Pope’s Condition ‘Complex’, Hospital Stay Extended – Vatican

Published

6 months ago

February 17, 2025

Pope Francis did some work during his fourth day in hospital Monday, but the 88-year-old faces a “complex clinical picture” that will require a longer than expected stay, the Vatican said.

The head of the Catholic Church was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday with bronchitis, the latest of a series of health issues in recent years.

In a statement earlier Monday, the Vatican said tests had confirmed “a polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract that has led to a further change in treatment”.

“All the tests carried out until now are indicative of a complex clinical picture that will require adequate hospitalisation,” it said.

In an early evening update, it said his clinical condition was unchanged, he continued to be fever-free and was continuing the unspecified treatment.

“This morning he received the Eucharist and subsequently dedicated himself to some work and reading texts,” the update said.

“Pope Francis is touched by the numerous messages of affection and closeness he continues to receive,” it added.

After initially cancelling events through Monday, the Vatican said the pope’s weekly Wednesday audience would not go ahead either.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni had earlier told reporters that the pope was in “good humour”, had rested well overnight, had eaten breakfast and read the newspapers.

A source in the pope’s entourage had also insisted there was no alarm within the Vatican.

Francis was admitted after a “very busy” two weeks, during which “he was weakened”, the source told AFP, but added: “There is no alarmism.”

A Vatican source told AFP the pope was receiving oxygen.

Yet the news of the more complex situation raises fresh concerns about the Argentine pontiff, who has suffered increasing health issues in recent years.

– Difficulty breathing –

In the days before his admission, Francis had admitted to difficulty breathing and had asked aides several times to read his speeches aloud on his behalf.

At his weekly general audience last Wednesday, he said he “cannot yet” read his own speeches, adding with a smile: “I hope that next time I can.”

But he had continued taking meetings, including one with the prime minister of Slovakia on Friday morning, shortly before he headed to hospital.

Francis had part of one of his lungs removed as a young man and has been particularly susceptible to respiratory infections.

He pulled out of a Good Friday event last year after catching what the Vatican called a “light flu”, but went on to lead Easter services as planned.

A year earlier, in March 2023, Francis was admitted to hospital for three nights with bronchitis, which was cured with antibiotics.

The pope also underwent a hernia operation in June 2023 and in 2021 underwent surgery for a type of diverticulitis, an inflammation of pockets that develop in the lining of the intestine.

He has been using a wheelchair since 2022 because of persistent knee pain and uses a cane during rare moments standing up.

Francis has also fallen a couple of times in the past few months, bruising his forearm in January and sporting a large bruise on his right jaw in December, caused by toppling from his bed.

– ‘Distant possibility’ –

Yet despite his health troubles, Francis remains an active pontiff.

In September 2024, he completed a four-nation Asia-Pacific tour, the longest of his papacy by duration and distance.

And he has a packed schedule, from daily private audiences to the weekly Angelus prayer on a Sunday, and the Wednesday public audience.

He followed Sunday’s mass this week on television from hospital and sent a written address for the Angelus.

“I would have liked to be among you but, as you know, I am here at the Gemelli Hospital because I still need some treatment for my bronchitis,” Francis wrote.

The Jesuit has left open the option of resigning, like his predecessor Benedict XVI, if he became unable to carry out his duties.

But in a memoir published last year, the pope wrote that he did “not have any cause serious enough to make me think of resigning”.

Resignation is a “distant possibility” that would be justified only in the event of “a serious physical impediment”, he wrote.

42 Killed In Israeli Attacks, Says Gaza’s Civil Defense

Published

5 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Gaza’s civil defence agency reported at least 42 people killed in Israeli attacks on Sunday, as the Israeli army prepared for a new assault on the Palestinian territory’s largest city.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said there had been several air strikes around Gaza City — which the military is gearing up to capture — including one in the Al-Sabra neighbourhood that killed eight people.

Attacks were also reported elsewhere across the territory, he said, with the “total tally currently rising to 42 dead”.

The army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the figure.

“The situation is extremely dangerous… Each day, each minute, there are bombings, martyrs, death and blood — we can’t take it anymore,” Al-Sabra resident Ibrahim Al-Shurafa told AFP, explaining strikes and shelling were ongoing.

“We don’t know where to go. Death follows us everywhere,” he added.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

The October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 62,686 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

AFP

Headline

Venezuela Frees Eight Opposition Leaders

Published

5 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Venezuelan authorities released eight opposition leaders from jail early Sunday, including a former congressman and two Italian citizens, and granted house arrest to five others, an opposition politician said.

Most of those released had been charged with corruption in opposition-run mayoral offices.

Also set free was Congressman, Amirico de Grazia, detained amid protests that erupted during President Nicolas Maduro’s reelection in 2024.

“Today, several families are once again embracing their loved ones. We know there are many left, and we have not forgotten them; we continue to fight for everyone,” two-time former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said on X.

Opposition leaders Victor Jurado, Simon Vargas, Arelis Ojeda Escalante, Mayra Castro, Diana Berrio, Gorka Carnevalli, as well as Italian nationals Margarita Assenzo and de Grazia were released, Capriles said.

Nabil Maalouf, Valentin Gutierrez Pineda, Rafael Ramirez, Pedro Guanipa, and David Barroso were placed under house arrest.

The Italian government confirmed the release of de Grazia and Assenzo, who must appear in court to clarify the conditions of their release. It also vowed to continue working on securing the release of other detained Italians.

“We have always said, and we maintain it: we will talk to whomever we need to talk to so that there is not a single political prisoner in our Venezuela!” Capriles added.

AFP

Headline

Russia, Ukraine Exchange Prisoners Of War, Civilians

Published

5 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Russia and Ukraine each sent back more prisoners of war on Sunday in the latest in a series of exchanges that have seen hundreds of POWs released this year, the two sides said.

Large-scale prisoner exchanges were the only tangible result of three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul between May and July.

They remain one of the few areas of cooperation between the two countries since Russia’s offensive began in 2022.

“On August 24, 146 Russian servicemen were returned from the territory controlled” by Kyiv, the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram.

“In exchange, 146 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were transferred” to Ukraine, it added. Ukraine did not confirm any figures for the release.

Russia also said that “eight citizens of the Russian Federation—residents of the Kursk region, illegally detained” by Kyiv were also returned.

Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in August last year, seizing hundreds of square kilometres (miles) of territory in a major setback for the Kremlin.

Russia deployed thousands of troops from its ally North Korea as part of a counterattack but did not fully reclaim the region until April.

Among the Ukrainians released on Sunday was journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Khyliuk was kidnapped in the Kyiv region in March 2022. He is finally home in Ukraine,” Zelensky said on social media.

Also freed was former Kherson mayor Volodymyr Mykolayenko, “who spent more than three years in captivity,” Zelensky’s aide Andriy Yermak wrote on X.

“In 2022, he was on the list for return, but Volodymyr voluntarily refused to be exchanged in favour of a seriously ill prisoner with whom he was sharing a cell in a Russian prison,” Yermak said.

AFP