US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday said he was finding it more difficult to deal with Ukraine and that it may be easier to deal with Russia as his administration seeks to reach a peace agreement.

The failure of a SpaceX Starship test flight on Thursday scattered debris over parts of the Caribbean, prompting numerous flight diversions around Turks and Caicos and ground stops at four Florida airports.The Federal Aviation Administration issued ground stops for flights departing for Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Palm Beach airports until 8 p.m. ET. Departures at those airports were being delayed by an average of 45 minutes due to the SpaceX incident, the FAA said.

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer voiced Israel's objection to direct talks between the United States and Hamas in a "tense" conversation with US Hostages' Affairs Envoy Adam Boehler, a senior Israeli official told Walla's Barak Ravid on Friday.Boehler was leading the secret talks between the White House and Hamas over the release of hostages, as confirmed by The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.This is a developing story.

Three weeks to the day after being admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital, Pope Francis is still struggling to shake off the double pneumonia that has battered his already fragile health.The road to recovery is likely to be long and fraught with danger, said medical experts who are not involved in his care and were speaking in general terms about his condition."I've seen patients who have spent months in hospital in this sort of situation. Of course he can recover, but the chances for a negative outcome are high," said Professor Christoph Lange, Secretary General of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. "The best advice would be to let him rest, let him take whatever time he needs to get well again," he told Reuters.Underscoring his diminished condition, the pope released a brief audio message on Thursday night giving thanks to all those praying for him. His voice was broken, breathless and hard to understand.

A delegation from the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas arrived in Cairo on Friday to discuss the Gaza ceasefire agreement and push negotiations aimed at entering the second phase of the deal, the Egyptian information authority said in a statement.

A United Nations helicopter attempting to evacuate South Sudanese troops came under fire in the northern town of Nasir on Friday, the UN mission there said, resulting in the death of a crew member and several soldiers including a general.