Mexico is suing Google for ignoring repeated requests not to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America on Google Maps for US users, President Claudia Sheinbaum says.

She did not say where the lawsuit had been filed. Google did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

On Thursday, the Republican-led House of Representatives voted to officially rename the Gulf for federal agencies.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office in January.

He argued the change was justified because the US “do most of the work there, and it’s ours”.

However Sheinbaum’s government contends that Trump’s order applies only to the US portion of the continental shelf.

“All we want is for the decree issued by the US government to be complied with,” she said, asserting that the US lacks the authority to rename the entire gulf.

In January, Sheinbaum wrote a letter to Google asking the firm to reconsider its decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico for US users. The following month, she threatened legal action.

At the time, Google said it made the change as part of “a longstanding practice” of following name changes when updated by official government sources.

It said the Gulf – which is bordered by the US, Cuba and Mexico – would not be changed for people using the app in Mexico, and users elsewhere in the world will see the label: “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)”.

The Associated Press (AP) news agency’s refusal to start referring to the Gulf of America led to a months-long conflict with the White House, which restricted AP’s access to certain events.

A federal judge ordered the White House in April to stop sidelining the outlet.

Trump hinted Wednesday that he may recommend changing the way the US refers to another body of water.

During an upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia, he plans to announce that the US will henceforth refer to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia, AP reported.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has responded by saying he hopes the “absurd rumours” are “no more than a disinformation campaign” and such a move would “bring the wrath of all Iranians”.

(BBC News)

Following a 02-day papal conclave, American Cardinal Robert Prevost has been elected as the new Pope yesterday (May 08) evening, Vatican time.

At 69, Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected as the 267th Pope, taking the name Pope Leo XIV.

He becomes the first American to ascend to the papacy in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.

Pope Leo XIV now assumes spiritual leadership of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

The election follows the death of His Holiness Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21 at the age of 88 at his residence in Casa Santa Marta, Vatican City, a day after participating in Easter Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica.

The Indian government is seeking to repatriate ancient gem relics linked to the Buddha’s remains after halting their sale at an auction in Hong Kong.
Sotheby’s postponed the sale of the Piprahwa gems, due on Wednesday, after the ministry of culture threatened to take legal action against the auction house in Indian and Hong Kong courts and through international bodies “for violations of cultural heritage laws”.

In a statement, the ministry said it would discuss repatriation of the gems to India with Sotheby’s and the sellers, three descendants of William Claxton Peppé, a British colonial landowner who, in 1898, excavated the gems on his estate in northern India.

In a legal notice issued to Sotheby’s on Monday, India’s ministry of culture told the auction house that the gems should be treated as the sacred body of the Buddha and it would be “participating in continued colonial exploitation” if the sale went ahead.

The letter, posted on the ministry’s social media accounts, added that Peppé’s great-grandson, Chris Peppé, a Los Angeles-based TV director and film editor, lacked the authority to sell the gem relics, which “constitute inalienable religious and cultural heritage of India and the global Buddhist community”.

There has been a growing international outcry against the sale of the gems, which many Buddhists believe are imbued with the presence of the Buddha and should be treated as corporeal remains.

The 334 gems, which were expected to sell for about HK$100m (£9.7m), include amethysts, coral, garnets, pearls, rock crystals, shells and gold, either worked into pendants, beads and other ornaments, or in their natural form.

The gems were originally buried in a dome-shaped funerary monument, called a stupa, in Piprahwa in present-day Uttar Pradesh, India, in about 240-200BC, when they were mixed with some of the cremated remains of the Buddha, who died in about 480BC.

The British crown claimed Peppé’s find under the 1878 Indian Treasure Trove Act, with the bones and ash presented to the Buddhist monarch King Chulalongkorn of Siam. Most of the 1,800 gems went to the colonial museum in Kolkata, while Peppé was permitted to retain approximately a fifth of them.

Legal experts told the Guardian that the Indian government could pursue legal action even if the gems were sold.

Sameer Jain, a managing partner at PSL advocates and solicitors, India, said the auction could well be in breach of Indian laws including the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act 1972, the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958, and the Indian Treasure Trove Act 1878, as the Indian ministry of culture claimed.

Jain said: “These laws vest the ownership of relics in the government of India, whether or not they were exported during the colonialist period. Any export trade without licence is prohibited. The root question would be whether [the gems] were exported out of India legally and whether the Peppés are even owners of these items. It is arguable that the relics were given to the family only for custody.”

Noor Kadhim, an art lawyer at the legal consultancy Kadhims and an independent consultant in Fieldfisher’s art law department, said India could not sue Sotheby’s under The Hague and the Unesco conventions because it was a private auction house rather than a state museum. She added: “If they wish to use these treaties, the more viable path would be to employ them against China, as the host state for Sotheby’s Hong Kong.”

Conan Cheong, a curator and expert in south-east Asian art, welcomed Sotheby’s decision, saying: “This is a rare chance for the Peppés to finally consult with the Buddhist voices raised in protest of the sale in Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and elsewhere, as well as with the Indian government, to find a truly equitable way to share them with all humanity.”

Chris Peppé has been approached for comment. With regards to his rights and those of his two relatives to sell the gems, he previously told the Guardian: “Legally, the ownership is unchallenged.”

In a statement, Sotheby’s said: “In light of the matters raised by the government of India and with the agreement of the consignors, the auction of the Piprahwa gems of the historical Buddha, scheduled for 7 May, has been postponed. This will allow for discussions between the parties and we look forward to sharing any updates as appropriate.”

(theguardian.com)