WeekDay AM: 10 Things you need to know this morning
Ukraine-US rift, Pope lies in state, and the rise of the US 'woke right'

 
today's international story

Trump accuses Zelenskyy of sabotaging peace deal

What happened
Donald Trump has blamed Volodymyr Zelenskyy for undermining what he described as a near-finalised peace deal to end the war in Ukraine after the Ukrainian leader said Kyiv would not recognise Russian control of Crimea.

Who said what
Vice President J.D. Vance had earlier laid out the US vision for a deal, saying it would "freeze the territorial lines … close to where they are today". But Ukraine has long said it would not give up Crimea and Zelenskyy clarified yesterday that "Ukraine will not legally recognise the occupation of Crimea. There is nothing to talk about. It is against our constitution." Posting on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump claimed a deal to end the war was now "very close", but that Zelenskyy's refusal to accept US terms "will do nothing but prolong" the conflict.

Let's have a "reality check", said Axios: "There's no sign a deal is actually close." Rather, Kyiv sees Trump's peace proposal as "heavily biased towards Russia, with Moscow getting clear-cut wins and Kyiv only vague promises". The comments from Trump and Zelenskyy "are the latest chapter in an often fractious relationship", said the BBC.

What next?
What is "unclear" now is how Ukraine and its European allies, who met in London yesterday, intend to respond to a plan "largely constructed in their absence", said The Guardian. Zelenskyy has proposed a simple ceasefire without conditions on both sides, but this has not yet gained much traction with the US.

 
 
today's religion story

Thousands of mourners view body of Pope Francis

What happened
Pope Francis's body was moved to St Peter's Basilica yesterday, where he will lie in state until tomorrow evening. Thousands of mourners queued up to pay their respects as the Pope's simple wooden coffin – lined with red cloth and watched by Swiss Guards – was placed on the main altar.

Who said what
"It was the most profound moment," said Cardinal Thomas Christopher Collins, who joined the funeral procession. "Francis was a living example of peace, of love and especially of humility," said Francesco Catini, one of many who waited hours to view the body.

Francis "set the stage for his own mourning" late last year when he "approved a simplified procedure for papal funeral rituals", said The Telegraph. Although the simplicity here "is relative" considering the "breath-taking grandeur bequeathed by centuries of Roman Catholic tradition".

What next?
Francis's funeral will take place on Saturday, attended by world leaders. A new pope is expected to be chosen by the middle of next month.

 
 
Today's policing story

Police chiefs given powers to remove unfit officers

What happened
Police officers will be legally required to pass background checks introduced after the murder of Sarah Everard, or be sacked. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is introducing the reforms to improve confidence in policing after an officer who was stripped of his warrant card over rape allegations (which he denies) won a judicial review against the Metropolitan Police, claiming the decision had breached his human rights. Under the new rules, officers could fail the vetting process even if the allegations are unproven.

Who said what
"It is simply not acceptable that ­officers who are clearly unfit to serve or who pose a risk to their colleagues cannot be removed," said Cooper.

The reforms close a "glaring gap in the law and will allow us to move swiftly to remove those who have no place in policing", said Met Police Commissioner Mark Rowley.

What next?
The reforms are scheduled to come into force on 14 May.

 
 

It's not all bad

"Wednesday", the most-watched series in Netflix’s history, is set to return to screens worldwide with the release of its second season. A new trailer has given fans their first look at Joanna Lumley and Steve Buscemi, who join the cast alongside returning lead Jenna Ortega. The new season will be released in two parts, with the first arriving on 6 August and the second on 3 September. Netflix "will be hoping that the series replicates the success of the first", said the BBC.

 
 
under the radar

How the woke right gained power in the US

"I know you are, but what am I?" It's an insult that has long echoed around school playgrounds, but it is now being heard in political circles, too.

After years of the right insulting what it calls the "woke left" by charging it with cancelling opponents, focusing on identity politics and imagining that the world is rigged against it, a so-called "woke right" is now being accused of having the same tendencies.

The phrase "woke right" started "appearing with frequency" in 2022, said Columbia University linguist John McWhorter in The New York Times, and became "especially well entrenched" at the end of last year. This means rather than "applying specifically" to the "concerns" of the left, woke can now refer to any "conspiracy-focused" and "punitive orientation" to social change.

Like its "antithesis on the left", the woke right places "identity grievance, ethnic consciousness" and "tribal striving" at the centre of its "behaviour and thought", said Thomas Chatterton Williams in The Atlantic. In doing so, it tells white, male, right-wing Americans that "they are the country's real victims".

Not everyone is thrilled by the new term. Not surprisingly, it has "riled denizens of the internet" with "chiselled jaws" and "flinty conservative opinions", wrote Kathleen Stock for UnHerd, who are "outraged" at the "very idea" of it.

But, "to the extent that there is an anti-woke backlash", said Daniel Hannan in The Telegraph, all signs point to it being as "intolerant, unthinking and collectivist" as the trend it "dislikes". The woke right is "still obsessed with identity", but with the "goodies and baddies" labels "switched".

 
 
on this day

24 April 2005

Joseph Ratzinger celebrated his inauguration as Pope Benedict XVI with a mass in St Peter's Square, Vatican City. He resigned in 2013 – the first pope to do so in nearly 600 years – and was known as Pope Emeritus alongside his successor, the late Pope Francis, until his death in 2022.

 
 
Today's newspapers

Donald Trump has warned Volodymyr Zelenskyy that "Crimea is lost", says The Guardian. "Back my peace or lose all of Ukraine", says the Daily Mail, quoting Donald Trump's latest comments. "Plunder-haul" says the Daily Star, leading on news that Oasis fans have lost out on over £2m in concert ticket fraud. Meanwhile, says the FT, Rachel Reeves has told a crowd in Washington that the UK is ready to cut tariffs on US car imports, saying "we are not going to rush a deal".

See the newspaper front pages

 
 
tall tale

Auto amnesia

A man in County Wicklow has been reunited with his car after 19 days of searching for it, having forgotten where he parked. After a particularly big night out in Cork, the man woke up the next day to realise that he didn't know where he had parked the car the previous evening. After many days of searching, the call was put out over the radio for the people of Cork to help find the wine-coloured Skoda through The Neil Prendeville Show and, after a city-wide search, listener Susan Maguire called in to inform the show – and the forgetful reveller – that the car had been spotted.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Arion McNicoll, Jamie Timson, Harriet Marsden, Ross Couzens and Chas Newkey-Burden.

Image credits, from top: Andrew Harnik / Getty Images;  Tiziana Fabi / AFP / Getty Images; Justin Tallis / AFP / Getty Images; Evelyn Hockstein / The Washington Post / Getty Images.