Francis is being treated for pneumonia, a complex infection and kidney problems that have left him in critical condition.

Friedrich Merz and his party won, Elon Musk didn’t seem to move voters, and more lessons from an early German vote with big implications for Europe.

Fresh possibilities have emerged for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia with a change of power in Washington.

Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said that 40,000 Palestinian residents displaced from militant hotbeds would not be allowed to return to their homes.

Voting has closed in national elections. Early exit polls, which are historically quite accurate in Germany, suggest that Friedrich Merz, the candidate for the conservative Christian Democrats, will be Germany’s next chancellor and the hard-right AfD party in second place.

The Rapid Support Forces said it was paving the way to an end to the civil war. Critics called it an audacious gambit by a group that the United States has accused of genocide.

Hamas criticized Israel’s decision to delay the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, amid growing tensions and concerns for the future of the truce in Gaza.

What Germans decide in national elections that are likely to produce a new chancellor will be of critical importance as Europe re-evaluates relations with the Trump administration.

President Trump stepped up pressure on Kyiv to agree to a deal at talks. Russia later launched more than 250 drones at Ukraine, Kyiv said.