Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would cut short a trip to South Africa on Thursday and return to Kyiv following a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian capital.

Every US president has adapted the Oval Office to suit his taste. Franklin Delano Roosevelt placed an animal hide rug on the floor. John F. Kennedy, a World War II naval officer, hung seascapes on the walls. And Barack Obama featured indigenous ceramics on the shelves. But President Donald Trump has gone golden, taking the office into baroque and rococo realms typical of 17th- and 18th-century French monarchs.

China has denied US President Donald Trump's assertion that the two sides were involved in active negotiations over tariffs, saying that any suggestion of progress in this matter was as groundless as "trying to catch the wind".

A mother and daughter from Ireland who were among thousands in an hours-long queue to pay their last respects to Pope Francis have described it as &a special moment& and a privilege to be among mourners.