French President Emmanuel Macron hosted senior United States officials in Paris for talks on ending the war in Ukraine, as Kyiv's allies in Europe seek to play a larger role in stalled efforts to end the conflict amid tensions with Washington. Speaking after he hosted US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US envoy Steve Witkoff on Thursday, Macron said the talks represented "a very important occasion for convergence".

"Everyone wants to get peace - a robust and sustainable peace. The question is about phasing," the French leader said. US President Donald Trump's administration has been pushing to end the Russia-Ukraine war, with Trump himself holding bilateral discussions with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But so far, Trump's efforts have not borne fruit, and the US president has expressed frustration with both Moscow and Kyiv.

The Murshidabad district of bordering Indian state West Bengal erupted in violence, following protests against the Waqf Amendment Act, with the unrest spreading across areas such as Suti, Dhulian, Samserganj, and Jangipur. State police formed a Special Investigation Team led by an additional superintendent of police, supported by two deputy superintendents and six inspectors, with representatives from the Intelligence Branch, Counter Insurgency Force, Criminal Investigation Department, and Cyber Crime Division.

On the political front, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Border Security Force, and central agencies under the Ministry of Home Affairs of exacerbating tensions in Murshidabad. Banerjee described the violence as "pre-planned," alleging that certain elements within the BSF and the central government facilitated cross-border infiltration from Bangladesh, contributing to the unrest. Bangladesh dismissed the notion of any infiltration by Bangladeshis fomenting the violence, that left 3 people killed and reportedly drove thousands from their homes.

A giant planet 124 light years from Earth has yielded the strongest evidence yet that extraterrestrial life may be thriving beyond our solar system, astronomers claim. Observations by the James Webb space telescope of a planet called K2-18 b appear to reveal the chemical fingerprints of two compounds that, on Earth, are only known to be produced by life.

Detection of the chemicals, dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) would not amount to proof of alien biological activity, but could bring the answer to the question of whether we are alone in the universe much closer. "This is the strongest evidence to date for a biological activity beyond the solar system," said Prof Nikku Madhusudhan, an astrophysicist at the University of Cambridge who led the observations. "We are very cautious. We have to question ourselves both on whether the signal is real and what it means."

The UK Supreme Court ruled that a woman is someone born biologically female, excluding transgender people from the legal definition in a long-running dispute between a feminist group and the Scottish government. The court said the unanimous ruling shouldn't be seen as victory by one side, but several women's groups that supported the appeal celebrated outside court and hailed it as a major win in their effort to protect spaces designated for women.

"Everyone knows what sex is and you can't change it," said Susan Smith, co-director of For Women Scotland, which brought the case. "It's common sense, basic common sense, and the fact that we have been down a rabbit hole where people have tried to deny science and to deny reality, and hopefully this will now see us back to reality." Five judges ruled that the UK Equality Act means trans women can be excluded from some groups and single-sex spaces such as changing rooms, homeless shelters, swimming areas and medical or counseling services provided only to women.