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Vatikanstadt (AFP) – Hundreds of thousands of mourners, as well as world leaders, attend the funeral of Pope Francis. According to the Vatican, 400,000 people packed St Peter’s Square and lined the streets of Rome to bid farewell to the first Latin American leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. Francis sought to steer the centuries-old Church into a more inclusive direction during his 12-year papacy, and his death prompted a global outpouring of emotion.

Los Angeles (AFP) – Americans aged 19 to 31 comment on the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s second term as president in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, and Pennsylvania. They reflect on policy shifts, economic hopes, and what they see as deepening divides in the country they call home.

Buenos Aires (AFP) – Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Garcia Cuerva presides over a solemn Mass in honor of Pope Francis at the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral on the day of his funeral in Rome. IMAGES

Buenos Aires (AFP) – Hundreds of faithful gather in front of Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral to attend a solemn Mass honoring the late Pope Francis on the day his funeral is held in Rome. IMAGES

Buenos Aires (AFP) – Hundreds of faithful gather in front of Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral to attend a solemn Mass honoring the late Pope Francis on the day his funeral is held in Rome. IMAGES

(AFP) – The Russian army has fully liberated the border Kursk region from Ukrainian control with the help of North Korean soldiers, claims Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov, admitting their participation in the conflict for the first time. Shortly after, the Ukrainian army denied Russia’s claim to have driven Kyiv’s forces out of Kursk but acknowledged the situation on the battlefield was “difficult”.

Rom (AFP) – Tourists visit Rome’s papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, the church Pope Francis chose as his final resting place. He is the first pontiff to be buried outside the Vatican walls in more than a century. Francis declared his desire to be entombed in the basilica — known in English as the Basilica of Saint Mary Major — in 2023. The last pope to be buried there was Clement IX in 1669.

Abbottabad (AFP) – Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif says the armed forces are “prepared to defend the country’s sovereignty” after India accused Islamabad of being linked to an attack on tourists in Kashmir that left 26 dead.

Vatikanstadt (AFP) – World leaders arrive and pay their respects at the coffin of Pope Francis, who died on April 21 aged 88. The funeral sets off the first of nine days of official Vatican mourning for Francis, who took over following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in 2013. After the mourning, cardinals will gather for the conclave to elect a new pope to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

Buenos Aires (AFP) – Buenos Aires’ obelisk is illuminated with a photo of Argentine Pope Francis accompanied by the phrase “Pray for me” on the eve of his funeral, scheduled to take place in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican. The Catholic Church’s first Latin American pope died on Monday, April 21, aged 88, less than a month after his release from hospital where he spent weeks fighting severe pneumonia. IMAGES