Foreign News
Thousands at Iran president’s funeral procession
Thousands of Iranians have gathered on the streets of Tabriz to mourn President Ebrahim Raisi after he was killed in a helicopter crash.
Mourners followed a funeral procession through the city in north-west Iran while waving Iranian flags and portraits of the late president.
Raisi and seven others were killed when a helicopter they were travelling in crashed in a mountainous area of Iran on Sunday.
Despite the huge crowds, not all Iranians supported the president and many celebrated his death on social media.
On Tuesday crowds of mourners followed a lorry carrying the coffins of Mr Raisi and those who died with him, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said in a speech: “We, the members of the government, who had the honour to serve this beloved president, the hardworking president, pledge to our dear people and leader to follow the path of these martyrs.”
From Tabriz, Raisi’s body will be flown to Qom, which is considered the second most sacred city in Iran after Mashhad. His body will then be moved to Iran’s capital Tehran.
Processions will be held in the city on Wednesday morning and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will lead prayers at a farewell ceremony.
Raisi is then expected to be buried in his birthplace, Mashhad, on Thursday.
The helicopter crashed on Sunday, close to the border with Azerbaijan, where Mr Raisi had been meeting the country’s President Ilham Aliyev.
According to local media he was there to open the Qiz Qalasi and Khoda Afarin dams.
State television announced his death in a report early on Monday. The bodies of the president and others who died in the crash had been recovered and search operations had ended, the Iranian Red Crescent also confirmed.
Killed alongside the president and the foreign minister were provincial officials, members of his security team and flight crew.
Raisi, 63, was a hard-line cleric and his election as president in 2021 consolidated the control of conservatives over every part of the Islamic Republic.
State media has said elections will be held on 28 June to choose a new president.
In the meantime, Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber has been appointed to assume interim duties.
(BBC)
Pope Francis, who has been battling pneumonia for two weeks, has had an “isolated” breathing crisis in hospital, the Vatican has said.
It led to an episode of vomiting and a “sudden worsening of his respiratory condition” on Friday following the coughing “bronchospasm”.
The 88-year-old received gas through a face mask to help him breathe.
In an update on Saturday, the Vatican said the Pope had a “peaceful night and is resting”.
[BBC]
European leaders have rallied behind Volodymyr Zelensky after Donald Trump’s furious exchange with the Ukrainian president in the White House.
The leaders of Germany, France, Spain, Poland and the Netherlands were among those who posted social media messages backing Ukraine – with Zelensky responding directly to each one to thank them for their support.
The Ukrainian president has arrived in London to attend a summit hosted by UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer who “retains unwavering support for Ukraine”, Downing Street said.
It comes after extraordinary scenes in the Oval Office on Friday as US President Trump clashed with Zelensky, telling him to make a deal with Russia “or we are out”.
[BBC]
Three people have died in Reunion after Cyclone Garance swept through the French Indian Ocean territory with gusts of up to 234km/h (145mph).
The tropical cyclone left more than 180,000 homes without power and 170,000 without running water after making landfall on Friday morning.
The remote island’s entire population – including emergency services and police – were ordered to stay indoors as the maximum alert level was imposed.
Heavy storm rains were expected to continue on Friday evening, with Prime Minister Francois Bayrou warning on X that the cyclone remained a threat.
The “brutal and violent” conditions were worse than Cyclone Belal, which killed four people on the island in January 2024, Prefect Patrice Latron said.
Garance made landfall in the north of Reunion at 10:00 local time (06:00 GMT), before sweeping south and exiting the island by late afternoon, according to weather agency Meteo France.
Local authorities reduced the alert level by midday to allow emergency services and police to leave their shelters.
The top wind speed of 234km/h had not been recorded on the island since Cyclone Hollanda in February 1994.
Vincent Clain, 45, a resident of the island’s northern coast, told news agency AFP: “This is the first time I’ve seen a cyclone this powerful, and also the first time I’ve been afraid.”
Some 100 troops and firefighters were on standby to be dispatched from the French territory of Mayotte nearly 1,500km (930 miles) away when conditions eased, as well as 100 from mainland France.
Meanwhile, a 55-year-old man went missing in nearby Mauritius on Wednesday after going swimming in rough seas.
France’s Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said Friday that Garance was of a “rare intensity”, while Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said armed forces stood ready to provide assistance.
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