The week in photos: April 11-17, 2026

MANILA, Philippines – The United States and Iran failed to reach an agreement to end their war despite marathon talks that concluded on April 12 in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, jeopardizing a fragile ceasefire. Each side blamed the other for the failure of the 21-hour negotiations to end fighting that has killed thousands and sent global oil prices soaring since it began over six weeks ago.

On April 16, a 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel went into effect, and US President Donald Trump said the next meeting between the US and Iran may take place over the weekend, adding to optimism that the Iran war could be nearing an end.

Meanwhile, Trump forcefully criticized Pope Leo late on April 12 in an unusual, direct attack on the leader of the 1.4-billion-member Catholic Church that drew immediate rebuke from believers. The President, in an apparent response to the Pope’s growing criticisms of the US-Israeli war on Iran and the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration policies, said Leo was “terrible.”

“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

On April 13, Pope Leo blasted violations of international law by “zneocolonial” world powers in a forceful speech during an Africa tour. “I will continue to speak out loudly against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateral relationships,” said Pope Leo following Trump’s comments.

In the Philippines, the House justice committee kicked off its second public hearing on the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte on April 14. Ramil Madriaga, Duterte’s alleged former bagman, detailed how he supposedly disbursed P125 million in confidential funds in less than 24 hours, supposedly upon the instructions of the veep.

Vice President Sara Duterte, as expected, snubbed the hearing again. 

Catch more stories in these photos from the week that was:

NASA astronaut Christina Koch hugs the Orion spacecraft in the well deck of the US Navy ship USS John P. Murtha a day after her crew splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, on April 11, 2026. PHOTO BY BILL INGALIS/NASA VIA REUTERS

A Ukrainian soldier waves from a bus after a prisoner of war swap in an undisclosed location in Ukraine, on April 11, 2026. PHOTO BY THOMAS PETER/REUTERS

Mourners attend a reception ceremony for the bodies of members of Lebanese state security forces killed in a Friday Israeli strikes on Nabatieh, in Sidon, Lebanon, on April 11, 2026. PHOTO BY AZIZ TAHER/REUTERS

US President Donald Trump watches a match during the UFC 327 event at Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, on April 11, 2026. PHOTO BY KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS

An officer of the Bureau of Fire Protection inspects the massive blaze at the 40-hectare closed Navotas Sanitary Landfill, as seen from the Dampalit mega dike in Malabon City, on April 11, 2026. PHOTO BY JIRE CARREON/RAPPLER

People gather in front of the Parliament building, on the day of the parliamentary election, in Budapest, Hungary, on April 12, 2026. PHOTO BY MARTON MONUS/REUTERS

Karol G performs at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, on April 12, 2026. PHOTO BY DANIEL COLE/REUTERS

Hindu devotees celebrate the Lal Kach festival to mark the end of Bengali new year, in Munshiganj, Bangladesh, on April 13, 2026. PHOTO BY MOHAMMAD PONIR HOSSAIN/REUTERS

People carry the body of Indian singer Asha Bhosle during the cremation ceremony at her funeral in Mumbai, India, on April 13, 2026. PHOTO BY FRANCIS MASCARENHAS/REUTERS

Signs placed by participants during the annual international ‘March of the Living’ at the former Auschwitz II-Birkenau death camp, to pay tribute to the millions of Jews murdered by the Nazis during World War II, in Brzezinka, Poland, on April 14, 2026. PHOTO BY KACPER PEMPEL/REUTERS

Night and Day (1873) marble sculpture by Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo stands on display during a press visit of the ‘Michelangelo and Rodin, Living bodies’ exhibition at the Louvre museum in Paris, France, on April 14, 2026. PHOTO BY BENOIT TESSIER/REUTERS

Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala in action during her round of 32 match against Canada’s Leylah Fernandez of the WTA 500 Stuttgart Open at Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany, on April 14, 2026. PHOTO BY KAI PFAFFENBACH/REUTERS

A jail officer takes off the handcuffs from alleged former bagman Ramil Madriaga before he testifies at the Congress committee on justice hearing on the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte on April 14, 2026. SCREENGRAB FROM THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES LIVE VIDEO

Jeepney drivers belonging to PISTON step on the photos of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and US President Donald Trump during a program along Taft Avenue, Manila, as part of a nationwide transport strike to protest the continued rise in oil prices and the government’s response to the oil crisis, on April 15, 2026. PHOTO BY RAPPLER

Veterinarians check Yuji, a patas monkey born in early March, as he clings to a plush dog while being cared for at the Guadalajara Zoo’s Integral Centre of Animal Medicine and Wellbeing after his mother was unable to care for him, in Guadalajara, Mexico, on April 15, 2026. PHOTO BY MICHELLE FREYRIA/REUTERS

Pope Leo XIV speaks with a man as he attends a meeting for peace with the community of Bamenda in Saint Joseph’s Cathedral in Bamenda, Cameroon, on April 16, 2026. PHOTO BY GUGLIELMO MANGIAPANE/REUTERS

Images of former president Rodrigo Duterte with his quotes on the West Philippine Sea issue are projected on a screen as Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela discusses a topic during the Atin Ito! Campus Caravan at the University of the Philippines Cebu on April 16, 2026. PHOTO BY JACQUELINE HERNANDEZ/RAPPLER

Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are taken out to a sailboat where they will sail on Sydney Harbour with veterans from the Invictus Australia community in Sydney, Australia, on April 17, 2026. PHOTO BY HOLLIE ADAMS/REUTERS

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pose before a working lunch conference on the initiative for maritime navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris, France, on April 17, 2026. PHOTO BY TOM NICHOLSON/POOL VIA REUTERS

Children gesture from a vehicle as displaced people make their way to return to their homes after a 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel went into effect, near Tyre, Lebanon, on April 17, 2026. PHOTO BY AZIZ TAHER/REUTERS

– with reports from Reuters/Rappler.com