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Pope Francis Makes Brief Easter Appearance, Calls for Gaza Ceasefire

Pope Francis stands on the main balcony of St Peter's basilica during the Urbi et Orbi message and blessing to the city and the world as part of Easter celebrations, at St Peter's square in the Vatican on April 20, 2025. (AFP)
Pope Francis stands on the main balcony of St Peter's basilica during the Urbi et Orbi message and blessing to the city and the world as part of Easter celebrations, at St Peter's square in the Vatican on April 20, 2025. (AFP)
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Pope Francis Makes Brief Easter Appearance, Calls for Gaza Ceasefire

Pope Francis stands on the main balcony of St Peter's basilica during the Urbi et Orbi message and blessing to the city and the world as part of Easter celebrations, at St Peter's square in the Vatican on April 20, 2025. (AFP)
Pope Francis stands on the main balcony of St Peter's basilica during the Urbi et Orbi message and blessing to the city and the world as part of Easter celebrations, at St Peter's square in the Vatican on April 20, 2025. (AFP)

Pope Francis reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in an Easter Sunday message read aloud by an aide as the pontiff, still recovering from pneumonia, looked on during a brief appearance on the main balcony of St Peter's Basilica.

The 88-year-old pope, limiting his workload on doctors' orders, did not preside over the Vatican's Mass for Easter but appeared at the end of the event for a twice-yearly blessing and message known as the Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world).

Before a five-week hospital stay for pneumonia, which nearly killed him, Francis had been ramping up criticism of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave "very serious and shameful" in January.

In the Easter message, the pontiff said the situation in Gaza was "dramatic and deplorable". The pope also called on Palestinian group Hamas to release its remaining hostages and condemned what he said was a "worrisome" trend of antisemitism in the world.

"I express my closeness to the sufferings ... of all the Israeli people and the Palestinian people," said the message.

"I appeal to the warring parties: call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace," it said.

Hamas last week rejected an Israeli proposal for another temporary truce, instead demanding a deal to end the war in exchange for the release of hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday he had instructed the Israeli military to intensify pressure on Hamas.

The war was triggered by the Hamas-led October 7 attack on southern Israel in 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, more than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, according to local health authorities. The Gaza health ministry says 1,600 people have been killed in the past month.

Earlier on Sunday, Francis held a meeting at the Vatican with US Vice President JD Vance, who has been visiting Italy over the weekend.

The Vatican said the meeting with Vance was brief, "lasting a few minutes", in order to exchange Easter greetings. 

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World

Thousands Stage Pro-Gaza Rally in Istanbul

Demonstrators gather on the Galata Bridge holding Palestinian and Turkish flags during a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Demonstrators gather on the Galata Bridge holding Palestinian and Turkish flags during a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
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Thousands Stage Pro-Gaza Rally in Istanbul

Demonstrators gather on the Galata Bridge holding Palestinian and Turkish flags during a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Demonstrators gather on the Galata Bridge holding Palestinian and Turkish flags during a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Thousands joined a New Year's Day rally for Gaza in Istanbul Thursday, waving Palestinian and Turkish flags and calling for an end to the violence in the tiny war-torn territory.

Demonstrators gathered in freezing temperatures under cloudless blue skies to march to the city's Galata Bridge for a rally under the slogan: "We won't remain silent, we won't forget Palestine," an AFP reporter at the scene said.

More than 400 civil society organizations were present at the rally, one of whose organizers was Bilal Erdogan, the youngest son of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Police sources and Anadolou state news agency said some 500,000 people had joined the march at which there were speeches and a performance by Lebanese-born singer Maher Zain of his song "Free Palestine".

"We are praying that 2026 will bring goodness for our entire nation and for the oppressed Palestinians," said Erdogan, who chairs the board of the Ilim Yayma Foundation, an educational charity that was one of the organizers of the march.

Türkiye has been one of the most vocal critics of the war in Gaza and helped broker a recent ceasefire that halted the deadly war waged by Israel in response to Hamas' unprecedented attack on October 7, 2023.

But the fragile October 10 ceasefire has not stopped the violence with more than more than 400 Palestinians killed since it took hold.

World

Ukraine Says Overnight Russian Drone Attack Damaged Power Infrastructure

In this handout photograph taken by the Ukrainian Emergency Service and released on January 1, 2025, Ukrainian firefighters extinguish a fire at the site following an air attack in Odesa region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE / AFP)
In this handout photograph taken by the Ukrainian Emergency Service and released on January 1, 2025, Ukrainian firefighters extinguish a fire at the site following an air attack in Odesa region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE / AFP)
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Ukraine Says Overnight Russian Drone Attack Damaged Power Infrastructure

In this handout photograph taken by the Ukrainian Emergency Service and released on January 1, 2025, Ukrainian firefighters extinguish a fire at the site following an air attack in Odesa region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE / AFP)
In this handout photograph taken by the Ukrainian Emergency Service and released on January 1, 2025, Ukrainian firefighters extinguish a fire at the site following an air attack in Odesa region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE / AFP)

A Russian drone attack damaged power infrastructure in several Ukrainian regions overnight, Ukraine's energy ministry said on Thursday.

The ministry said a "significant number" of households in the ⁠Volyn and Odesa regions - in northwestern and southwestern Ukraine, respectively - were disconnected from power supplies by the ⁠strike, as well as some in the Chernihiv region north of the capital Kyiv.

The governor of Volyn said more than 103,000 households in that region had ⁠lost power as a result of the attack. Volyn region is several hundred kilometers from the front line and borders NATO member Poland.

Meanwhile, the Ilskiy oil refinery in Russia's southern Krasnodar region was hit by debris from a Ukrainian drone, causing a fire which ⁠had been put out overnight, local authorities said on Thursday.

Ukrainian drones also struck an energy storage facility in the Russian city of Almetyevsk, causing a fire that has since ⁠been extinguished, Russian media cited the press service of the local governor as saying.

Almetyevsk ⁠is located around 1,700 km from Ukrainian-held territory, in the oil-rich Volga river region of Tatarstan.

Kyiv has since August stepped ⁠up drone attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure in an effort to squeeze Moscow's ability to finance its military campaign in Ukraine.

The Russian-installed governor of Ukraine's southern Kherson region accused Ukraine on Thursday of killing at least 24 people, including a child, in a drone strike on a hotel and cafe where New Year celebrations were being held.

The governor, Vladimir Saldo, made the allegation in a statement on the Telegram messaging service. A local pro-Russian news outlet published pictures of a badly damaged building, where it said the strike took place.

Ukraine's military did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Reuters was not able to ⁠immediately verify the images or the allegation.

World

‘Several Tens’ Dead, About 100 Injured in Fire at Swiss Alps Resort During New Year’s Celebration

Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)
Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)
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‘Several Tens’ Dead, About 100 Injured in Fire at Swiss Alps Resort During New Year’s Celebration

Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)
Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)

“Several tens of people” are presumed dead and about 100 injured, most of them seriously, following a fire at a Swiss Alps resort town bar during a New Year’s celebration, police said Thursday.

Specific casualty figures were not immediately available from the fire at the bar called bar called Le Constellation.

Beatrice Pilloud, attorney general of the Valais Canton, said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire. Experts have not yet been able to go inside the wreckage.

Police said they could not immediately be more precise about how many people had been killed in the blaze.

The injured were so numerous that the intensive care unit and operating theater at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, according to regional councilor Mathias Rénard.

Helicopters and ambulances rushed to the scene to assist victims, including some from different countries, officials said.

“We are devastated,” Frédéric Gisler, commander of the Valais Cantonal police, said during a news conference.

The municipality had banned New Year’s Eve fireworks due to lack of rainfall in the past month, according to its website.

In a region busy with tourists skiing on the slopes, the authorities have called on the local population to show caution in the coming days to avoid any accidents that could require medical resources that are already overwhelmed.

The community is in the heart of the Swiss Alps, just 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the Matterhorn, one of the most famous Alpine peaks, and 130 kilometers (81 miles) south of Zurich.

The highest point of Crans-Montana, with a population of 10,000 residents, sits at an elevation of nearly 3,000 meters (1.86 miles), according to the municipality’s website, which says officials are seeking to move away from a tourist culture and attract high-tech research and development.

The municipality was formed only nine years ago, on Jan. 1, 2017, when multiple towns merged. It extends over 590 hectares (2.3 square miles) from the Rhône Valley to the Plaine Morte glacier.