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Party leaders have paid tribute in the Senedd to Adam Price as he steps down as leader of Plaid Cymru.

Mr Price thanked his family in his final contribution to First Minister’s Questions as party leader.

He thanked “everyone who’s shown kindness to me in recent days” after he stepped down following a damning report into allegations of a “toxic culture” within Plaid – the Senedd’s only party which supports independence for Wales.

“The final but most important thanks is to my family who are here today and are looking forward to more of my presence over the years ahead of us,” he added.

Llyr Gruffydd will take over as interim leader of the party on Wednesday, while nominations for contenders wishing to become the next permanent leader will close on 16 June.

Mr Price also thanked Mark Drakeford, the first minister of Wales, with whom he negotiated a cooperation agreement between the Labour government and Plaid Cymru following the last election.

“Leading a party is not an easy task but it is even more difficult to lead a nation,” he said.

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“Your performance as first minister has always felt like an extended audition to become in the future Welsh republic our version of Michael D Higgins.”

There was laughter from members as Mr Price added: “It is a compliment coming from us.”

New leader of Plaid Cymru, Adam Price, gives a speech after winning the leadership contest election result at the Novotel, Cardiff. Pic date: 28 Sep 2018
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Adam Price, when he was first elected Plaid Cymru leader in 2018

Pride despite ‘painful’ resignation

The outgoing leader of Plaid Cymru, who has been in post since 2018, indicated how difficult his decision to resign had been.

“Good government needs good scrutiny and accountability is the bedrock of any democracy, not just for governments but oppositions too and that means not just seeking responsibility in others but accepting it in oneself, painful though that sometimes may be,” he said.

He ended his contribution to FMQs with a rallying cry to make the Senedd more representative of those who elect it.

“It took a long while for this gay council house boy from Tumble to have pride in himself,” he added.

“I never would have believed back then that I would get to sit in this chair.

“I want the youth of our country, women and men in equal number, every race, every creed, LGBTQ+ and disabled, the working class especially, to feel as if this place belongs to them, represents them, speaks for them as much as it does for anyone.

“I want them to see people like them occupying my chair, your chair, every chair.”

First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford (left) and Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price at the Senedd, Cardiff, after announcing their co-operation deal. Picture date: Monday November 22, 2021
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First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford (left) and Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price outside the Senedd

Drakeford hails ‘enormous amount of agreement’

Mr Drakeford said in response: “We disagree on many things, and that’s the beauty of our democracy is that we can do that and we can do that here while knowing that behind those individual examples of disagreement, there lies an enormous amount of agreement about the purpose of politics here in Wales.”

Leader of the opposition, Andrew RT Davies, added: “I would like to thank him [Adam Price] for the courtesies he has extended to me during our time as leaders of our various groups here.

“Our politics are completely different, and I am sure he enjoyed that endorsement, but it is always good outside of the political environment where you can share a light-hearted moment.”

Read more:
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Plaid Cymru appoints interim leader

The Llywydd (presiding officer), Elin Jones, made a jovial reference to the length of Mr Price’s final statement.

“Indeed, Adam Price, true to your word you did test the patience of the Llywydd with the length of… your final statement,” she said.

“But best wishes to you, Adam, for your future in this Senedd,” she added.

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Pope Francis’s final moments reveal how quickly he deteriorated before death

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Pope Francis's final moments reveal how quickly he deteriorated before death

Pope Francis died little more than half an hour after being taken ill, Vatican sources have told Sky News.

Pope Francis woke at 6am on Monday, and was fine for at least an hour, sources said, as they revealed details of the pontiff’s final moments.

Around 7am, the Vatican’s medical unit received an emergency call from his Casa Santa Marta apartment.

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Where will Pope Francis be buried?

Pope latest – Prince William to attend funeral

An urgent transfer to the Gemelli hospital, where he was treated for pneumonia earlier this year, was among the options considered.

A request for an urgent escort from the Vatican was received by Rome police after 7am, sources there said, but, given how quickly his condition worsened, it was cancelled by Vatican officials before 7.35am.

Francis died at the age of 88, a day after making his final public appearance at St Peter’s Square, where he greeted crowds on Easter Sunday, one of the most important days of the Christian calendar.

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First images of pope’s casket

The Vatican said he died from a stroke that led to a coma and irreversible heart failure.

He is currently lying in state in the Santa Marta Domus in a private viewing for Vatican residents and the papal household.

Francis will be laid to rest Saturday, the Vatican announced on Tuesday, after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects.

The funeral will take place outside, in the square in front of St Peter’s Basilica, and will start with a procession led by a priest carrying a cross, followed by the coffin and ordained clergy.

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‘Many were in tears, I was in tears’

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, will lead the service. Nine days of mourning begin afterwards.

Unlike his predecessors, Francis will be buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (St Mary Major), as per his final burial wishes, announced on Monday.

The basilica is dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God, and is where Francis traditionally went to pray before and after foreign trips.

He will be the first pope to be buried outside the Vatican in more than a century.

In another change from tradition, he will be buried in a simple wooden casket, forgoing the centuries-old practice of burying the late pope in three interlocking caskets made of cypress, lead, and oak.

Prince William will attend the funeral on behalf of King Charles, Kensington Palace has said.

Cardinals will gather in a conclave to choose his successor afterwards.

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Francis was a champion of the deprived
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Francis, the first Jesuit and Latin American pontiff, had suffered from a chronic lung disease and had part of a lung removed as a young man.

Health issues plagued him throughout his later life, and he was admitted to Gemelli hospital in Rome on 14 February for a respiratory crisis that developed into double pneumonia. He stayed at the hospital for 38 days before being released.

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Kristi Noem: Top Trump official’s handbag – containing $3,000 in cash and security pass – stolen in burger restaurant

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Kristi Noem: Top Trump official's handbag - containing ,000 in cash and security pass - stolen in burger restaurant

A bag belonging to the US Homeland Security Secretary was stolen on Sunday night – containing thousands of dollars in cash and an ID card that gives access to secure agency buildings.

Kristi Noem was eating at a Washington DC burger restaurant with family when a man in a face covering sat near her table and stole her purse, according to two people familiar with the theft.

Officials confirmed the theft to Sky News’ US partner NBC News on Monday.

The cabinet secretary was carrying $3,000 (£2,243) in cash because “her entire family was in town including her children and grandchildren”, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told NBC.

“She was using the withdrawal to treat her family to dinner, activities and Easter gifts.”

US Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem visited CECOT in March. Pic: Reuters
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The purse contained her ID card. Reuters file pic

Just before 8pm, a man wearing an N-95 mask walked into the restaurant and up a few stairs to where Ms Noem was eating dinner.

He sat near her table and moved his chair close to hers before sliding her purse toward him with his foot, according to surveillance footage viewed by law enforcement, the sources said.

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Within minutes, the man had Ms Noem’s purse under his jacket and walked out of the restaurant.

At least two on-duty members of the US Secret Service were in the restaurant – between Ms Noem and the front doors – according to a source who witnessed the meal.

They said the restaurant wasn’t very busy at the time.

The purse also contained credit cards, blank cheques, her passport, driver’s licence and a set of keys.

It’s unclear whether Ms Noem was specifically targeted – and investigators are looking into whether the man knew who the purse belonged to.

When asked about the incident, Ms Noem said: “I don’t think I can comment on it yet. It’s not resolved yet.”

She said the Secret Service was aware but said she hadn’t spoken to agency personnel about what happened.

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Ms Noem is a vocal supporter of Donald Trump’s policies of deporting undocumented immigrants and fortifying the US-Mexico border to slow illegal migration.

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Starmer and Zelenskyy discuss ending Russia’s ‘brutal war’ – as Putin says says he is open to bilateral talks on longer ceasefire

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Starmer and Zelenskyy discuss ending Russia's 'brutal war' - as Putin says says he is open to bilateral talks on longer ceasefire

Sir Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about ending Russia’s “brutal war” on Ukraine in their latest phone call on Easter Monday, as Vladimir Putin said he was open to bilateral talks.

The prime minister and Ukrainian president spoke on Monday afternoon, when Sir Keir “reiterated his iron-clad support for Ukraine“.

A Downing Street spokesperson added that the prime minister “said that the UK supports Ukraine’s calls for Russia to commit to a full ceasefire and that now is the time for Putin to show he is serious about ending his brutal war”.

“They discussed the latest developments on the Coalition of the Willing, and looked forward to further progress towards a just and lasting peace,” the spokesperson added.

Mr Zelenskyy later said on social media that he had a “good and detailed conversation” with the prime minister, and added Ukrainian officials will be in London for talks on ending the war with Russia on Wednesday.

“We are ready to move forward as constructively as possible, just as we have done before, to achieve an unconditional ceasefire, followed by the establishment of a real and lasting peace,” he added.

The Ukrainian president added that the 30-hour Easter truce, which both Kyiv and Moscow accuse the other of violating, showed that Russia “are prolonging the war”.

It comes as Mr Putin proposed bilateral talks with Ukraine on a longer ceasefire, which would mark the first time Russia held such talks since a failed peace deal soon after the invasion in 2022.

Speaking to a state TV reporter, the Russian president said: “We always have a positive attitude towards a truce, which is why we came up with such an initiative (the Easter truce), especially since we are talking about the bright Easter days.”

When asked about Mr Zelenskyy’s calls to extend the 30-hour ceasefire into a 30-day pause on civilian targets, he added: “This is all a subject for careful study, perhaps even bilaterally. We do not rule this out.”

The Ukrainian president said on Sunday evening that the Russian army had “violated Putin’s ceasefire more than 2,000 times” during the day, and accused Russia of “failing” to “uphold its own promise of a ceasefire”.

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From Saturday: Why Putin offered an Easter truce?

It also comes after Donald Trump has said he hopes Russia and Ukraine “will make a deal this week,” after he and his secretary of state Marco Rubio warned that the US will walk away from efforts to broker a peace deal unless there are clear signs of progress soon.

The US president said on his Truth Social platform that both countries would “start to do big business” with the US after ending the war.

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Who could be the next pope?

Last month, Ukraine accepted Mr Trump’s proposal for a 30-day truce, but Mr Putin refused to back a full 30-day ceasefire, saying crucial issues of verification had not been sorted out.

He then said he would agree not to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. However, both sides have accused each other of breaking the moratorium on attacks on energy targets and at sea.

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