5 things to know for April 21: Pope Francis, Pete Hegseth, Israel, Abrego Garcia, Harvard

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Saturday was the 30th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. The attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building claimed the lives of at least 168 people, including 19 children, and was the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in US history. Among the victims was former Secret Service agent Alan Whicher, who once worked on Bill Clinton’s detail. During a remembrance ceremony over the weekend, the former president shared a touching story about the agent and called for Americans to unite. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. Pope Francis, the first non-European pontiff in nearly 1,300 years and one of the oldest popes in the church’s history, has died, the Vatican announced. He was 88. Born in Buenos Aires, Francis was 16 when he decided to become a priest. He entered the seminary and after three years began training to become a Jesuit, a religious order known for its missionary work. At 36, he was appointed head of the Jesuit order in Argentina. Francis became the first Latin-American pontiff in 2013 after Pope Benedict XVI resigned. Benedict remained as pope emeritus until his death at 95 in 2022. Unlike his predecessor, who was admired by conservatives for railing against secular trends, Francis sought to modernize the church. A believer in humility, he eschewed the opulence of the office and turned down the opportunity to move into the luxurious papal apartments. Francis also championed the poor, migrants and the environment and he took a more compassionate approach to divorced and gay Catholics. His efforts, particularly concerning same-sex relationships and how to tackle the scourge of sexual abuse scandals, faced unprecedented resistance from ultra-conservatives. Last month, a national security scandal involving Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top officials rocked the Trump administration. Those officials were caught discussing a US military attack on Houthis in Yemen in a group chat on Signal, a conversation that inadvertently included a journalist. Despite sharing highly confidential — and likely classified — information on a commercially available app with a member of the media, none of those involved were punished for their actions. That chat is still under investigation. Now, it seems that wasn’t the only time such material was posted on the app. Hegseth reportedly created a second Signal group chat during his confirmation hearing and continued using it after he was confirmed. And he allegedly shared the same sensitive details about the airstrikes in the second group chat, which contained at least 12 people, including his wife Jennifer, a former Fox News producer; his brother Phil; and lawyer Tim Parlatore, three people familiar with the chat told CNN. The Israeli military now says “professional failures” led to the deadly March 23 attack on first responders in southern Gaza. An ambulance crew in Rafah disappeared that day, prompting the dispatch of a convoy of emergency vehicles. The fate of those emergency workers would also remain a mystery for over a week until rescue teams were allowed into the area and discovered a mass grave containing the bodies of the 15 first responders and their crushed emergency vehicles. The Israel Defense Forces originally claimed the convoy was moving suspiciously, without headlights or flashing lights, toward Israeli troops and that members of the emergency teams were militants. But a video found on one of the bodies showed the convoy’s lights were on, their vehicles were clearly marked, and the rescuers were wearing reflective emergency responder uniforms when the Israeli troops opened fire. The latest Israeli probe identified several failures during the incident, as well as breaches of orders and a failure to fully report what happened. Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador and detained in the country’s notorious CECOT prison, has been moved to another detention center. Sen. Chris Van Hollen met with Abrego Garcia last week and said he was traumatized by his incarceration. “He said he was not afraid of the other prisoners in his immediate cell but that he was traumatized by being at CECOT and fearful of many of the prisoners in other cell blocks who called out to him and taunted him in various ways,” the Maryland Democrat told reporters after landing back in the US. Although the Supreme Court said the Trump administration must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return, so far it has refused to do so.