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Pope Leo to visit Turkey and Lebanon on first overseas trip as pontiff

Pope Leo will make his debut overseas trip as leader of the Catholic church on Thursday, travelling on a six-day mission of peace and unity to Turkey and Lebanon in what the Vatican said was expected to be a “demanding” schedule packed with meetings with political and religious leaders amid heightened Middle East tensions. In Turkey, a country with a Muslim majority and home to an estimated 36,000 Catholics, the Chicago-born pontiff, who was elected in May, will first meet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara. He will also meet Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world’s 260 million Orthodox Christians, for celebrations of the 1,700th anniversary of a major early church council in Nicaea, now İznik, which settled ideological disputes. Leo’s arrival is especially anticipated in Lebanon, where many fear a deepening conflict between Israel and Hezbollah after an Israeli strike earlier this week on a neighbourhood in southern Beirut that killed four Hezbollah operatives and one of the group’s most senior military commanders. Leo’s predecessor, Francis, who died in April, had planned to visit both countries but was unable to because of ill health. Leo is considered more of a moderate, low-key operator than the charismatic but often divisive Francis, and the choice of Turkey and Lebanon for his first overseas trip is highly strategic, while also presenting an opportunity for the pope to show the world his style and personality. In recent weeks, Turkish media has buzzed with images of Vatican delegations touring the country, while in Beirut banners showing Pope Leo’s smiling face have lined the stone outer walls of churches in the Lebanese capital’s central Christian neighbourhoods. “This is a trip where Leo will get to promote one of the central themes of his papacy, peace – and he’ll have two different audiences in mind,” said Christopher White, a Vatican expert and author of Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy. “One will be world leaders: Turkey and Lebanon are strategic locations for him to double down on his efforts for peace in Ukraine and in the Middle East and with this being his first foreign outing, he’ll have the attention of world leaders closely following the trip.” The second audience will be Christian leaders, as Leo attempts to unite the region’s long-divided churches. He would especially use the anniversary celebrations in Turkey “to remind believers what they share in common is far greater than their divisions,” White said. The pope will also visit the Blue Mosque in Istanbul and will celebrate a Catholic Mass at the city’s Volkswagen Arena. Leo’s arrival in Lebanon on Sunday afternoon comes during a period in which many fear a potential return to the two-month Israeli bombing campaign that blanketed southern Lebanon and Beirut last year. Karim Emile Bitar, a professor of international relations at the Saint Joseph University of Beirut, said Lebanon’s Christian community would be looking to the pope for a message of unity at a time when the country remained deeply polarised. “This visit matters because the Vatican has historically been the main protector of Lebanese national unity and of Lebanese territorial integrity,” he said. “Most states have political or economic interests. The Vatican is one of the last moral authorities in the world that genuinely tries to promote peace and justice without any hidden agenda.” Bitar said he believed Leo would “find the right words” during a visit that had “the potential to demonstrate that global powers like the Vatican can attempt to heal divisions in Lebanese society without pursuing their own political interests”. He added: “Even though this visit is symbolic, and even though the Vatican has no army and no military influence, the simple fact that this is a man who speaks to people with genuine goodwill may matter more than the representatives of heavily militarised regional powers who are pushing Lebanon toward fragmentation.” Leo will lead prayers in Beirut’s port, where a deadly blast destroyed swaths of the capital in 2020, and visit a psychiatric hospital run by the Catholic church. The Turkey trip had been on the agenda for some time before Leo received the official invitation to Lebanon, where leaders hope the papal visit will bring world attention to a country also in deep economic strife. “He immediately embraced it,” said Andrea Vreede, Vatican correspondent for NOS, the Dutch public radio and TV network. “Going to Lebanon means being able to talk about peace in the Middle East, in a really war-torn country, and very near to Israel. I’m not sure if he’ll speak directly about Gaza but he will obviously use Lebanon as a platform for peace.” The Lebanese, meanwhile, “want some hope from him”, added Vreede. “It’s a country that is also in huge economic crisis … they see this visit as basically the only miraculous thing that can help them.” After Francis in 2021 made the high-risk trip to Iraq, where he visited Mosul, the northern city devastated by Islamic State militants, Leo has faced some criticism for not visiting Christian communities in southern Lebanon. “He won’t go there – it’s too unsafe,” said Vreede. Meanwhile, Christians in other countries are hoping he will visit them, too. Inside the Maronite church in Bab Touma, a historically Christian neighbourhood in the Syrian capital of Damascus, Fahed Dahta said he was overjoyed at the visit to the region. “This visit is enormously important to people. We need peace in the Middle East. I want peace for the entire region, and an end to all of these wars: Israel-Lebanon, Israel-Palestine, Israel and Syria,” he said. “He represents peace: He’s the pope!”

St Vincent prime minister seeks record sixth term in tight election

Voters in St Vincent and the Grenadines will go to the polls on Thursday with Ralph Gonsalves seeking a record sixth consecutive term as prime minister. The elections are expected to be a tight contest between the ruling Unity Labour party, which has been in power since 2001, and the opposition New Democratic party.In the last election, ULP won nine of 15 seats, but the NDP won the popular vote. The ULP has been campaigning on the party’s economic development record. According to a recent World Bank assessment, economic growth is expected to remain “robust at 4% in 2025”. The report said that “despite multiple shocks in recent years, economic activity recovered and remained strong in 2025, supported by tourism and infrastructure investment”. In the past decade, the country has suffered setbacks such as the pandemic, the La Soufrière volcanic eruption of 2021 and catastrophic storms such as Hurricane Beryl, which devastated the archipelago last year. Gonsalves has presided over the building of the country’s first international airport, facilitating a tourism boom that has drawn hotel brands such as Sandals and Holiday Inn. The prime minister has been a global champion of climate justice and slavery reparations. He has also prioritised education, allowing people who would not otherwise be able to afford university to get undergraduate and postgraduate degrees through scholarships. But the opposition has accused the ruling party of “failure and broken promises”, citing the rising cost of living and unemployment, especially among young people. The NDP has promised more and better-paid jobs, to address rising crime and violence and to improve healthcare and infrastructure. The opposition has also pledged to follow other Caribbean countries in introducing a programme to allow individuals to gain citizenship through significant financial contributions to the economy. St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is the only member of the six-state Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States not to offer citizenship by investment. Supporters of his party have questioned Gonsalves’ leadership, said Adrian Fraser, a historian and former head of the University of the West Indies’ global campus in SVG. He added: “You have the leader of that party who is 79. Next year, he would be 80. So there are people who are calling for a change and who are wondering why the leader, the prime minister, would want to continue at this age.” The NDP is led by Godwin Friday who took the reins in 2016 and has been in parliament since 2001. Some of the party’s campaigning focused on the government’s vaccine mandate during the pandemic, which required most frontline workers to be jabbed and resulted in some losing their jobs. In 2021, Gonsalves was taken to hospital after being hit in the head with a stone in a demonstration against the mandate. During this year’s election campaign, questions have surfaced over whether an NDP government would end close diplomatic ties with Taiwan to pursue a relationship with China. The NDP said in 2016 it would align itself to Beijing and adopt a “one China” policy, which is the diplomatic acknowledgement of Beijing’s position that there is only one Chinese government and Taiwan is a breakaway province. Under Gonsalves’ leadership, SVG has continued to cooperate with Taiwan over infrastructure, education and healthcare. The relationship has yielded benefits such as the scholarships, support for the international airport and help with the construction of a state-of-the-art hospital. The latest NDP manifesto does not specify a position on Taiwan. It speaks about “reviewing … international partnerships” but also about broadening and deepening relations with other countries, while only mentioning the UK. Emanuel Quashie, an international relations lecturer at the University of the West Indies, said the NDP should have clarified its position, considering it had once proposed a switch to China. “Switching from Taiwan to China just like that would have serious, not just political, but economic implications for SVG … not least the students who are currently studying in Taiwan and some of the projects that Taiwan is currently funding … such as the modern hospital that we are building,” Quashie said.

European progressives must tackle housing crisis to beat far right, say researchers

Centre-left parties can build a broad new coalition of support if they tackle Europe’s deepening housing crisis, researchers have said. Conversely, ignoring it risks pushing increasingly fed-up voters into the arms of the far right. Research by the Progressive Politics Research Network (PPRNet) suggests dramatic rises in the cost of housing over recent years have eroded support for centre-left parties – once the champions of affordable housing – and fuelled anti-establishment disaffection. “Housing affordability has become a critical economic and political issue,” said Prof Aidan Regan of University College Dublin. “With credible solutions, progressive parties can reclaim that space, and bring voters with them – but it will need real political will.” A Eurobarometer survey last year found that rising prices and the cost of living – of which housing costs are the largest single component – had become the biggest issues shaping voter choices in the 2024 European parliament elections. Over the past two decades, average house prices across the EU as a whole have surged by almost half, while rents have grown by nearly a quarter. Housing costs in major EU cities increased by about 50% between 2015 and 2023 alone. House prices and rents have far outpaced wage increases, and are the biggest financial commitment most people face. They average 20% of household income across the EU, but with huge variations. In Ireland and Denmark, for example, costs are 80% above that average. However, the researchers noted, as the postwar view of housing “as a social right” has steadily given way to a model in which it is seen mainly “as a financial asset”, housing is also – for owners – the biggest source of wealth. Even under centre-left governments and local authorities, postwar social housing and rent control policies have largely been replaced by large-scale public housing sell-offs, mortgage deregulation and tax policies favouring ownership. Martin Vinæs Larsen of Aarhus University said data from Denmark – which is echoed elsewhere – showed the dramatic slowdown in social housing construction since the 1980s was not primarily driven by right-wing parties, but by the country’s Social Democrats. “Our research shows that, after the mid-1990s, Social Democratic control of local councils simply no longer translated into more social housing,” Vinæs Larsen said. “The political effort to expand social housing effectively disappeared.” This, he said, reflected changes in “who mostly lives in social housing, and who votes Social Democrat”. The former are increasingly likely to be less well off and from an immigrant background, while the latter are becoming more educated and affluent. But, Vinæs Larsen added, the scale of the housing crisis today meant there was now “a real opening for social democratic parties”, because a lot of left-leaning voters such as teachers and nurses “are basically being locked out of cities”. He said there were obstacles, including high newbuild costs, nimbyism, tighter eligibility rules that make it harder to frame social housing as serving the middle classes and “the narrative that social housing mainly benefits immigrant communities”. But he also cited possible solutions, such as higher social housing rents – as long as they are still cheaper than private ones. “People are absolutely in the market for this,” Vinæs Larsen said. “Social housing can again be a more universal good – not just a safety net.” Regan said similar dynamics would boost centre-left parties that manage to expand access to affordable ownership – the preferred model for most Europeans. Across the EU, only Germany has more rented homes than owner-occupied ones. Ownership in Europe, particularly among lower-income households and the young, has fallen over the past two decades, he added, and real electoral dividends await parties that can make it “affordable, accessible, and detached from speculation”. To achieve that, Regan said, centre-left parties should redefine ownership as “long-term security for low- and middle-income households, not a vehicle for speculative wealth. It should complement, not crowd out, public and non-profit rental sectors.” As things stand, inequality was “baked in” he said. “Homeowners are cushioned by wealth gains; tenants are stuck with high housing costs and little prospect of ownership; and younger generations without parental support are locked out.” People want “somewhere to live that’s stable, secure and affordable”, he said. “It’s pretty basic stuff. But there’s a whole generation out there who don’t have that, who are paying exceedingly high rents and have no hope of buying anytime soon.” Regan admitted the obstacles – such as rethinking mortgage systems so they enable affordable ownership without fuelling speculation – are considerable. But above all, “the narrative has to change”, he said. “Reframing housing as essential public infrastructure is the key. Housing is where the left can turn real material struggles into political power, and really rebuild a winning electoral coalition.” If it does not, the PPRNet researchers warned, Europe’s far-right parties will benefit. “There’s no evidence from countries such as Hungary or Austria that people vote for far-right parties for their housing policies,” said Dorothee Bohle from the University of Vienna. “But there’s plenty that the housing crisis is fuelling [that is] increasing support for these parties. In regions where house prices stagnate or fall, voters turn to the populist right. Likewise among lower-income voters in areas where local rents rise.” Moreover, Bohle said, far-right parties were actively “redefining housing, not as a social right but as a question of national identity, of family values, stability and private ownership. They target the middle classes and the ‘deserving poor’.” She added that her analysis of radical right parties in Hungary, Austria, Denmark, Germany and Poland revealed a common ideology that could be summed up as “housing-as-patrimony”, tying housing inequality to nativism and “family values”. Bohle cited the Fidesz party in Hungary as an example. It has linked housing to its pro-natalist agenda, with non-refundable grants for Hungarian families who promise to have children. “It’s about using housing to build on existing inequalities – and create new ones,” she said.

Jakarta overtakes Tokyo as world’s most populous city, according to UN

Jakarta has overtaken Tokyo as the world’s most populous city, according to a UN study that uses new criteria to give a more accurate picture of the rapid urbanisation driving the growth of megacities. The Indonesian capital is home to 42 million people, according to an estimate by the population division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs in its World Urbanisation Prospects 2025 report published this month. Jakarta is followed by the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka with 37 million people. With a population of 33 million, Tokyo – defined in the study as a megalopolis that includes three neighbouring prefectures – slipped to third place. That contrasts dramatically with the UN’s previous report in 2018, which placed the Japanese capital top with a population of 37 million. The shift in rankings is the result of new methodology that is more consistent in the way it categorises cities, towns and rural areas, according to UN officials. Earlier assessments using data from countries based on wildly varying definitions tended to prioritise Tokyo, said Patrick Gerland, head of the UN department’s population estimates and projection section. “The new assessment … provides a more internationally comparable delimitation of the urban extent based on similar population and geospatial criteria,” Gerland said. The number of people living in cities has more than doubled since 1950, when urban dwellers accounted for 20% of the world’s 2.5 billion people, according to the report. Now they comprise nearly half of the planet’s 8.2 billion people. By 2050, two-thirds of global population growth is projected to occur in cities, and most of the remaining one-third in towns, the report added. The number of megacities – defined as those with at least 10 million inhabitants - has quadrupled from eight in 1975 to 33 in 2025. Nine out of the 10 most populated cities – Jakarta, Dhaka, Tokyo, New Delhi, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Cairo, Manila, Kolkata and Seoul — are in Asia. “Urbanisation is a defining force of our time,” said Li Junhia, the UN undersecretary-general for economic and social affairs. “When managed inclusively and strategically, it can unlock transformative pathways for climate action, economic growth, and social equity.” Metropolitan Tokyo’s 33 million people are spread out across a wide area that takes in the surrounding prefectures of Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa. The latter includes Yokohama, itself a city of 3.7 million people. According to the new criteria, Tokyo was the world’s most populous city until around 2010, when it was replaced by Jakarta. While the Tokyo region used in the UN study has mirrored the rest of Japan in experiencing population decline in recent years, the city itself is heading in the opposite direction. According to the Tokyo metropolitan government, the population of the 23 special wards and 26 smaller cities comprising what might be called “Tokyo proper” is currently just over 14 million, compared to 13.2 million a decade ago. Net migration to the Japanese capital slowed during the Covid-19 pandemic, but has since recovered, driven by an influx of young people seeking work and education opportunities, according to the internal affairs ministry.

Ukraine war briefing: Witkoff peace plan call angers Republicans

Steve Witkoff’s handling of a proposed Ukraine peace plan has been harshly criticised by several congressional Republicans. “This so-called ‘peace plan’ has real problems, and I am highly skeptical it will achieve peace,” Senator Roger Wicker, the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement. Those fears escalated after Steve Witkoff reportedly coached Moscow on how to handle Trump, Joseph Gedeon reports. “For those who oppose the Russian invasion and want to see Ukraine prevail as a sovereign & democratic country, it is clear that Witkoff fully favors the Russians,” Republican representative Don Bacon wrote on X. “He cannot be trusted to lead these negotiations. Would a Russian paid agent do less than he? He should be fired.” Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, wrote that the leak represented “one of the many reasons why these ridiculous side shows and secret meetings need to stop”. Senator Mitch McConnell suggested Trump might need to find new advisers. Vice-president JD Vance accused McConnell of making a “ridiculous attack”. Donald Trump Jr. said on social media McConnell was “just bitter and lashing out against my father”. Americans involved in the Ukrainian war effort are dismayed by Trump’s continuing pressures on Kyiv. Ben Makuch reports some think the US-led peace plan is tantamount to backstabbing. “Complete bullshit and a betrayal by Trump,” said one American special forces veteran who has helped train and advise the Ukrainian military. “But are you even surprised?” A Nato veteran who trains Ukrainian soldiers said money is motivating the US government and called the plan “pathetic”. Russia said on Wednesday that ongoing talks to end the war in Ukraine were “serious”. In comments to Russian state TV, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the draft required “truly serious analysis”. “Some aspects can be viewed positively, but many require special discussions among experts,” he said. The original plan ignited a storm of criticism, with claims it was just a Russian “wish list”. The European Commission president has warned against “the unilateral carving up of a sovereign European nation” as Europe scrambles to assert influence over the US’s attempt to end the war, Jennifer Rankin reports. Speaking on Wednesday, Ursula von der Leyen said Russia showed “no signs of true willingness to end the conflict”. “If today we legitimise and formalise the undermining of borders, we open the doors for more wars tomorrow, and we cannot let this happen,” she said. Von der Leyen welcomed Trump’s efforts to find peace but made clear that Europe had many concerns about the details outlined in the original 28-point plan. According to data analysed by AFP from the American Institute for the Study of War, Russian forces have conquered an average of 467 sq km (180 sq miles) each month in 2025 – a step up from 2024. Moscow’s troops are now fighting for four key settlements in the Donetsk region: Lyman, Siversk, Kostiantynivka, and Pokrovsk. Their loss would weaken Kyiv’s defences and supply lines, putting the last major settlements controlled by Ukraine in the region, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, at risk. The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday it reached a staff-level agreement on a new four-year, $8.2bn program for Ukraine as the country faces mounting wartime fiscal pressures. The IMF said the agreement, which replaces the existing $15.6bn Extended Fund Facility approved in March 2023. “Russia’s war continues to take a heavy toll on Ukraine’s people and its economy,” it said in a statement.

Tom Phillips case: New Zealand to hold public inquiry into disappearance of fugitive father and children

A public inquiry will be held into the authorities’ handling of the disappearance of fugitive father Tom Phillips with his three children, who hid in New Zealand’s wilderness for nearly four years, the government has announced. Phillips disappeared into the rugged North Island wilderness with his children just before Christmas in 2021, following a dispute with their mother. He did not have legal custody of his children. In August, he was killed in an exchange of fire with police after reports of a burglary in the remote town of Piopio, in the central North Island. A police officer was shot and required surgery. Two of Phillips’ children were found at a campsite in Waitomo later that day, and it is understood the third child was with Phillips at the time of the shooting. The children are now in the custody of Oranga Tamariki, the country’s child protection agency. The attorney general, Judith Collins, said on Thursday the decision to establish a public inquiry was due to the significant public interest in the case, and concern with the children’s welfare. “The inquiry will look into whether government agencies took all practicable steps to protect the safety and welfare of the Phillips children,” Collins said in a statement. “It is important that we establish the facts and determine whether agencies could take steps to prevent or resolve similar situations more quickly and effectively in the future.” The terms of reference cited the “exceptional, if not unique” facts of the case and said the inquiry would investigate agencies’ engagement with Phillips before and after he disappeared. Justice Simon Moore KC has been appointed the sole member of the inquiry, which will be conducted in private to ensure the children’s safety. A report is due back in July 2026. The vast Waikato region where Phillips hid is made up of long sweeping coastline to the west, forested terrain and farmland in the centre, limestone cave networks to the north and a smattering of small rural towns and settlements throughout. The terrain frustrated police attempts to find him and prompted multiple searches, offers of rewards, and pleas for information from family members and the police. New Zealand struggled to understand how, in a country of close-knit communities, Phillips could have evaded detection but police believe Phillips received outside help and inquiries into identifying those who aided him are under way.

Death toll in Hong Kong tower block fire rises to 44 with hundreds still missing

The death toll from a huge fire that engulfed several residential tower blocks in Hong Kong has risen to 44, with 45 in critical condition and hundreds reported missing. A taskforce has been set up to investigate the cause of the fire, which broke out on Wednesday afternoon at the Wang Fuk Court residential complex in Tai Po, in the northern New Territories. The complex is made up of eight 31-storey towers containing about 2,000 flats, which house about 4,800 people. Authorities said early on Thursday that three men aged between 52 and 68 had been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter connected to the fire. The city’s leader, John Lee, said in the early hours of Thursday morning that the fire was “coming under control”. Authorities declared the incident a five-alarm fire, the highest emergency rating, and at least 128 fire engines and almost 800 firefighters were dispatched to the scene. Roads including major highways near the towers have been closed. “The priority is to extinguish the fire and rescue the residents who are trapped,” Lee said. “The second is to support the injured. The third is to support and recover. Then, we’ll launch a thorough investigation.” Shortly after the fire broke out, Derek Armstrong Chan, the deputy director of Hong Kong’s fire services operations, said: “The temperature inside the buildings concerned is very high. It’s difficult for us to enter the building and go upstairs to conduct firefighting and rescue operations.” At least one firefighter, named as Ho Wai-ho, 37, was among the dead. Videos from the scene show flames spread across the towers and visible on every floor, flaring out of windows. Dozens of shocked residents, many sobbing, watched from nearby pavements as smoke funnelled up from the complex. “There’s nothing that can be done about the property. We can only hope that everyone, no matter old or young, can return safely,” a Tai Po resident who gave their surname as So told Agence France-Presse near the scene of the fire. “It’s heartbreaking. We’re worried there are people trapped inside.” Harry Cheung, 66, who has lived at Block 2 in one of the complexes for more than 40 years, said he heard a loud noise about 2.45pm (6.45am UK time) and saw fire erupt in a nearby block. “I immediately went back to pack up my things,” he told Reuters. “I don’t even know how I feel right now. I’m just thinking about where I’m going to sleep tonight because I probably won’t be able to go back home.” A resident who gave his surname as Wong, 71, broke down in tears, saying his wife was trapped inside one of the buildings. The Wang Fuk Court towers are among the tallest in Tai Po, which, like much of Hong Kong, is among the most densely populated areas in the world. Many residents are elderly, according to 2021 census data reported by CNN. The Hong Kong government said all departments were coordinating to assist the response effort and affected residents. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, expressed his condolences for the victims, China’s state broadcaster said late on Wednesday. Officials were reported as saying the fire had started in some of the external bamboo and mesh scaffolding that encased the towers before spreading inside them, but the exact cause is unknown. Building standards in Hong Kong are relatively high and vastly improved in recent decades, but the Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims, a local advocacy group, expressed deep concern about fires associated with scaffolding, noting similar incidents in April, May and October. Hong Kong’s high property prices have long been a source of social discontent in the city and the fire could stoke resentment towards authorities ahead of a city-wide legislative election in early December. Bamboo scaffolding is a ubiquitous sight across Hong Kong’s construction and renovation sites, though the government has said it was being phased out for safety reasons. The Tai Po district authorities have opened shelters in local community halls, at least one of which local media reported was full by Wednesday night, and police have set up a casualty hotline. Several forums and campaign events related to the 7 December elections that had been scheduled for the coming days have been cancelled. The fire is the most deadly in Hong Kong in years. In November 1996, 41 people died in a commercial building in Kowloon in a level five fire that lasted for about 20 hours.