• 'Deeply saddened': Pope, UK queen lead worldwide condolences after Oklahoma tornado

    Evening Standard

    London's Evening Standard newspaper reports on the tornado in Oklahoma.

    By Alastair Jamieson, Claudio Lavanga and Amna Nawaz, NBC News

    Pope Francis and Britain’s queen sent messages of condolence to those affected by the deadly Oklahoma tornado Tuesday, as news of the devastation spread around the world.

    "I am close to the families of all who died in the Oklahoma tornado, especially those who lost young children,” the pontiff posted on his Twitter feed. “Join me in praying for them."

    The U.S. Embassy in London thanked British well-wishers for their expressions of support.

    In a statement issued by Buckingham Palace officials, Queen Elizabeth said: "I was deeply saddened to hear of the loss of life and devastation caused by yesterday’s tornado in Oklahoma."

    "Prince Philip joins me in offering our heartfelt condolences to the victims and their families at this difficult time. Our deepest sympathies go out to all those whose lives have been affected, as well as the American people," she added.

    Canada's foreign minister John Baird said he was "shocked and saddened" at the devastation.

    "Canada stands with those affected, ready to assist," he added.

    Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the government and people of the country were “deeply saddened and shocked at the humanitarian tragedy unleashed on the Oklahoma State by a devastating tornado.”

    “Our sympathies and prayers go out to the families of victims of this horrific incident that led to precious loss of life and property,” the statement said. “We are particularly grieved over the loss of innocent children and their teachers who were buried under the rubble.”

    “May God Almighty give courage and strength to the bereaved families to bear this irreparable loss. The people of Pakistan stand hand in hand with the people of Oklahoma at this difficult time,” it added.

    Full coverage of the Oklahoma tornadoes from NBC News

    This story was originally published on Tue May 21, 2013 9:01 AM EDT

  • 'Heavy heart but complete understanding': Pope's resignation stuns church leadership

    The archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, explains the "mixed emotions" he feels about the news that Pope Benedict XVI will resign.

    By Erin McClam, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Updated at 4:01 p.m. ET: Pope Benedict XVI’s abdication announcement at a small event at the Vatican on Monday came as such a surprise that even the cardinals in the room were astonished — a sentiment echoed around the world as church leaders and laity alike grappled with the news.


    "All the cardinals remained shocked and were looking at each other," Monsignor Oscar Sanchez of Mexico, who was in the room at the time of the announcement, said, according to The Associated Press.

    The pope said Monday that he no longer had the strength to carry out his ministry and would step aside Feb. 28 as leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. Speaking in Latin, Benedict, 85, announced his decision during an address at a small gathering of cardinals.

    "I’m as startled as the rest of you and as anxious to find out exactly what’s going on," Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, said on TODAY. "Except for prayer, I don’t know what else to do. I’ll await instruction with everyone else."

    Like other prominent figures in the church, Dolan said that it was a somber occasion and that the decision only deepened his respect for the pope.

    Dolan, who was appointed to his post in 2009 and elevated to cardinal early last year by Benedict himself, is considered a longshot candidate to succeed the pope. He said that he found himself “kind of somber” upon hearing of the resignation.

    "Boy, I love this pope," the cardinal said. "The world looks to him with respect and affection."

    Vatican spokesman Greg Burke discusses Pope Benedict XVI's decision to step down, saying it did not come as a complete surprise to Vatican officials, who have known for "at least several weeks."

    President Barack Obama said in a statement: “Michelle and I warmly remember our meeting with the Holy Father in 2009, and I have appreciated our work together over these last four years.”

    Benedict becomes the first pope to abdicate since the Middle Ages. When he made the announcement, several cardinals in the room did not even understand what was happening, a Vatican spokesman said.

    Archbishop Vincent Nichols, leader of the Archdiocese of Westminster, which includes parts of London, said the pope’s announcement “has shocked and surprised everyone.”

    “Yet, on reflection, I am sure that many will recognize it to be a decision of great courage and characteristic clarity of mind and action,” Nichols, who is also president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said in a statement.

    He said Catholics would remember Benedict’s papacy “with great affection and the highest esteem for his minister as our Holy Father.”

    The spiritual head of the world’s 80 million Anglicans, Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, said that he learned of the news “with a heavy heart but complete understanding.”

    “We pray that God will bless him profoundly in retirement with health and peace of mind and heart, and we entrust to the Holy Spirit those who have a responsibility to elect his successor,” he said in a statement, according to Reuters.

    At St. Patrick’s Cathedral, in Manhattan, Dave Stacker said that he supported the pope’s decision but wondered how it might affect the church. He said that he admired the pope’s embrace of social media — Benedict late last year posted from a Twitter account, @pontifex.

    “It’s gonna be tough,” Stacker told NBCNewYork.com. “Where do we go from here?”

    Catholics United, an interest group that wants the church to focus more on social justice and poverty than on abortion and homosexuality, praised Benedict for his humility but said the departure was a chance to reflect on “the challenges of this papacy.”

    “To many, the Catholic church hierarchy has been seen as an institution overly focused on issues of human sexuality, such as opposition to access to birth control and marriage equality, rather than first serving the poor as Christ commanded,” said James Salt, the group’s executive director.

    House Speaker John Boehner, a Catholic, said that “extraordinary humility and love for the church” had been hallmarks of Benedict’s service and were reflected in his decision.

    “Americans were inspired by his visit to the United States in 2008, and by his quiet, steady leadership of the church in uncertain times,” he said in a statement.

    The archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, told reporters at St. Matthew’s Cathedral that he had been working on a homily at 5 a.m. when he received a call and learned of Benedict’s abdication.

    He said that the move was an “enormous surprise” but also sounded a note of continuity for the church.

    “Transitions in the church are not new,” he said. “With each passing pontificate, the church turns to filling the See of Peter. And this has gone on for 2,000 years, so this will not be a new experience.”

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  • Conn. school shooting unleashes global outpouring of support

    NBC's Keir Simmons takes a look at how countries around the world are mourning the unbelievable tragedy that has shaken Newtown, Conn.

    By John W. Schoen, NBC News

    NEWTOWN, Conn. -- The outpouring of shock and grief from around the world over the horrific events in this picturesque New England town has given way to another widely felt, powerful emotion: the urge to support the shattered families of the victims.   

    “I just had a lady call from Montana,” said Scudder Smith, publisher of the Newtown Bee, the local paper. "She said she’s going to send me a box of bears to distribute when the time is right so the kids can hug some bears.”

    As details of Friday’s mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary continue to unfold, residents remain stunned by the mayhem unleashed by a lone gunman. On Saturday, authorities disclosed the names of the 12 girls, eight boys and six adult women who were killed in the nation's second-worst school shooting. 


    The scope of the tragedy has been matched by a torrent of offers to help.

    Since just hours after the massacre, local churches and social service agencies have been besieged with phone calls and emails from around the country and the world -- as far away as Taiwan, Australia and West Africa. Some callers express a sense of powerlessness in trying to help shattered families rebuild their lives, along with a bewilderment in trying to know what to do.

    Leo McIlrath, chaplain at the Lutheran Home of Southbury, said one way to support the wounded community is to “pray from a distance.”

    “That’s more powerful than anything they can do up close - including providing food or shelter," he said. "We do all that already in this community. We don’t need people to put something in a box, I don’t think, and send it here. We need to be as of one mind and one heart and one spirit. And I feel that’s coming across.”

    Slideshow: Connecticut school massacre

    Emmanuel Dunand / AFP - Getty Images

    The second deadliest school shooting in U.S. history sent crying children spilling into the school parking lot as frightened parents waited for word on their loved ones.

    Launch slideshow

    The outpouring of global grief has generated a flood of offers of financial contributions, according to Newtown Savings Bank President John Trentacosta.

    “We’ve been hearing from people all over the country asking how they can help and what they can do to support he families,” he said. “This all happened so quickly.”

    In response, several groups have set up websites to accept contributions, including a joint effort between Newtown Savings and the United Way of Western Connecticut. The Sandy Hook School Support Fund is accepting donations via the Web, or by check mailed to Sandy Hook School Support Fund, Newtown Savings Bank, 39 Main St., Newtown CT 06470. Donations are also being accepted at the bank's local branches.

    Local residents have also taken up the cause. Neighbors and friends have been preparing meals for the bereaved families, and counseling agencies have tapped an influx of volunteers to help cope with the psychological trauma.   

    Santas for Sandy Hook
    Clad in Santa caps and armed with a handwritten "Santas for Sandy Hook" sign, Zoe Walter, 21, her sister and a friend stood outside a local coffee and donuts shop Saturday asking for donations to the newly created support fund.

    As she briefly silenced her handbell, Walter said she was shaken by the killings.

    "I just want them to know that we care and we're here, and we'll do anything that we can (to) help," said Walter, a college student, as she broke down in tears. "I just want them to know that we're thinking about them."

    Countries that have experienced similar tragedies tonight stand shoulder-to-shoulder with America as it mourns the deaths of 28, most of them young children. NBC's Annabel Roberts reports.

    At New Hope Community Church, pastor Jim Solomon has been fielding calls since shortly after the Friday morning tragedy.

    “We’ve been getting what seems like literally thousands of inquiries,” he said. “I’m touched by the level of support not only from all around our nation but from around the world. They want to do something practical.”

    In response, Solomon has also set up a fund on the church’s Web site, asking contributors for suggestions on how the money should be spent.

    Antonio Lacerda / EPA

    A woman puts some flowers next to crosses on Copacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro. Brazil, on Saturday as a tribute to the shooting victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

    “If they indicate what the funds are for, the church treasurer is going to dispense those funds to help each of the particular families,” he said. “We’re going to use that money to help each family with food or funeral and memorial services, burial expenses or any other needs so we can help them in a very practical way."

    Solomon, a counselor, is also a board member at Newtown Youth and Family Services, which is offering free counseling to victims’ families and other residents.

    In the aftermath of natural disasters, communities often see an influx of donated food, clothing and other emergency supplies. Local clergy say the school shooting in Newtown was a very different type of disaster, calling for a very different response.

    “There’s an awful lot to just knowing that people care,” said Rev. Raymond Petrucci, a chaplain at nearby Danbury Hospital. “If there’s any way people can communicate through the public media or whatever forms of saying, ‘We truly are supporting and praying for you hoping for you,’ that type of emotional support - especially for that community, it’s already close-knit - is the most appropriate way of approaching this.”

    Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images

    Gun control supporters take part in a candlelight vigil at Lafayette Square across from the White House on Saturday.

    In a world awash in social media, grief also flowed online.

    On Twitter, the #Newtown hashtag emerged almost immediately, promptly flooded with emotional outpouring and soon began trending. On Google+, many gathered around the topic "Sandy Hook" for consolation. Facebook users created multiple pages to share news and prayers with friends.

    Reddit users inundated the Connecticut subreddit with fundraising initiatives, local news, and opportunities to "vent your fears, anger, frustration and anything else." By midday Saturday, the local NewtownPatch had drawn more than 500 “I want to help” comments on a page devoted to supporting local residents.

    In Newtown, some people are showing their support just by showing up.

    At a Friday night vigil at St. Rose of Lima church, the crowd spilled out into the freezing weather, trying to make sense of the tragedy. Another townwide vigil is planned for Sunday night at Newtown High School.

    Arshad / Zuma Press

    Pakistani children light candles to pay tribute to U.S. elementary school shooting victims in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi.

    “I know people will be coming from out of town,” said McIlrath. “There using the high school because there is no church big enough.”

    McIlrath, who plans to speak at the service, was still working out what he wants to say.    

    “I heard a lot of people say the joy is gone,” said McIlrath. “I want to say, ‘No, the joy isn’t stolen from us - no more than Grinch stole Christmas. Death isn’t going to steal the joy out of this community.”

    NBC's Miranda Leitsinger and Rosa Golijan contributed to this report.

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  • World leaders welcome Obama's 2nd term - but many challenges wait on his doorstep

    Difficult situations remain for President Obama in Syria, Afghanistan, Iran and Israel. NBC's Richard Engel discusses what Obama needs to do to overcome these challenges in his second term.

    By NBC News staff

    Updated at 8:32 a.m. ET: LONDON -- World leaders from Mexico City to Beijing were quick to congratulate Barack Obama on his victory early Wednesday – but the re-elected president faces a slew of foreign policy challenges in his second term.

    "I would like to congratulate re-elected President Barack Obama from the bottom of my heart," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told local television. "We know each other well and I am looking forward to our cooperation ... My heartfelt congratulations on this day today."

    British Prime Minister David Cameron and Enrique Peña Nieto, president-elect of Mexico, both posted goodwill messages on Twitter.

    "It will give me great pleasure to congratulate him personally on my next visit to the United States and work together for the benefit of our countries," Pena Nieto said.

    PhotoBlog: From Obama's old school to his ancestral village - world reacts to US election

    Bars and U.S. embassies threw election-night parties to watch the returns came in. At the Redhook American-themed restaurant in London, many stayed up until 4:30 a.m. local time (11:30 p.m. ET) to watch TV networks call the result for Obama.

    "I think he's shown a sort of diplomacy and maturity that maybe under George W. Bush we didn't see," Chris Padden, a 27-year-old education worker, told NBC News. "I think we are hoping that he's going to show the same diplomacy over the next four years."

    Slideshow: Election 2012

    Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

    Campaigning with Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, voting and election results.

    Launch slideshow

    Ciaran McCafferty, 30, who works in finance, said: "It's still very exciting, even though it's not our election. The United States is a big player in the world and it's important for everyone's life."

    Across the U.K. capital at the U.S. Embassy, one Mitt Romney supporter told NBC's Jim Maceda: "I'm incredibly sad. This has been very long and grueling ... We did every single thing we could."

    At an election night party in Frankfurt, Germany, student Teresa Isigkeit said: "I am pretty positive that Obama is going to have a great second term and he is a great president, so that's all we were hoping for."

    Dr. Martin Thunert, political analyst at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, added: "I think most people in Germany and many western European countries were hoping for the re-election of President Obama. What I think is important for many Europeans that banking regulations that Obama introduced a couple of years ago will continue. And some were afraid that a Romney administration would repeal that, so I think in that sense they are quite happy."

    Watch the drama of election night quickly unfold in a three-minute montage of sights and sounds.

    China's Foreign Ministry said President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiaobao phoned Obama to congratulate him. Vice President Xi Jinping, who is to begin taking over this week in China's once-a-decade leadership transition, phoned Vice President Joe Biden to congratulate him.

    At a party at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, student Liu Xin, who is aged in her 30s, said watching the U.S. election was "like a window to learn U.S. politics."

    "Personally, I'm in support of President Obama, because I feel himself is a symbol of realization of American dream," she told NBC News.

    Special report: NBCNews.com's The World is Watching series

    Zindzi Mandela, daughter of former South African President Nelson Mandela, told a party in Pretoria: "As a mother and as a grandmother who raises boy children, I think that the symbolism of having a black man occupy the highest office is something that can make my children very aspirational to know that this is possible, you know, in their lifetime."

    In Cairo, retail manager Mohamed Hindawi, 42, stayed up half the night watching the results come in. "Really we are happy, it’s a very good morning," he said. "It’s a very good morning for all the Egyptians, not me, all the Egyptians.  If I were in the states I would vote for Obama.  All of my friends there they vote for him."

    In Kogelo village in western Kenya, Obama's step-grandmother Sarah Obama congratulated her grandson on his victory. "Take the great job that people have given to you and lead them well. They have shown immense love to have voted for you," she said.

    Ben Curtis / AP

    Kenyan villagers ride motorcycles and wave branches to celebrate Obama's re-election in the village of Kogelo, which is home to Barack Obama's step-grandmother on Wednesday.

    However, NBC News' Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel said Obama should "enjoy his victory" now,  adding:"Starting very soon, the rest of the world will be crashing down on the president’s doorstep.”

    “You have the issue of Syria – a county that is imploding, and a conflict that could quickly spread to other countries in the region. You have the issue of Afghanistan, the war that is still ongoing. The expectation now is there will have to be a refocusing on Afghanistan to try and end that conflict.

    “There are many Israelis who are not keen on Barack Obama – they did not want to see him elected,” Engel added.

    Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has had a strained relationship with the American president over his policies on Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, congratulated the president in a text message to reporters. "I will continue to work with President Obama to preserve the strategic interests of Israel's citizens," he said. 

    Top 10 foreign policy issues facing Obama

    Would a Romney victory have made a difference to the situation in Afghanistan? Not much, according to Daoud Sultanzoy, political analyst in Kabul. "The bottom line would have been the same, I think - just their style of management would have been different.

    "Mr. Obama...said some things that were good but he didn’t do them, he didn’t fulfill his commitments when it came to transparencies, when it came to credibility of both side’s commitment and accountability.  He just paid lip service in the past four years and that has damaged the Afghan people."

    NBC's Tom Brokaw discusses the unlikely story of President Barack Obama's path to the White House and a second term as president.

    In Iran, with whom relations are tense because of Tehran's nuclear program, the semiofficial Fars news agency rolled out the vivid headline, "Republican's elephant crushed by Democrat's donkey." 

    Professor Cyrus Izadi, from the department of social science at Tehran University, told NBC News: "There are two camps in Iran. One camp favored Romney because historically the Republicans have been less successful in putting Iran under pressure and they are unlikely to start a war so they would have been better for Iran. Another camp feels that the Republicans are serious about starting a conflict with Iran and it would be better to have Obama leading America because he does not have an appetite for war."

    Engel speculated that Obama may seek to use his second term to attempt an Arab-Israeli peace deal to secure his legacy, even though he has already been awarded the Nobel Prize for peace. 

    However, NBC Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell said: "I don't think he's got the opportunity. It has really died on the vine - you don't have the leadership on either side committed on this. I would be really surprise if they could find a way. It is clear this president is going to have to visit Israel, which he didn't do in his first term... and repair damage with Jewish Americans."

    The election result made some late editions of European newspapers. "OBAMA WINS" ran the giant front-page headline in the U.K.'s Daily Telegraph.

    NBC News' Andy Eckardt, Ali Arouzi, Ed Flanagan, Michelle Kosinski, Charlene Gubash, Atia Abawi, F. Brinley Bruton, Shanshan Dong, Michele Neubert, Peter Jeary and Alastair Jamieson contributed to this report.

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