By Christopher Lamb, CNN

(CNN) — “Conclave” the movie provides a gripping, if fictional, behind-the-scenes look inside the secretive election of a new pope. But last year’s real-life conclave was just as dramatic, with plenty of plot twists, political battles among cardinals and a surprise outcome.

A new book lifts a lid on how, in May 2025, Pope Leo XIV was elected as the first US-born pope in the Catholic Church’s 2,000-year history. Its authors tell in previously unheard detail how Cardinal Robert Prevost, a low-key Augustinian friar from Chicago, had quietly garnered support from fellow cardinals as the conclave got underway but remained under the radar of wider attention as a serious candidate.

Gerard O’Connell, the Vatican correspondent for “America,” a Catholic magazine based in New York, and Elisabetta Piqué, a correspondent for Argentina’s “La Nacion” newspaper and a CNN contributor at the 2025 conclave, describe how an Italian frontrunner faded from contention while providing a breakdown of the voting inside the Sistine Chapel. They also report how the election of Prevost caught many by surprise, including senior figures in the Vatican. For years, the prospect of an American pope had seemed impossible because of the “military, economic and cultural power” of the US, one cardinal told them.

O’Connell and Piqué, a husband-and-wife reporting team, were longtime friends of Pope Francis, who had baptized their two children in Argentina while still a cardinal there and later also married the couple.

The book, “The Election of Pope Leo XIV: The Last Surprise of Pope Francis,” draws on interviews with numerous cardinals.

Using those sources, the authors describe how in the tense days leading up to the conclave, a battle took place inside the College of Cardinals: Should they vote for a pope to continue the legacy and reforms of Francis, or make a course correction? As O’Connell and Piqué set out, with each contributing their own diary-style entries to the book, efforts to elect a pope who would go in a different direction to Francis were thwarted. Leo, while distinct in style from his predecessor and still somewhat inscrutable, could broadly be described as Francis’ choice.

Here are some of the takeaways from the new book.

A conservative won round one but then Leo emerged

The first ballot, O’Connell reports, saw Cardinal Péter Erdö, a Hungarian, gain the greatest number of votes. Erdö is a distinguished church lawyer and was the conservatives’ choice. While support for him was well-organized, it wasn’t necessarily widespread, O’Connell says. In that opening round, “more than 30 candidates got votes but only three received between 20 and 30,” he writes, with the other two contenders being Cardinals Robert Prevost and Pietro Parolin, the Holy See Secretary of State and leading Italian candidate. The next two ballots, however, saw support move swiftly to Prevost while Erdö’s dropped away. The first American pope was elected on the fourth ballot with 108 votes, with Parolin as runner-up, O’Connell says. The book also reveals the fourth ballot had to be repeated as one cardinal accidentally stuck two ballot papers together. (The same thing happened in the 2013 conclave).

Solemn, secret… but also human

The conclave is a serious, spiritual process in which the cardinals are cut off from the world – surrendering all electronic devices – before they cast their vote in front of the awesome fresco of Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgment.” But the book suggests not ev

OXNARD, Calif. (KEYT) Labor leader Dolores Huerta, 95, spoke to students during a special event in Oxnard on Saturday.

Huerta talked about her late colleague Cesar Chavez, who spent some of his childhood in Oxnard.

She said he learned how to organize from people who came in during the Dust Bowl.

She gave the keynote address on the 40th anniversary National Trio Day.

Trio was created by Congress in the 1980s to put the spotlight on programs created to help students.

Locally Trio helps first generation college bound students.

Organizers from Oxnard College and Cal Lutheran University invited junior high and high school students to attend and learn about Trio Upward Bound programs.

They listened to Huerta and Ventura County Supervisor Vianey Lopez during a Q and A discussion on the Oxnard College Performing Arts stage.

Earlier in the day, Ventura County Community College District Trustee Gabriela Torres shared her story.

Torres told the teens she graduated UC Berkeley.

"First generation and low income is not a barrier to success, but on the contrary it is an asset," said Torres.

Janely Caballero of Hueneme High said she wants to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

"The Trio program to me is a way of success to my college career," said Caballero,
I have a first gen brother who graduated from Chico, he got his Masters degree."

She intends to keep the path going in her family.

Oxnard College staff member Luis Garcia said everyone was excited to meet Dolores Huerta. 

"National Trio Day is really important for us, especially here in Ventura County and Oxnard College just because this is the 40th anniversary, so it is the National 40th anniversary of the Trio programs, here at Oxnard College we have two program that have been around since about 2017" said Garcia, " We are here to serve first generation low income high school students as well as Oxnard college students, and so being able to have Dolores Huerta come and speak to this community is extremely important, especially a community that has a lot of migrant farm workers."

State Assemblymember Steve Bennett and other elected leaders also took part.

For more information about Trio Upward Bound programs visit https://www.oxnardcollege.edu and https://www.callutheran.edu

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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KEYT) – San Luis Obispo Police closed off Poinsettia and Bluebell following an officer-involved shooting just before 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

San Luis Obispo Police pronounced the suspect in the shooting dead at the scene and mentioned no further community risk.

SLOPD officers still advised citizens to avoid the area out of precaution for several hours after the incident.

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Por Rodrigo Estrada, CNN en Español

La segunda etapa de la Copa Mundial de Clavados 2026 no está cancelada, está en pausa. Así lo confirmó Rommel Pacheco, titular de la Comisión Nacional de Cultura Física y Deporte (Conade), quien anunció que el evento será reprogramado luego de que World Aquatics informara días antes su cancelación debido a la ola de violencia que se vivió en Jalisco el fin de semana pasado.

La competencia, que estaba prevista para celebrarse en Zapopan del 5 al 8 de marzo, entró oficialmente en etapa de reprogramación. Es decir, habrá nueva fecha. De acuerdo con las autoridades deportivas, el anuncio se dará próximamente, una vez que se garanticen las condiciones necesarias para salvaguardar la integridad de atletas, entrenadores, jueces y aficionados.

La decisión inicial de cancelar el evento se produjo tras los hechos violentos registrados en el estado, derivados del operativo en el que fue abatido Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias el Mencho, líder del cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). Ante ese contexto, el organismo internacional optó por suspender la parada mexicana del serial. Sin embargo, las gestiones entre las partes involucradas permitieron cambiar el rumbo.

Pacheco reconoció el respaldo y la coordinación entre distintas instancias, como la Conade, la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, el Clavados de Altura y el Consejo Estatal para el Fomento Deportivo (Code) Jalisco y el Comité Olímpico Mexicano, además del propio organismo rector de los deportes acuáticos a nivel mundial.

El calendario obliga a que la nueva fecha se defina pronto, ya que la superfinal del circuito está programada para la primera semana de mayo, por lo que la reprogramación tendría que realizarse antes de ese cierre.

En lo deportivo, la noticia llega en un momento en el que México atraviesa un gran presente en los clavados. En la primera parada del serial 2026, celebrada en Montreal, Canadá, la delegación nacional conquistó medallas de plata que reafirman su protagonismo en la disciplina de los clavados.

El equipo mixto 3 metros y 10 metros, integrado por Osmar Olvera, Randal Willars, Gabriela Agúndez y Aranza Vázquez, sumó 460,85 puntos para quedarse con la presea plateada, solo por detrás de China y por encima de Canadá.

Además, la dupla conformada por Osmar Olvera y Juan Celaya volvió a subir al podio en la prueba sincronizada de trampolín 3 metros. Con 441,63 puntos, los mexicanos se colgaron la plata, únicamente superados por la pareja china, y consolidaron su lugar entre las mejores parejas del mundo, situación que se ha hecho constante en los últimos tiempos.

Con resultados que ilusionan y una sede que busca mantenerse en el calendario, la Copa Mundial de Clavados 2026 sigue viva. Ahora, la atención está puesta en el anuncio oficial de la nueva fecha para dicho evento.

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OXNARD, Calif. (KEYT) Members of "Singing Resistance" sang outside Home Depot in Oxnard on Saturday afternoon.

They sang, "No one is getting left behind this time," by Joshua Blaine, and other tunes.

Some cars driving by the group near the entrance to the Home Depot at the Esplanade Shopping Center.

The singers also delivered a letter to the store.

They called it a National Day of Action.

Rev. Emily Ebert of Holy Trinity Lutheran church in Thousand Oaks and others said the corporation has been complying with ICE.

"We are here with the singing resistance movement there are protests like this across the country and we are here to bring healing through singing but also to show that we are not going to stand for our neighbors being hurt we want to bring safety we care for out community and  we want to make sure that word gets out that we are not going to stand for violence in our community," said Ebert.

They hope to show they are in solidarity with workers, including day laborers, known to find work in parking lot area.

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