Pope Francis will be discharged from the hospital on Sunday — five weeks after he was admitted for treatment for double pneumonia, the doctors treating the pontiff announced Saturday. He will return to the Vatican, but doctors said he will need at least two months of rest and rehabilitation after leaving Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. The 88-year-old pontiff has been battling double pneumonia in both lungs after he was admitted to…

French President Emmanuel Macron is actively exploring alternatives to putting European boots on the ground in Ukraine – his plan drawn up with Sir Keir Starmer. According to The Telegraph, the French president is considering the possibility of a mission to protect a future peace deal being led by the United Nations. The UK Prime Minister and Macron have been leading a push to form a “coalition of the willing”…

Former Argentine President, Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (CFK) has been officially designated as a corrupt person by the United States, rendering her and her immediate family members ineligible for entry into the U.S.. The same fate befell ex-Minister of Planning, Julio Miguel De Vido. The two former officials were axed for their involvement in significant corruption while they were in office. Announced by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio…

Elon Musk visited the Pentagon on Friday for a briefing that President Donald Trump insists was focused on the tech mogul’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts, disputing a New York Times report that the meeting would include a discussion of plans for any potential war with China. “He’s there for DOGE, not there for China, and if you ever mentioned China, I think he’d walk out of the room,”…

India’s IT ministry has unlawfully expanded censorship powers to allow the easier removal of online content and empowered “countless” government officials to execute such orders, Elon Musk’s X has alleged in a new lawsuit against New Delhi on Friday. The lawsuit and the allegations mark an escalation in an ongoing legal dispute between X and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government over how New Delhi orders content to be taken down.…

Germany seized a tanker believed to be part of Russia’s shadow fleet off its Baltic coast following a string of sabotage attacks and illegal shipping. The Panama-flagged ship, called Eventin, was secured by German maritime authorities after being found off the island of Rügen. The confiscation order means the vessel and its cargo of around 100,000 metric tons of oil, worth some 40 million euros ($43.33 million), now become German…

Melanie Joly, Canada’s foreign minister, told reporters in Ottawa on Friday that China had defied pleas for leniency. “We strongly condemn the executions that did happen against Canadians in China,” Joly said. She said she was unable to discuss details as the victims’ families had requested privacy. However, Beijing suggested on Friday the Canadians had been convicted over narcotics offences. China has said it acted “in accordance with the law”…

…Says it’s ‘Hitting a fly with a sledgehammer’ The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE’s) approach to identifying fraud at the Social Security Administration “is tantamount to hitting a fly with a sledgehammer,” a federal judge said Thursday, blocking DOGE’s unlimited access to sensitive agency data. In a 137-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander wrote the Trump administration never justified the need to access the data — which they…

…Says Ukraine’s allies must turn ‘political intention into reality’ UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer has insisted his “coalition of the willing” should turn political momentum into “military plans” ahead of a meeting on Ukraine today (Thursday). Speaking to Sky News, he said: “We’ve seen important talks between the US and Russia just a few days ago, more talks on Sunday. “That’s why it’s important today that we’re turning the…

Idea of displacing Palestinian population has been widely opposed, including by countries being approached The US and Israel have approached countries in east Africa about taking in Palestinians from Gaza, as part of President Donald Trump’s plan to evict residents from the war-torn enclave and build a “Riviera of the Middle East”, said three people familiar with the matter. Israeli officials led by strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer have…

Russian authorities reported a “massive” Ukrainian drone attack on the Engels airbase in Saratov Oblast overnight, with Russia’s Defence Ministry claiming to have downed 54 drones over the area. “Saratov and Engels today suffered the most massive UAV attack of all time,” Roman Busargin, the governor of Saratov region, wrote on Telegram. He reported a fire burning at the airfield and damage to around 30 houses in the area. Windows…

President Donald Trump has criticised the Federal Reserve, urging the central bank to reduce interest rates, hours after it chose to leave borrowing rates unchanged. The move marked the latest example of Trump exerting pressure on the Federal Reserve, despite a longstanding norm of political independence at the central bank. Trump said Thursday that lower rates would best prepare the economy for tariffs that are set to escalate over the…