US citizen Leo, who has clashed with Donald Trump over several issues, submits his vote by post in Chicago

Pope Leo has voted in the US midterm elections – the first time a sitting pontiff is known to have cast a ballot in any political election at any time in history.

Leo, who has clashed with the US president, Donald Trump, over several issues, submitted his vote by post in Chicago, where he was born, the Vatican said on Friday. Leo became the first American leader of the Catholic church last year after the death of Pope Francis.

Medics indicate pontiff’s tumour had not spread, but doubts remain about planned trip to South America next month

Pope Leo will not need any further ⁠treatment after undergoing lung cancer surgery last week, his doctors said, indicating ⁠that his tumour had ⁠not ​spread.

The ⁠71-year-old pontiff had the lower lobe of his ​right lung removed on 13 October and was diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma, the most ‌common form of lung cancer.

Leo thanks people for their prayers and says ‘delicate phase has passed’ as he recovers from operation on his lung

Pope Leo told a crowd gathered in St Peter’s Square on Sunday that he would “gradually resume” his activities, at his first appearance before the faithful since undergoing an operation to remove a cancerous tumour from his lung.

The Catholic leader, 71, was greeted with applause as he appeared unaided at the window of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace to deliver his Sunday angelus. It was his first public appearance since making the shock announcement at the previous Sunday’s address that a small nodule had been found on his lung.

Doctors say pontiff is ‘fit for discharge’ after operation to remove cancerous tumour from his lung

• Pope Leo lung cancer surgery: what kind of operation did he have and what happens next?

Pope Leo has been discharged from hospital in Rome after undergoing an operation to remove a cancerous tumour from his lung.

Leo, 71, was deemed “fit for discharge”, his doctors, Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritora, said in a statement published by the Vatican.

Pontiff is recovering from a lobectomy, which is standard treatment for lung cancer caught early and can be curative

On Tuesday, surgeons in Rome removed the lower part of Pope Leo’s right lung, after a routine health check found a small growth that tests have since confirmed as lung cancer. The operation, called a lobectomy, is the standard treatment for lung cancer caught early, and for many patients it is the only treatment they will ever need. So what exactly did his doctors do, and what happens next?

Pontiff has begun walking in his hospital room and is eating normally after operation to remove growth, doctors say

Pope Leo’s recovery from a lung cancer operation is progressing as planned, his doctors have said, as the pontiff received good wishes from around the world, including from Britain’s King Charles.

Leo, who had a cancerous mass removed from his right lung late on Tuesday, began walking in his hospital room after respiratory therapy on Wednesday. He was eating normally, his doctors Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritoria said in a statement issued by the Vatican.

Ukraine’s president says his country has halted strikes on Russian oil refineries for two days after Trump’s energy ceasefire announcement

On frozen Russian assets, Poland’s Sikorski says the use of frozen Russian assets is “a complicated issue,” but takes a very clear stance in response to any suggestion of releasing them back to Russia.

“We are working on it, but there is also some rumours that some people are expecting these assets to be released back to Russia.

I don’t think I’m speaking just for myself in saying: over our dead bodies.”

“Russia right now is not ready for ceasefire, but still, this only can encourage us to stay with Ukraine and to, strengthen, the pressure on Russia and always be ready for conversations, but and also especially for, for ceasefire negotiations.

But, until this doesn’t happen, we are with Ukraine. We are with the president the German government is is backing the Ukrainian government and the president, completely. He is the person to lead Ukraine, and we are with him.”

Vatican says pontiff had lower lobe of right lung removed in ‘successful, on schedule and as planned’ operation in Rome

Pope Leo has lung cancer, the Vatican said late on Tuesday.

Leo, 71, underwent an operation and had the lower lobe of his right lung removed, with tests confirming a diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, the Vatican said in a medical bulletin, which followed an earlier statement saying the pope’s operation had concluded “successfully, on schedule and as planned”.

Pontiff says it was detected at an early stage and procedure will take place in the coming days

Pope Leo XIV has said he will undergo surgery in the coming days to remove a nodular lesion on his lung that was recently discovered during medical checks.

The 71-year-old said the nodule was found at an early stage and was “circumscribed” or well localised. The Vatican later said Leo would undergo surgery in the first days of this week, with an expected recovery time of a week.

Poland’s centre for security upgraded a upgraded a warning to ‘threat of an air attack’ and told residents in eastern Poland to shelter

Back to Metz, we are still waiting for the main part of the event to begin – with Emmanuel Macron now welcoming guests outside the venue.

Former commission president Jean Claude Juncker gets a big hug on arrival.

Pontiff also uses visit to Catholic shrine at Lourdes to criticise assisted dying as ‘false compassion’

The pope has called on the Catholic church to heal “deep wounds” and “painful errors”, before a meeting survivors of child sexual abuse as he continues his four-day visit to France.

Addressing a crowd in a large field near the Catholic shrine of Lourdes on Sunday, Pope Leo XIV called on the church to reckon with its past, without directly referencing sexual abuse scandals in France that affected at least 330,000 children over seven decades.

Crowds line Place de la Concorde on second day of pontiff’s first official papal visit to France in 18 years

Hundreds of thousands of people lined the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in ⁠Paris on Saturday to attend an open-air mass with Pope Leo, on the second day of his visit to France.

The Vatican estimated 700,000 people turned out for the outdoor mass with the 71-year-old American pope – about 100,000 more than the number of people who had registered to attend.

Pontiff says artificial intelligence must remain at service of people in first official papal visit to country in 18 years

Pope Leo has warned against losing humanity in a “paradise of machines” as he addressed global concerns over the dangers of artificial intelligence at the start of a three-day visit to France.

“If we are to avoid losing our humanity amid a paradise of machines invading and conditioning our daily lives, there is an urgent need for people to be educated in ethical discernment, capable of seeing what is morally right,” he said in a speech at the Élysée.

The pope is set to deliver a landmark speech on AI development and discuss Europe’s future

Later today, Pope Leo will go to the Élysée Palace for (another) formal welcome and a meeting with authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps, before visiting Unesco and delivering a speech on AI in mid-afternoon.

He is then expected to go on a stroll through the streets of Paris, before going to the restored Notre Dame Cathedral.

Pontiff, who has caught the eye in trainers and a baseball cap, praised for taking dress to ‘heavenly heights’

For the first time in a decade, Vanity Fair has released a best-dressed list. Featuring 70 names, the list ranks the most fashionable people in the world in 2026. The lineup includes the usual suspects spanning Hollywood actors and global pop stars but nestled among the Hollywood stars is an unexpected entrant. Pope Leo XIV.

The 70-year-old head of the Catholic church has been praised by the magazine for taking papal style “to heavenly heights”. His most memorable look? A simple white cassock styled with a pair of Nike trainers.

With his popularity at a record low, Friedrich Merz packs the papal guide Magifica humanitas

• Europe live – latest updates

Summer is normally thought of as the time for pacy potboilers and brain-soothing page-turners – airport reads that wind up sandy and sunscreen-stained. Not so for Friedrich Merz’s holiday reading list.

Germany’s embattled chancellor, who has faced one rough patch after another since taking office 14 months ago, seems to be seeking spiritual guidance this year while putting his feet up.