Among the challenges facing the new pope:

This year’s contest has been roiled for a second year by disputes over Israel’s participation. Dozens of former participants, includinghave called for Israel to be excluded over its conduct in the

. Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protests have both taken place in Basel, though on a much smaller scale than at last year’s event in Sweden.A handful of protesters attempted to disrupt a rehearsal by Israeli singer Raphael on Thursday with oversized flags and whistles and were escorted from the arena. Organizers say they have tightened security ahead of the final.China announced Wednesday the members of a three-person crew that will be launched to its space station as part of its growing exploration of space.

The Shenzhou 20 mission’s astronauts are Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie, Lin Xiqiang, deputy director general of China Manned Space Agency. They will replace three astronauts currently on the Chinese space station. Like those before them, they will stay there for roughly six months.The three will launch for space Thursday evening in China, from Jiuquan, on the edge of the Gobi Desert in northwestern China.

The three-person crew were sent in October last year and have been in space for 175 days, said Lin.

Chen Dong, who previously served on the Shenzhou 11 and Shenzhou 14 missions, is the group leader, while his two crewmates will be making their first trips to space. Chen Zhongrui was an air force pilot and Wang Jie, an engineer with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.That research is creating a library of genetic data for scientists and clinicians. Patients in Senegal are benefiting, too, with a path to diagnosis.

Fatoumata Sané holds her daughter Aissata, 8, who suffers from a rare genetic disease, at their home in Dakar, Senegal, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)Fatoumata Sané holds her daughter Aissata, 8, who suffers from a rare genetic disease, at their home in Dakar, Senegal, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

In Guediawaye, Fatoumata Binta Sané’s daughter Aissata has glutaric acidemia type I, an inherited disorder in which the body can’t process certain proteins properly. Her arms and legs are tightly drawn up toward her chest. She can’t walk or reach for things, speak, sit on her own or hold her head up. Sané cradles Aissata in her arms constantly, and the 8-year-old smiles at the sound of her mother’s voice.In the U.S., newborns are screened for treatable genetic conditions. In Senegal, newborn screening is not routine. Infants who appear healthy at birth might go undiagnosed and experience irreversible decline. Glutaric acidemia type I, for example, can cause brain damage, seizures, coma and early death.