GINGER MAG

It was a charming and funny aside that some users of social media naturally used to criticize Cannavale and try togin up a controversy.(Insert eye-roll emoji here.) Byrne, now an Oscar nominee for the same role, found herself having to explain that parenthood almost always comes with scheduling conflicts and answerfollow-up questionsabout the reptilian addition to her family.

Including, I regret to report, from me. Since Conan O'Brien, who co-stars in "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You," will behosting this year's Oscars, it seems natural that Byrne will get some sort of comedic shout-out during the telecast. Has he asked her to bring the bearded lizard with her to the ceremony?

"I think he knows better than to ask that," she says, laughing. "I really regret that," she adds, referring to her acceptance speech revelation. "I'm an essentially pretty private person, and it's a tough line you have to straddle with the press. I definitely learned a lesson."

Fortunately, Byrne's professional life is rich enough to require no offscreen embroidery.

Nineteen years ago, she burst onto the cultural landscape in high drama-queen style: Wild-eyed, half-naked and covered in blood. The 2007 opening of FX's groundbreaking legal drama"Damages,"in which Byrne's young lawyer, Ellen Parsons, flees an uptown New York apartment building in which something terrible has clearly happened, sparked all manner of conversation. As the series unfurled, proving to a skeptical entertainment industry that women can be compelling antiheroes too, much of that talk revolved around Byrne.

Who was this young actor going toe-to-toe with Glenn Close as "Damages'" deliciously Machiavellian attorney Patty Hewes?

Byrne has been answering that question ever since. By now you could fill in the blank of "Wait, is that the woman from... ?" with "Damages," or "Get Him to the Greek," or "Insidious," or "Bridesmaids," or "X-Men" movies or "Spy," or "Instant Family," or "Neighbors," or "Mrs. America," or the ongoing Apple TV series "Platonic," whose third season is currently in the works. (And that list is far from exhaustive.) Post-Oscars, she'll add a Broadway production of Noël Coward's "Fallen Angels," coming just after the film "Tow," in which she plays a homeless woman who fights the system after her car is towed, premieres in March; "The Good Daughter," a Peacock miniseries in which Bryne co-stars with Meghann Fahy and Brendan Gleeson, is in postproduction.

Not to belabor the reptile references, but Byrne is something of a creative chameleon, moving easily from drama to comedy to horror, film to television to stage and back again. In many ways, her gut-wrenching, darkly funny performance as a woman pushed beyond all endurance in "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" is a culmination of all the characters she brought to life before it.

Beginning with "Damages." Though she had done plenty of work previously, including roles in "Troy" and "I Capture the Castle," it was her role as Ellen Parsons, who becomes determined to beat Patty at her own game, that brought Byrne to fame — and all the pressures and decisions that come with it.

"I still remember filming that [opening] scene," Byrne says in an interview in the A24 offices the day afterthe film academy's nominees luncheon. "That show was tricky, getting used to how TV worked, with writers writing until the very last minute. It was still unusual for a big movie star to be doing TV, and it was daunting. Glenn, well, she's Glenn, iconoclastic; she brings all of her roles with her. But she's also eccentric Glenn and she's funny and she works so hard. Up close, seeing a great actor raises the bar. I was spoiled [getting] to watch her work every day for five years."

Byrne received two Emmy nominations and a lot of attention for "Damages," but, as is so often the case, she found herself being offered roles that were alarmingly similar to Ellen.

"You can get pigeonholed really quickly," she says. "I made the very conscious decision to do something comedic."

It's tough to imagine anything more comedic than "Get Him to the Greek," which came out in 2010, and "Bridesmaids," which premiered in 2011.

It was a bit of a leap. Having never trained in improv, Byrne had to adapt to being fed multiple alternative lines during filming while working with actors who might float off into comedic rants at any minute. "I really did learn on my feet. When I first started to do it, I found it terrifying and thrilling at the same time, trying to keep up."

She also had to learn not to break. "I was useless," she says of"Bridesmaids,"in which she plays a relatively straight role. "I was laughing all the time. But how could I not?"

By the time she starred opposite Melissa McCarthy in Paul Feig'scriminally underrated "Spy,"she had a few more experiences under her belt. "Though still it is hard not to break when you're facedwith Melissa McCarthy," she says. "I defy anyone to do it."

(When I tell her that "Spy," in which she plays a highly bewigged and over-the-top Russian mobster, is one of my favorite movies, her face lights up. "You've made my day," she says. "Isn't it great? It kind of went under the radar. But if you know you know.")

Though her roles in the first two"Insidious" movies, and more recently in the heartwarming"Instant Family,"featured the mother-in-crisis tension that fuels "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You," it was, she says, her comedic roles that stretched her as an actor.

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"When I had the opportunity to do broader characters in comedy, it was a game-changer," she says. "There was so much more color I can discover here."

Though classified as a comedy for purposes of the Golden Globes — Byrne won lead female actor in a movie musical or comedy — "If I Had Legs," like Byrne's career, defies categorization.

Based on writer-director Mary Bronstein'spersonal experience, the film follows Linda (Byrne), a therapist and mother. With her husband literally (and figuratively) at sea, Linda tries to cope with the needs of her patients while caring for a child whose inability to eat has become life-threatening.

When, on top of everything else, the ceiling of their apartment collapses, the two take refuge in a rather squalid motel, where Linda often leaves the child (who the audience hears but does not see) in their room while she smokes, drinks and contemplates the pulsating abyss she feels her life has become.

Where some see a black comedy, others see horror and/or a bleak exploration of the pressures of motherhood — an increasingly popular subgenre referred to by some as "mum noir."

Although much of her previous work involved strong co-stars or ensembles, Byrne carries this film almost single-handedly, often through close-ups shot so tightly that she felt like her eyelashes might brush the camera.

She wasn't thinking of that, however, when she got the script from her agent. Instead, she was instantly captivated by the story and what she has characterized as Bronstein's willingness to buck so many cinematic traditions, beginning with the decision not to show Linda's child: "By not showing the daughter, she forces you to reckon with the woman, a woman who is behaving really questionably in the role of a mother, something that is not particularly approved of."

Linda is hostile, defensive and quite unlikable in many ways. She apparently has no friends and seeks help where it clearly cannot be found — from her absent husband and O'Brien's narcissistic fellow therapist — while rudely rejecting it when it is kindly offered, mainly by the motel's superintendent, played by ASAP Rocky. Even for those who understand the sometimes brutal nature of motherhood, Linda is a tough sell for empathy. Only Byrne's flashes of humor and desperately flailing humanity keep her on this side of monstrous.

Byrne understands why some people might not consider "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" a comedy — "It's a very dark story about a very serious thing" — but when she first read it, she says, "I was laughing and gasping at the same time."

The film breaks all the traditional movie rules, Byrne says. "The character is the ultimate antihero and she's a mother" — something that is rarely allowed. It's also an unforgiving portrait of the daughter, who is far from sympathetic as she whines, throws tantrums and makes endless demands.

For Byrne, the child's portrayal is also a way of keeping the film focused on Linda.

"You do have to wonder if this is how she is, or how her mother sees and hears her," she explains. "[Linda] doesn't see her as a little girl, as a child, which can happen when you're so frustrated. We've all been there. [Children] show a mirror to all of our limitations."

Linda's hostility was tough for Byrne at first, she admits. "That's not a natural space for myself. If I'm under stress, I'm not naturally hostile; I'm really spaced out. But there's a reason she doesn't have any friends. I don't think she wants anyone in her life reflecting her behavior and her choices."

The nonchronological nature of filming posed its own challenges. Byrne often had to shoot scenes from different points of Linda's progressive breakdown on the same day. Byrne and Bronstein had spent weeks combing through the script before production and met daily about each scene as production progressed.

"I tracked it as best I could," Byrne says. "I didn't want it to be one note. That was the most important thing. There always has to be nuance."

The climactic scene, which involves Linda battling the ocean, had to be shot fairly early on before the water off Montauk, where the film is set and was shot, became too cold. It was, she says, an ambitious sequence. "Fortunately," she says, "I'm an Aussie, so I grew up very aware of the ocean. But I'm sensible. I did about 75% of it, but I also had a brilliant stunt double. Our cinematographer did float off at one time," she adds with a laugh, "but Mary was always safety first."

When asked if echoes from previous works — the ailing child in "Insidious," scenes in "Physical," during which her character binges and purges in a seedy motel room — helped inform her portrayal of Linda, Byrne first expresses surprise: "I hadn't thought of that. They do like to get me in hotel rooms." But though she wasn't drawing specifically on any previous performance, she acknowledges that "Everything informs everything. All that you've done before informs where you are right now."

Which means there's a through line in the diverse work of this creative chameleon, subtle but identifiable: Byrne's own fascination with "the tension of someone trying to cover for themselves constantly, a lack of acknowledgment of reality. To see how far they go."

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This story originally appeared inLos Angeles Times.

NEED TO KNOW

• King Charles' brother was detained on his 66th birthday, Feb. 19; his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, has remained out of public view, with her whereabouts unknown

• "The stain of what Andrew did is spreading across the monarchy itself and undermining it," royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith tells PEOPLE In this week's issue

With neither of his daughters,Princess BeatriceandPrincess Eugenie, nor his ex-wife,Sarah Ferguson, set to visit on his 66th birthday, the disgraced formerPrince Andrewawoke alone at Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate on Feb. 19. Instead of family, police officers arrived at his door.

Shortly after 8 a.m., authoritiesarrested the former Duke of York on suspicion of misconduct in public office, linked to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and drove him away in an unmarked car. As news broke within the hour and images of police vehicles at Sandringham ricocheted around the world, Andrew's family — led by his brother,King Charles— waslearning of the arrest in real time.

"This is the place where the Queen spent her last birthday in April 2022," Robert Jobson, author ofThe Windsor Legacy, tells PEOPLE in this week's issue. "Four years later it's been raided by the police. It beggars belief."

The arrest, the first of a royal since 1649, when King Charles I was beheaded for high treason, sent shock waves through the House of Windsor and raised renewed questions about accountability and privilege.

"If it comes out that people knew stuff — whether it be members of the family or police or staffers — then heads must roll," Jobson says.

Andrew, 66, was taken to Aylsham police station in Norfolk, where he was read his rights and held for 11 hours before being released under investigation. As he left the station,cameras captured him slumped in the back of an SUV. The arrest came nearly four months after he wasstripped of his remaining princely titleandordered to leave his longtime Royal Lodge homeover his Epstein links.

"He looked broken. Haunted," says Ailsa Anderson, former press secretary toQueen Elizabeth. "That reverence people once had for the royal family is disappearing. This is the damage Andrew has done."

Charlesmarked the moment with a brief statement: "I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office… Let me state clearly: The law must take its course."

The wording was deliberate, Anderson adds: "It was a way of distancing himself."

Royal duty continued in the hours and days after the arrest, with King Charles,Queen Camilla,Prince WilliamandKate Middletonall carrying on with work. The Prince and Princess of Waleswere at their country home just miles from where Andrew was arrestedon Feb. 19 and then stepped out for the BAFTAs on Feb. 22, where they ignored a red carpet heckler who shouted, "Is the monarchy in peril?"

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Moments later, when asked if he had seen the emotional, nominated filmHamnet, William admitted, "I need to be in quite a calm state. And I'm not at the moment."

As Andrew's arrest reverberated beyond palace walls, attention turned to those closest to him. His ex-wife, Ferguson, who had lived with him at Royal Lodge and has not been seen in public since before Christmas, traveled abroad. The former Duchess of York faces renewed scrutiny over her past dealings with Epstein and whether she may be questioned by police in Andrew's case.

Ferguson, 66, wasreported to have spent time at a luxury wellness clinic in Switzerlandin January and is currently believed to be abroad as she considers a return to the U.K., though her precise whereabouts remain unclear.

Meanwhile, the former couple's daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, found themselves caught in the crossfires. Eugenie, 35,had been skiing with her husband and sons in ­Gstaad, Switzerland, while Beatrice, 37, has not been seen publicly in weeks. Both sisters were reported to be "in a state" after their father's arrest.

Released under investigation and without bail conditions,Andrew faces an uncertain legal road ahead. He could remain in legal limbo for weeks or even months as police examine documents — released by the U.S. Department of Justice amid heightened scrutiny of those in Epstein's orbit — that allegedly show Andrew sharing information with Epstein obtained during his work as the U.K.'s trade envoy.

Prosecutors, ultimately, will decide whether charges are brought. If he is convicted, misconduct in public office carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The British government is alsoreportedly considering legislation that would remove Andrew from the line of succession, a blow to the son long viewed as Queen Elizabeth's favorite.

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The timing further compounds pressure on King Charles' reign, already strained by his cancer treatment, Kate's cancer recovery and the ongoing rift with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. For William, preparing for his future role, the episode has reinforced long-held frustrations.

The Prince of Wales, 43, isunderstood to support his father's approachbut believes the monarchy could have acted sooner. What comes next may determine not just Andrew's fate, but the future of the institution.

"The stain of what Andrew did is spreading across the monarchy itself and undermining it," says royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith. "It's unlike anything the modern monarchy has faced."

Read the original article onPeople

Jean has two personalities, he attests: "the peaceful one here, and the bonkers one onstage." Right now, the rascal in him slumbers, briefly glimpsed now and again behind dark shades.

We are here just days afterthe death of John Forté, a close friend and collaborator whose role in shaping the Fugees' platinum-selling sound has long been under-credited.

"We would talk all the time," he says. His last text to Forté reads: "Yo, text me, so I know you okay?" There was no reply. "He had this smile that shook the universe."

Lately, memory has become Jean's greatest inspiration. It's the second night of his five-night residency atBlue Note Los Angeles, in which he performs a carnivalesque staging of his life and career, leaping from Haitian rara to boom-bap, from reggae-inflected balladry to rock guitar theatrics. At one point, he performs cunnilingus on his guitar. Like his forthcoming seven-part project, "Quantum Leap," the show is a walk-back to his genesis.

Over the last three decades, Jean has become a key figure in modern pop music. He is one of its greatest cultural coalitionists, fusing Pan-American sounds — hip-hop, Jamaican reggae, Haitian kompa, gospel, salsa, folk — into music that is party-ready and politically alert. He prefigured today's globalized music economy long before it had language for itself, though his influence has often been oddly glossed over.

As a solo artist, he's put out nine albums that have sold upward of 9 million copies worldwide, from his 1997 debut "The Carnival" to 2000's aptly named "The Ecleftic: 2 Sides II a Book," which even transformed wrestling superstar–turned–action hero The Rock into a pop hitmaker with "It Doesn't Matter." Along the way, Jean has consistently championed emerging talent, helping introduce Beyoncé to the world with Destiny's Child's breakthrough single "No, No, No," and co-writing and appearing on Shakira's global smash "Hips Don't Lie." Despite the accolades, Jean still feels misunderstood.

Read more:Teddy Riley is finally getting his flowers. Will he risk it all to work with R. Kelly?

"I still don't feel like the world's figured me out yet," he says. He compares his career, more than once, to Bob Marley's. "Bob Marley don't got one Grammy even though he was the biggest artist in the world."

"Quantum Leap," he hopes, will finally give the world a clearer view of him. The project will consist of seven albums, released over seven months, each devoted to a genre — hip-hop, reggae, jazz, country, Haitian kompa, R&B — and each traceable to a pivotal moment in his career. He's been working on the project for five years, dividing it into seven sections to mirror the 35 years he's spent in music. "You find inspiration in your origin," he says.

Jean was born in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti. His first days on Earth were hard. Doctors had to forcibly wrench him from his mother at birth. And as a child living in a country where most live on less than a dollar a day, he was so poor he ate dirt. When he was 9, his family moved to Brooklyn's Marlboro Projects. He spoke Creole at home and learned English at school.

Inspired by Grandmaster Flash, he began freestyling in his early teens, first to himself in the bathroom, then to anyone who would listen in the cafeteria. "All I ever wanted," he says, "was for people to hear me." His minister father loathed rap, yet Jean teasingly and earnestly called himself "the preacher's son," filling his verses with biblical language that still shows up in "Quantum Leap."

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At 13, he began conducting the choir at church. His music teacher, Valerie Price, discovered him playing guitar alone in the school auditorium. "Where did you learn this?" she asked. "I can just see it in my head," he replied. "I see numbers. I see one, three, five." She taught him to read sheet music and urged him to learn jazz. "Hell no," he said. "That's for old people. I wanna battle rap." "Why not both?" she countered, a remark Jean now credits with forming his entire philosophy.

After Brooklyn, the family moved to New Jersey, where Jean built a makeshift studio in his uncle's basement. He produced hip-hop tracks, wrote the score for an off-Broadway play attended by Quincy Jones, and came under Jones' tutelage. Around this time, he met Lauryn Hill, with whom Jean would form the Fugees alongside his cousin Pras.

The Fugees wrote and produced one of the most iconic albums in hip-hop history, "The Score," in that same basement studio in New Jersey. Jean still has demos and outtakes from those sessions, but he refuses to release them. "Think of the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Queen," he says. "They've got so many unreleased files, right? I would never want to change the perception of 'The Score.'" There was never any conversation about making a sequel. "Basquiat never duplicated his paintings," he says.

Jean and Hill's relationship, both creative and romantic, had become one of the stormiest in hip-hop. It culminated in a much-publicized fight on an airplane, then decades-long silence.

Was there a moment when he wanted to reach out? "Always," he says. What stopped him? "The universe." I press for specificity. "All the hurt," he says. "We both needed to heal." Now, he tells me, "the vibes are good." He's "Uncle Wyclef" to Hill's children. In recent years, they've reunited onstage: Jean has made numerous surprise appearances on Hill's tours, and they performed their cover of "Killing Me Softly" recently at the Grammys, dedicating it to Roberta Flack during the show's in memoriam segment. "I think this reconciliation between me and Lauryn is one of the best things that could possibly happen to the planet."

He is acutely aware of his powerful influence in all aspects — from "Hips Don't Lie" setting the mainstream template for global genre coalition to all the younger artists who've hailed him in their songs. "When you have kids like Young Thug with songs called 'Wyclef Jean,' and G Herbo sampling '911,' you know, very few of us can connect those bridges," he says.

His influence is felt even more in his home country. Jean has spent much of his career as a roving ambassador for Haiti, becoming a key figure in the jaspora (or diaspora, a term that refers to the scattering of people away from their ancestral homeland in Haiti). In 2010, he ran unsuccessfully for the presidency. "I still got to write the book," he says. "There was no course in poly-sci that could have prepared me for that." He learned, he says, "just how badly Haiti had gotten it within the geopolitical structure."

Read more:How Fab Morvan of Milli Vanilli mounted one of the greatest comebacks in Grammy history

He says, however, that he is not interested in dwelling on President Trump's many racist comments about Haitian immigrants. "I don't get caught up in the politics of what people say because it's all just a big distraction for the bigger issue," he says. "If there's a comment, I make a statement, then I keep it moving." It's an interesting contrast from last year, when he told the Mirror he was keen to take an appointment with the president. Jean doesn't try to explain away the contradiction. He refers to himself as a centrist. "I just ride the middle."

At the Blue Note, Jean performs a kind of Haitian exceptionalism: a sensorially rich, festal theater that serves as a necessary counterweight to the country's grim realities of poverty and political neglect. His large band, squeezed onto a stage scarcely longer than two kayaks laid end to end, is composed almost entirely of Haitian preachers' kids raised in the country's gospel tradition. One musician lifts a Haitian conch. "Go crazy!" Jean demands of the crowd, again and again. And they do as he says.

Yet for all his command, Jean still answers to a higher authority. Recently, Price, Jean's old music teacher, attended one of his shows with a notebook, telling him she'd been grading him at the end of the night. He watched her scribble notes during his performance. "It still put the fear in me," he says, backstage again. He inches up the couch, now smiling, giddy. "She gave me an A."

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This story originally appeared inLos Angeles Times.

OTTAWA, Feb 25 (Reuters) -OpenAI's admission it banned the ChatGPT account of mass shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar months before the 18-year-old killed eight people and herself is drawing more scrutiny to her past online activity and raising questions about whether opportunities were missed to prevent one ‌of Canada's worst-ever mass killings.

OpenAI's decision not to report Van Rootselaar to police prompted Canada's Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon to summon company officials to Ottawa this week ‌to explain their safety protocols.

The shooting in the small British Columbia town of Tumbler Ridge is the latest tragedy in which critics have argued interactions with chat bots may have forewarned of or even encouraged violence.

Crime experts noted ​that while greater scrutiny of AI platforms and social media is necessary, police or other authorities may have missed chances to avert the tragedy. Police had previously removed guns from Van Rootselaar's home, though they were later returned. Police also said they were aware of her history of mental health issues.

Van Rootselaar began the attack by killing her mother and sibling at home, before shooting dead an educator and five students, while two others were hospitalized with serious injuries.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the investigation is still active and some questions are subject to relevant legislation or court processes.

"This was clearly ‌a household where there were many problems," said Patrick Watson, a ⁠criminology professor at the University of Toronto unconnected to the case. "But we also need far more scrutiny of the companies who are creating these new platforms, which are essentially becoming a new public sphere with very little accountability."

In a since-deleted Reddit post, Van Rootselaar said she had been diagnosed ⁠with numerous mental health issues, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and was on the autism spectrum.

"I went crazy and burnt my house down my second time trying shrooms but still have a desire to try alternatives," Van Rootselaar wrote.

Van Rootselaar also previously created a game using the Roblox Studio app, involving shooting other characters at a mall.

Roblox told Reuters that Van Rootselaar's account and its content ​were ​removed from the Roblox Studio app the day after the Tumbler Ridge massacre, and that the game had ​only seven visits.

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Open AI said in a statement it had banned Van ‌Rootselaar's ChatGPT account last June after identifying "misuses of our models in furtherance of violent activities" and considered whether to refer her to law enforcement.

The company ultimately decided "the account activity did not meet the higher threshold required for referral," mainly because OpenAI was not able to identify credible or imminent planning. The company said intervening in these situations can be distressing for young people and their families and may also raise privacy concerns.

MISSED OPPORTUNITY

Tracy Vaillancourt, a professor at the University of Ottawa who specializes in youth mental health and violence prevention, said OpenAI's failure to refer Van Rootselaar to police was "a missed opportunity," but acknowledged there were challenges in protecting users' privacy.

"People using ChatGPT may worry that it's going to spy on them, but AI is so powerful ‌there should be a way to improve how technology and we as a society, are able to ​reduce credible threats," Vaillancourt said.

Cynthia Khoo, a technology and human rights lawyer, warned "it would be a mistake to start ​down a path where AI companies might become deputized as a private surveillance wing ​of law enforcement," saying that invasions of privacy would disproportionately hit already marginalized groups.

Van Rootselaar was born male but identified as a female and began ‌transitioning six years ago, police said. A 2023 report from the U.S. ​government showed that more than 95% of mass ​shooters are male and that transgender people account for about 2%.

British Columbia Premier David Eby said the Tumbler Ridge shooting could have been avoided if OpenAI had warned authorities about Van Rootselaar's violent online activity and called for more transparency from the tech giant.

"It looks like OpenAI had the opportunity to prevent this tragedy, to prevent this ​horrific loss of life, to prevent there from being dead children ‌in British Columbia," he said Monday.

OpenAI said in its statement the shooting was "a devastating tragedy" and that it was doing all it could to support the ongoing ​investigation.

"We reached out to law enforcement immediately after the identity of the shooter was made public and we are engaged with the (police) to support their ongoing work," ​the company said.

(Reporting by Maria Cheng, Ryan Patrick Jones; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Lincoln Feast.)

VATICAN CITY, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Pope Leo will visit four countries across Africa from April 13-23, the Vatican announced on Wednesday, with the pontiff making his first major overseas trip ‌in 2026 to the continent where the Catholic Church is growing fastest.

The pope will also make ‌a one-day visit on March 28 to Monaco, the microstate on the French Riviera, and will visit Spain from June 6-12, the Vatican said.

In ​Africa, Leo will visit Algeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon. He is expected to draw large crowds, urge world leaders to support development on the continent, and highlight efforts at Catholic-Muslim dialogue.

VISIT SIGN OF VATICAN'S PRIORITY FOR AFRICA

Leo, elected in May to succeed the late Pope Francis as head of the 1.4-billion-member Church, has made only one overseas trip ‌so far, visiting Turkey and Lebanon in ⁠November and December on a visit originally organised for Francis.

Vatican officials and African Church leaders say the upcoming papal tour in Africa is a sign of the priority the ⁠Church places on the continent.

"Pope Leo's visit will remind the world that Africa matters and the vibrancy of the Church in Africa remains at the heart of a thriving (global) Church," said Reverend Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, a Jesuit from Nigeria who led his ​order's communities ​across Africa from 2017-23.

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About 20% of the world's Catholics live ​on the continent, according to Vatican statistics.

As part ‌of the trip to Spain, Leo is expected to visit the Canary Islands, which has become a major point of entry for migrants trying to get to Europe.

LEO WILL BE FIRST POPE TO VISIT ALGERIA

The last papal trip to Africa was in 2023, when Francis visited Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. Pope Benedict XVI was the last pontiff to visit Angola and Cameroon, in 2009. John Paul II was the last pope to visit Equatorial Guinea, ‌in 1982.

Algeria, an overwhelmingly Muslim country with a few thousand ​Catholics among its population of some 47 million people, has never hosted ​a papal visit before.

Leo, a member of the ​Augustinian religious order, has a special interest in visiting the country. Fourth century St. Augustine ‌of Hippo, a major figure in the early Christian ​Church, was from an area ​that is now part of Algeria.

The tour will "shine the spotlight on countries in Africa that have experienced high religious growth but struggled politically and economically," said Orobator, dean of the Jesuit School of Theology ​of Santa Clara University in California.

The ‌pope is also expected in 2026 to visit Peru, where he previously served as a missionary and ​bishop for decades. That visit will likely occur in November, local bishops said this month.

(Reporting ​by Joshua McElwee; Editing by Alvise Armellini and Alison Williams)

Tommy Schaefer was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the 2014murder of Sheila von Wiese-Mack, the mother of Heather Mack, during a luxury vacation in a case also known as the Bali "suitcase murder."

Schafer was deported back to the United States from Bali International Airport on Tuesday evening after serving his sentence and receiving a number of remissions for good behavior, said Felucia Sengky Ratna, head of the Bali Regional Office of the Directorate General of Immigration, in a statement.

The badly battered body of the 62-year-old von Wiese-Mack, a wealthy Chicago socialite, was found inside the trunk of a taxi parked at the upscale St. Regis Bali Resort in August 2014.

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Heather Mack, who was almost 19 and a few weeks pregnant at the time of the killing, and her then-21-year-old boyfriend, Schaefer, were arrested on the island a day after the body was found.

Mack served seven years of a 10-year prison sentence in Bali for helping to kill her mother and wasdeported in October 2021.

She was also sentenced to 26 years in prison in Chicago in January 2024, after she pleaded guilty to helping kill her mother and stuffing the body in a suitcase during their vacation.

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"The Short family is devastated by this loss, and asks for privacy at this time," Short's representative said in a statement to USA TODAY on Tuesday, Feb. 24. "Katherine was beloved by all and will be remembered for the light and joy she brought into the world."

No further details surrounding Short's death were shared. USA TODAY has reached out to the County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner for more information.

It's not the first tragedy to strike the family, as the "Father of the Bride" actor's late wife, Nancy Dolman, died in August 2010 following ovarian cancer.

Martin Short's family is grieving after the actor's daughter, Katherine Hartley Short, died at age 42.

"The Short family is devastated by this loss, and asks for privacy at this time," Short's representative said in a statement to USA TODAY on Tuesday, Feb. 24. "Katherine was beloved by all and will be remembered for the light and joy she brought into the world."

No further details surrounding Short's death were shared.

Scroll through for photos of the comedian with his family through the years, starting with his wife Nancy Dolan and kids, Katherine Elizabeth and Oliver Patrick in 1989 Los Angeles.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Martin Short poses with daughter Katherine Elizabeth in 1989 in Los Angeles.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Martin Short attends the premiere of "Get Over It" with his wife and children in Westwood, California, on Mar. 8, 2001.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Martin Short and son Henry attend the premiere of the animated film "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" on Dec. 9, 2001 at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, California.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Martin Short, his wife Nancy and daughter Katherine pose with actress Goldie Hawn at the afterparty for "The Producers" at the Hollywood Palladium on May 29, 2003, in Los Angeles.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Martin Short and his son Henry hold a large albino boa snake at the afterparty for the premiere of Paramount Pictures' "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" on Dec. 12, 2004, in Los Angeles.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Martin Short and family attend the world premiere of "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on Dec. 12, 2004.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> From left: Katherine Short, Henry Short, Nancy Short, Martin Short and Oliver Short attend the after party for the opening night of "Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me" at Tavern on the Green on Aug. 17, 2006, in New York City.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Martin Short and son Henry Short attend the Film Society of Lincoln Center 34th annual gala tribute to Diane Keaton on April 9, 2007, in New York City.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Martin Short and daughter Katherine arrive at the 2011 Vanity Fair Oscar party in West Hollywood, California, on Feb. 27, 2011.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Martin Short and son Henry Short attend the Broadway opening night of "Pippin" at The Music Box Theatre on April 25, 2013, in New York City.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Martin Short and Henry Short attend the Centerpiece Gala Presentation and World Premiere of "Inherent Vice" during the 52nd New York Film Festival at Alice Tully Hall on Oct. 4, 2014, in New York City.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> From left: Gavin B. Keilly, Tara-Jane Flynn, Katherine Short and Martin Short attend the HempHera Kosmetikos pre-Emmy luxury lounge presented by GBK Brand Bar day one at Kimpton La Peer Hotel on Sept. 17, 2021, in West Hollywood, California.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Martin Short and his daughter Katherine Elizabeth Short attend the premiere of "X-Files" at Mann Village in Westwood in 1998.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Martin Short and his son Henry Short attend Cirque du Soleil's KOOZA red carpet premiere at the Santa Monica Pier on Oct. 24, 2024.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Martin Short and Henry Short attend the "You Had to Be There" screening at the 41st Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Feb. 6, 2026, in Santa Barbara, California.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

A look at Martin Short's family, including late daughter Katherine

Martin Short's family is grieving after the actor's daughter,Katherine Hartley Short, died at age 42.

"The Short family is devastated by this loss, and asks for privacy at this time," Short's representative said in a statement to USA TODAY on Tuesday, Feb. 24. "Katherine was beloved by all and will be remembered for the light and joy she brought into the world."

No further details surrounding Short's death were shared.Scroll through for photos of the comedian with his family through the years, starting with his wife Nancy Dolan and kids, Katherine Elizabeth and Oliver Patrick in 1989 Los Angeles.

Here's what to know about Short's family.

Who was Katherine Hartley Short?

Born on Dec. 3, 1983, Katherine Short went on to become a licensed clinical social worker working in Los Angeles. She operated a private practice where she specialized in adoption, anxiety, depression, personality disorders, grief and loss, suicidality, and relationship difficulties.

She graduated from New York University in 2006 before earning her master's degree in social work from the University of Southern California in 2010.

During her time at the USC Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, she led group and individual therapy sessions for veterans diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. She later spent four years working at UCLA's Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital.

Who was Martin Short's late wife, Nancy Dolman?

Nancy Dolman, the wife of Martin Short, was a former actress whose work included a recurring role on the primetime series "Soap." She and the "Only Murders in the Building" star met in 1972 during a musical production for "Godspell" in 1981, as she was the understudy forGilda Radner, according toPeople.

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The couple welcomed all three of their children via adoption.

Dolman retired from acting in 1985 to focus on raising her family. She died in 2010 after battling ovarian cancer.

"It's been a tough two years for my children," Martin said in a 2012 interview withThe Guardian. "This is the thing of life that we live in denial about, that it will ever happen to us or our loved ones, and when it does you gain a little and you suffer a little. There's no big surprise."

"Our marriage was a triumph," Short said in a2019 interview with AARP. "So it's tough. She died in 2010, but I still communicate with her all the time. It's 'Hey Nan,' you know? How would she react to this decision or that, especially regarding our three kids."

Who are Martin Short's other children?

Short also has two sons, Oliver Patrick Short, 39, and Henry Hayter Short, 46, whom he shared with Dolman.

Both attended college at the University of Notre Dame. Oliver Patrick Short coached the women's ice hockey team and was captain of the men's snowboard team, according to hisLinkedInpage. In 2008, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in film and television production.

Henry Hayter Short also pursued athletics at Notre Dame, joining the men's water polo and fishing clubs, hisLinkedInpage says. He was also captain of the ski and snowboard club before graduating in 2012 with a bachelor's in finance.

In 2019,Martin Shortsaid on "Conan" that none of his children wanted a career in Hollywood, though "I pushed them. I wanted them to go into show business."

Contributing: KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:How many kids does Martin Short have? What to know about actor's family