[Melian]

Pope Francis met with John Kerry, climate envoy for the Biden administration, on May 14 after a closed-door conference on “Dreaming of a Better Restart” for the global economy.

Kerry is one of the first U.S. officials to meet with Pope Francis since the COVID-19 pandemic began and the first among members of the Biden administration.

Pope Francis had reportedly refused to meet with then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in September 2020, after Pompeo issued a scathing critique of the Vatican’s China policies prior to his attending a conference on religious freedom sponsored by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See.

The Vatican’s recent human rights record in China may be related to its negotiations with Beijing about the status of the Catholic Church. Reports regarding the ongoing and secretive Sino–Vatican deal—including statements from leading experts on the matter, such as Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong—include allegations that the agreement includes Vatican silence on Chinese religious and socio-political persecution.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/pope-francis-meets-with-john-kerry-marking-change-in-post-trump-vatican-us-relations_3817651.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=gp

[Melian]

The nine campuses of the University of California system will no longer consider standardized testing scores as part of the admission process beginning in the fall of 2021.

The change is the result of a legal settlement (pdf) of a lawsuit brought by groups that claimed that the traditional SAT and ACT tests are racist.

Under the settlement, the university, which enrolls some 225,000 undergraduate students, said it won’t consider SAT or ACT scores sent along with admissions applications until 2025. The university further stated that it had no current plan to consider the scores after 2025.

The settlement specifies that the university can still use SAT and ACT scores to determine course placement after the students are accepted. But the nine campuses will no longer use the test scores to determine how to award scholarships.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/university-of-california-system-will-no-longer-consider-sat-and-act-scores-for-admissions_3817180.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=gp

[HoneysuckleTN]

Donald J. Trump
7:11pm May 16, 2021

Breaking News! New polling by CBS News on the state of the Republican Party (which is very strong!). “President Trump has a strong hold on the GOP.” 80% of Republicans agree with the removal of Liz Cheney from GOP Leadership and only 20% disagree. The poll also showed that 67% of Republicans said that they do not consider Sleepy Joe Biden to be the legitimate winner of the 2020 Presidential Election. I agree with them 100%, just look at the facts and the data—there is no way he won the 2020 Presidential Election!

"As our Country is being destroyed, both inside and out, the Presidential Election of 2020 will go down as THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY!" —President Donald J. Trump, May 15, 2021

"It will all come back BIGGER and BETTER and STRONGER than ever before. Do not worry!" —President Donald J. Trump, May 9, 2021

donaldjtrump.com/desk