Daily Briefing: Funeral set for Pope Francis

Good morning!🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert. Shop with a purpose with these eco-friendly fashion brands.💚

Quick look at Tuesday's news:

•  Pope Francis' funeral will be held on Saturday in St. Peter's Square.
• Collection of defaulted student loans will begin for first time since the pandemic.
• Happy Earth Day! 💐

Global mourners honor Pope Francis

Faithful followers and world leaders will attend the funeral for Pope Francis in Vatican City on Saturday. Francis, 88, died on Monday after suffering a stroke and cardiac arrest, the Vatican said, ending a reign in which he repeatedly clashed with traditionalists and championed the poor and marginalized.

Read the latest on Pope Francis' passing from Paste BN:

• Francis' body will be taken to St. Peter's Basilica on Wednesday in a procession led by cardinals, allowing the faithful to pay their last respects to the first Latin American pope.
• When is a new pope chosen? The death set off the unique conclave process.
• Migration and right-wing ideas rose globally. Pope Francis took sides.
• Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist leaders mourned Francis, who was a champion of religious solidarity.
• What do people want from the next pope? American Catholics are divided.

Collection of defaulted student loans to restart

Since the pandemic, federal student loan borrowers have been mostly protected from the harshest consequences of not paying back their loans.

That's about to change quickly: Linda McMahon, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, said the federal government will resume involuntary collections for borrowers in default on May 5.

• Checking my inbox ... All borrowers in default will be notified of their status by email over the next two weeks, Education Department officials said.
• What if I can't afford it? Many of the programs that ensure payments are affordable for borrowers have been paused by litigation or threatened since President Donald Trump took office.
• And court battles still wage over the future of major repayment programs. Much of the federal student loan system remains at a standstill, with more than 40 million Americans still owing payments on their federal student loans. 

More news to know now

• German teens were detained and deported in Hawaii over a missing hotel reservation.
• U.S. stock futures point to a higher open on Tuesday as investors grow more nervous about whether the Federal Reserve is safe from politics.
• Why were 30,000 eggs used at the White House egg roll when there is a bird flu and egg crisis?
• Four House Democrats traveled to El Salvador to push for Kilmar Abrego Garcia's release.
• The Anti-Defamation League called the Trump administration's Harvard reprimand an "overreach."

What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.

Is family chat the final sign for Hegseth?

The White House has begun the search for a new secretary of defense, NPR reported on Monday, following a new report that current Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared the timing of U.S. air strikes on Houthi rebels with his wife and brother on Signal, an encrypted commercial messaging app. This follows Hegseth acknowledging he participated in another Signal chat about the March 15 attacks with senior Trump administration officials. That chat is under review by the Pentagon Inspector General for the handling of sensitive information. Hegseth dismissed the latest chat revelations when asked about it on Monday during the White House Easter Egg Roll.

FSU students return with tears, flower-lined walkways

 "I don’t want to have to live in fear in a school that I go to and that I got into on my own merit because of some weirdo. I don’t want him to take that feeling of safety away from me."

~ FSU junior Christina Elms, who was outside the school's HCB and Bellamy buildings during a shooting that left two dead and six others injured on April 17. Elms heard the shots being fired and people screaming before she ran toward Strozier Library — the site of a separate school shooting more than a decade ago. Elms is among the FSU students returning for classes since the incident.

Today's talkers

• Dick Van Dyke spoke on his 46-year age gap with wife Arlene Silver.
• Your spring looks from Temu and Shein just got pricier.
• Check out the latest robot dog.
• "Andor" is still the out-and-out best "Star Wars" project Disney has ever made.
• Our 2025 NFL Mock Draft received zero input from AI.

It's time to celebrate our planet 🌎

Now celebrating its 55th anniversary, this year's Earth Day theme, "Our Power, Our Planet," calls for people worldwide to unite behind renewable energy and promote clean electricity by 2030, according to Sarah Davies, the communications director of EarthDay.org. The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970, when 20 million people attended inaugural events at schools, universities, and other public areas around the country, according to the Library of Congress's website. Those actions led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act. Here are some fun, Earth-centered activities to do today.

• Get more news about our changing planet: Sign up for Paste BN's Climate Point newsletter.

Photo of the day: She's pretty tough

Sharon Lokedi of Kenya obliterated the course record at the Boston Marathon by more than two minutes Monday, using a blistering kick down the stretch to win in 2 hours, 17 minutes and 22 seconds. Lokedi said: "It was tough, and I toughed it out."

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at Paste BN, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com.