Trump later published a social media post criticising Putin. On Friday, Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin, in Moscow for three hours to discuss Washington’s peace proposal. This is seemingly a non-starter for Ukraine and European countries, with Zelenskyy insisting the territory is the “property of the Ukrainian people”. The attack caused Trump to lash out at Putin on social media. Let’s get the Peace Deal DONE!” Trump posted on Truth Social on Thursday.

Pope Francis has been eulogised as 'a pope among the people, with an open heart towards everyone' during a funeral mass that brought together an array of mourners, from pilgrims and refugees to powerful world leaders and royalty. The 90-minute mass was celebrated by 220 cardinals, 750 bishops and more than 4,000 priests. At least 400,000 people turned out for the Pope’s funeral at the Vatican and lined Rome’s streets, Italy’s interior minister said. Francis is the first pontiff in more than a century not to be buried with great fanfare in the grottoes beneath St Peter’s Basilica

Troops from Pakistan and India exchanged fire overnight across the line of control in disputed Kashmir, officials have said, after the UN urged the nuclear-armed rivals to show “maximum restraint” after Tuesday’s massacre of Indian tourists by Islamic militants. Three Indian army officials told Reuters that Pakistani soldiers used small-arms to fire at an Indian position. The Indian army has launched sweeping “search-and-destroy” operations, deployed surveillance drones, and ramped up troop numbers across the Kashmir valley. As tensions rise between the two countries, the UN has urged India and Pakistan to show restraint. Indian officials say it is a proxy for the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba or a similar outfit.

But for some across Israel, as the war in Gaza continues to ravage the Palestinian people and wipe out entire families, never again had come to hold another meaning. View image in fullscreen Israeli demonstrators hold empty pots to represent the starvation in Gaza in Tel Aviv on the day Israel marks Holocaust Remembrance Day. Yet starkly absent has been mention of the suffering and devastation being brought upon the civilians of Gaza by Israel’s relentless onslaught. To some, the Hamas attack proved that as long as Palestinians remain in Gaza, Israel will never be safe. Yet after applying for permission, police told the group they were banned from holding up posters of children killed in Gaza and certain phrases such as “ethnic cleansing” were also forbidden.

A senior Russian military official was killed in a car explosion near Moscow, as Vladimir Putin began a high-stakes meeting over the Russia-Ukraine war with Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, at the Kremlin. The blast could cast a shadow over Friday’s talks between Moscow and Washington, and the latest apparent Ukrainian assassination deep inside Russian territory is unlikely to sit well with the Trump administration, which has been desperate to show tangible progress on peace before Trump’s 100th day in office

With their feathered helmets, ruffled collars and coloured, puffed-sleeve uniforms, the Vatican Swiss Guards are often likened by curious visitors to medieval court jesters. A Swiss Guards spokesperson declined to be interviewed “because we are all very busy concentrating on this mission”. View image in fullscreen The Swiss Guards hold their halberds as they maintain a constant vigil by the pope’s coffin. after newsletter promotionView image in fullscreen The Swiss Guards may wear 16th-century uniforms but they also carry 21st-century stun guns. The halberd is the guards’ traditional weapon, but the troops are trained to use small modern-day arms, including the recently introduced stun guns.

In his affidavit, Bar accused Netanyahu of moving to sack him after his refusal to fulfil requests including spying on anti-government protesters and helping the premier postpone his testimony in his criminal trial. Netanyahu has said he lost trust in Bar’s capacity to lead the Shin Bet. The relationship between the two men, already strained, deteriorated further after the release of a Shin Bet investigation pointing to policy issues in the run-up to the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack. Strike action in September 2024 took place in favour of a hostage deal and ceasefire in the war in Gaza after Hamas murdered six captives. In Gaza on Wednesday, Israeli airstrikes across the strip killed at least 28 people, according to the territory’s health ministry, whose data the UN assesses to be accurate.

In a series of escalating tit-for-tat moves since a massacre of Indian tourists in the disputed region of Kashmir earlier this week by Islamic militants, India ordered its citizens to return from Pakistan, while Pakistan expelled a number of Indian diplomats. The fast-rising tensions between the two countries follow the killing of 25 Indian tourists and a Nepalese national on Tuesday, the worst assault targeting civilians in the restive region for years. It prompted India to renew its blaming of Pakistan for sustaining “cross-border terrorism”, a claim Pakistan denies. The toughest language, however, was aimed at India’s decision to suspend the decades-old Indus waters treaty – the world’s most durable water-sharing agreement – which is vital for Pakistani agriculture. The Indus waters treaty, mediated by the World Bank, splits the Indus River and its tributaries between the neighbours and regulates the sharing of water.

Schwab, 87, is said to have argued against the board’s plan for an investigation, before he resigned. The founder had indicaated he intended to step down in early April, but the whistleblower letter brought forward his exit. The letter also accused Schwab of manipulating the WEF global competitiveness report in order to curry favour with certain governments. The WEF board of trustees has appointed the former Nestlé chief executive Peter Brabeck-Letmathe as interim chair, but is searching for a permanent replacement. Schwab’s resignation marks the end of a 54-year career at the top of the WEF, and follows a previous board investigation into its workplace culture.

The Ukrainian president said in a news briefing with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, that he believed his allies should put more pressure on Russia to further ceasefire negotiations. He said Ukraine was willing to accept the parts of the deal which did not violate its constitution but added: 'Our sovereignty and territorial integrity is our survival'

India announced a barrage of diplomatic measures downgrading ties with Pakistan and accused its neighbour of supporting cross-border terrorism after 26 people were killed in a militant attack in Kashmir on Tuesday. The measures included closing a key land border with Pakistan, cancelling a water-sharing treaty and barring Pakistan’s citizens from entering under a visa exemption scheme. Pakistan closed its airspace to Indian airlines and rejected Delhi’s suspension of a water-sharing treaty in retaliation

At least 26 tourists have been killed and ten injured after suspected militants opened fire at a popular local tourist destination in Kashmir during a scheduled four-day visit to the country by the US vice-president JD Vance. A militant group identifying itself as “Kashmir Resistance” has claimed responsibility for the attack in a social media message. India and Pakistan have gone to war a further two times over Kashmir, most recently in 1999. Authorities have described the attack as targeted and intended to spread terror among the tourists visiting Kashmir. The Baisaran area attracts tens of thousands of Indian tourists daily, especially during the summer months, when temperatures in mainland India soar.

Three dozen members of the largest body representing British Jews are facing disciplinary action after signing an open letter criticising Israel over the war in Gaza. She was also asked to step back from her role on the executive until the conclusion of the investigation, according to the Jewish Chronicle. A statement from the board said the letter was “not representative” of its policy on Israel. A special meeting of its executive committee was convened on Tuesday to “discuss the ramifications and consequences of this act”. Many of the complaints reportedly came from members of the United Synagogue, the largest communal denomination in the UK.

A millennium later, fragments of that trove are for the first time finding their way back to Ireland. Photograph: National Museum of IrelandScribes who wrote a grammar book titled Priscian’s Institutiones Grammaticae recorded not only Latin language rules but, in the margins, scribbled comments about their daily lives. View image in fullscreen An early medieval brooch pin that will form part of the National Museum of Ireland exhibition. The abbey library, now a Unesco world heritage site, has agreed to lend 17 manuscripts for the exhibition, which will run from 30 May to 24 October. Discovered broken at the bottom of a Longford lake, it makes its public debut in the exhibition after years of conservation.

The incident took place as France’s Savoie and Haute Savoie departments and other Alpine regions were put under the highest alert for avalanches as heavy snow, rain and flooding caused chaos across the region. The man was standing “at the side of the road … and was buried and swept some 15 metres below”, it said. At least four people have been reported dead as a result of extreme weather in France, Italy and Switzerland that has cut off winter resorts, ​disrupted transport and left homes without electricity. Snow is not unusual in the Alps in April, but the amount that has blanketed parts of France, Switzerland and Italy took local people and officials by surprise. In Italy, the air force’s weather service reported “intense and abundant” rain that turned to show above 1,800 metres.