World leaders gathered in Kyiv on Monday to show their continuing support for Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the “absolute heroism of our people”.

Thirteen of them took an overnight train for a summit with Zelenskyy in the Ukrainian capital. They included the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, and Finland’s president, Alexander Stubb. Twenty-four joined online.

The coordinated Europe-led show of solidarity came after a torrid week, in which Donald Trump blamed Ukraine for starting the war against Russia, described Zelenskyy as a “dictator without elections”, and made it clear Europe would have to enforce and pay for any future peace settlement.

There was strong collective pushback against the US president’s upside-down version of recent history and a consensus that Ukraine had to take part in negotiations over its future. “The war is against Ukraine. So Ukraine has to be at the negotiating table,” Zelenskyy told the visiting leaders, saying Europe had to be there, too. He added: “Peace can’t be declared or announced.”

US and Russian negotiators are due to hold a second round of talks soon, after a meeting last week in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. The White House has said the war could end “this week” – raising fears that a quick US-Russia deal will echo Vladimir Putin’s demands that Ukraine cede territory and capitulate.

At least seven European countries announced significant new packages of economic and military support on Monday to Kyiv, with von der Leyen promising a €3.5bn (£2.9bn) payment. The Trump administration has indicated that US weapons deliveries will probably cease and has said Ukraine will have to repay any future military assistance at double the actual price.

Several EU leaders acknowledged the continent had to spend more on its own security and – as the Irish taoiseach, Micheál Martin, put it – “do more and talk less”. Lithuania’s defence minister, Dovilė Šakalienė, said Trump’s repeated demand for greater spending from fellow Nato member states was a necessary but “painful kick”.

She added that the “unpleasant” events of the last week, when Trump repeated Kremlin talking points and apparently dumped Ukraine as an ally, had changed the psychology of European decision-making. “When you feel your own arse is on fire, you move faster,” she said.

There was also overwhelming support for Ukraine’s EU membership and for its attempts to join Nato. Sitting next to the Ukrainian president, Stubb, the Finnish president, said it was not up to Russia to determine which alliances Kyiv joined, or the shape of the European security order. “Putin lost this war. We will see Ukraine in Europe and in Nato,” he said.

Hours after world leaders arrived, air raid sirens rang out across the capital. Early on Sunday, Russia carried out its biggest aerial raid since its 24 February 2022 all-out attack, sending 267 drones across Ukraine’s international border. At least four people were killed in strikes across the country.

On Monday, Zelenskyy, his wife, Olena, and prime ministers and presidents laid candles at a popular memorial in the centre of Kyiv to soldiers and civilians killed in Russia’s war. Afterwards politicians posed for a symbolic group photo on the steps of the Maidan, Kyiv’s independence square and a symbol of the country’s sovereignty.

“We are in Kyiv today, because Ukraine is Europe,” von der Leyen posted on X. “In this fight for survival, it is not only the destiny of Ukraine that is at stake. It’s Europe’s destiny.”

Zelenskyy wrote in his anniversary address: “Three years of absolute heroism by our people. Eternal gratitude to the fallen heroes.”

Keir Starmer said the UK supported a “just and lasting peace for Ukraine”, adding that: “We face a once in a generation moment for our collective security and values.” The prime minister has said UK troops could be sent to Ukraine as part of a possible peacekeeping contingent and will hold talks on Thursday with Trump in Washington. “Russia does not hold all the cards in this war,” he told Zelenskyy by video.

On Monday, Boris Johnson praised Starmer’s willingness to deploy Britain’s armed forces. “Keir Starmer said something very brave and right,” Johnson said while speaking at the Yes international conference in Kyiv, organised by the Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk. Troops would be “anathema” to Putin and therefore the right thing to do, he said.

Johnson also denounced the “nightmare of Orwellian language” in the US, and the “absolutely rubbish” claim that Ukraine attacked Russia first. He said Zelenskky should sign a $500bn (£395bn) minerals deal with the US, arguing this would give the White House a direct stake in protecting Ukraine and its own business interests. Zelenskky has so far resisted and on Sunday said he did not “recognise” the $500bn figure.

“Trump wants to show something to his Ukraine-sceptic Republican base,” Johnson said. He added: “The tragedy is that he [Trump] has been listening for too long to [the conservative political commentator] Tucker Carlson, who has been taking the Kremlin line. The deal is well worth the price for Ukraine.”

World leaders gathered in Kyiv on Monday to show their continuing support for Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the “absolute heroism of our people”.

Thirteen of them took an overnight train for a summit with Zelenskyy in the Ukrainian capital. They included the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, and Finland’s president, Alexander Stubb. Twenty-four joined online.

The coordinated Europe-led show of solidarity came after a torrid week, in which Donald Trump blamed Ukraine for starting the war against Russia, described Zelenskyy as a “dictator without elections”, and made it clear Europe would have to enforce and pay for any future peace settlement.

There was strong collective pushback against the US president’s upside-down version of recent history and a consensus that Ukraine had to take part in negotiations over its future. “The war is against Ukraine. So Ukraine has to be at the negotiating table,” Zelenskyy told the visiting leaders, saying Europe had to be there, too. He added: “Peace can’t be declared or announced.”

US and Russian negotiators are due to hold a second round of talks soon, after a meeting last week in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. The White House has said the war could end “this week” – raising fears that a quick US-Russia deal will echo Vladimir Putin’s demands that Ukraine cede territory and capitulate.

At least seven European countries announced significant new packages of economic and military support on Monday to Kyiv, with von der Leyen promising a €3.5bn (£2.9bn) payment. The Trump administration has indicated that US weapons deliveries will probably cease and has said Ukraine will have to repay any future military assistance at double the actual price.

Several EU leaders acknowledged the continent had to spend more on its own security and – as the Irish taoiseach, Micheál Martin, put it – “do more and talk less”. Lithuania’s defence minister, Dovilė Šakalienė, said Trump’s repeated demand for greater spending from fellow Nato member states was a necessary but “painful kick”.

She added that the “unpleasant” events of the last week, when Trump repeated Kremlin talking points and apparently dumped Ukraine as an ally, had changed the psychology of European decision-making. “When you feel your own arse is on fire, you move faster,” she said.

There was also overwhelming support for Ukraine’s EU membership and for its attempts to join Nato. Sitting next to the Ukrainian president, Stubb, the Finnish president, said it was not up to Russia to determine which alliances Kyiv joined, or the shape of the European security order. “Putin lost this war. We will see Ukraine in Europe and in Nato,” he said.

Hours after world leaders arrived, air raid sirens rang out across the capital. Early on Sunday, Russia carried out its biggest aerial raid since its 24 February 2022 all-out attack, sending 267 drones across Ukraine’s international border. At least four people were killed in strikes across the country.

On Monday, Zelenskyy, his wife, Olena, and prime ministers and presidents laid candles at a popular memorial in the centre of Kyiv to soldiers and civilians killed in Russia’s war. Afterwards politicians posed for a symbolic group photo on the steps of the Maidan, Kyiv’s independence square and a symbol of the country’s sovereignty.

“We are in Kyiv today, because Ukraine is Europe,” von der Leyen posted on X. “In this fight for survival, it is not only the destiny of Ukraine that is at stake. It’s Europe’s destiny.”

Zelenskyy wrote in his anniversary address: “Three years of absolute heroism by our people. Eternal gratitude to the fallen heroes.”

Keir Starmer said the UK supported a “just and lasting peace for Ukraine”, adding that: “We face a once in a generation moment for our collective security and values.” The prime minister has said UK troops could be sent to Ukraine as part of a possible peacekeeping contingent and will hold talks on Thursday with Trump in Washington. “Russia does not hold all the cards in this war,” he told Zelenskyy by video.

On Monday, Boris Johnson praised Starmer’s willingness to deploy Britain’s armed forces. “Keir Starmer said something very brave and right,” Johnson said while speaking at the Yes international conference in Kyiv, organised by the Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk. Troops would be “anathema” to Putin and therefore the right thing to do, he said.

Johnson also denounced the “nightmare of Orwellian language” in the US, and the “absolutely rubbish” claim that Ukraine attacked Russia first. He said Zelenskky should sign a $500bn (£395bn) minerals deal with the US, arguing this would give the White House a direct stake in protecting Ukraine and its own business interests. Zelenskky has so far resisted and on Sunday said he did not “recognise” the $500bn figure.

“Trump wants to show something to his Ukraine-sceptic Republican base,” Johnson said. He added: “The tragedy is that he [Trump] has been listening for too long to [the conservative political commentator] Tucker Carlson, who has been taking the Kremlin line. The deal is well worth the price for Ukraine.”

Dan Bongino, a former US Secret Service agent who has written bestselling books, run unsuccessfully for office and gained fame as a conservative pundit with TV shows and a popular podcast, has been chosen to serve as the FBI’s deputy director.

President Donald Trump announced the appointment on Sunday night in a post on his Truth Social platform, praising Bongino as “a man of incredible love and passion for our country”. He called the announcement “great news for law enforcement and American justice”.

The selection places two staunch Trump allies atop the nation’s principal federal law enforcement agency at a time when Democrats are concerned that the president could seek to target his adversaries. Bongino would serve under Kash Patel, who was sworn in as FBI director at the White House on Friday and who has signalled his intent to reshape the bureau, including by relocating hundreds of employees from its Washington headquarters and placing greater emphasis on the FBI’s traditional crime-fighting duties.

Patel has declined to explicitly say whether he would use his position to pursue Trump’s political opponents.

The deputy director serves as the FBI’s second-in-command and is traditionally a career agent responsible for the bureau’s day-to-day law enforcement operations.

Bongino, 49, served on the presidential details for then-presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush, before becoming a popular rightwing figure. He became one of the leading personalities in the Maga political movement to spread false information about the 2020 election.

For a few years following Rush Limbaugh’s death in 2021, he was chosen for a radio show on the same time slot of the famous commentator.

Bongino worked for the New York police department from 1997 through 1999, before joining the Secret Service. He began doing commentary on Fox News more than a decade ago, and had a Saturday night show with the network from 2021 to 2023. He is now a host of the Dan Bongino Show, one of the most popular podcasts, according to Spotify.

Bongino ran for a US Senate seat in Maryland in 2012 and for congressional seats in 2014 and 2016 in Maryland and Florida, after moving in 2015. He lost all three races.

During an interview last year, Bongino asked Trump to commit to forming a commission to reform the Secret Service, calling it a “failed” agency and criticizing it for the two assassination attempts last year.

“That guy should have been nowhere near you,” Bongino said about the man who authorities say camped outside Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, before he was spotted with a rifle.

The doubling of support for the far right in Germany’s federal election was “the last warning” to the country’s mainstream parties to provide effective leadership, Friedrich Merz, the leader of Germany’s victorious conservative alliance, has said.

Speaking on Monday after his CDU/CSU alliance came first with 28.5% of the vote, the man who is on course to become the next German chancellor said centrist parties needed to heed the surge in support for the anti-immigration Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).

“This is really the last warning to the political parties of the democratic centre in Germany to come to joint solutions,” Merz told a press conference.

The AfD won more than 20% of the vote, about twice the share it garnered at the last election only three years ago. But it will not be part of negotiations to form a coalition government because of the German “firewall” that has historically existed between mainstream parties and the far right.

On Monday, the AfD co-leader Alice Weidel called her party’s performance “historic” and decried Merz’s refusal to enter into coalition with the AfD as a “democracy blockade”, arguing that millions of voters were in effect disfranchised by the decision.

Merz is instead preparing to begin the thorny task of forming a new government with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), the party of the outgoing chancellor, Olaf Scholz, in what Germans know as a grand coalition or GroKo.

Together the parties gained enough seats for a majority in parliament, with smaller parties – the pro-business FDP and the leftwing conservative Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) – failing to reach the 5% threshold needed to get into parliament.

How the centrists will be able to overcome their differences on migration policy remains unclear but it is likely to be a central plank of whatever government does emerge.

On Monday, Merz pointed to the strong gains of the AfD in the ex-communist east, where it secured 45 out of 48 available seats after campaigning vigorously on its anti-Islam, anti-immigration platform and backing the “remigration” of both immigrants and German citizens deemed to have poorly integrated.

Merz, 69, said his own conservative party colleagues had warned him that the former east was “only a few years ahead of you in the west” and that “if you do not solve the problems, then you will have the same problem”.

“We must work together to see that we solve the problems in Germany,” he told journalists, in order to “gradually deprive this party of its breeding ground”.

Basking in their success, the AfD party leaders, Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, predicted they would soon overtake the CDU in the polls.

Merz, meanwhile, made clear his focus was on the turbulent geopolitical scene as much as on domestic politics. His first comments on Monday were directed at Ukraine, on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

He posted on X: “Europe stands unwaveringly by Ukraine’s side. Now more than ever, it holds true: We must put Ukraine in a position of strength.”

“For a just peace, the attacked country must be part of peace negotiations,” Merz added, in what was interpreted as a sideswipe at the Trump administration after it began talks with Russia last week on ending the war that excluded Ukraine and Europe.

Merz later said he would seek good ties with the United States under Trump but was also ready for “the worst-case scenario”. He was “hopeful that we can maintain the transatlantic relationship” but warned that “all the signals we are receiving from the United States indicate that interest in Europe is decreasing”.

Europeans, he added, must now act together swiftly to organise their own defence capability. “This really is five minutes to midnight for Europe,” he said.

Many Germans fear a re-run of the last GroKo, led by Angela Merkel between 2018 and 2021, which critics accuse of having lacked ambition, and having failed to tackle pressing challenges such as economic and bureaucratic reform, defence spending increases and an infrastructure overhaul.

“The biggest challenge of all is going to be forming a stable coalition that also has the strength to cut the AfD down to size,” said the political scientist Aiko Wagner of Berlin’s Free University.

The SPD, Germany’s oldest political party, is smarting after receiving the worst ever result in its history, with 16%. Scholz, who will remain in post as chancellor until Merz has formed a government, called the result “bitter”.

Initial analysis of the SPD’s drop in support indicated that dissatisfaction over its migration politics was the chief motivating factor. The centre-left party lost 1.7 million voters to the conservatives, and 720,000 to the AfD.

Merz is said to be pinning his hopes on managing to convince the SPD that its voters want to see similar radical migration reforms to those already proposed by the CDU/CSU, in particular closing the borders to so-called irregular migration.

He controversially won backing for this proposal in parliament from the AfD in January, while the SPD slammed the CDU’s proposals as illegal and a threat to the existence of the EU.

Merz’s aim is for a new government to be formed by Easter (20/21 April). Despite his insistence that speed is of the essence, coalition talks are not expected to officially begin until 6 March, taking into account carnival season in the Rheinland and a state election due to be held in Hamburg on 2 March.

Until then unofficial negotiations will be taking place behind closed doors.

Financial markets reacted positively to the news of the conservatives’ win, with stocks in major German companies rising amid hopes of a stable government after weeks of stagnation.

Elon Musk called the co-leader of Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) to congratulate her on the party’s performance in Sunday’s election after it doubled its support from the last election.

Alice Weidel hinted she had slept through an overnight attempt to reach her by the Trump adviser and Tesla CEO, who had repeatedly intervened in the German campaign on her behalf.

“When I turned on my telephone this morning or rather looked at it, I had missed calls from the US including from Elon Musk who personally congratulated [me],” she told reporters.

Far-right leaders and other anti-immigration firebrands rejoiced in the gains made by the pro-Kremlin party, whose second place finish behind the CDU/CSU conservative opposition was fuelled by rising anger about immigration, violent crime and high energy costs.

Weidel, the AfD’s candidate for chancellor, said she would spend part of the day getting back to well-wishers but refused to say which ones. “I won’t tell you that – it’s covered by a certain confidentiality.” But she added she was in contact with many international allies “and that includes in the Trump administration”.

The party was endorsed byMusk and the US vice-president, JD Vance, during the election campaign. Musk, who had described the AfD in January as the “best hope for the future” in Germany, shared a post showing the party’s gains since 2021, with the caption “Holy shit!”.

Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s nationalist prime minister, opted not to congratulate the election’s winner, the conservative Friedrich Merz, but to instead hail the AfD’s strong showing, after hosting Weidel for talks in Budapest in the final phase of the campaign. “The people of Germany voted for change in immense numbers,” he posted on X. “I want to congratulate Alice Weidel on doubling AfD’s share of the votes. Good luck and God bless Germany!”

Musk later reposted Orbán’s message, adding: “At this rate of growth, @AfD will be the majority party by the next election.” Weidel replied: “Many thanks, @elonmusk! We doubled our results in 3 years & took a major milestone yesterday! Our goal is to become the strongest party in Germany!” she said, adding three German flag emojis.

Matteo Salvini, the far-right deputy prime minister if Italy, also congratulated Weidel, saying: “Change is winning in Germany too! AfD doubles its votes, despite attacks and lies from the left,” adding that, “Europe must be radically changed”.

The Netherlands’ Geert Wilders, leader of the far-right Party for Freedom, which is part of a coalition government, wrote, “Congratulations @Alice_Weidel and @AfD!!!” with three thumbs up emojis.

Herbert Kickl, the leader of Austria’s far-right Freedom party, said, “As of today, there is a gaping hole in the firewall of the parties of the system, which is really a wall of fear against the will of the people and of democratic change.” He was referring to the unwritten pledge by mainstream German parties to maintain a “firewall” barring formal cooperation with the AfD.

The Argentinian president and far-right figure, Javier Milei, shared a post containing a video of a speech to US conservatives by the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, from Saturday. Blaming “ruling classes” and “mainstream media,” Meloni insisted Europe was not “lost”. She said the US and Europe would remain close under Donald Trump, despite soaring tensions between the allies including over the fate of Ukraine.

Milei shared the video with the caption, “Brilliante Meloni.”

Meloni, leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, was the only EU leader to attend Trump’s inauguration in January and her allies have presented her as a potential bridge between the European Union and the US president.

France’s Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally (RN), offered no comment on the results on X. In May last year, a group of the EU’s far-right parties, which includes the RN, expelled the AfD after a series of controversies, though some of the group’s members – Salvini and Wilders included – were among those who offered congratulations.

Among the controversies was the AfD’s lead candidate in June’s European elections saying that the Nazi SS were “not all criminals”, after which he resigned from the party leadership and renounced all further campaign activities.

The AfD’s co-leader Tino Chrupalla said he had also accepted warm wishes from two former members of the German national football team and ex-players from Bayern Munich whom he declined to name. “So greetings to Uli Hoeneß,” he said, referring to the club’s erstwhile general manager.

The broadside seemed targeted at comments Hoeneß made at a memorial service for the German football legend Franz Beckenbauer last year in which he wished for a revival of the national spirit in evidence when Germany hosted the World Cup in 2006, “but without the AfD”.

Pope Francis, who is battling pneumonia and “mild” kidney failure, had a good night, slept and is resting, the Vatican said in a brief statement on Monday morning.

Vatican sources said later that the pope was awake and continuing with the therapy, and was eating normally and in good humour.

A further official update will be given later.

The pontiff, 88, was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on 14 February and subsequently diagnosed with a respiratory tract infection and pneumonia in both lungs.

Blood tests on Sunday also indicated “a mild renal insufficiency, which is currently under control”. A statement that evening also said the pope was receiving “high-flow oxygen therapy” through a nasal cannula, but continued to remain “vigilant and well-orientated”.

The world’s press has gathered at St Peter’s Square, where large electric billboards with a black background are publicising prayers for the pope’s health that will be held on Monday night. The event will be led by Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state.

Francis had been showing signs of improvement until Saturday, when he was given supplemental oxygen and blood transfusions for a low platelet count after a prolonged asthma-style attack.

On Friday, doctors said the pope was not “not yet out of danger” and that he was expected to remain in hospital for at least another week.

They said the main threat facing Francis would be the onset of sepsis, a serious infection of the blood that can occur as a complication of pneumonia.

Sergio Alfieri, the head of medicine and surgery at Gemelli hospital, said on Friday that the pontiff was taking a “significant” medication load and would not be discharged until he was fully out of the woods, because if he returned home, he would just start working again. “We need to focus on getting through this phase … the pope is not a person who gives up.”

He added that Francis knew that he “was in danger, and he told us to relay that”.

In a message published in lieu of his weekly Sunday Angelus prayer, which the pope normally delivers from a window overlooking St Peter’s Square, Francis thanked medical staff. “I am confidently continuing my hospitalisation at the Gemelli hospital, carrying on with the necessary treatment – and rest is also part of the therapy!” he said.

Vigils have been held outside the Gemelli, which has long been the preferred hospital for pontiffs. Well-wishers have also gathered in St Peter’s Square.

“I’m sorry Pope Francis is not well,” said Stanley, a visitor from El Salvador, as he photographed the billboard message. “He’s a good person and very loveable. I say that as a non-Catholic – he’s a person who I respect.”

Pierre, from France, said: “He’s 88 and so would be at risk but I hope he gets through this. I think he’s a good pope, and has been a fairly modern one even if the Catholic church still has a long way to go with modernising.”

Jim, from the US, said the pontiff was “one of the most important leaders in the whole world. In my view, he is probably the most important leader – we need him and I really hope that he lives.”

The pope has maintained a punishing work schedule, despite increasing health issues, and especially because it is the Catholic jubilee year. Last September, he carried out a mammoth 12-day tour to the Asia Pacific, one of the few places in the world where the Catholic church is growing in terms of baptised faithful and religious vocations.

Labor unions and advocacy groups have asked a federal court to prevent retaliation against government employees, after Elon Musk issued an ultimatum demanding they detail in bullet points what they do at their jobs or face dismissal.

The weekend email sent to millions of employees was the latest salvo in Musk’s campaign, authorized by Donald Trump, to dramatically downsize the federal government. Over the weekend, a coalition of groups opposed to the mass layoffs asked a court to prevent reprisals against employees who fail to reply by the deadline of Monday at midnight.

“This request, and the resulting confusion, is not just inappropriate–it is disruptive to essential government functions,” wrote Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit originally filed to stop the mass firings of probationary workers.

Several federal departments have reportedly told their employees not to respond to the email, which was sent from the office of personnel management (OPM), one of the first federal organs Musk and his team on the so-called “department of government efficiency” infiltrated after Trump was sworn in.

Longtime federal workers have also spoken out against the unusual demand, with one unnamed defense department official criticizing the scheme to CNN as “the silliest thing I’ve seen in 40 years”.

That prompted Musk to retort “anyone with the attitude of that Pentagon official needs to look for a new job”.

Musk’s ultimatum was sent out on Saturday in a mass email to federal employees from OPM, and gave all the US government’s more than 2 million workers barely 48 hours to itemize their accomplishments in the past week in five bullet points.

In a separate message, Musk indicated that “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation”.

The order provoked instant chaos across the government, with Trump’s own appointed leadership in federal agencies responding in starkly different ways. Workers in the Social Security Administration and the health and human services department were told to comply with the email – while in other departments employees were instructed to await further orders or to simply ignore Musk’s edict.

The new director of the FBI, the Trump loyalist Kash Patel, told agents to “please pause any responses”. Employees with the homeland security department were similarly informed that “no reporting action from you is needed at this time”.

Despite Musk’s retort to the anonymous Pentagon official, all employees at the Department of Defense, who now answer to the former Fox News host and Trump acolyte Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, were also told to pause responding to the OPM missive.

At least 20,000 federal workers have so far been fired by the Trump administration, most of them recent hires on probationary periods who lack employment protections. In addition, the White House claims that more than 75,000 employees have accepted a buyout.

The purge has prompted speculation that Trump is engaging in one of the biggest job cutting rounds in US history, which could have a powerful knock-on effect on the American economy.

Three improvised explosive devices have been thrown at the Russian consulate in the southern French port city of Marseille but no one was injured, according to a French police source.

Only two of the devices detonated in the attack on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the source said.

The consulate was sealed off by police and AFP journalists heard a detonation caused by a bomb disposal robot.

The suspect fled and an investigation has been launched, an official said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to be named publicly by national police policy. Authorities did not provide details on the suspect or a motive.

Marseille, France’s second-largest city and a major Mediterranean port, is home to a diverse population but does not have a notably large Russian community. There have been protests in France against Russia’s war in Ukraine since 2022, including demonstrations in Marseille, Paris and other cities.

A Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said the incident had “all the hallmarks of a terrorist attack”.

The French government quickly condemned the incident. “France condemns any infringement of the security of diplomatic compounds,” a foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters. “The inviolability, protection and integrity of diplomatic and consular compounds and their staff are fundamental principles in international law.”

On 24 February 2022, the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, invaded pro-western Ukraine, setting off the biggest conflict in Europe since the second world war.

AP and AFP contributed to this report

Three improvised explosive devices have been thrown at the Russian consulate in the southern French port city of Marseille but no one was injured, according to a French police source.

Only two of the devices detonated in the attack on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the source said.

The consulate was sealed off by police and AFP journalists heard a detonation caused by a bomb disposal robot.

The suspect fled and an investigation has been launched, an official said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to be named publicly by national police policy. Authorities did not provide details on the suspect or a motive.

Marseille, France’s second-largest city and a major Mediterranean port, is home to a diverse population but does not have a notably large Russian community. There have been protests in France against Russia’s war in Ukraine since 2022, including demonstrations in Marseille, Paris and other cities.

A Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said the incident had “all the hallmarks of a terrorist attack”.

The French government quickly condemned the incident. “France condemns any infringement of the security of diplomatic compounds,” a foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters. “The inviolability, protection and integrity of diplomatic and consular compounds and their staff are fundamental principles in international law.”

On 24 February 2022, the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, invaded pro-western Ukraine, setting off the biggest conflict in Europe since the second world war.

AP and AFP contributed to this report

Breast cancer diagnoses and deaths are projected to surge worldwide by 2050, the World Health Organization’s cancer agency has said, with cases in the UK to rise by 21% and deaths by 42%.

Globally, one in 20 women will be diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime, with cases up 38% and deaths up 68% over the next 25 years, according to an analysis by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

There will be 3.2m new cases and 1.1m deaths a year worldwide by 2050 if current trends continue, the study found. In the UK, cases are expected to rise from 58,756 cases a year in 2022 to 71,006 cases a year in 2050. Deaths will jump from 12,122 a year in 2022 to 17,261 in 2050.

The findings were published in the journal Nature Medicine.

“Every minute, four women are diagnosed with breast cancer worldwide and one woman dies from the disease, and these statistics are worsening,” said the IARC scientist Dr Joanne Kim, one of the authors of the report.

“Countries can mitigate or reverse these trends by adopting primary prevention policies … and by investing in early detection and treatment.”

The projected increase in cases worldwide is probably due to a mix of factors, including a growing and ageing global population, improvements in detection and diagnosis, and a higher prevalence of known risk factors for the disease.

Factors that increase the risk of breast cancer include getting older, inherited faulty genes and a family history of the disease.

Globally, most breast cancer cases and deaths occur in women aged 50 and above, who account for 71% of new cases and 79% of deaths, the IARC said.

About a quarter of breast cancer cases can be prevented, the study’s authors said, for example by reducing alcohol intake, maintaining a healthy weight and becoming more active.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women worldwide but its burden is not evenly distributed. The IARC said diagnosis rates were highest in Australia and New Zealand, followed by North America and northern Europe, and lowest in Asia and Africa. However, death rates were highest in Melanesia and Polynesia, and in west Africa.

Over the last decade, incidence rates grew by 1% to 5% a year in 27 of 50 countries studied, the IARC said. Importantly, breast cancer mortality rates decreased in 29 of 46 countries analysed.

Dr Isabelle Soerjomataram, the deputy head of the IARC’s cancer surveillance branch, said: “Continued progress in early diagnosis and improved access to treatment are essential to address the global gap in breast cancer and ensure that the goal of reducing suffering and death from breast cancer is achieved by all countries worldwide.”

About 7,000 people have died in fighting in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since Rwanda-backed M23 rebels started renewed advances in January, the DRC’s prime minister has said.

At a high-level meeting of the UN’s human rights council in Geneva on Monday, Judith Suminwa Tuluka also said the war had left about 450,000 people without shelter after the destruction of 90 displacement camps.

At the start of the year, the M23 militia embarked on a fast advance in eastern DRC, fighting the Congolese army and capturing two of the region’s largest cities: Goma, which is the capital of North Kivu province, and Bukavu, which is the capital of South Kivu province.

It was the worst escalation in more than a decade of the long-running conflict in the region and risked drawing in neighbouring countries and leading to a regional war.

The conflict, which has raged despite calls for a ceasefire, has exacerbated the humanitarian situation in the region. In Goma alone, a city of 2 million people and a humanitarian hub for those who have been displaced, the fighting killed nearly 3,000. Those injured have overwhelmed medical facilities, with patients with gunshot and shrapnel wounds cramming into hospitals.

Last week, the UN human rights office accused M23 rebels of killing three children in Bukavu.

On Sunday, the DRC’s communications minister, Patrick Muyaya, said that Rwanda and M23 had killed more than a dozen people in Goma.

More than 40,000 people, mostly women and children, have fled to Burundi in February because of the conflict, including more than 9,000 in a single day.

M23, which is made up of Tutsis who left the Congolese army more than 10 years ago, is one of more than 100 armed groups fighting against Congolese forces in the mineral-rich eastern DRC.

The group has more than 8,000 fighters, according to the UN, which has accused neighbouring Rwanda of backing the militia and said the fighters were supported by about 4,000 troops from Rwanda. Rwanda denies the claims.

M23 says it is fighting to protect Tutsis and Congolese people of Rwandan origin from discrimination and wants to transform Congo from a failed state to a modern one. But analysts have said that is simply a pretext for Rwanda’s involvement, and suggested Kigali is actually motivated by designs on its neighbour’s mineral resources.

The militia has said it will march to the capital, Kinshasa. It has also said it wants to unseat the government of DRC’s president, Félix Tshisekedi, and to “cleanse” the cities it has captured of alleged bad governance and insecurity.

In a sign of disarray in the Congolese security forces amid the offensive, the Congolese army has called on deserters to rejoin their units, and crowds of Congolese police officers who switched to M23 sang and clapped in Bukavu on Saturday, preparing for retraining under the authority of the rebels.

About 1,800 police officers have surrendered and were going to be retrained, with 500 more due to do so, M23’s spokesperson, Lawrence Kanyuka, said.

On Saturday, Tshisekedi said he would launch a unity government. In an address at a meeting of the ruling Sacred Union coalition, he said: “We must unite … let’s stand together to face the enemy.”

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report

An American Airlines flight from New York to New Delhi landed safely in Rome on Sunday afternoon after it was diverted due to a security concern, which later proved to be “non-credible”, the airline said.

While the airline did not elaborate, NBC reported that the situation involved a bomb threat sent by email. The network cited a source familiar with the situation.

American Airlines said Flight 292 “was inspected by law enforcement” after landing at Leonardo da Vinci international airport and “cleared to re-depart”.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the flight’s crew reported the security threat, according to NBC. The airline said an inspection was required by protocol before the flight could land in New Delhi.

“The flight will stay in Rome overnight to allow for required crew rest before continuing to Delhi as soon as possible tomorrow,” the airline said.

An Associated Press reporter filmed two fighter jets flying over the airport shortly before the unscheduled landing. Fire trucks were visible on the landing strip on one side of the plane after it landed.

Neeraj Chopra, one of the passengers on board, said the captain announced that the plane had to turn around about three hours before it was supposed to land in New Delhi because of a change in “security status”.

Chopra, who was traveling from Detroit to visit family, described the mood on the plane as calm after the initial announcement but said he began to feel stressed when the captain later announced that fighter jets would be escorting their plane to Rome.

“I felt a little panic of, OK, what’s going on here?” Chopra told the AP. “There’s got to be like something bigger going on here.”

Passenger Jonathan Bacon, 22, from Dayton, Ohio, started paying attention to the flight tracker on the seatback in front of him after the captain’s announcement of a “diversion due to a security issue”, observing the plane’s sharp turn away from New Delhi and route back toward Rome.

Passengers had no internet connection for much of the flight, Bacon said, with only some spotty access that clued them into early reports of the situation about two hours before landing.

After landing, Bacon said all passengers were loaded on to buses and taken to the terminal, where each passenger and their personal items underwent additional security screenings that were time-consuming and felt “slightly heightened”, especially for arrivals. More than two hours after landing, Bacon and his friend said they were still waiting for their checked baggage, which they said was also undergoing security screenings.

“It was definitely the longest flight to Europe I’ve ever taken,” Bacon said.

A spokesperson for the airport said it was continuing to operate normally.

Thousands of children in England have been accused of witchcraft over the past decade, according to new figures that come alongside a film released on Monday.

Faith-based abuse is a worldwide phenomenon but experts found 14,000 social work assessments linked to witchcraft accusations since 2015. In the year running to March 2024 alone, there were 2,180 assessments linked to witchcraft.

The statistics, compiled by the National FGM Centre, come as the film Kindoki Witch Boy is released, telling the story of Mardoche Yembi, 33, who was accused of witchcraft as a child growing up in north London and subjected to an exorcism. Its release date also marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Victoria Climbié, an eight-year-old girl who was tortured after accusations of witchcraft were levelled against her.

Yembi hopes that the new film will encourage more of these children who are suffering behind closed doors to come forward.

He said: “If a story like Kindoki Witch Boy had been out there when I was a child going through those experiences I would have felt less alone. I want this film to transform something that was bad into something good, to help other children going through the same thing. I hope children who are being accused will see that there is help out there and they can survive it.”

Kindoki is one of several words used to describe the kind of witchcraft Yembi and Victoria were accused of along with terms sucha as djin, juju and voodoo.

Victoria, who died on 25 February 2000, was brought to the UK by her great-aunt Marie-Thérèse Kouao, offering Victoria’s parents a European education. But Victoria was killed, after suffering prolonged and extreme abuse, by Kouao and her partner Carl John Manning.

They said she was possessed by evil spirits and she was exorcised by a pastor and forced to sleep in a bin bag in a freezing cold bathroom. At the time of her death, 128 separate injuries were found on her burned and malnourished body, in one of the most horrific cases of child abuse doctors had ever seen.

She had come into contact with several health and social care services in the months before her killing. Manning and Kouao were jailed for her murder in 2001. Her death led to a child protection service overhaul.

Yembi and Victoria were born just weeks apart and lived a few miles from each other in north London. Yembi was sent to the UK at the age of eight by his father from his home country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after his mother died, to be looked after by relatives.

Like many other children facing witchcraft accusations, Yembi was scapegoated for causing health and financial misfortunes in his relatives’ lives. Social services became concerned about him because his extended family said they wanted to send him back to DRC for an exorcism.

Unlike Victoria, he did not experience physical abuse, but social services placed him with a foster mother who supported him for the next decade. He thrived in her care and now works to support young care leavers.

The film, directed by Penny Woolcock, was shot over a period of nine days using a mix of professional and non-professional actors. Jeriah Kibusi plays Yembi and Fatmata B Jalloh plays herself as his foster mother.

Yembi and Victoria never met, but he said that she had been very much in his mind while he had been working on the film.

He said: “Part of this film is for her. She didn’t have a chance to make it. I want to keep her name alive.”

• Children accused of witchcraft can call Childline on 0800 1111 or NSPCC on 0808 800 500.