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Donald Trump shares AI image of himself as Jesus Christ after attacks on Pope Leo
Donald Trump has shared an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus Christ after launching an extraordinary attack on the Pope.

Overnight, the US president accused Pope Leo of being "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy" and claimed that "if I wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican".

Iran war latest: Trump launches extraordinary attack on Pope

In a spree of late-night Truth Social posts - including Trump-branded hotels on the Moon and other X posts from supporters - Mr Trump also shared an AI image of himself as Jesus Christ without comment.

Responses on Truth Social were atypically critical, with some followers urging the president to take the post down.

It's not the first time that the US president has shared AI images of himself: Last year, as Mr Trump prepared to order the National Guard to deploy in Chicago, he posted an AI-generated parody image of himself from Apocalypse Now.

The US president has targeted the head of the Catholic Church after he criticised the war in Iran, saying in a speech last month that God rejected the prayers of leaders who start wars and have their "hands full of blood".

He also called the conflict in Iran "atrocious" and urged Mr Trump to find an "off-ramp" and "decrease the amount of violence".

When asked about his Truth Social comments at Joint Base Andrews on Sunday, Mr Trump told reporters: "We don't like a pope that's going to say that it's OK to have a nuclear weapon.

"We don't want a pope that says crime is OK in our cities. I don't like it. I'm not a big fan of Pope Leo."

Pope Leo has never said that it is okay for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.

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Meanwhile, speaking to Sky's US partner NBC News, Pope Leo said "I have no fear of the Trump administration", adding that his appeals for peace were rooted in the gospel.

"We are not politicians", he said. "We don't deal with foreign policy with the same perspective he might understand it, but I do believe in the message of the gospel, as a peacemaker."

The Pope also told Reuters aboard the papal flight to Algiers that "I don't want to get into a debate with him... I don't think that the message of the Gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing".

Sky News has contacted the Holy See for comment on the post and Mr Trump's remarks overnight.


Who is Peter Magyar, Hungary's next prime minister?
After his stunning win last night, Peter Magyar told a rally that "Hungary wants to be a European country again".

But while he is now set to lead a majority government after ousting Viktor Orban, Mr Magyar was once a loyal ally of the outgoing prime minister.

The 45-year-old served as a foreign affairs official under Mr Orban's 2010 administration before resigning from the Fidesz party in 2024 over a scandal involving a presidential pardon for a man convicted of helping cover up a sex abuse scandal at a children's home.

Hungary election live - follow the latest

The centre-right Tisza Party emerged as the strongest opposition party in Hungary after the 2024 European Parliament elections.

Mr Magyar has pledged to crack down on corruption, unlock billions of euros in frozen European Union funds, and tax the wealthiest, while reforming Hungary's crumbling healthcare system.

Most independent polls leading up to election day put Mr Magyar ahead of Mr Orban, and preliminary election results project that Tisza won 136 seats in Hungary's 199-member parliament.

The election saw a record 77.8% turnout, the highest ever in a Hungarian election, according to the country's national election commission, which says the "election process was conducted lawfully and smoothly across the country".

Voters in Hungary were angered after three years of economic stagnation and soaring living costs, along with oligarchs close to the government earning greater wealth.

Mr Magyar ran a "positive campaign" on boosting the economy, restoring healthcare and lowering the cost of living, according to Moscow correspondent Ivor Bennett.

"All of these domestic issues really chimed with people's needs here. They were desperate for change and fed up with the Orban government," he said, adding that Mr Orban ran a campaign of fear.

'Real blow for Putin'

Bennett said EU leaders will also be delighted to see the back of Mr Orban, who he described as a "Russian Trojan horse acting in Moscow's interest".

"He would consistently try to block aid to Ukraine, try to derail and slow down sanctions on Russia", he said.

"So for Vladimir Putin, a real blow. But for Europe, for Brussels, this is a moment to celebrate. Because that persistent thorn in their side has finally been removed after 16 long, long years."

Mr Magyar said during the election campaign that voters had to choose between "East and West", warning that Putin ally Mr Orban and his confrontational stance towards Brussels would take the country further away from the European mainstream.

With Mr Magyar in charge, many European leaders will now be hoping for an end to Hungary's adversarial role inside the EU, possibly paving the way for a £78.4bn (€90bn) loan to war-battered Ukraine, which was previously blocked by Mr Orban.

In his first remarks after the election, Mr Magyar promised his government would work for a free, European and humane Hungary after years of claims of corruption and shrinking freedoms.

He thanked those who voted for him and added: "As prime minister, I will work every day and every hour of the day for our country's security and development, as well as for the wellbeing of the Hungarian people."

Sex tape blackmail threat

In February, Mr Magyar accused the Fidesz Party of "Russian-type" blackmail, using a secretly-recorded sex tape showing consensual relations between him and a now ex-girlfriend at a party nearly two years ago.

"Even in Europe, it is unprecedented for a ruling party to attempt to discredit, blackmail and neutralise its main political opponent by secretly recording their sexual acts using illegal methods and threatening to make the recordings public," he wrote on X.

In an accompanying video, he said: "Of course, I don't know how the images and audio recordings illegally recorded in the apartment with secret service equipment will be manipulated afterwards."

He said there were what appeared to be drugs at the party, but denied taking any and offered to do a drug test.

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Mr Magyar said a photo of the bedroom the footage was filmed in with the caption "coming soon" was sent to Hungarian media. The photo was also published with the words "once upon a time..." on a website apparently named after Mark Radnai, the vice president of Tisza, who denied any involvement.

Tisza said in a statement it stands by Mr Magyar and that it "will not assist in manipulating politics with secretly recorded materials and threats".


Judge dismisses Trump's $10bn lawsuit against Wall Street Journal and Murdoch over reporting on Epstein ties
A judge has dismissed Donald Trump's $10bn (£7.43bn) lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and its owner, Rupert Murdoch, over reporting on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

District Judge Darrin P. Gayles in Florida wrote in the order that Mr Trump had failed to make the argument that the article was published with the intent to be malicious, but gave the US president a chance to file an amended complaint.

In a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump called the lawsuit, filed in July last year, "historic legal action" which he said was filed on behalf of himself and all Americans who will "no longer tolerate the abusive wrongdoings of the Fake News Media".

"I hope Rupert and his 'friends' are looking forward to the many hours of depositions and testimonies they will have to provide in this case," he wrote after launching the defamation lawsuit.

The WSJ's report focused on a letter the publication said Mr Trump wrote as part of a collection Jeffrey Epstein's former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, planned to give him as a 50th birthday present in 2003.

Mr Trump claimed that the letter he allegedly wrote to paedophile Epstein was "fake" and said he would sue the "ass off" Mr Murdoch after the WSJ published the story last July.

The WSJ said the letter featured several lines of typewritten text, concluding with: "May every day be another wonderful secret."

The text was framed by what appeared to be a hand-drawn outline of a naked woman, the WSJ claimed. The letter is also said to have featured the signature "Donald".

Mr Trump immediately denied writing the letter, which was subsequently released publicly by Congress via subpoenaed records from Epstein's estate, when the report was published.

"The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein," he wrote on Truth Social at the time.

"These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don't draw pictures. I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn't print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I'm going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper."

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Lawyers for the WSJ and Mr Murdoch had asked the judge to rule that the article's statements were true and therefore couldn't be defamatory, but the judge wrote in his order that "whether President Trump was the author of the Letter or Epstein's friend are questions of fact that cannot be determined at this stage of the litigation".

This is the latest blow in the Trump administration's efforts to manage the fallout over its release of the Epstein files and the president's attempts to use the legal system to chill reporting he finds critical of him.


Fraudster who sold fake Oasis tickets given community order
A fraudster who sold fake Oasis concert tickets to pay off her debts has been given a community order and told to pay a £40 fine.

Rosie Slater, 33, used her connections with "wealthy, rich and famous people" to con 11 people who lost an estimated £4,000 in total, Staffordshire Police said.

Slater, who admitted 11 counts of fraud by false representation at a hearing in December, sat in front of the glass dock at North Staffordshire Justice Centre on Monday.

Prosecutor Kyle Padley said Slater, formerly of Betley in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, told her victims she had access to Oasis tickets, including the Wembley Stadium VIP box.

One man, who purchased 15 tickets from her, set up two WhatsApp groups and invited friends he thought might be potential buyers, the court heard.

In those groups, Slater offered a price of £130 per ticket, and some people sent her the money directly and booked non-refundable hotel rooms for the tour dates.

Mr Padley told the court: "It later came out the defendant was lying."

He said she was then interviewed by police.

"She said she started with good intent then it escalated out of her control," he said.

The defendant was handed a 12-month community order and is required to pay a £40 fine and compensation of £776.98 to five victims.

Some of her victims have already been refunded, the court heard.

Slater was also told to pay a £114 victim surcharge and costs of £85.

In addition, she must complete 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

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Simon Leech, defending Slater, told the court "she did not spend this money extravagantly" and used it to pay off household debts, including council tax payments.

Detective Constable David Stubbs, of Staffordshire Police, told LBC: "She does have connections with some of our wealthy, rich and famous people and has been fortunate enough to previously attend concerts, and due to this she was able to convince her victims that she had credible access to both the tickets and the VIP box at Wembley Stadium.

"No evidence has been found of any coercion. She has acted, we believe, purely out of greed, exploiting her connections for personal gain.

"This has left the victims obviously very upset. It's caused a lot of anger and hurt, really, particularly as she used some of the victims to attract more victims."

A Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation was launched in 2024 into the way Ticketmaster sold Oasis tickets.

It found the ticket website did not tell fans waiting in long queues that standing tickets were being sold at two different prices, and that prices would rise as soon as the cheap tickets sold out.

Ticketmaster sold some "platinum" tickets at almost two and a half times the price of standard tickets, without sufficient explanation that these offered no extra benefits in the same areas of the venue, the CMA said.

In response, the CMA said Ticketmaster must now tell fans 24 hours in advance if there is a tiered pricing system in operation - as there was for Oasis standing tickets.

Tickets for the band's reunion tour, their first gigs in 16 years, were also listed on secondary ticket resale websites for thousands of pounds.


Former Arsenal footballer Thomas Partey pleads not guilty to two further charges of rape
Former Arsenal footballer Thomas Partey has pleaded not guilty to two new charges of rape.

The 32-year-old midfielder entered the pleas on Monday at Southwark Crown Court, where he denied twice raping a woman in London on a day in December 2020.

Partey was charged with the alleged offences in February this year.

In September 2025, he appeared at the same court to deny five counts of rape against two other women, and one charge of sexual assault against a third.

Those offences are alleged to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, when he played for Arsenal.

Judge Tony Baumgartner, the Recorder of Westminster, agreed on Monday for all the allegations to be tried together, but warned the trial could now be delayed until January next year.

In total, the footballer has now pleaded not guilty to seven counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, relating to allegations from four different women.

He was released on bail ahead of his trial.

The lawyer for the Ghana midfielder, who now plays for Spanish club Villarreal, previously said he "denies all the charges against him".

The case is next due to be listed in court for a pre-trial hearing on 14 May.

Partey joined Arsenal from Atletico Madrid in 2020 in a transfer worth around £45m, before leaving the club in June last year.

He has made more than 50 appearances for Ghana, including at the World Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations.


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