On Sunday, Easter day, Francis had entered St. Peter's Square in an open-air popemobile shortly after mid-day, greeting cheering crowds. He had also offered a special blessing for the first time since Christmas.

He was 88, and had suffered various ailments in his 12 year papacy.

Vance, a Catholic who has clashed with the pontiff over the Trump administration's immigration policies, met Francis at his Vatican residence to exchange Easter greetings, the statement said. 

The comments came as Russia and the United States forged closer ties under President Donald Trump's administration, of which billionaire SpaceX founder Musk is a key figure.

Five years after COVID-19 killed millions of people and devastated economies, a growing sense of urgency hung over the talks, with new health threats lurking, ranging from H5N1 bird flu to measles, mpox and Ebola.

About 20,000 extra troops were deployed to the region in 2022 under then-president Joe Biden, reinforcing NATO's eastern flank after Russia invaded Ukraine.

In Europe, it was the hottest March ever recorded by a significant margin, said the Copernicus Climate Change Service, driving rainfall extremes across a continent warming faster than any other.

European visitors to Britain will have to purchase an electronic permit in advance for trips from Wednesday, as the UK government follows other countries in seeking to strengthen immigration security by screening people before they cross its borders.

Denmark has said it did not like the "tone" of US Vice President JD Vance's comments that Copenhagen had not done enough for Greenland, during his visit to the strategically placed, resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump.

With President Donald Trump pushing for a rapid end to the war that has killed tens of thousands of people, US negotiators shuttled separately over three days in the Saudi capital Riyadh between delegations from Ukraine and Russia.

Pope Francis' hospitalization since Feb.14 was the longest of the pope's reign, and the fourth since his election in 2013. 

While the highly anticipated Putin-Trump call did not secure the breakthrough ceasefire endorsed by Ukraine last week, it did result in a scaled-back commitment to halt attacks on energy infrastructure for 30 days.

The blaze at the hip-hop concert in the eastern town of Kocani also injured around 155 people and triggered an outpouring of grief in the small Balkan country where authorities vowed an investigation. 

The movement formed after 15 people were killed when a railway station roof collapsed in the city of Novi Sad in November, igniting long-simmering anger over alleged corruption and lax oversight in construction projects.

US officials had expressed optimism Sunday that a Ukraine-Russia ceasefire deal could be reached in weeks after Washington proposed a halt in fighting in the three-year war after talks in Saudi Arabia, which Kyiv accepted. 

Richer nations committed at the UN COP29 summit in November to boost spending on climate action in developing countries to $300 billion a year by 2035, an amount decried as woefully inadequate.

While vote counting was not yet complete on Wednesday morning, the Democratic party -- which describes itself as "social liberal" and has also called for independence but in the longer term -- held an insurmountable lead, Greenland's public broadcaster KNR said.

The 79-year-old faces a charge of "the crime against humanity of murder", according to the ICC, for a crackdown that rights groups estimate killed tens of thousands of mostly poor men, often without proof they were linked to drugs.

The pope has suffered a series of health issues in recent years, from colon surgery in 2021 to a hernia operation in 2023, but this is the longest and most serious hospitalization of his papacy.

Unexploded ordnance is still found across Europe, particularly in Germany where the ground remains riddled with it, 80 years after World War II.

Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Sergei Gennadievich Tolchenov reasserted the country's readiness to advance energy cooperation with Indonesia, including through investments in and trade of oil and gas as well as assisting in building nuclear power plants. 

Monday's move goes beyond the no-new aid stance Trump had taken since assuming office - and appears to halt deliveries of military equipment approved by Biden including munitions, missiles and other systems.

"President Trump has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution," said the official on Monday, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine would not concede any territory to Russia as part of a peace deal. He said he was still willing to sign a minerals deal with the US and described a discussion on Sunday with European leaders to send a draft peace plan to the US as a key development. 

The acrimonious shouting match was a gift to Moscow, which is working to build ties with Trump's new administration while trying to discredit Zelensky and undermine his legitimacy.

An agreement between Ukraine and the United States to jointly develop Ukraine's rich natural resources, which Kyiv and its European allies had hoped would usher in better relations, was left unsigned and in limbo.

Democrats accused Trump and Vance of doing Russian leader Vladimir Putin's "dirty work" after they berated Zelensky in front of the world's media. 

Holding his first cabinet meeting Wednesday, Trump said the Ukrainian president's visit to Washington was "now confirmed", after days of tension between the two leaders over the minerals deal.

The 88-year-old pope was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on February 14.

French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump rekindled the most touchy-feely bromance in world politics as they met on Monday for talks on Ukraine.