Plus: The pilgrims visiting 'God's influencer' ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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| Hello. A White House official has said today that there were no immediate plans for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Laura Gozzi has more on the diplomatic developments, as John Sudworth reports on blackouts in Ukraine. We're also reporting from Assisi, in central Italy, where pilgrims are visiting the church where lies the body of Saint Carlo Acutis, a teenager described as "God's influencer". | |
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TOP OF THE AGENDA | 'No plans' for Trump-Putin meeting soon, White House official says |
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|  | Trump and Putin last met in Alaska in August. Credit: Reuters | A White House official has said that there are "no plans" for a meeting between President Trump and his Russian counterpart "in the immediate future" to discuss the war in Ukraine. This new statement comes days after the US leader said talks would be held soon in Budapest. The White House did not share any more details on why the talks had been put on hold. But the differences between US proposals and Russia's prerequisites for peace, which have grown more evident over the past days, seem to have "dashed chances of a summit between the two presidents", my colleague Laura Gozzi writes. Earlier today, European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement that talks should start with freezing of the current front line. The idea, which concurred with Trump's latest statements on Ukraine, has been dismissed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. |
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| Pilgrims visit 'God's influencer' |  | Carlo Acutis was canonised by Pope Leo XIV in September. Credit: Reuters | From Our Own Correspondent: Before his passing in 2006 at the age of 15, Carlo Acutis built websites documenting miracles to spread the Catholic faith. He has now become a saint, and pilgrims are journeying to a cathedral in central Italy where lies his body. |
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| | Isabella Redmayne, BBC News |
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| | At the back of the church, a hush descends. St Carlo lies encased in glass and stone. Hands preserved, face covered by a lifelike silicone mask, he appears relaxed, wearing Nike sneakers and the jumper and jeans he often used to wear. Worshippers kiss the tomb. Droves of people press around his body, searching for solace. Some leave tightly-folded notes. I wonder what happens to them – and who clears them away.
Outside, I chat to a young Brazilian woman. She came to Italy to watch her brother play in a football tournament - the two of them are taking a few days between matches to visit the young saint. “He makes sainthood seem possible,” she tells me. “Like… we can do that too." |
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| | | - Relatable saint: Young Catholics say they feel a connection to a teenager who played video games and wore regular clothes. Here's more on his life.
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SOMETHING DIFFERENT | The US island without cars | Mackinac Island banned cars soon after their invention, opting for horses instead. | |
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