The funeral of Ivana Trump, the ex-wife of Donald Trump, has been held in New York City, bringing the family together for a rare public gathering.
Ms Trump, 73, died last week after reportedly falling down the stairs of her Manhattan apartment.
Among those in attendance were Donald and Ivana's three children, Ivanka, Eric and Donald Trump Jr, who all reportedly gave eulogies.
The pair were married for 15 years between 1977 and 1992.
Originally from what was then Czechoslovakia, Ivana Trump was a notable socialite who became the subject of intense public interest alongside Donald Trump during the 1980s and 1990s. After the pair separated, she went on to launch a line of beauty products, jewellery and clothing.
At the funeral on Wednesday, Ivana and Donald's three children were seen standing together alongside their spouses and families as the hearse carrying the coffin arrived to be carried into St Vincent Ferrer Church.
The former president arrived separately alongside security personnel.
Others seen at the funeral included the real estate developer Charles Kushner - Jared Kushner's father - Malaysian designer Zang Toi, TV host Jeanine Pirro and George Wayne, a former Vanity Fair journalist known for his interviews with celebrities.
No cameras are allowed inside the church during the service.
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In a statement following her death, the family lauded Ms Trump as a "force in business" and "a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend".
"Ivana Trump was a survivor. She fled from communism and embraced this country," the statement said. "She taught her children about grit and toughness, compassion and determination."
Her daughter, Ivanka, praised her mother as "brilliant, charming, passionate and wickedly funny".
"She modelled strength, tenacity and determination in her every action. She lived life to the fullest - never forgoing an opportunity to laugh and dance," she wrote.
Vladimir Putin has been kept waiting by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of bilateral talks in Iran - two years after the Russian leader did the same.
Mr Putin was seen looking "frazzled", according to a correspondent for Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National, as he waited around 50 seconds on his own for the Turkish strongman to join him.
Video filmed by Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu showed the Russian president standing awkwardly, and occasionally shuffling, as the camera focuses on his stern-looking face while he stands alone.
Eventually, he is seen shrugging slightly as Mr Erdogan walks towards him, smiling, before the pair shake hands as they turn to face the cameras, while Mr Putin appears to grimace.
The pair were in Iran for a series of bilateral and trilateral talks with each other and Iranian leaders, as Russia seeks to strengthen ties with Iran.
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Mr Erdogan was keen to discuss grain shipments from Ukraine and security in Syria, where both Russian and Iranian forces are said to be active.
Joyce Karam, a senior correspondent for The National, commented on Twitter that it was "sweet payback for Erdogan who in 2020 was humiliated by Putin as he made him wait 2 minutes in a power game play in Russia".
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Al Arabiya news site reported in March 2020 that a video was put out by Russian media that showed Mr Erdogan and his delegation being kept waiting by Mr Putin before a meeting.
It was only Mr Putin's second trip abroad since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
The war has resulted in no ships leaving Black Sea ports carrying Ukrainian grain, which is said to feed up to 400 million people around the world, and which has encouraged a black market in allegedly plundered Ukrainian wheat.
Image:Vladimir Putin (L) pictured with the Turkish president after he kept him waiting for two minutes in March 2020
After his meetings with Mr Erdogan and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mr Putin said Russia was ready to facilitate Ukrainian grain exports by the Black Sea, but also wanted the remaining curbs on Russian grain exports to be removed.
He said not all the issues had been resolved yet on grain shipments "but the fact that there is movement is already good".
He added that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were offering to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, but Moscow did not see any desire from Ukraine to fulfil the terms of what he described as a preliminary peace deal agreed to in March.
Image:Vladimir Putin awkwardly waited for the Turkish president for nearly a minute
There was no immediate response from the Ukrainian government to Mr Putin's remarks.
Analysts said the trilateral meeting with Iranian leaders and Mr Erdogan - one of the few NATO leaders not to have imposed sanctions on Russia - was a pointed message to the West about Russian plans to forge closer strategic ties with other non-Western countries as the sanctions regime continues to bite.
During his trip, Mr Khamenei spoke of his desire for long-term cooperation between Iran and Russia, telling Mr Putin the two countries needed to stay vigilant against "Western deception".
Image:Mr Putin met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi yesterday during his visit to Iran
It comes after the White House said Russian officials visited an airfield in Iran at least twice to look at Iranian drones that are likely to be used in Ukraine.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Mr Putin's trip to Iran showed how isolated Russia had become.
After the summit, Syria - a strong ally of Russia and Iran - said it was formally breaking diplomatic ties with Ukraine in response to a similar move by Kyiv.
Sri Lankan MPs have elected prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the country's new president, despite his unpopularity with the public.
Mr Wickremesinghe faces the task of leading the country out of its economic collapse and restoring public order after months of mass protests.
He roundly defeated his main rival for the job, Dullus Alahapperuma, with 134 votes to 82 in the parliamentary vote.
Sri Lanka's ex-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country last week.
He bolted to the Maldives and then Singapore after thousands of protesters stormed his presidential residences and other government buildings, calling for his resignation.
They had also called for the resignation of Mr Wickremesinghe, who was appointed prime minister in May. Protesters burnt down his private home and also stormed his prime ministerial office in Colombo in demonstrations against his leadership.
Sri Lanka is effectively bankrupt and facing acute shortages of food, fuel and other basic supplies.
After his election, Mr Wickremesinghe told parliament the nation was "in a very difficult situation" adding there were "big challenges ahead".
He is aiming to restore political stability so the country can resume negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package. He has been involved in the talks so far.
The 73-year-old also called on his political opponents to work with his government for the good of the country.
Mr Wickremesinghe has been in Sri Lankan politics for 45 years, has run for the presidency twice before and been prime minister six times.
The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramnua (SLPP) party said the majority of their members had backed Mr Wickremesinghe because of his economic credentials.
"We feel that Ranil Wickremesinghe is the only person with the experience, the know-how and the capacity to provide solutions to the economic crisis," General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam told the Reuters news agency.
However, Mr Wickremesinghe's election may spark further unrest and mass protests. On Wednesday, ahead of the results, barricades were set up around the parliament and soldiers lined the perimeter in preparation for any protests.
The past fortnight has seen demonstrators calling on Mr Wickremesinghe to step down, as they view him as part of the political elite who had mishandled Sri Lanka's finances.
But he has defied those calls and last week assumed the position of acting president after Mr Rajapaksa fled. His victory means he will serve out the rest of the presidential term until November 2024.
His challenger was Mr Alahapperuma, a dissident MP in the ruling party who gained the backing of the main opposition. He had pledged to bring a new cross-party government to Sri Lanka that would "put an end to the deceitful political culture". However he failed to muster majority support.
Sri Lanka: The basics
Sri Lanka is an island nation off southern India: It won independence from British rule in 1948. Three ethnic groups - Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim - make up 99% of the country's 22 million population.
One family of brothers has dominated for years: Mahinda Rajapaksa became a hero among the majority Sinhalese in 2009 when his government defeated Tamil separatist rebels after years of bitter and bloody civil war. His brother Gotabaya, who was defence secretary at the time and later became president, fled the country after mass unrest.
Presidential powers: The president is the head of state, government and the military in Sri Lanka, but does share a lot of executive responsibilities with the prime minister, who heads up the ruling party in parliament.
Now an economic crisis has led to fury on the streets: Soaring inflation has meant some foods, medication and fuel are in short supply, there are rolling blackouts and ordinary people have taken to the streets in anger, with many blaming the Rajapaksa family and their government for the situation.
The White House has warned that Russia is beginning to roll out its plans to annex large parts of southern Ukraine by installing proxy officials and preparing to hold stage-managed referendums.
John Kirby, head of strategic communications at the US National Security Council, said on Tuesday that Moscow had started laying the groundwork for its annexation plans, which have been widely anticipated since its troops started to gain control of the region.
Kirby told reporters at the White House: “Russia is beginning to roll out a version of what you could call an annexation playbook — very similar to the one we saw in 2014,” referring to when the Kremlin sent special forces into Crimea to capture territory before holding a carefully controlled referendum on sovereignty.
“Already Russia is installing illegitimate proxy officials in the areas of Ukraine that are under its control, and we know their next moves,” he added. “First, these proxy officials will arrange sham referenda on joining Russia, then Russia will use those sham referendums as a basis to try to claim annexation of sovereign Ukrainian territory.”
Kirby said the Kremlin had detailed plans in place to annex the cities of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, as well as the entire Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
He added that Moscow was attempting to set up branches of Russian banks in the region, taking control of broadcasting towers, establishing security services loyal to the Kremlin, issuing Russian passports and forcing residents to apply for Russian citizenship.
Kirby noted that most other countries did not recognise the Kremlin’s previous annexation of Crimea.
Senior Russian officials have previously signalled that they intended to hold votes in the regions they captured to become part of Russia. In May, Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for Russian president Vladimir Putin, told reporters “the residents of Kherson should decide” whether to become part of Russia.
Kirby warned that if Russia pushes ahead with its plans it will become “even more of a global pariah” and will face additional international sanctions, though he did not specify what those would be.
It is not the pounding of heavy artillery, the atrocities and brute force that will win the Ukraine war for Vladimir Putin but rather the turning off of Europe’s gas. That moment of truth may fast be approaching: this week it will become clear whether Russia’s closure of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, supposedly for routine maintenance, will continue indefinitely.
If the taps are indeed turned off, the sizzling and swooning associated with the current heatwave in Europe will fast give way to fears of a freezing winter, fierce gas price rises, the gumming up of industry and the galloping certainty of a deep recession.
We have known for decades that Putin was weaponising Gazprom but did not quite grasp that the weapon was
REVEALED: Harry and Meghan are working with Nelson Mandela Foundation on a secret 'leadership development' project through their company Archewell - and it was the South African Ambassador to the UN who arranged their travel for speech
Harry and Meghan were nominated as speakers by the Nelson Mandela Foundation 'in the context of their ongoing project', DailyMail.com can reveal
The couple is working on a 'leadership development' project with the charity
It's unclear when the project will be announced or what form it will take
It explains the choice of Harry as the speaker at the UN's Mandela Day event
The arrangements for the couple's travel were made by Mathu Joyini, the South Africa's Ambassador to the UN, and her office
It is still unclear whether Harry and Meghan took a private jet - as they have done in the past - or a commercial flight
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were nominated as speakers at the UN's Nelson Mandela celebration as part of an ongoing, secret project with the Nelson Mandela Foundation arranged through their company Archewell, DailyMail.com can reveal.
The couple were also brought to New York City by the office of the South African Ambassador to the UN, Mathu Joyini, though it remains unclear if they traveled on a private jet or on a commercial flight.
Harry's speech was given 'in the context of the Foundation already working with their company Archewell on a Mandela-related project,' a spokesman for the foundation said on Tuesday.
They declined to give more details since the project is yet to be announced, but said it was rooted in 'leadership development'.
A spokesman for Archewell did not immediately respond to inquiries.
It explains the choice of Harry to speak at the UN - which baffled some pundits and stumped members of the South African media.
Harry used his 15-minute speech to lambast the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe vs. Wade, and to preach about climate change.
He spoke of his mother, the late Princess Diana, and her bond with Mandela, and his love of Africa, where he said he realized he had a 'soulmate' in Meghan.
Meghan watched on proudly from the sparse crowd.
Archewell is the couple's charity and umbrella brand under which they have launched podcasts and a Netflix series.
There are three branches of the company; Archewell Foundation, Archewell Productions and Archewell Audio.
It's unclear which section the project with the Mandela Foundation falls under.
Ndaba Mandela, the civil rights icon's grandson, said on Monday night Harry and Meghan were 'worlds apart' from his grandfather.
'They cannot be compared on any level,' he said during an appearance on Piers Morgan's TalkTV show Uncensored.
'There are no parallels at all.
'Because you’ll see one is obviously fighting for the dignity of black people against a vicious tyrant like Apartheid, as opposed to one finding their identity outside of a said institution.
'Obviously these are very different things,' he said.
South African newspaper The Sunday Times jokingly compared Harry's plight to that of Mandela, calling Harry the 'Duke of L.A.'
'He's in exile. Just like Madiba. No, sorry, of course, he was imprisoned for 27 years on Robben Island. Same, same-ish.
'Harry is imprisoned in his gilded pleasure palace in Montecito with a podcast schedule and documentary team following him around.'
Vladimir Putin visits Iran today for his first trip outside the former Soviet Union since the invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian president will meet Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as he seeks to bolster the few foreign alliances his regime still enjoys.
Mr Putin has described Western sanctions against Moscow as a declaration of economic war, and is focusing his attempts at international diplomacy on China, India, and Tehran.
His visit to the Iranian capital is his first trip beyond the old USSR since he travelled to China in February.
"The contact with Khamenei is very important," said Yuri Ushakov, Mr Putin's foreign policy adviser. "A trusting dialogue has developed between them on the most important issues on the bilateral and international agenda.
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"On most issues, our positions are close or identical."
An Iranian official told Associated Press: "We need a strong ally, and Moscow is a superpower."
Meanwhile, on the ground in Ukraine:
• Six civilians have died in a Russian shelling of a two-storey building in the eastern town of Toretsk • Ukraine's long-range missiles are being targeted under a directive from Kremlin defence minister Sergei Shoigu • British intelligence says Russia is bolstering its front line forces with the Wagner mercenary group • Moscow claims to have shot down a Ukrainian MI-17 helicopter near the eastern town of Sloviansk • UK's Ministry of Defence says Russia has "struggled to sustain effective combat power" during the war
Also travelling on Tuesday is Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska, who is in Washington DC. She has rarely been seen since the war began, and has already met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Mr Blinken reiterated America's commitment to supporting Ukraine, and commended her for her work with civilians dealing with trauma. Ms Zelenska is due to meet her US counterpart Jill Biden later today.
Image:Jill Biden meets Olena Zelenska in Ukraine in May - they will now meet in Washington
Russia's rate of advance 'likely to be very slow'
Meanwhile, the UK's Ministry of Defence said in its latest intelligence update that Russia has struggled to sustain effective combat power since the start of its invasion of Ukraine.
The update adds that Moscow's problem is "likely becoming increasingly acute".
The Ministry of Defence also wrote: "As well as dealing with severe under-manning, Russian planners face a dilemma between deploying reserves to the Donbas or defending against Ukrainian counterattacks in the southwestern Kherson sector."
The update also adds that while Russia may still make further territorial gains, their "operational tempo and rate of advance is likely to be very slow".
Putin to hold talks over Ukraine grain blockade
The blockade of grain exports from Ukraine has been one of the most devastating knock-on impacts of the war, and today will also see talks aimed at getting them moving again.
While visiting Tehran, Mr Putin will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been seen as a potential mediator on some global issues caused by the invasion.
"Discussions with Putin will focus on grains, Syria and Ukraine," a senior Turkish official told Associated Press.
"The talks will try to solve the issues on grain exports."
Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and the UN are expected to sign a deal later this week aimed at resuming the shipping of grain from Ukraine across the Black Sea.
Russian independent TV channel back on the air
Elsewhere, an independent Russian TV channel is back on the air four months after being forced to close over its content relating to the war in Ukraine.
TV Rain is now broadcasting from the Latvian capital Riga via YouTube, likely to be the only way most people in Russia will be able to see it.
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