During oral arguments, the court seemed evenly divided as it examined whether an Alabama death-row inmate should get a new sentencing hearing because he did not have a mental health expert during his sentencing trial more than 30 years ago.

Pope Francis asked all people to work toward a future that lifts up society’s most marginalized, including migrants, the sick, the unemployed and prisoners.

Bishop Gianfranco Todisco said he wrote to the pope last year saying he wanted to return to his work as a missionary.

"I hope that this visit will be an embrace of consolation and of encouragement to all Christians in the Middle East," the pope said.

After going nearly 12 years without executing an inmate, Arkansas now has executed three in a few days—including two in one night.

A rally hosted by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont for a Nebraska Democrat prompted a flurry of questions about the party's pro-choice orthodoxy.