determine whether the church can model the integration he championed.

Despite successfully recapturing the White House, President Donald Trump has continued to insist that the 2020 election was stolen from him, even as defamation lawsuits continue to find no evidence for claims of fraud. Mr. Trump has issued orders targeting officials and lawyers whose work undercut his claims, and demanding states tighten voting rules. His preoccupation with 2020 appears to be driving significant presidential actions and policies in ways that could have real implications for U.S. democracy.

Chelsea, Massachusetts, just outside Boston, is a “sanctuary city,” meaning it limits cooperation with federal immigration authorities. It could lose federal funding as a result. And the Trump administration’s moves to deport unauthorized immigrants, and some who are in the United States legally, are raising the question here of whether the “sanctuary” label actually has any effect. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has expanded its operations, residents say, spreading fear in this working-class community.

Our progress roundup this week covers everything from new sources of power to correcting an official wrong. A Finnish town has been partly powered by a sand battery since 2022, while at a Texas airport, five solar-powered turbine “pods” collect wind from jets, which then powers device-charging stations in the terminal. The Carnival festival is becoming less wasteful, as participants in several locations recycle everything from costumes to plastic trinkets. And Kenya’s High Court is restoring citizenship to ethnic Somali Kenyans incorrectly registered as refugees.

This year’s global celebration of Earth Day on April 22 had both sadness and celebration hanging over it. The sadness was that one of the world’s religious leaders who helped put a spiritual dimension into climate activism, Pope Francis, died on Monday. Among the many celebratory tributes to him was widespread praise for his missives citing a love of God and others – rather than fear – as the basis for stewardship of Earth’s atmosphere.

Just days before his death, another fellow global church leader was celebrated. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of 300 million Eastern Orthodox Christians, won this year’s Templeton Prize. He was cited for his decades of work in promoting “a compelling moral and theological vision of humanity’s responsibility to care for the Earth,” as the John Templeton Foundation put it.

Bartholomew has been instrumental in bringing leaders of many faiths together to agree on ethical and spiritual reasons for shifting the human relationship with physical nature to one based on concepts of harmony. In 2021, for example, the heads of the Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican churches issued a joint message calling for the protection of nature, or what Bartholomew calls “the beauty and integrity of God’s creation.”

“Ecology is not a political or economic issue. It is mainly a spiritual and religious issue because God created and gave it to us to protect it, to cultivate it, to use it, but not to abuse it,” he told the foundation.

Many of the faith decrees on climate have pointed to a need to go beyond technological solutions. “Science alone cannot save the planet,” Bartholomew said in 2015. “Science will inform us about the world, but it cannot reach the depths of our soul and mind.”

Both he and Francis regularly pointed to spiritual solutions for individual greed and other forms of self-centeredness that lie behind environmental loss.

In particular, Francis sought to instill joy into climate activism. “Let us sing as we go. May our struggles and our concern for this planet never take away the joy of our hope,” he wrote.

They each found it easy to work across theological divides and develop common doctrine for climate action. “The earth unites us in a unique and extraordinary manner,” wrote Bartholomew in 2015 for Time.

And so, too, does Earth Day, now in its 55th year of celebration.