At least 12 people have been killed and more than 90 injured in Kyiv after Russia carried out one of the most devastating air attacks against Ukraine for months, with Kharkiv and other cities also targeted.

The attack drew a rare rebuke of Russia from Donald Trump, who posted on social media: “Vladimir, STOP!”

Waves of drones as well as ballistic and guided missiles struck the Ukrainian capital early on Thursday. There were explosions for much of the night, beginning at about 1am local time, and the rattle of anti-aircraft fire as Ukrainian defences tried to shoot the missiles down.

Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said rescuers were pulling survivors from under the rubble. The injured included six children and a pregnant woman. A house, cars, and other buildings were set on fire, with extensive damage caused by falling debris in several districts, he said.

“Russia has launched a massive combined strike on Kyiv,” Ukraine’s state emergency service said on Telegram.

Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said a big rescue operation was under way in the Svyatoshinsky district of Kyiv, involving dogs and engineering teams. “Mobile phones can be heard ringing under the ruins. The search will continue until everybody is got out. We have information about two children who cannot be found at the scene of the incident,” he added.

On Wednesday evening, drones could be seen buzzing in the sky above the north-east Kharkiv region and flying over a forest. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, was hit by seven missiles and 12 kamikaze drones in strikes throughout the night as black smoke plumed overhead.

According to Kharkiv’s mayor, several private houses, a factory and a high-rise apartment block were hit. “One of the most recent strikes hit a densely populated residential area. Two people were injured there,” Ihor Terekhov said, urging people to be careful.

On Thursday Trump posted on Truth Social: “I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5,000 soldiers a week are dying. Let’s get the Peace Deal DONE!”

The day before he had lashed out at Volodymyr Zelenskyy for failing to support a US “peace plan”, in which Crimea and other Ukrainian territories would be handed to Russia.

On Wednesday, Trump accused Ukraine’s president of prolonging the “killing field” and making “very harmful” statements. Zelenskyy has ruled out recognising Crimea as Russian and says a complete ceasefire is needed before any settlement can be discussed.

On Thursday, Zelenskyy said he was cutting short a trip to South Africa because of the attack. “It has been 44 days since Ukraine agreed to a full ceasefire and a halt to strikes … And it has been 44 days of Russia continuing to kill our people,” Zelensky said in a post on X. “The strikes must be stopped immediately and unconditionally,” he added.

The Ukrainian foreign minister, Andriy Sybiga, said Russia’s “maximalist demands for Ukraine to withdraw from its regions, combined with these brutal strikes, show that Russia, not Ukraine, is the obstacle to peace”.

He added: “Moscow, not Kyiv, is where pressure should be applied. Putin demonstrates through his actions, not words, that he does not respect any peace efforts and only wants to continue the war. Weakness and concessions will not stop his terror and aggression. Only strength and pressure will.”

Posting on social media, as Russian bombs fell around them, Ukrainians criticised Trump’s one-sided approach and his apparent indifference to Ukrainian civilian casualties. The massive attack suggested the Kremlin was not remotely interested in peace, they suggested.

Olga Rudenko, the editor of the Kyiv Independent newspaper, wrote on social media: “Can’t begin to explain how surreal it is to be sitting on the floor in the safest place of my apartment hearing an extremely loud Russian missile+drone attack – after having spent entire day discussing and editing coverage of the US effectively demanding Ukraine’s surrender.”

Euan MacDonald, a freelance journalist, added: “Great big bang in Kyiv, and another – incoming missiles. Shaheds also in city, just heard anti-aircraft guns. And two more big bangs just as I write … Not been this noisy for a while …”

There were further attacks in the cities of Pavlohrad and Zhytomyr, as well as in the Zaporizhzhia region.

In Kyiv some residents spent a sleepless night in the subway, which doubles as a missile shelter. According to the photographer Kostyantyn Liberov, Shahed drones struck the same district twice as rescuers and civilians were trying to free a young woman who was trapped in a collapsed building.

“Honey, we’ll get you out no matter what. We’re right here,” one of the rescuers reassured her, as the loud roar of a Shahed drone buzzed overhead, Liberov reported.

The videographer Anton Shtuka, who filmed the difficult rescue operation, said: “Sometimes it looks like these strikes hit our homes because [Vladimir] Putin feels US support and begins to pressure Ukraine even more.” He added, ironically: “Thank you, partners.”

Kyiv was last hit by missiles in early April, when at least three people were hurt. It has been the target of sporadic attacks since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelenksyy’s office, said: “Putin shows only a desire to kill. The attacks on civilians must stop.”

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine could not accept US recognition of Russia’s annexation of Crimea as he visited South Africa, while both he and Donald Trump criticised a deadly missile and drone attack on Kyiv.

Though he did not mention Crimea – the contested Black Sea peninsula occupied by Russia since spring 2014 – by name, Ukraine’s president diplomatically returned to the topic a day after Trump accused him of intransigence on the issue.

Zelenskyy was speaking alongside his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, on a trip that he then cut short after the assault on Kyiv that left at least 12 dead and more than 90 injured. He complained that he did not “see strong pressure on Russia now” to bring the war to an end.

When asked whether he thought the US was becoming impatient with the lack of progress towards a peace agreement, Zelenskyy said the cost of the war continuing was ultimately borne by Ukrainian civilians.

“I’m not sure whose patience is wearing thin, but I think that ultimately patience will wear thin among the Ukrainians, because it’s us that has to suffer those Russian strikes,” Zelenskyy said.

Shortly after, Trump posted a rare public criticism of Moscow for its attack on civilians, in remarks aimed directly at the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. He said: “I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!”

Referring to indirectly to Crimea, Zelenskyy said that while Ukraine wanted to cooperate with US and European allies, there were limits. “We do everything that our partners have proposed, only what contradicts our legislation and the constitution we cannot do,” he said during a press conference in Pretoria.

Ukraine considers Crimea an integral part of the country in its constitution. The only way Kyiv could legally recognise a Russian takeover would be to put the issue to the public in a referendum, a point that the country’s leaders have been making in public and private as the issue has come to the fore.

However, leaks from the beginning of the week suggested the US appears willing to recognise Russia’s unilateral annexation of Crimea as part of a peace plan largely negotiated between Washington and Moscow that would end the fighting. No western country has so far recognised the 2014 seizure of Crimea.

On Wednesday night, Trump publicly accused the Ukrainian leader of jeopardising an imminent peace deal by refusing to budge, arguing that “Crimea was lost years ago”. “Nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory,” Trump wrote, implying that US was willing to do so.

On Thursday, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Trump’s position “completely corresponds with our understanding and with what we have been saying for a long time” and Moscow was continuing to engage with the US.

Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, said in a separate briefing that Zelenskyy lacked the capacity to negotiate a deal to end the war – and accused him of trying to “torpedo the emerging peace process at any cost”.

Zelenskyy meanwhile tweeted out a “Crimea declaration” released in 2018 under the previous Trump administration by the former secretary of state Mike Pompeo. In it the US said, “no country can change the borders of another by force” – and accused Russia of trying to undermine “a bedrock international principle”.

Ukrainian officials argue that Crimea’s legal status as part of Ukraine has been upheld by UN general assembly resolutions, and accuse Russia of engaging in human rights abuses during its 11-year occupation. Last year the European court of human rights held that Russia was guilty of violations.

Negotiators also argue that allowing an attacker to legally take over territory creates a dangerous precedent for future conflicts, and could embolden authoritarian regimes such as China. Beijing has consistently threatened Taiwan and demanded its reunification with China.

However, that argument appears to have failed to cut through so far with the White House, which under Trump has asserted its own territorial claims to Greenland, the Panama canal and Canada.

Few in Ukraine believe that Russia, under Putin, would be prepared to halt its demands for territorial recognition at Crimea. Under the emerging peace proposals, Russia would also keep the vast majority of the Ukrainian territory it occupies in the east and the south, though this would not be recognised by the US or others.

A concern among Ukrainian officials is that an imposed peace agreement not considered to be fair or just in the country could escalate tensions and so threaten regional stability. Ignoring legitimate Ukrainian interests may help perpetuate the conflict at a lower level, not dissimilar to the period between 2015 and 2022.

Russia’s focus on consolidating its position in Crimea reflects its strategic significance. Orysia Lutsevych, a Ukraine expert with Chatham House, said greater control would allow Russia to rebuild its position in the northern Black Sea and potentially “threaten Ukrainian grain shipping and ports again”.

Over the course of the war, Ukraine’s successful use of long-range sea drones – helping it destroy or damage an estimated 24 vessels – has forced Russia’s Black Sea fleet to relocate east from Sevastopol in Crimea to Novorossiysk. Ukraine has been able to continue grain exports through a western maritime corridor.

A long ceasefire or peace would also allow Russia to redeploy in Sevastopol and use Crimea to project power further south towards the Mediterranean, Lutsevych said, a point given sharper focus in Moscow after the loss of the Tartus naval base in Syria after the fall of its one-time ally Bashar al-Assad.

“The obsession with Crimea has a military strategic reasoning, although its symbolic importance to Putin also means he wants it as part of his legacy. Ukraine also recognises that his desire for Crimea also makes it an achilles heel for his regime, if it can show he cannot control it.”

When his jet lands in Moscow, Steve Witkoff – Donald Trump’s envoy and longtime friend – will mark his fourth visit to Russia this year, a pointed gesture that says as much about who he is meeting as who he is not.

The 68-year-old real estate executive, who holds no formal diplomatic credentials, was expected in London on Wednesday for talks with Kyiv and European allies.

But in a dramatic turn of events, Witkoff, along with the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, abruptly cancelled the trip – underscoring growing tensions between Trump’s inner circle and Ukraine and Europe. The two US officials were reportedly furious with Volodymyr Zelenskyy after Ukraine pushed back against a proposal from the Trump administration to recognise Russia’s illegal 2014 annexation of Crimea.

For Moscow, it marked the latest symbolic victory in its efforts to pull the US closer to its side. Trump on Wednesday launched his latest tirade against Zelenskyy, placing sole blame for the lack of progress on the Ukrainian president.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump once again referred to him as “the man with ‘no cards to play’”, and claimed that Ukraine was facing a stark choice. “The situation for Ukraine is dire – He can have Peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country.”

From the outset, Vladimir Putin, flanked by trusted aides with decades of diplomatic experience, has worked to present Russia as the reasonable party in negotiations with Trump and keen to engage in talks, while painting Ukraine and its European allies as the ones standing in the way of peace.

That narrative appeared to be gaining traction in Washington until Kyiv pushed back, in effect calling Putin’s bluff by demanding an unconditional ceasefire, which Moscow promptly rejected.

Sensing that Putin was stalling, Trump, who appears desperate to secure a ceasefire within his first 100 days in office – by 30 April – started issuing rare public criticism of Russia.

The Russian leader quickly moved to curry favour with Washington, announcing a surprise Easter ceasefire – an offer the French foreign minister later described as an attempt to keep Trump from growing “impatient and angry”.

On Tuesday, the Financial Times reported that Putin had signalled a willingness to halt the invasion along the frontlines as they are now – in effect freezing the conflict, in what would mark the first tangible concession from his previously maximalist demands.

In exchange, Washington was reportedly prepared to formally recognise Russia’s annexation of Crimea and, implicitly, accept Moscow’s military gains since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.

A source familiar with Moscow’s thinking confirmed to the Guardian that Putin had floated the proposal during recent talks with Witkoff. However, the source also warned that the offer could be a strategic manoeuvre to draw Trump into accepting broader Russian terms.

Hints of what some of those demands could be began to emerge almost immediately. As in previous rounds of negotiations, Moscow appeared to soften its stance only to follow up with a series of fresh caveats.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, reiterated Russia’s opposition to the presence of European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine – a model Kyiv views as its best alternative to Nato membership to protect it from a renewed Russian assault.

Valentina Matviyenko, the speaker of the Russian federation council, the upper house of the Russian parliament, was even more direct: Russia will never take part in negotiations that involve the idea of deploying European forces on Ukrainian territory.

Even among Russia’s elite, it remains unclear whether Putin is intentionally stalling the peace talks or simply trying to squeeze as much as possible from Trump before committing to a course.

Konstantin Remchukov, a well-connected Kremlin-aligned newspaper editor, wrote in a column published on Sunday that Moscow could end the fighting once it had expelled all Ukraine’s forces out of the Russian region of Kursk.

“When they liberate the last half a per cent, then the troops can stop wherever they are when the news reaches them,” Remchukov wrote in the Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

But in an interview with the Guardian earlier this month, a source with close ties to senior Russian officials said Putin appeared prepared and willing to continue fighting for full control of the four Ukrainian regions he claimed as Russian territory in 2022.

There are also growing questions about how long Putin can sustain his delicate balancing act: keeping Trump engaged without provoking his anger.

JD Vance, the US vice-president, on Wednesday emphasised that the clock was running down. “We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians, and it’s time for them to either say yes – or for the US to walk away from this process,” he said, becoming the latest official to issue a warning.

Yet the Kremlin seems to be deliberately dragging its feet, with Peskov advising Trump this week against “rushing a resolution to the Ukraine conflict”.

For Alexander Baunov, a political analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, “Putin appears undecided: walk away from Trump, or continue trying to leverage him to serve Russia’s interests?”

However, with Trump unlikely to increase military support for Ukraine under any scenario, Baunov noted that “the prospect of the US pulling out of peace mediation between Russia and Ukraine doesn’t particularly alarm the Kremlin”.

“In that case,” Baunov said, “things would simply continue as they have in recent months, which, by most accounts, has worked to Russia’s advantage.”

For now, Moscow is focused on Witkoff’s next visit and other urgent matters – like picking out the next gift to flatter his boss, after Putin presented him with a kitschy Trump portrait last month.

Nuclear rivals India and Pakistan have moved closer to military confrontation as Islamabad closed its airspace to Indian aircraft and warned that any effort by Delhi to interfere with the supply of water under a decades-old treaty would be viewed as an act of war.

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.

“Pakistan declares the Indian defence, naval and air advisers in Islamabad persona non grata. They are directed to leave Pakistan immediately,” a statement from the office of the prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said after he had convened a rare national security committee meeting. It also said visas issued to Indian nationals would be cancelled.

“Any threat to Pakistan’s sovereignty and to the security of its people will be met with firm reciprocal measures in all domains,” the statement added, ordering the closure of borders, the cancellation of trade and the closure of airspace to Indian-owned or Indian-operated airlines.

“India has taken irresponsible steps and levelled allegations,” Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, told the Dunya News TV channel.

Dar said “any kinetic step [military action] by India would see a tit-to-tat kinetic response” from Pakistan, rekindling memories of February 2019 when a car suicide bombing in Kashmir brought the two countries to the verge of war.

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.

“Any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan as per the Indus waters treaty … will be considered as an act of war and responded [to] with full force across the complete spectrum of national power,” Islamabad said on Thursday.

India suspended the treaty on Wednesday, when it also accused Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism” and downgraded ties with its neighbour with a series of diplomatic measures. Pakistan has denied any role in the attack.

In response, Pakistan suspended the Shimla accord, the 1972 treaty that for decades formed the foundation of peace with India that was signed by the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, and Pakistan’s Zulfikar Ali Bhutto after the 1971 war that resulted in Bangladesh’s creation.

India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, vowed to pursue those responsible for Tuesday’s attack “to the ends of the Earth”.

Twenty-six men were killed in the tourist hotspot of Pahalgam, in the deadliest attack on civilians in the contested Muslim-majority territory since 2000.

“I say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer,” Modi said in his first speech since the attack.

Pakistan’s top diplomat in Delhi, Saad Ahmad Warraich, the charge d’affaires at the Pakistan embassy, was summoned by India’s ministry of external affairs on Wednesday evening, according to a diplomatic source and local media reports.

India had already closed a key land border with Pakistan and barred Pakistani citizens from entering under a visa exemption scheme.

Police in Kashmir published notices on Thursday naming three suspected militants alleged to have been involved in the attack, and announced rewards for information leading to their arrest. Two of the three are Pakistani nationals, according to the notices.

Modi has called for a meeting with opposition parties on Thursday to brief them on the government’s response to the attack.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947, with both claiming the Himalayan territory in full but governing separate portions of it.

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. It had until now withstood wars between the neighbours.

India would hold the treaty in abeyance, the country’s foreign secretary, Vikram Misri, said.

Diplomatic ties between the two countries had been loose even before the latest measures were announced, after Pakistan had expelled India’s envoy and said it would not post its own high commissioner to Delhi when India revoked the semi-autonomous status of Kashmir in 2019.

• Reuters, AP and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

Tensions between the arch-rivals India and Pakistan have escalated rapidly after the massacre of 25 Indian tourists and a Nepalese citizen in the disputed Himalayan Kashmir region on Tuesday, prompting warnings of a return to conflict.

A previously unknown Islamic militant group calling itself the Resistance Front has claimed responsibility for the attack, which India immediately linked to Pakistan, although it did not publicly produce any evidence. Pakistan has denied any involvement.

Among a string of punitive measures announced since Tuesday, India has downgraded diplomatic ties, suspended a crucial water-sharing treaty and revoked all visas issued to Pakistani nationals. In retaliation, Pakistan has closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or Indian-operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country.

Donald Trump has denied federal disaster relief funds to the people of Arkansas, which saw dozens of people die from a series of deadly tornados last month, so legislators are pleading for him to reconsider.

More than 40 people have been found dead after a series of tornados and severe storms hit Arkansas and neighboring states Mississippi and Missouri in March, according to CNN.

Given the scale of the disaster, the state’s Republican governor, Sarah Huckabee, requested federal disaster aid as a part of an emergency declaration. That request was later denied by the Trump administration.

Huckabee and other Arkansas lawmakers have since publicly asked Trump to reconsider his decision. Huckabee sent an appeal of the decision on 18 April. US senators Tom Cotton and John Boozman of Arkansas and US Representative Rick Crawford also followed up with a letter to Trump, asking him to “reconsider the denial”.

“As Governor Sanders noted in her request, these storms caused catastrophic damage across the state, resulting in disastrous amounts of debris, widespread destruction to homes and businesses, the deaths of three Arkansans, and injuries to many more,” the legislators wrote in a 21 April letter.

The letter continued: “Given the cumulative impact and sheer magnitude of destruction from these severe weather events, federal assistance is vital to ensure that state and local communities have the capabilities needed to rebuild.”

The latest denial of disaster funding comes as Trump has repeatedly stated that he wants to overhaul and eliminate Fema. In March, Trump signed an executive order for state and local governments to play a more active role in disaster relief.

“Preparedness is most effectively owned and managed at the state, local, and even individual levels, supported by a competent, accessible, and efficient federal government,” read the order.

“When states are empowered to make smart infrastructure choices, taxpayers benefit.”

Trump also ordered a review of Fema in January, later stating: “I say you don’t need Fema, you need a good state government,” while visiting the aftermath of the Los Angeles fires. He added: “Fema is a very expensive, in my opinion, mostly failed situation.”

Critics of Trump’s position have argued that he is weakening the US’s disaster readiness, especially as the global climate emergency makes natural disasters more likely and more intense.

Disaster management is also already in the hands of state and local municipalities, critics have noted. Any additional elimination of FEMA would mean slashing federal funding that states rely on after disasters.

The Guardian reached out to Fema for further comment.

The Trump administration has killed a landmark civil rights settlement requiring Alabama to address raw sewage pollution in majority-Black, residential areas south-west of Montgomery, dismissing it as an “illegal” diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) agreement.

The decision could condemn low-income people in Lowndes county, about 40 miles south-west of Montgomery, to indefinitely continue living with no or failing sanitation infrastructure.

Throughout recent decades, untreated sewage flowed from some residents’ toilets into their yards because the government has not provided sewer infrastructure, and residents could not afford septic systems. Failing septic systems in the region back up during rain, causing raw sewage to surface in yards, and some residents have dug ditches to try to drain it away from their homes.

Local officials did not offer assistance, and instead threatened residents who did not install new systems with prosecution or property seizure. The Biden administration negotiated the settlement with Alabama officials in mid-2023, using federal civil rights rules to resolve an environmental injustice for the first time.

“We will no longer push ‘environmental justice’ as viewed through a distorting, DEI lens,” the US Department of Justice assistant attorney general Harmeet Dhillon said. “President Trump made it clear: Americans deserve a government committed to serving every individual with dignity and respect, and to expending taxpayer resources in accordance with the national interest, not arbitrary criteria.”

The announcement comes after Donald Trump’s executive order banning federal agencies from pursuing initiatives and programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion.

At least 300 families have been affected and about 80% of septic systems were estimated to be failing in the region. The area is over 70% Black.

“We’re very concerned,” said Catherine Flowers, an author and environmental activist who was born and raised in Lowndes county, but now works on the issue from Huntsville. Failing sewage isn’t just a problem here, Flowers said, but throughout America. “The question is: is the Trump administration going to make this a priority?”

The state health department said it would continue to work with residents to fix the problem as long as funding is available, but that remains in question. Lowndes sits in the nation’s “Black belt”, and many of those struggling live in rural or unincorporated areas, where the poverty rate is about 30%.

The clay-like soil found in this part of the country makes the area unsuitable for water drainage; most homes in Lowndes are not hooked up to municipal sewer lines, relying instead on costly septic systems.

Many residents there face serious health risks. An independent study in 2017 found ringworm, which had largely been eradicated in the US. The justice department in 2021 opened an investigation after years of complaints, and as flooding increased with the climate crisis. It found local officials “failed to take meaningful actions to remedy these conditions” and often left residents to fend for themselves.

The situation “doesn’t have anything to do with DEI”, said Sarah Stokes, an attorney with Southern Environmental Law Center, which is based in Birmingham and has worked on issues in the region.

“It has to do with basic human rights, basic rights to water, basic rights to sanitation, and everybody deserves that – it doesn’t have to do with one group,” Stokes said.

In some instances, local officials “threatened residents of Lowndes county with criminal penalties and even potential property loss for sanitation conditions they did not have the capacity to alleviate”, the justice department found.

The properties “lacked access to basic sanitation services, and as a result, these residents have been exposed to raw sewage in their neighborhoods, their yards, their playgrounds, their schools and even inside their own homes”, Kristen Clarke, a former justice department attorney, said when the deal was announced.

Alabama health officials agreed to a range of actions to remedy the situation, and had made significant progress on some of it. The agency in December released a plan that called for the installation of 60 septic systems by the end of 2026. That goal is now in question.

In a statement to local media, the Alabama department of public health (ADPH) said: “The installation of sanitation systems and related infrastructure is outside the authority or responsibilities conferred upon ADPH by state law.

“Nonetheless, ADPH will continue working with subgrantees on installation of septic systems … until appropriated funding expires,” it continued. After that, it will “provide technical assistance to other organizations that may choose to engage in this work”.

Among those working with local residents is Cindy Lowry, executive director with the Alabama Rivers Alliance. She told the Guardian all the funding so far had largely come through federal avenues, and “there is not enough money to cover the need”. No philanthropic groups are involved.

Flowers said people in Lowndes “feel like they’re in limbo”.

“They’re praying and hoping that the program and funding will continue,” Flowers said.

The US interior department has announced plans to radically fast track permitting for projects involving fossil fuels and mining citing Donald Trump’s ‘energy emergency’ declaration that many experts say does not exist.

The move would reduce to a maximum of 28 days permitting procedures that previously could take multiple years, the department said late Wednesday.

Green groups immediately criticized the plans to boost planet-heating fossil fuels and questioned their legality describing them as an extreme change to the nation’s core environment laws.

The department said that reviews that now typically take around a year would be reduced to just 14 days while a full environment impact statement that usually took two years would now take less than a month.

The announcement will amplify fears the Trump administration will shrink federal protections for national monuments in the west.

Interior department officials are considering scaling back at least six national monuments spread across Arizona, California, New Mexico and Utah while analyzing the potential for drilling or mining in the areas, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

The interior department said the plans to fast track permitting were designed to “accelerate the development of domestic energy resources and critical minerals”.

“The United States cannot afford to wait,” said the secretary of the interior Doug Burgum. “President Trump has made it clear that our energy security is national security, and these emergency procedures reflect our unwavering commitment to protecting both.

“By reducing a multi-year permitting process down to just 28 days, the Department will lead with urgency, resolve, and a clear focus on strengthening the nation’s energy independence”.

Despite Trump’s claims that the US is facing an “energy emergency” the US is extracting more oil and gas than any other country in world history. Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” policy has also included attacks on efforts to transition to cleaner energy and unwind support for it by the Joe Biden administration despite sources like solar being cheaper and far less polluting than coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, an industry which the president recently announced executive orders trying to revive.

Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group, told the New York Times that the moves were a “sweeping curtailment of all meaningful public processes”.

He added: “This is manifestly illegal if for no other reason than this is all a fake emergency. We’ll be in court and we will challenge it.”

The permitting reviews will be drastically reduced using emergency powers in National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act and the National Historic Preservation Act.

Thousands of mourners lined up for hours on a second day to catch a glimpse of Pope Francis’s body, after St Peter’s Basilica stayed open all night to cope with the huge crowds who had come to pay their final respects.

The 16th-century basilica, where Francis’s simple wooden coffin is placed on the main altar, was scheduled to close at midnight on Wednesday but remained open until 5.30am to allow in those who still wished to enter. After just 90 minutes of cleaning, it was reopened at 7am.

The Vatican said that more than 60,000 people had viewed the late pontiff’s body since the basilica opened to the faithful for a three-day period that ends on Friday.

The pope, the head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, died at his home in Casa Santa Marta on Monday, aged 88, after a stroke and subsequent heart failure.

In interviews with Italian media, the head of the pontiff’s medical team said​ Francis had died quickly without suffering, and there was nothing doctors could have done to save his life.

Sergio Alfieri, a physician at Rome’s Gemelli hospital,​ said he got a phone call at about 5.30am on Monday to come quickly to the Vatican.​ “I entered his rooms and he [Francis] had his eyes open,” the doctor told ​Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper, adding: “I tried to call his name, but he did not respond to me … He was in a coma.

“In that moment, I knew there was nothing more to do.” The pope had been recovering from double pneumonia, which had kept him in hospital for five weeks. However, his recovery appeared to be going well. The day before he died, the pontiff had appeared in St Peter’s Square in an open-air popemobile to greet cheering crowds on Easter Sunday.

Alfieri​ said he last saw Francis on Saturday afternoon, and the pope “was very well”.

In a separate interview with La Repubblica news outlet, Alfieri said Francis had shared one final regret with him – not being fit enough to perform a foot-washing ritual on the feet of prisoners last week. The pope used to conduct the symbolic act of service and humility to echo the story of Christ’s washing of his disciples’ feet.

“He regretted he could not wash the feet of the prisoners,” said the doctor. “‘This time I couldn’t do it’ was the last thing he said to me.”

His body was moved to the basilica on Wednesday, when thousands of people started queueing for hours under the hot spring sun in St Peter’s Square to see Francis, who will lie in state until Friday evening.

In keeping with his requests for simple funeral rites, Francis was dressed in his vestments, holding a rosary, with his open casket lined with red cloth.

Unlike those of most of his predecessors, his coffin, which is being watched over by two Swiss Guards, has not been raised on a platform. That was one of the rituals Francis shunned when he simplified rules for papal funerals last year.

His funeral mass will take place at St Peter’s Square on Saturday morning, an event that will be attended by a host of world leaders and royals, including the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, the US president, Donald Trump, and Prince William. The Vatican has said 50 heads of state and 10 reigning monarchs will attend.

Francis will then be buried at the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome’s Esquilino neighbourhood, breaking with longstanding tradition. The Vatican released on Thursday a photo of the alcove in the church where he will be laid to rest, with only a simple inscription: “Franciscus”. The small niche, until the pope chose it for his burial spot, was used to store candlestick holders.

Mourners in St Peter’s Square had erupted into a prolonged but sombre applause on Wednesday as Francis’s coffin was carried through it by pallbearers in a solemn procession involving dozens of cardinals and bishops, and watched over by Swiss Guards.

The bells of the basilica gently tolled as a choir chanted psalms and prayers in Latin, repeating the call to “pray for him”.

“It was the most profound moment,” said Cardinal Thomas Christopher Collins, the former archbishop of Toronto, who was among the procession. “But from the simple prayers to the incense, it was no different to a [funeral] ritual that any baptised person would have.”

Francesco Catini, who travelled to Rome from Venice, waited for four hours to see Francis’s body. “It was a beautiful experience,” he said. “To me, Francis was a living example of peace, of love, and especially of humility and solidarity.”

Chiara Frassine, from Brescia in northern Italy, waited a similar amount of time. “I’m very happy to be here,” she said as she left the basilica. “Pope Francis had a pure soul. He was a humble point of reference for many people, not just Catholics.”

Not everyone waiting to pay their respects was Catholic. Standing at the end of the queue was Gunnar Prieß, from Germany, who arrived in the Italian capital on Wednesday morning.

“I booked a flight only to be here to see this,” he said. “I am not Catholic, but this is so majestic. What we’re seeing here today is the expression of a holy ritual that goes back 2,000 years. There’s an aura in the Vatican and I wanted to experience it.”

As the funeral rituals continue, speculation is rife about who will succeed Francis. On Wednesday evening, 103 cardinals met and approved nine days of mourning from the date of the funeral, with a conclave – the secret election process to choose a new pope – therefore not expected to begin before 5 May.

There is no clear frontrunner, although Luis Antonio Tagle, a reformer from the Philippines, and Pietro Parolin, from Italy, who were among the procession, are early favourites.

Collins will be involved in the conclave too and, at 78, will be among the 135 cardinals eligible to vote. But he declined to give any hint of who he thought could succeed Francis.

Reuters contributed to this report

Thousands of mourners lined up for hours on a second day to catch a glimpse of Pope Francis’s body, after St Peter’s Basilica stayed open all night to cope with the huge crowds who had come to pay their final respects.

The 16th-century basilica, where Francis’s simple wooden coffin is placed on the main altar, was scheduled to close at midnight on Wednesday but remained open until 5.30am to allow in those who still wished to enter. After just 90 minutes of cleaning, it was reopened at 7am.

The Vatican said that more than 60,000 people had viewed the late pontiff’s body since the basilica opened to the faithful for a three-day period that ends on Friday.

The pope, the head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, died at his home in Casa Santa Marta on Monday, aged 88, after a stroke and subsequent heart failure.

In interviews with Italian media, the head of the pontiff’s medical team said​ Francis had died quickly without suffering, and there was nothing doctors could have done to save his life.

Sergio Alfieri, a physician at Rome’s Gemelli hospital,​ said he got a phone call at about 5.30am on Monday to come quickly to the Vatican.​ “I entered his rooms and he [Francis] had his eyes open,” the doctor told ​Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper, adding: “I tried to call his name, but he did not respond to me … He was in a coma.

“In that moment, I knew there was nothing more to do.” The pope had been recovering from double pneumonia, which had kept him in hospital for five weeks. However, his recovery appeared to be going well. The day before he died, the pontiff had appeared in St Peter’s Square in an open-air popemobile to greet cheering crowds on Easter Sunday.

Alfieri​ said he last saw Francis on Saturday afternoon, and the pope “was very well”.

In a separate interview with La Repubblica news outlet, Alfieri said Francis had shared one final regret with him – not being fit enough to perform a foot-washing ritual on the feet of prisoners last week. The pope used to conduct the symbolic act of service and humility to echo the story of Christ’s washing of his disciples’ feet.

“He regretted he could not wash the feet of the prisoners,” said the doctor. “‘This time I couldn’t do it’ was the last thing he said to me.”

His body was moved to the basilica on Wednesday, when thousands of people started queueing for hours under the hot spring sun in St Peter’s Square to see Francis, who will lie in state until Friday evening.

In keeping with his requests for simple funeral rites, Francis was dressed in his vestments, holding a rosary, with his open casket lined with red cloth.

Unlike those of most of his predecessors, his coffin, which is being watched over by two Swiss Guards, has not been raised on a platform. That was one of the rituals Francis shunned when he simplified rules for papal funerals last year.

His funeral mass will take place at St Peter’s Square on Saturday morning, an event that will be attended by a host of world leaders and royals, including the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, the US president, Donald Trump, and Prince William. The Vatican has said 50 heads of state and 10 reigning monarchs will attend.

Francis will then be buried at the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome’s Esquilino neighbourhood, breaking with longstanding tradition. The Vatican released on Thursday a photo of the alcove in the church where he will be laid to rest, with only a simple inscription: “Franciscus”. The small niche, until the pope chose it for his burial spot, was used to store candlestick holders.

Mourners in St Peter’s Square had erupted into a prolonged but sombre applause on Wednesday as Francis’s coffin was carried through it by pallbearers in a solemn procession involving dozens of cardinals and bishops, and watched over by Swiss Guards.

The bells of the basilica gently tolled as a choir chanted psalms and prayers in Latin, repeating the call to “pray for him”.

“It was the most profound moment,” said Cardinal Thomas Christopher Collins, the former archbishop of Toronto, who was among the procession. “But from the simple prayers to the incense, it was no different to a [funeral] ritual that any baptised person would have.”

Francesco Catini, who travelled to Rome from Venice, waited for four hours to see Francis’s body. “It was a beautiful experience,” he said. “To me, Francis was a living example of peace, of love, and especially of humility and solidarity.”

Chiara Frassine, from Brescia in northern Italy, waited a similar amount of time. “I’m very happy to be here,” she said as she left the basilica. “Pope Francis had a pure soul. He was a humble point of reference for many people, not just Catholics.”

Not everyone waiting to pay their respects was Catholic. Standing at the end of the queue was Gunnar Prieß, from Germany, who arrived in the Italian capital on Wednesday morning.

“I booked a flight only to be here to see this,” he said. “I am not Catholic, but this is so majestic. What we’re seeing here today is the expression of a holy ritual that goes back 2,000 years. There’s an aura in the Vatican and I wanted to experience it.”

As the funeral rituals continue, speculation is rife about who will succeed Francis. On Wednesday evening, 103 cardinals met and approved nine days of mourning from the date of the funeral, with a conclave – the secret election process to choose a new pope – therefore not expected to begin before 5 May.

There is no clear frontrunner, although Luis Antonio Tagle, a reformer from the Philippines, and Pietro Parolin, from Italy, who were among the procession, are early favourites.

Collins will be involved in the conclave too and, at 78, will be among the 135 cardinals eligible to vote. But he declined to give any hint of who he thought could succeed Francis.

Reuters contributed to this report

As world leaders head to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, fraught Vatican officials will be poring over logistics in an effort to avoid diplomatic awkwardness.

Should Donald Trump be kept away from the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy? Or the French president, Emmanuel Macron, or Brazil’s leftist leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, or any Iranians that might appear? There may be relief that Vladimir Putin has said he will not attend, but will everyone expect front row seats?

The pope’s funeral provides an unexpected opportunity for impromptu international diplomacy and uncomfortable encounters. The 10am start means most heads of state and political leaders will arrive in Rome on Friday evening, with a brief window for meetings if desired.

“There will be some potentially really interesting dynamics at the funeral,” said Francis Campbell, who was the UK’s ambassador to the Holy See between 2005 and 2011.

The last comparable occasion, the funeral of Pope John Paul II in April 2005, was the “diplomatic event of the year”, according to the Center on Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California. It “brought numerous world leaders together, including many that would not normally appear in the same country, let alone the same room”.

The funeral came amid the intensity of the Iraq war – which John Paul II had opposed. When a closeup image of President George Bush’s face appeared on large outdoor television monitors, jeering erupted from the crowd.

Bush found himself sitting close to the leaders of Iran, Syria and Cuba. He and his ally Tony Blair gave them the cold shoulder.

In contrast, Prince Charles committed a diplomatic faux pas by shaking the hand of Zimbabwe’s pariah president Robert Mugabe, who had side-stepped an EU travel ban to attend the service. Charles was apparently caught by surprise when Mugabe leaned over to greet him. A statement later noted “the prince finds the current Zimbabwean regime abhorrent”.

Another handshake, between the presidents of arch-enemies Israel and Iran, was seen as a potentially historic moment – until Mohammad Khatami of Iran later denied the handshake ever happened.

Meanwhile, China boycotted the funeral because of the attendance of the Taiwanese president. The Vatican is one of only a handful of nations to have diplomatic relations with Taiwan – though its president will not be in Rome on Saturday.

The Holy See has envoys in most countries of the world. Known as nuncios, they have a diplomatic and a religious role.

“They know things that a normal ambassador doesn’t,” said Campbell. “People tend to trust priests more than diplomats, so the nuncios have access to huge amounts of information – especially outside capitals or in countries where there is conflict.”

The Holy See has on occasion intervened behind the scenes to try to resolve a crisis, said Campbell. “But it doesn’t advertise that,” he added.

In 2007, Pope Benedict helped secure the release of 15 British sailors captured by Iran. “He asked for their release at Easter as a goodwill gesture,” said Campbell. The intervention only became publicly known when a confidential briefing was leaked three years later.

More recently, the Vatican has been involved in efforts to end the war in Ukraine and has advocated for peace in Gaza and South Sudan. Earlier this year, the Vatican brokered a deal with Cuba that led to the release of hundreds of people jailed for taking part in anti-government protests.

Pope Francis also reached out to the Muslim world, signing a historic declaration of fraternity with the grand imam of al-Azhar in the first ever papal visit to the Arabian peninsula, in 2019.

“Some western countries have assumed that, because religion didn’t matter in their country to the same extent that it once did, therefore it didn’t matter to the rest of the world,” said Campbell.

“But the Roman Catholic church has a massive global spread. It has diplomatic relations with nearly every country, and almost 20% of the world’s population identifies as Catholic.

“The church’s diplomacy is deep and it is wide, but often it is invisible to the naked eye. The Holy See has a unique convening power that will play out on Saturday.”

A student at a French high school stabbed four other students at his school on Thursday, killing at least one and injuring three others before being arrested, police said.

The circumstances of the attack were not immediately clear. A national police official said it had taken place at the private Notre-Dame-de-Toutes-Aides high school in Nantes on the Atlantic coast.

The student stabbed four people with a knife during a lunch break before teachers subdued him, and he was later taken in by police, the official – who was not authorised to be named publicly – said.

A police spokesperson said there was no indication of a terrorist motive. Teachers had overpowered the student, 15, before police arrived, they said.

Fatal attacks are rare in French schools.

The education minister, Élisabeth Borne, said on X that she and the interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, were heading to the school to show “solidarity with victims and the school community”.

Images from the scene showed police and troops surrounding the school as the investigation got under way.

An official at the school, which is part of a complex housing a primary and middle school, would not comment on what happened. They said the school was concentrating on caring for the students who were on campus at the time.

Spain has scrapped a €6.6m (£5.7m) order for millions of bullets from an Israeli company after the junior partners in its coalition government denounced it as a “flagrant breach” of the alliance agreement that jeopardised the country’s sustained efforts to hold Israel accountable for its actions in Gaza.

The country’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has been one of the most outspoken critics of Israel’s conduct during the war in Gaza, questioning whether it is following international humanitarian law and calling the number of Palestinian deaths “truly unbearable”.

Sánchez’s rhetoric has been reinforced by Spain’s decision last year to formally recognise a Palestinian state, and by the government’s commitment to neither buy weapons from, nor sell weapons to, Israel since the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza that began with Hamas’s attacks on October 7 2023.

On Wednesday, however, it emerged that Spain’s interior ministry wanted the purchase of 15.3m rounds of 9mm ammunition from the Israeli company IMI Systems to go ahead because the the contract was too far advanced and too expensive to cancel. The ministry also said the cancellation of the contract would leave the Guardia Civil police force without the bullets they needed to fulfil their duties.

News that the contract was proceeding drew a furious response from the leftwing Sumar platform, which was founded by Yolanda Díaz, Spain’s labour minister and one of the country’s three deputy prime ministers. Sumar called for the immediate cancellation of the contract, while the leader of the platform’s United Left group said he and his colleagues would not tolerate “any part of the executive financing a genocidal state”. Israel denies allegations of genocide, which are being reviewed by the International Court of Justice in a case first brought by South Africa.

The arms deal had driven another wedge between the socialists and Sumar, who were already divided over Sánchez’s plans to invest €10.5bn to enable Spain to reach its long-delayed Nato commitment of spending 2% of its GDP on defence. Díaz’s platform has described the move as “incoherent” and “absolutely exorbitant”.

On Thursday morning, the offices of Sánchez and Díaz said the contract would be unilaterally cancelled and that an import licence for the ammunition would be denied. Announcing the scrapping of the deal, the government said “all paths of negotiation” had been exhausted over the issue, adding that legal advice was being sought over the matter.

“The parties that make up the progressive coalition government are firmly committed to the Palestinian cause and to peace in the Middle East,” government sources said. “That is why Spain will neither buy arms from, nor sell arms to, Israeli companies.”

The sources added that any unfulfilled arms orders from Israel placed before October 7 2023 would not proceed.

The World Economic Forum has launched an investigation into its founder, Klaus Schwab, after whistleblowers reportedly accused him of manipulating research, using company funds to pay for private massages, and asking junior staff to withdraw thousands of dollars on his behalf.

The allegations – reportedly sent last week in a letter to the WEF, which organises the annual gathering of economic leaders at Davos in Switzerland – accuse Schwab and his wife, Hilde, of financial and ethical misconduct, which the family has denied.

The accusations prompted Schwab’s resignation as the WEF executive chair on Monday after its board of high-profile trustees – which includes the BlackRock chief, Larry Fink; the IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva; the former US vice-president Al Gore and cellist Yo-Yo Ma – held an emergency meeting to look into the claims on Sunday.

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.

Schwab, known as “Mr Davos”, founded the WEF in 1971. It hosts the annual conference in the Swiss ski resort, which draws prime ministers, CEOs, celebrities and top financiers.

The whistleblower letter included a range of claims against the Schwab family, according to the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times. They include an allegation that Schwab used WEF funds to pay for private, in-room massages at hotels, asked staff to promote him for a Nobel peace prize, and instructed junior employees to withdraw thousands of dollars from ATMs on his behalf.

The letter also accused Schwab of manipulating the WEF global competitiveness report in order to curry favour with certain governments. The publication ranks countries based on criteria such as education, infrastructure, labour market and health systems, and is a point of reference for the annual Davos meeting.

Some allegations also extended to Schwab’s wife, Hilde, who formerly worked at the WEF. They suggested she scheduled “token” meetings using WEF money to justify luxury travel at WEF’s expense. The letter claims that Hilde also maintained tight control over the use of Villa Mundi, a grand property bought by the WEF overlooking Lake Geneva, and that portions of the building were reserved for the family’s private access.

The Schwabs have reportedly denied all the allegations, saying they were unsubstantiated and would be challenged in a lawsuit. A statement sent on behalf of the family to some media outlets on Wednesday claimed Schwab had been the victim of a “character assassination”.

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.

The Guardian contacted the WEF for comment, and was not immediately able to reach the Schwabs for comment.

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.

It comes two years after a group of employees and former staff of the WEF contacted the Guardian over concerns about how Schwab was running the organisation. They claimed that Schwab was a law unto himself and had surrounded himself with “nobodies” who were incapable of running the organisation he founded in the early 1970s. It followed criticism that WEF’s strategic partners – the firms that bankroll the business – were unhappy about the lack of a succession strategy.

On Monday, Schwab issued a statement through WEF announcing his resignation, saying: “Following my recent announcement, and as I enter my 88th year, I have decided to step down from the position of chair and as a member of the board of trustees, with immediate effect.”

The World Economic Forum has launched an investigation into its founder, Klaus Schwab, after whistleblowers reportedly accused him of manipulating research, using company funds to pay for private massages, and asking junior staff to withdraw thousands of dollars on his behalf.

The allegations – reportedly sent last week in a letter to the WEF, which organises the annual gathering of economic leaders at Davos in Switzerland – accuse Schwab and his wife, Hilde, of financial and ethical misconduct, which the family has denied.

The accusations prompted Schwab’s resignation as the WEF executive chair on Monday after its board of high-profile trustees – which includes the BlackRock chief, Larry Fink; the IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva; the former US vice-president Al Gore and cellist Yo-Yo Ma – held an emergency meeting to look into the claims on Sunday.

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.

Schwab, known as “Mr Davos”, founded the WEF in 1971. It hosts the annual conference in the Swiss ski resort, which draws prime ministers, CEOs, celebrities and top financiers.

The whistleblower letter included a range of claims against the Schwab family, according to the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times. They include an allegation that Schwab used WEF funds to pay for private, in-room massages at hotels, asked staff to promote him for a Nobel peace prize, and instructed junior employees to withdraw thousands of dollars from ATMs on his behalf.

The letter also accused Schwab of manipulating the WEF global competitiveness report in order to curry favour with certain governments. The publication ranks countries based on criteria such as education, infrastructure, labour market and health systems, and is a point of reference for the annual Davos meeting.

Some allegations also extended to Schwab’s wife, Hilde, who formerly worked at the WEF. They suggested she scheduled “token” meetings using WEF money to justify luxury travel at WEF’s expense. The letter claims that Hilde also maintained tight control over the use of Villa Mundi, a grand property bought by the WEF overlooking Lake Geneva, and that portions of the building were reserved for the family’s private access.

The Schwabs have reportedly denied all the allegations, saying they were unsubstantiated and would be challenged in a lawsuit. A statement sent on behalf of the family to some media outlets on Wednesday claimed Schwab had been the victim of a “character assassination”.

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.

The Guardian contacted the WEF for comment, and was not immediately able to reach the Schwabs for comment.

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.

It comes two years after a group of employees and former staff of the WEF contacted the Guardian over concerns about how Schwab was running the organisation. They claimed that Schwab was a law unto himself and had surrounded himself with “nobodies” who were incapable of running the organisation he founded in the early 1970s. It followed criticism that WEF’s strategic partners – the firms that bankroll the business – were unhappy about the lack of a succession strategy.

On Monday, Schwab issued a statement through WEF announcing his resignation, saying: “Following my recent announcement, and as I enter my 88th year, I have decided to step down from the position of chair and as a member of the board of trustees, with immediate effect.”

The UK’s new deal with the EU will be a break from “debates and arguments of the past,” the UK’s chief negotiator, Nick Thomas-Symonds, has said, pledging that growth would be the highest priority of the talks.

It comes as Keir Starmer prepares to meet the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, in London, as momentum builds towards a crucial EU-UK summit in May.

Amid pressure from MPs to agree a youth mobility deal, despite a cabinet split on the proposal, the Cabinet Office minister said in an article for the Guardian that the negotiations should move on from the turmoil of the Brexit years.

“Pursuing a new partnership with the EU is about meeting the needs of our times,” he wrote . “This is not about ideology or returning to the divisions of the past, but about ruthless pragmatism and what works in the national interest.”

The government is expected to seek far closer regulatory alignment with the EU on trade, a key source of division in the Brexit years, where Eurosceptics sought the furthest possible divergence from Brussels.

“We want to put more money in the pockets of working people and provide Britain with long-term stability and security; we won’t be defined by debates and arguments of the past,” Thomas-Symonds wrote.

In a hint that the government acknowledges how crucial the reset will be for both sides, with a recession looming fuelled by Donald Trump’s tariffs and with support for Ukraine wavering, Thomas-Symonds said Labour was “rising to meet the challenges in this new era of global instability”.

“The government needs to work with Britain’s allies on solutions that will minimise the impact of these global shocks,” he said.

It is understood the UK is on the verge of agreeing to enter into negotiations on three key topics: the youth mobility scheme, a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) deal to eliminate checks on food and drink being exported to the EU and entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain, and a deal on carbon emissions.

It is thought the SPS deal would be based on a deal the EU struck with Switzerland in 2023 but with substantial changes. A defence pact is almost sealed after the EU’s white paper on defence in March paved the way for British defence companies such as Babcock and BAE Systems to bid for money from the new €150bn (£129bn) EU defence fund.

UK and European sources also expect an announcement on trafficking and intelligence sharing as a way of signalling a tough approach to irregular migration.

Thomas-Symonds said the emphasis throughout the talks would be on the benefit that a new relationship could mean for people and businesses, and he said the time was right for the EU to fully reset its approach to the UK after years of political division.

“Britain is a politically stable country, and the government has a huge mandate, with over four years left to deliver our policies,” he said. “We’ve shown that Britain is back on the world stage and that it has a lot to offer.”

The minister said the meeting on Thursday between Starmer and von der Leyen would take stock of the progress made towards the 19 May summit “and make sure teams are meeting our aspirations – to grow the economy, boost living standards and keep the UK safe”.

But he said it would also mean sticking to the red lines of no return to the single market, the customs union or freedom of movement. “We will only agree an EU deal that meets the needs of the British people and respects the 2016 referendum result. By doing this we will to seize the opportunities in front of us to deliver a better future,” he said.

One key aspect of any deal is likely to be a youth mobility visa for Europeans. More than 60 Labour MPs urged Starmer to allow thousands of young Europeans to live and work in the UK, in a letter published by the Guardian on Wednesday.

The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said discussions on a potential scheme were ongoing, in the clearest hint yet that the government is preparing to do a deal.

Cabinet differences remain on the shape a youth visa deal could take. Reeves is said to be in favour of a deal that includes time-limited youth visas, the highest priority for Brussels, but the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has insisted on a cap on numbers, with a time limit of one year.

An implantable, non-hormonal male contraceptive has been shown in trials to last for at least two years.

The contraceptive, known as Adam, is a water-soluble hydrogel that is implanted in the sperm ducts, preventing sperm from mixing with semen.

The company behind the product, Contraline, says the approach offers a reversible alternative to condoms and vasectomies, with the hydrogel designed to break down in the body after a set period of time, restoring fertility.

Contraline has released details of its phase 1 clinical trial, revealing Adam can successfully block the release of sperm for 24 months, with no sperm detected in the semen of the two participants who have so far reached this time point in the trial. In addition, it said no serious adverse events had been recorded.

“This is really exciting because our goal since day one has been to create a two-year-long male contraceptive – that is what the demand is for: a two-year-long, temporary or reversible male birth control. And we have the first data to show that that’s possible,” said Kevin Eisenfrats, the founder and chief executive of Contraline.

Eisenfrats said the 25 participants in the clinical trial were enrolled at different points in time, with more results expected to follow. “It’s great proof of concept,” he added..

Eisenfrats said the implant was inserted in a minimally invasive procedure that took about 10 minutes and used local anaesthetic, meaning the patient remained awake.

Adam is not the first male contraceptive in development that acts by blocking the sperm ducts (vas deferens), although Eisenfrats said some other implants had used materials that did not break down in the body. He said there was little data to show fertility was restored after these were removed, while there were also concerns such implants could cause scarring of the vas deferens and lead to permanent sterilisation.

The results from the Adam clinical trial have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal and do not include data on the reversibility of the implant. However, Eisenfrats said the hydrogel had a predictable lifespan and had been shown to break down over time in animal trials, with work using lower doses in men revealing a shorter period of efficacy.

“The way to think about this is sort of like the IUD [intrauterine device] for men,” Eisenfrats said, adding that after a two-year period men could decide whether to get another implant. The team is working on a procedure to enable “on-demand reversal”. Eisenfrats said sperm tests could be used by men at home to check whether the contraceptive was still effective.

Contraline said it was expecting to begin a phase 2 clinical trial in Australia later this year involving 30 to 50 participants.

Prof Richard Anderson, an expert in hormonal male contraception at the University of Edinburgh, welcomed the findings. “It’s impressive that this looks like something that does actually work, which is great,” he said.

‘We’ve now got hormonal and non-hormonal methods in advanced clinical development, which is potentially a much better position than we’ve been in previously in terms of actually getting something on the market for men to really use.”

But Anderson and Prof Jon Oatley, of Washington State University, said at present no data had been released showing the reversibility of the Adam implant, and it remained unclear how long a single implant lasted.

Anderson also said it had yet to be shown that the implant could be removed, while Oatley said the long-term ramifications of blocking the vas deferens were unknown.

Oatley said that while the Adam implant could be a strong contraceptive option for men, uptake may be limited. “Given a choice of a pill, patch, injectable or surgery, I believe that most men would choose pill or patch over surgery,” he said.

Two US marines based on the Japanese island of Okinawa are being investigated for alleged rape, days after local authorities stepped up efforts to deter sexual and other crimes by US service personnel.

A marine in his 20s is suspected of raping a Japanese woman in a bathroom at a US military base last month, while a second man, also a marine in his 20s, allegedly raped a woman at a base in January, according to media reports.

The men, who were not named publicly, had been referred to Japanese prosecutors, the Kyodo news agency said.

The first man is also alleged to have injured a second woman as she attempted to stop the assault.

The Okinawa governor, Denny Tamaki, who is opposed to US military bases in the country, condemned the alleged rapes as “deplorable” and urged US military authorities to “take measures to prevent a similar incident”.

The US ambassador to Japan, George Glass, said he was deeply concerned by the reports.

Glass, who arrived in Japan last week, said: “We deeply value the ties of trust and friendship we have built over many decades with our Japanese hosts, and I am committed to doing everything I can to prevent actions that may jeopardise these bonds.”

The alleged rape cases are certain to anger civilians in Okinawa, a subtropical island that hosts more than half of the 47,000 US troops in Japan and two-thirds of US bases.

In 2024, 80 people connected to the US military were charged with crimes in Okinawa. Three servicemen have been indicted over alleged sexual crimes on the island since last June.

Other high-profile crimes, notably the 1995 abduction and rape of a 12-year-old girl by three US servicemen, inflamed anti-base sentiment on the island and prompted Washington and Tokyo to attempt to reduce the US military footprint.

In 2012, the two countries agreed to move 9,000 marines from Okinawa to the US Pacific territory of Guam and other locations, and to relocate a sprawling base in the middle of a heavily populated area to a remote coastal site. However, only about 100 marines have left Okinawa, and the base relocation has been delayed by legal and political challenges.

The US and Japanese governments say US troops in Okinawa act as a deterrent amid growing concern over Chinese military activity in the South and East China Seas, and North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

Last week, US military officials and Japanese police conducted a joint patrol of a popular entertainment district near a US airbase in Okinawa. It was the first time the two countries had conducted patrols together since 1974, two years after the islands that make up Okinawa prefecture reverted to Japanese control.

A performance by R&B star Kehlani at Cornell University in New York State has been cancelled, with the university’s president saying the booking of the singer had “injected division and discord” at Cornell, due to her making what were felt to be “antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments”.

Kehlani was due to perform at Slope Day, an annual Cornell celebration marking the end of the academic year. But president Michael I Kotlikoff wrote in a public statement: “In the days since Kehlani was announced, I have heard grave concerns from our community that many are angry, hurt, and confused that Slope Day would feature a performer who has espoused antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments in performances, videos, and on social media. While any artist has the right in our country to express hateful views, Slope Day is about uniting our community, not dividing it.”

Kehlani, whose first two albums reached the US Top 3 in 2017 and 2020, has publicly supported Palestine a number of times. She appeared in front of Palestinian flags in the video to her 2024 song Next 2 U, wearing a suit stitched with keffiyeh scarf material. The video also features the words “long live the intifada” at the outset, a phrase which has been chanted at protests over the Israel-Gaza war.

“Intifada” has been used to name particular armed conflicts between Palestinians and Israelis, and also to general Palestinian resistance to Israel. Some US politicians and academics have equated the term, which translates as “shaking off”, with calls for violence, even genocide, against Jewish people.

In an Instagram post announcing the song, Kehlani quoted US artist-activist Toni Cade Bambara’s aphorism “the role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible”, and added: “As an artist, i was nervous [to release Next 2 U]. terrified … paired with the crippling wonder of what music is appropriate to drop during the most historical tragedies of our generation.” A T-shirt made in Palestine was sold alongside the song to raise funds for aid organisation Operation Olive Branch.

In a video in May 2024 castigating some of her music peers for their lack of comments on the war, Kehlani said “fuck Israel, fuck Zionism”.

The Guardian has contacted representatives of Kehlani for comment.

Kotlikoff acknowledged that “my decision will be celebrated by some and criticised by others. I believe it is the right thing to do and the decision I must make to ensure community and safety at this high-profile event”.

Numerous US university campuses have seen pro-Palestine protests on their grounds since the October 2023 outbreak of war, and in March this year, 60 universities were sent warning letters by the Department for Education, telling them to “fulfill their obligations … to protect Jewish students on campus”. Secretary of education Linda McMahon characterised the campus protests as “relentless antisemitic eruptions”.

In a subsequent New York Times op-ed, without making direct reference to the warnings, Kotlikoff defended Cornell’s handling of a protest during an event with Israeli and Palestinian speakers. “Universities, despite rapidly escalating political, legal and financial risks, cannot afford to cede the space of public discourse and the free exchange of ideas,” he wrote. “Democracies are not silent places, and neither are universities. They are vibrant, active and sometimes unruly; differences are aired, disagreements argued, voices raised.”

Earlier this month, the Trump administration froze $1bn in federal funding for Cornell university, with university officials acknowledging they had received “more than 75 stop work orders” relating to various research grants.

The proposed Kehlani concert is the second live music event this week to face criticism over artists’ support for Palestine and condemnation of Israel, following the performance of Irish rappers Kneecap at California’s Coachella festival.

Their performance featured a backdrop with the words: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people” and “Fuck Israel. Free Palestine.”

Pro-Israel groups, Fox News presenters and Sharon Osbourne all criticised Kneecap, with Osbourne calling for their US work visas to be revoked and accusing them of “aggressive political statements … this band openly support terrorist organisations.”

Kneecap responded by saying: “Statements aren’t aggressive, murdering 20,000 children is though.”