Zelensky said he was currently focused on Ukraine’s security and it was not his “dream” to remain president for a decade.

Ukrainian legislation bans elections during martial law, which has been in place since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

EU and world leaders are due to head to Kyiv on Monday to show their support for Ukraine and discuss security guarantees.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are among those expected to attend the meeting in person.

Zelensky said the topic of Ukraine joining Nato would be “on the table” at the meeting but he did not know how the discussions would “finish”. He said he hoped the meeting would be a “turning point”.

On the topic of Trump, Zelensky said that he wanted to see the US president as a partner to Ukraine and more than a mediator between Kyiv and Moscow.

“I really want it to be more than just mediation…that’s not enough,” he told the press conference. His comments come as political leaders in Europe fear Kyiv is being sidelined in talks to bring an end to the war.

Zelensky was also asked about a potential deal the Trump administration has pushed for to provide the US access to Ukrainian rare earth minerals.

“We are making progress,” Zelensky said, adding that Ukrainian and US officials had been in touch about the deal.

“We are ready to share,” the Ukrainian leader said, but made clear that Washington first needed to ensure Russian President Vladimir Putin “ends this war”.

Health officials in Texas say those numbers are likely an undercount, as some parents may not report infections or may not realise their child has the disease.

“It is troubling, because this was completely preventable,” Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician and senior scholar at Johns Hopkins University, told CBS News, the BBC’s American news partner.

“It’s the most contagious infectious disease known to humans,” she added.

Symptoms of the highly infectious illness include fever, cough, runny nose, eye irritation and a signature rash.

A measles infection can have particularly devastating complications for pregnant women and young children, including pneumonia, neurological impairment, hearing loss and death, and survivors are at risk of developing a degenerative brain and nervous system disease known as subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE).

Most US children receive two shots to protect against the illness, which together are 97% effective in protecting against measles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Health experts say that the disease could be controlled or even eradicated with proper inoculation rates – generally defined as 95% of a community receiving the measles vaccine.

But vaccination rates have dropped in some communities in recent decades as a loose network of vaccine sceptics have without evidence questioned the safety and efficacy of the shots. Robert F Kennedy Jr, recently confirmed as President Donald Trump’s health secretary, faced strong criticism for his ties to these groups.

Most states require that children receive the MMR vaccine to attend school, but many, including Texas, also allow families to file a conscientious exemption – a non-medical reason to refuse a vaccine requirement.

In Texas, federal data shows that the state achieved a 94.3% vaccination rate among kindergarteners for the 2023-2024 school year, while New Mexico reached 95%. But a state survey of Texas schools found that rates of exemptions were ticking upwards for MMR and other required vaccines.

In Gaines County, where 57 of the Texas cases were reported, exemptions have surged over the last decade. State data shows 17.62% of students had a conscientious exemption to at least one required vaccine during the 2023-2024 school year, up from 7.45% in the 2013-2014 year.

Neighbouring Terry County, home to 20 cases, saw exemption rates go from zero to 3.73% in the same time period.

Texas officials reported that of the 90 cases in their state, 85 were in people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unclear.

CBS reports that the area is home to a large Mennonite community, which typically have low vaccination rates due to the group’s religious beliefs.

But some officials are reluctant to intervene.

“We respect everyone’s right to vaccinate or not get vaccinated,” Albert Pilkington, CEO of the nearby Seminole Hospital District, told the Texas Standard. “That’s just what it means to be an American, right?”

American children have been vaccinated against measles since 1963. The jab was improved and combined with vaccines for the mumps and rubella viruses about a decade later, and is widely considered to be safe.

Prior to the vaccine’s introduction, around 48,000 people were hospitalized with measles each year and 400–500 people died. In 2024, the US reported 285 cases with 114 hospitalisations.

Health officials in New Mexico are offering a free vaccine clinic this week in an effort to boost protection. Texas also directed residents to contact their doctors or visit a clinic to get vaccinated if they have not previously received a shot.

[BBC]

Later on Friday, Hegseth announced the firings of two additional senior officers: Chief of Naval Operations Adm Lisa Franchetti and Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen Jim Slife.

Adm Franchetti was the first woman to lead the US Navy.

All three top officers removed on Friday were appointed by Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden.

Hegseth said in a statement: “Under President Trump, we are putting in place new leadership that will focus our military on its core mission of deterring, fighting and winning wars.”

Trump said he would nominate Air Force Lt Gen Dan Caine – a career F-16 pilot who most recently served as CIA associate director for military affairs – as the new chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

Last year, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump recalled first meeting Gen Caine in Iraq. “He looked better than any movie actor you could get,” Trump told the audience.

In the same speech, he praised the US military but said it was “woke at the top”.