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Thirteen of the animals currently part of the circus' migrating entourage will be relocated to the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida, the company said. Family scions Nicola and Alana Feld, meanwhile, acknowledged that the decision to retire their elephant act is part of an ongoing cultural shift. It once would have been unthinkable to have a big tent circus act without elephants, long a crowd favorite. Animal rights activists over the years have become more organized, calling attention to what they have said called Ringling Bros. "cruelty" and influencing public opinion in the process.

Pope Francis' popularity among Americans is rising, six months before his first papal visit to the United States, a public opinion poll released Thursday suggests. Ninety percent of Catholic Americans surveyed by the Pew Research Center said they thought well of the 78-year-old pope -- and that includes 57 percent who held a "very favorable" view of him.

Mohamed Salah struck twice as Fiorentina ended Juventus' 42-game unbeaten run at home on their way to a 2-1 win in the first leg, semi-final of the Italian Cup on Thursday. On-loan Chelsea midfielder Salah has been in sparkling form since arriving in Florence last month, the Egyptian international hitting the net three times in four games in Serie A and scoring La Viola's second in a 2-0 Europa League win over Tottenham in Florence last week. Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri left preferred strikers Carlos Tevez and Alvaro Morata on the bench in place of Fernando Llorente and Kingsley Coman.