European leaders respond to U.S. efforts in ending Russia-Ukraine war

European leaders took steps Sunday to answer assertive U.S. efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine, as France announced a meeting of continental leaders and Baltic countries called for new steps to strengthen Kyiv’s hand in any future talks.

With Moscow’s forces making some territorial gains in eastern Ukraine in recent months, Finnish President Alexander Stubb on the last day of the Munich Security Conference called for “maximum pressure on Russia” through sanctions and asset freezes in the lead-up to any talks.

French President Emmanuel Macron is rallying European leaders, with his foreign minister announcing an emergency “working meeting” on Ukraine’s next steps after recent U.S. announcements.

He will host an informal afternoon meeting Monday with the leaders of Germany, the U.K., Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, as well as European Council President Antonio Costa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

Vatican: Pope is stable, followed Mass on television

Pope Francis had breakfast, read the newspapers and followed Mass on television Sunday after a second night sleeping well at the hospital where the 88-year-old pontiff is being treated for a respiratory tract infection, the Vatican said.

Francis’ condition was stable, as he continues his unspecified drug therapy, alternating in the afternoon between reading and resting, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said.

The Argentine pope, a known workaholic who keeps up a grueling pace despite his many ailments, was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened. It was his fourth hospitalization since his 2013 election and raised questions about his increasingly precarious health.

Suspect in fatal stabbing in Austria had an ‘Islamic terror motive,’ officials say

Austrian authorities said Sunday the stabbing of six people that left a 14-year-old boy dead was carried out by a man with possible connections to the Islamic State group who appeared to have acted alone.

The suspect, a 23-year-old Syrian, was arrested after the attack, which took place on Saturday afternoon in the center of the southern city of Villach, close to the main square. Police said he used a folding knife. Those wounded were two 15-year-old boys and men aged 28, 32 and 36. Two were seriously wounded and two others are also still receiving hospital treatment, while one was treated for minor injuries.

“This is an Islamist attack with an IS connection by an attacker who radicalized himself within a very short time via the internet,” Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told reporters in Villach Sunday.

Rwanda-backed rebels occupy a 2nd major city in Congo’s mineral-rich east

Rwanda-backed rebels have occupied a second major city in mineral-rich eastern Congo, the government said Sunday, as M23 rebels confirmed they were in the city to restore order after it was abandoned by Congolese forces.

The Congo River Alliance, a coalition of rebel groups that includes the M23, said in a statement that its fighters “decided to assist the population of Bukavu” in addressing its security challenges under the “old regime” in the city of 1.3 million people.

The rebels saw little resistance from government forces against the unprecedented expansion of their reach after years of fighting. Congo’s government vowed to restore order in Bukavu but there was no sign of soldiers. Many were seen fleeing on Saturday alongside thousands of civilians.

The fighting has displaced more than 6 million people in the region, creating the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.

The collapse of a gold mine has killed 42 people and injured several others in Mali

A gold mine collapsed in eastern Mali, killing dozens of people and injuring many more, according to Malian television and officials in the Kéniéba district where the accident occurred. It is the second major accident this year in the French-speaking West African country, which is one of Africa’s top three gold producers.

Late on Saturday, Malian television announced the collapse of the site at Bilali Koto in the commune of Dabia, with a provisional death toll of 42 and many injured.

“The accident happened yesterday, Saturday. It was a landslide at a site run by Chinese nationals,” said community leader Falaye Sissoko. Dicko said authorities were still trying to establish whether the mine was operating legally.

This is the second time in less than a month that such an accident has occurred in Mali. On Jan. 29, a landslide killed several gold miners, mostly women, in the Koulikoro region in the south of the country.

NGOs worry Trump’s aid freeze will cause HIV patients to default on treatment

Millions of patients in South Africa affected by U.S. President Donald Trump’s global foreign aid freeze, are raising worries about HIV patients defaulting on treatment, infection rates going up and eventually a rise in deaths.

There are 5.5 million South Africans receiving antiretroviral treatment, whose funding is now in question after Trump suspended the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. It contributes more than $400 million a year to South Africa’s HIV programs and nongovernmental organizations, about 17% of the total funding, according to the Health Ministry.

Globally, PEPFAR is credited with saving at least 26 million lives since its inception in 2003, according to the U.N. AIDS agency.

Last week, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to temporarily lift the funding freeze, while the U.S. Embassy in South Africa said PEPFAR projects would resume under a limited waiver. However, aid groups dealing with HIV have already shuttered with closure notices hanging at the entrances and PEPFAR-branded vehicles standing idle, with patients diverted to struggling health facilities.

— Associated Press