Pope Leo XIV honoured Spain's centuries-old tradition of religious devotion on Sunday as a “school of faith” for today, as he presided over a Mass before a million people and a procession highlighting one of the most iconic expressions of Spanish popular piety: flower carpets. FRANCE 24's Sarah Morris reports.

Iran's World Cup squad is expected to arrive in Mexico early Sunday under the shadow of a bitter diplomatic row between Tehran and Washington, after the United States refused to issue visas for some team support staff.

Police clashed with anti-government protesters Saturday in eastern Bolivia, with gunfire reportedly wounding four officers, as authorities attempted to clear a road blocked by rural workers demanding President Rodrigo Paz's resignation. A month of heated demonstrations calling for the center-right Paz to step down have paralyzed the Andean nation, with about 100 protest blockades around Bolivia causing severe food and medicine shortages in major cities.

Peruvians will choose on Sunday their ninth president in 10 years, in a tight runoff election between conservative Keiko Fujimori and leftist Roberto Sanchez who are trying to woo voters fed up with political chaos and rising crime. Fujimori, daughter of former autocratic president Alberto Fujimori, is making her fourth bid for the presidency.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer 's office on Friday condemned comments by US Vice President JD Vance, who blamed immigration for the death of a university student who was handcuffed as he lay dying from a stab wound.

Pope Leo arrived in Spain on Saturday for a week-long visit, his first to an EU country outside Italy, where he will inaugurate ​a new tower ‌in Barcelona's famed Sagrada Familia basilica and meet migrants who braved dangerous Atlantic waters to reach ⁠Europe. FRANCE 24's Sarah Morris reports from Madrid.

A sea #drone self-destroyed in the Romanian port of Constanta. #Ukraine's navy said it had been knocked off course by Russian jamming.

President Volodymyr Zelensky ⁠pledged on Thursday that ​Ukraine would keep to a clear timetable in talks on joining the ​European Union and in sticking to its obligations with the 27-nation bloc. FRANCE 24's Mark Owen speaks with Georgia's former minister of Euro-Atlantic integration and professor at SciencesPo Paris Tornike Gorgadze.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding his fifth wartime economic conference in St. Petersburg, with the Russian economy stgnating and his government struggling for ways to resume growth. FRANCE 24's Nick Rushworth reports.

One ballot box, two competing battles. In Armenia, voters are heading to the polls to decide the future direction of their country. But beneath the political campaigns lies a far more insidious warfare. Analysts warn that a massive, coordinated network of foreign disinformation - much of it tracing back to Russia - is systematically weaponizing the deep-seated trauma of recent wars. FRANCE 24's Olivia Bizot reports from Yerevan.

Russia-U.S. talks on economic and energy issues continue despite a pause in Ukraine peace negotiations, Putin's special envoy Kirill Dmitriev told ​Reuters on Thursday, ‌adding he spoke to U.S. counterparts a day earlier. He spoke on the sidelines of the St Petersburg economic summit, where, as FRANCE 24's international affairs commentator Douglas Herbert explains, a veritable 'rogues' gallery' of notorious figures showed up in support of Putin's policies.

Anger is growing in #Albania over a plan to build luxury hotels and villas in a protected area on the #Adriatic coast. The project is being led by an investment #fund linked to #Trump's son-in-law Jared #Kushner. Protests started end of May after videos showed bulldozers on the #beach.

As the 2026 FIFA World Cup is set to kick off across the North American continent, hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico, Oliver Farry is pleased to welcome Thando Sibiya, Sports Presenter and Journalist. While the tournament was initially met with great fanfare: an expanded 48-country tournament hosted by three countries, Sibiya warns that the "deplorable issues" and multiple controversies risk "killing the ambiance" and keeping football fans and country supporters away. From exorbitant ticket prices to Donald Trump's hard-line immigration policies, many fans will now be forced to follow their team from their home country. This could very well be 'one of the least anticipated World Cups of this era', laments Sibiya.

⚽ Cabo Verde, #Brazil, South Africa... National teams are beginning to arrive in North America ahead of the 2026 football #WorldCup, due to start on June 11.

Ukraine recaptured more territory than it lost to Russian forces in May for the second straight month, according to data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Speaking with FRANCE 24's Mark Owen, Christina Harward, Russia Deputy Team Lead at ISW, says that successful tactical counterattacks as well as ramping up of long range missile and drone strikes in Russian territory have been key in slowing down the advance in Eastern Ukraine.

Four migrants ​working as fruit pickers in slave-like conditions in southern Italy have been burned to death in a grisly murder case that is prompting fresh national soul-searching over labour exploitation. The migrants were found on Monday in ​a burned-out ‌van parked in a petrol station in Amendolara, in the southern region ⁠of Calabria. Surveillance cameras showed two people setting the car alight before running away. FRANCE 24's Seema Gupta reports from Rome.

Britain’s interior minister accused activists of hijacking a tragedy to stir up violence after police were attacked at a protest over the death of a teenager who was handcuffed as he lay dying while his killer stood nearby. Speaking with FRANCE 24's Mark Owen, Aaron Edwards, Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Leicester, says that "we're seeing a populist challenge from the right which is feeding perceptions not founded in reality and promoting a moral panic".

Volodymyr Zelensky called Kyiv's attack on Saint Petersburg a 'fair' response to the deadly Russian strikes on several Ukrainian cities a day earlier. It is also a testimony to Ukraine's growing capacity to strike further inside Russia. FRANCE 24's Douglas Herbert tells us what that means for Russia.

Ukrainian drones hit energy and military sites in Saint Petersburg early Wednesday morning as officials gathered for a flagship economic forum in the city, Russian and Ukrainian authorities said.

Ukrainian long-range drones hit an oil terminal in the Russian city of St Petersburg on June 3, setting the facility ablaze. It came hours before Vladimir Putin's showcase economic forum got under way in the city, apparently an attempt to embarrass the Kremlin chief. Moscow said it would keep striking Ukraine systematically in response to such attacks.