Pope Leo XIV began a summer vacation on Sunday, capping a whirlwind finale to the first half of 2026, in which he emerged as a powerful global statesman on issues from artificial intelligence to war and flexed decisive papal muscle to govern internal church problems.

Pope Leo XIV is spending the Fourth of July in the epicenter of Europe’s migration debate. While the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with rallies, parties and fireworks, history’s first U.S.-born pope traveled to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa. He is honoring the tens of thousands of migrants who have died trying to reach Europe to find freedom and prosperity. Later on Saturday, the Vatican confirmed that Leo had accepted an invitation by the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, Brian Burch, to join in July 4 celebrations at his residence.

The funeral for Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has started, months after his death in an airstrike on the first day of the war. The body of Khamenei, who was 86, is on display in Tehran, Iran’s capital, on Saturday at the start funeral commemorations that will end on Thursday when he is buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his place of birth. Iran’s government expects to see millions of people flood the streets of Tehran in scenes reminiscent of the burial of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989. That could provide a boost for Iran’s government as it tries to leverage its hold on the Strait of Hormuz in negotiations with the United States over a permanent end to the war.