Pope Francis was laid to rest in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore outside the Vatican after a funeral service in St Peter's Basilica on Saturday. The ceremony was attended by leading political figures from across the globe as well as an estimated 400,000 people. Commentators share emotions and observations - also with regard to Francis's successor.

A snap election is taking place in Canada today. The campaigning has centred around responses to attacks by US President Donald Trump. The ruling Liberals under Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has been in office since 14 March, have benefited from the political climate. Carney's Conservative opponent Pierre Poilievre is fighting for a change of power after almost a decade of Liberal government.

Istanbul was shaken by a series of earthquakes last week which caused damage to some 1,025 buildings, and there are fears that the Turkish metropolis with its population of around 16 million could be hit by a stronger earthquake any time now. The city's mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and many of those in key positions of responsibility are currently behind bars. The national press assesses the situation.

In an interview at Easter, the President of the German Bundestag Julia Klöckner (CDU) criticised the churches for commenting too frequently on current issues. Instead of 'behaving like NGOs' they should concentrate on pastoral care, she said. In the wake of the death of Pope Francis, the international press asks whether and to what extent churches should take a political stance.

Donald Trump has announced that Washington and Moscow have agreed on terms for ending the war in Ukraine: "I think we have a deal with Russia," the US president said on Wednesday, adding that Russia was making a big concession by agreeing to end the war now rather than seizing the whole country. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also said that Russia was in principle ready to conclude an agreement. Trump had previously lambasted Zelensky for refusing to cede on his country's right to keep Crimea.

The Spanish government has announced that it is backing out of a contract with an Israeli company to purchase ammunition for the Guardia Civil (the Spanish military police). The move comes after left-wing coalition partner Sumar condemned the plan to purchase 15 million bullets worth 6.6 million euros on the grounds that the cabinet had pledged not to enter into any arms deals with Israel.

Sweden's government has announced plans to set up a commission to examine how to combat fraud in LSS services - which encompass services such as healthcare, children's homes and transport for the disabled - more effectively. Fourteen people received prison sentences in Gothenburg in 2021 for fraud involving the use of fake patients, carers and documents which amounted to roughly four million euros. Since then, 85 care services have lost their licences.

The EU has imposed massive fines on two US IT companies, with Apple being to pay 500 million euros and Facebook parent company Meta 200 million euros for violations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This is the first time fines have been imposed under the DMA, which was introduced in 2022. Among other things, it obliges internet giants to open up their platforms to competitors. Europe's media back the ruling.

The Turkish government has banned elective C-sections in private healthcare facilities. According to the Ministry of Health, the move aims to lower the number of caesarian section births, which usually require a longer recovery period until the next pregnancy, in order to promote population growth. Commentators look at pros and cons.

After the death of Pope Francis, 135 eligible cardinals under the age of 80, known as cardinal electors, will elect the new head of the Catholic Church from among their ranks. The top candidates include Pietro Parolin from Italy and Péter Erdö from Hungary. Around 80 percent of the cardinal electors were appointed by Francis, but according to Europe's press it is by no means certain that his course will be continued.

Representatives of Ukraine and key European allies are meeting in London today to discuss a potential solution for peace. US special envoy Keith Kellogg will also be attending. Reports in US media according to which Washington would be prepared to recognise Crimea (annexed by Moscow in 2014) as Russian are causing a furore, as is Trump's reported ruling out of Nato membership for Ukraine.

Radical change of course in Spain: Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wants to increase the national defence budget by ten billion euros this year to meet the Nato target of two percent of GDP for defence spending. The rearmament programme is to be implemented without the approval of his left-wing coalition partners and parliament. The latter in particular draws criticism.