Pope Leo is expected to leave hospital on Saturday afternoon following surgery for lung cancer, the Vatican said, after blood ‌tests and chest imaging found him fit to return home. He will lead prayers from his flat at the Vatican to pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, his first ⁠public engagement since he went into hospital. The 71-year-old has ‌been diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer, ‌and doctors removed the lower lobe of his ⁠right ⁠lung in an...

Protests ⁠began across France on Saturday in ⁠what was expected to become a major nationwide protest ⁠against high prices and the fraying of a model intended to provide a basic level of opportunity and social security. The protests began last month at high schools in Paris’ poor northern suburbs, where anger over teacher absences and shabby facilities quickly morphed into a nationwide movement against inequality, weak public spending and falling standards. A large police presence was ‌visible in...

Many delegates to ⁠the International Monetary Fund’s steering ⁠committee walked out of a meeting on ⁠Saturday when Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov addressed the group in Russian, three sources familiar with the matter said. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has roiled the International Monetary and Financial Committee, preventing it from reaching consensus statements in the years ‌since. There were deep divisions again at this week’s annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank...

Despite ⁠tens of thousands of security personnel deployed to stop them, youth protesters in India scaled barricades last ⁠week, chanted anti-government slogans and scuffled with police officers trying to drag them away. “Long live the revolution,” shouted one young man before police bundled him into a bus. Street protests in India this year are likely to be higher than at any time in the past decade, the independent Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project has said, as dissent mounts...

US ⁠President Donald Trump made a ⁠joke about the popularity of ⁠the name Mohammad in the Muslim world as he mocked Iran’s presidency during a campaign speech on Friday. “You know, if you’re in doubt about somebody’s name from the Middle East, just say ‘Mohammad’,” Trump told a ‌crowd in Dalton, Georgia. “You have about a 65 per cent chance. ‘Hello, Mohammad.’ I’ve done it for years now. I’ve never been wrong.” Mohammad is one of the most common male names among Muslims, who often name their...

⁠North Korea conducted an underwater ⁠test of a new torpedo weapon system on Thursday to verify technological upgrades, state news agency KCNA reported on Saturday, describing the test as a success and a significant step in ‌the country’s naval development. The test verified propulsion technology developed through more than 180 tests over the past five years, KCNA said, adding that artificial intelligence was used for target detection and guidance in the new high-speed precision-guided...