President Obama told congressional leaders Tuesday that he has the authority he needs to take on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS, also known as ISIL), according to the White House.

Pope Francis announced
Sunday that he would travel to Israel, the West Bank and Jordan on May 24-26.

President Obama said Thursday that new sanctions on Russia will "impose a cost" for its military incursion into Ukraine, and he again called on Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to de-escalate the crisis.