Zelensky discusses talks with US officials, in visit to the east

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 22 that he had met top military commanders in the country’s north-east to discuss the front line in Ukraine’s war with Russia and meetings with US officials due to get under way in Saudi Arabia on March 23.

Mr Zelensky was shown on the media platform X with commanders in Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, a frequent target of Russian attacks.

He said he discussed front-line sectors in Ukraine’s east as well as in western Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops remain seven months after a cross-border incursion.

“We also prepared for the meeting between the Ukrainian and American delegations, that will take place tomorrow in Saudi Arabia,” the president wrote.

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Pope Francis to be discharged from hospital, doctor says

Pope Francis, who has been battling pneumonia for more than five weeks, will be discharged from hospital on March 23 but will need a further two months of rest at the Vatican, the head of his medical team said on March 22.

Francis, 88, was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Feb 14 with a severe respiratory infection that became the most serious health crisis of his 12-year papacy.

While Francis will return to the Vatican on March 23, his doctors said it would take “a lot of time” for his ageing body to fully heal.

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Tens of thousands protest against racism and far-right