Russia has regained control of Kursk, the border region where Ukraine launched a surprise offensive last year, President Vladimir Putin said.

“The Kyiv regime’s adventure has completely failed,” Putin said.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

During the Francis papacy, the role of women in the church emerged as a pressing priority, with Catholics across the globe calling for change.

The Argentine pontiff listened, breaking some important glass ceilings in the Vatican when it came to appointing female leaders to senior positions. He chose to make gradual changes that, to the outside may have seemed like small steps, but were huge leaps to those on the inside.

The pope appointed the first woman leader of a department in the church’s central administration and the first female president of the office governing the Vatican City State. Francis also chose the first women to sit at the board level in the church’s central administration, including at the influential department for choosing bishops.

By 2023, 10 years into his pontificate, the percentage of women in the Vatican workforce had risen from 19.2 to 23.4%. More broadly, Francis gave women the power to vote for the first time at a major global gathering of bishops, known as a synod, and formally opened up non-ordained ministry roles as he sought to increase participation.

On Holy Thursday last year he broke with tradition by travelling to a female prison in Rome to wash the feet of 12 women prisoners. It was the first time a pontiff had only washed the feet of women in the annual ceremony that emphasizes humility.

But while the pope made some landmark reforms, many will be hoping that his successor moves further, and faster, and there was sometimes sharp criticism of his stance on the role of women in society.

Kim Daniels, the director of Georgetown University’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life and a Vatican adviser on communication, said the pope had “made significant strides towards greater inclusion of women in church decision-making” and that his reforms to broaden participation would be key to his legacy.

The lack of opportunity for women in the church is likely to come into sharp focus during the forthcoming papal conclave: Only members of the all-male body which is the College of Cardinals will vote on who will become the next pope.

It highlights a wider concern that Catholics across the world have raised in recent years: That while women frequently make up a majority in the pews on Sunday, they are scarcely represented at the church’s decision-making levels. Although lay people are increasingly more involved in church administration, it is primarily bishops and priests who make final decisions.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that women are on the front lines of the church’s work on the ground, with nuns providing healthcare and education in developing countries and plenty of women leading Catholic schools and universities.

On the question of female involvement in a conclave, some have argued that women could be made cardinals, given the role of a cardinal is primarily to advise a pope and elect his successor.

Ordination questions

Sister Christine Schenk, an American nun, author and founder of international reform-focused group “FutureChurch,” said it was time to give a “deliberative voice” to women and lay people at “every level of the church,” adding that if the same model of electing a pope remains in place, “we need as many female cardinals as male cardinals at the conclave.”

A more realistic possibility in the short term is allowing women to once again become deacons, an ordained ministry distinct from the priesthood. Deacons can witness marriages, perform baptisms and preach during Mass. Those in favor point to evidence for female deacons in scripture and their presence in the early church right up until the Middle Ages.

Women deacons could also bolster the church’s presence in schools, hospitals and prisons, along with providing leaders for Catholic communities. Church leaders in the Amazon, where priests are in short supply, raised the question at a 2019 synod, calling on the pope to “promote and confer ministries for men and women in an equitable manner.” A 2024 synod concluding document, approved by the pope, said that the question of ordaining women as deacons should remain an “open” question.

To that end, several Vatican commissions were set up study the question of female deacons were established by Francis, although no findings were never made public.

Francis maintained the ban on women’s ordination as priests and deacons, something which disappointed those keen to see women in more visible church leadership roles, but insisted that decision-making and leadership doesn’t depend on whether someone is ordained. He repeatedly stated that the church is female and asked for theologians to help in trying to “de-masculinize” it.

Centuries of misogyny

Significantly, a live debate in the church about the role of women is being allowed to take place. Schenk described it as the most impactful shift during the Francis pontificate, ending the marginalization of “Catholics who wish to discuss full inclusion of women in every aspect of church ministry and decision-making.”

“The question Francis looked at is how to get more people involved in the work of the church, in as many ways and places as possible. That is why he appointed women to senior roles in the Vatican,” said Hofstra University Professor Phyllis Zagano, a member of the first commission on female deacons.

“On the question of women deacons, Francis was trying to deal with centuries of misogyny that misunderstood the role of women in the church and society. The synod process he started tried to get the church away from a male-only perspective and to look at women, rather than as a problem to be solved, but as able to be fully involved in the church’s work. Restoring women to the ordained diaconate reinforces the trajectory the church has been on.”

Despite the various ways Francis initiated reforms and made appointments, there is still a long way to go until women are given greater roles and responsibility in the church. The next pope is likely to find this topic right at the top of his in-tray.

“Previously the Vatican – indeed many, if not most, prelates – were leery of even using the words ‘women’ and ‘ministry’ in the same sentence,” said Schenk. “Now such issues are being openly discussed – something long overdue and a sign of newfound strength and maturity in a church that no longer fears discerning (and) discussing changes in how we walk together as the People of God.”

US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held crunch war talks in the heart of the Vatican minutes before the start of the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, as the White House mounts an increasingly urgent push to strike a peace deal in Ukraine.

Photographs released by the Ukrainian presidency showed the two leaders huddled in close discussion without aides in the ornate surroundings of St. Peter’s Basilica.

A White House spokesman accompanying Trump said that the two leaders “met privately today and had a very productive discussion.” A spokesman for Zelensky said the meeting lasted for about 15 minutes, and the leaders agreed to continue talks, possibly later Saturday.

It was the first face-to-face encounter between Trump and Zelensky since a disastrous White House meeting in February, when the President and other US officials publicly berated Zelensky for being insufficiently grateful for US support and briefly suspended arms shipments and intelligence sharing.

US involvement in talks

The US has been applying more pressure on Ukraine after threatening last week it could walk away from the talks “within days” if it becomes clear a deal cannot be reached.

Trump said Friday that Russia and Ukraine are “very close to a deal” that would end the conflict, which Russia launched in 2014 and escalated with its full-scale invasion of its neighbor in 2022.

“A good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine. They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social after landing in Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis.

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for three hours on Friday, according to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, who said the talks were “constructive and very useful.”

Before leaving Kyiv for Rome on Friday, Zelensky suggested a number of compromises with the goal of advancing peace talks.

“In the coming days, very significant meetings may take place — meetings that should bring us closer to silence for Ukraine,” he said.

“We are ready for dialogue, I emphasize again, in any format with anyone,” he said, but “only after a real signal that Russia is ready to end the war. Such a signal is a complete and unconditional ceasefire.”

Kyiv and Moscow have not met directly since the early weeks of Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbor. Any direct talks would likely require further discussion and add delay to the diplomacy the Trump administration has hoped will yield results in a matter of days.

Accepting that Ukraine would not join NATO in the foreseeable future, he said: “I think we have to be pragmatic. We have to understand what security guarantees Ukraine needs.”

Zelensky said those guarantees might include a military contingent from Europe and what he called a “backstop” from the United States.

“For us, the backstop does not necessarily have to be boots on the ground in Ukraine,” Zelensky said, but could include cyber defense “and above all Patriot air defense systems.”

On Thursday, Kyiv was hit by the largest wave of Russian missile strikes since July last year. Twelve people were killed.

‘Ukraine Deal Framework’ still faces hurdles

Zelensky also spoke Friday of what he called “constructive” proposals drawn up in London this week between Ukrainian and European officials.

A copy of those proposals was obtained by Reuters. Titled “Ukraine Deal Framework,” it proposes a full and unconditional ceasefire in the sky, on land and at sea, as Ukraine has previously agreed to.

The draft proposed Ukraine would receive “robust security guarantees including from the US … while there is no consensus among Allies on NATO membership.” Those would be similar to those in NATO’s Article 5, under which all members are obliged to assist an attacked nation.

One part of the draft that is likely to be opposed by Moscow says that “the guarantor states will be an ad hoc group of European countries and willing non-European countries.” There would be “no restrictions on the presence, weapons and operations of friendly foreign forces on the territory of Ukraine,” nor on the size of the Ukrainian military.

The draft says negotiations on territory would begin after the ceasefire comes into effect, and their starting point would be the current frontlines. But it adds that Ukraine would regain control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has been occupied by Russian forces since March 2022.

On the proposed minerals agreement between the US and Ukraine, which would give the US access to billions of dollars-worth of rare metals, the draft says Ukraine will be fully compensated financially, including through Russian assets that will remain frozen until Russia compensates damage to Ukraine.

Moscow is also likely to oppose that.

The draft obtained by Reuters does not mention specifically mention Crimea. Witkoff’s plan proposed the US recognize Crimea as part of Russia, but did not suggest that Ukraine also had to. Recognizing Russian control of Crimea, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, would cross a major red line for Ukraine and its European allies, and would be in breach of established international law.

Zelensky rejected the idea, saying there was “nothing to talk about” as such a recognition would be against Ukraine’s constitution. He told reporters Friday: “I agree with President Trump that Ukraine does not have enough weapons to regain control of the Crimean peninsula by force of arms. But the world has sanctions opportunities, other economic pressure.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that his country has regained control of Kursk, the border region where Ukraine launched a surprise offensive last year, though Ukraine’s army says fighting continues.

“The Kyiv regime’s adventure has completely failed,” Putin said Saturday, congratulating the Russian forces that he said defeated the Ukrainian military in the region in what would be a symbolic boost for Moscow at a crucial point in the war.

But the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in a Telegram post that Putin’s claim about the end of hostilities in Kursk was “not true.”

“The defensive operation of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the designated areas in Kursk region continues. The operational situation is difficult, but our units continue to hold their positions and perform their assigned tasks,” the Telegram post said.

Ukraine launched its shock incursion into Kursk in August, swiftly capturing territory in what was the first ground invasion of Russia by a foreign power since World War II.

Since then, Russia, with support from North Korean soldiers, has been fighting to oust Ukraine’s forces from its borders, while Kyiv had poured precious resources into holding onto its territory there, with the view of using it as a key bargaining chip in any peace talks. The operation was also launched to relieve pressure from the embattled eastern frontline.

In his address, Putin said recapturing Kursk “creates conditions for further successful actions of our troops in other important areas of the front.”

In a post on Telegram, Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, thanked the North Korean soldiers, praising their “high professionalism, steadfastness, courage and heroism in battle.”

Ukrainian officials and Western intelligence reports found that about 12,000 North Korean soldiers had been sent to fight in Russia.

If Putin’s claims are true, hopes of using Kursk as a bargaining counter are now gone and Ukraine’s retreat has the potential to dent Kyiv’s political clout as well as its military’s morale after three years of war and with intense efforts underway towards finding peace.

Though the US has attempted to broker peace talks between Ukraine and Russia over recent months, tensions between the leaders of the three countries have meant that very little has come to fruition.

Another whirlwind week of diplomacy saw US President Donald Trump accuse Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of making it “so difficult to settle this war” for refusing to accept Russia’s annexation of Crimea but later saying Russia and Ukraine were “very close to a deal.”

On Saturday morning, at the funeral of the late Pope Francis in the Vatican, Zelensky briefly met with Trump for talks on potential peace negotiations. A White House spokesperson called the meeting “productive,” while Zelensky thanked Trump for the meeting, writing on X that it “has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results.”

This story has been updated.

Five people have been killed and more than 700 injured in a huge explosion at the port of Bandar Abbas in southwestern Iran, according to official Iranian media.

The head of the Iranian emergency services said four people had died in the blast. A spokesperson for the emergency services earlier said 516 had been injured.

A video distributed by the Mehr news agency showed surveillance footage of the moment of the explosion, which appears to have occurred in a warehouse at the port. Other footage showed helicopters dropping water at the site of the fire ignited by the explosion.

Debris was spread over a wide area and many buildings at the port complex were badly damaged, according to state media. Windows within a radius of several kilometers were shattered, they said.

Some reports said people were trapped in the wreckage of a building that was reduced to rubble.

The region’s governor, Mohammad Ashouri Taziani, said injured people were being transferred to Bandar Abbas medical centers and the fire had been contained. The port has been closed and maritime operations suspended, according to state media.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered an investigation into the causes of the incident. He wrote on X that the interior minister had been sent to the region to “examine the dimensions of the accident.”

State broadcaster IRIB said the explosion took place in the chemical and sulfur area of the port.

A government spokeswoman, Fatemeh Mohajerani, said it would take some time to establish the cause of the explosion – “but so far what has been determined is that containers were stored in a corner of the port that likely contained chemicals which exploded. But until the fire is extinguished, it’s hard to ascertain the cause.”

Shahid Rajaee is a large facility for container shipments, covering 2,400 hectares (around 5,900 acres). It handles 70 million tons of cargo annually, including oil and general shipping. It has nearly 500,000 square meters (5.4 million square feet) of warehouses and 35 shipping berths.