Pope Francis’ condition ‘stationary’ after pneumonia diagnosis: Vatican
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(LONDON and ROME) — Pope Francis’ condition appears to be “stationary,” the Vatican said on Wednesday, following his pneumonia diagnosis.
“Blood tests, evaluated by the medical staff, show slight improvement, particularly in inflammatory indices,” the Vatican press office said in a statement.
The pope was admitted to a hospital on Friday for tests and to continue his ongoing bronchitis treatment, the Vatican said.
He was subsequently determined to have a respiratory tract infection, the Vatican said. On Tuesday, the Vatican updated that he also has the “onset of bilateral pneumonia,” saying tests, a chest X-ray and the pope’s clinical condition present a “complex picture.”
Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, visited the pope in the hospital on Wednesday, the Vatican said.
Pope Francis also “went about his work activities with his closest collaborators,” the Vatican said.
The Vatican described the pope as being in “good spirits” on Tuesday.
“He gives thanks for the closeness he feels at this time and asks, with a grateful heart, that we continue to pray for him,” the Vatican said.
The Jubilee Audience on Saturday has been canceled as the pope continues to recover in hospital, the Vatican announced on Tuesday.
The pope was admitted to a hospital on Friday for “necessary tests” and to continue his ongoing bronchitis treatment, according to the Vatican.
The Italian news agency ANSA reported that “several sources” revealed the pope had arrived on Friday at Gemelli Hospital very fatigued due to difficulty in breathing related to an excess of phlegm, and that the treatment he was undergoing at home had not yielded the expected results.
(SEOUL) — As South Korea’s Constitutional Court began the process of reviewing the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, the leader of his party, who had supported his impeachment, announced his resignation.
Han Dong Hoon, the leader of Yoon’s People Power Party, resigned Monday morning. He had wavered in his support for Yoon, the embattled president who declared a short-lived martial law earlier this month, but, in the end, announced that the party would support impeaching Yoon last week ahead of the vote this weekend.
Han faced strong backlash from his own party for openly supporting impeachment without consulting senior members of the party enough ahead of his announcement last week. The impeachment bill passed Saturday.
Han said he does “not regret supporting the impeachment,” because the emergency martial law was the wrong decision to make.
Yoon, impeached Saturday and stripped of his presidential powers and duties, briefly declared martial law on Dec. 3.
“Defending illegal martial law is a betrayal of the country, the people, the conservative spirit, and the achievements of our party that achieved industrialization and democratization,” Han said Monday.
The constitutional court has up to six months to decide whether to reinstate or formally oust Yoon. Until then, Yoon’s main constitutional powers have been transferred to Prime Minister Han Duck Soo.
A view of the destruction after Russian forces launched a guided aerial bomb (KAB) attack, in Kherson, Ukraine on February 19, 2025. As a result of attack fifteen apartments were destroyed. At least 6 people wounded, including two 14-year-old children. (Photo by State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said Thursday that officials in Kyiv “need to tone it down” after a fierce back and forth between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy related to a potential deal to end Russia’s three-year-old invasion of its neighbor.
U.S.-Russia talks began this week in Saudi Arabia without Ukrainian participation, Kyiv’s exclusion prompting condemnation in Ukraine and across Europe as well as a vow from Zelenskyy that his country would not sign any deal agreed over its head. Zelenskyy also pushed back on a proposed deal that would give the U.S. access to hundreds of billions of dollars worth of minerals.
Responding to the discord, Waltz told Fox News that the Ukrainians “need to tone it down and take a hard look and sign that deal,” referring to the proposed minerals agreement.
“There’s obviously a lot of frustration here,” Waltz said after Wednesday’s war of words.
Seeking to explain the strong remarks from Trump and Vice President JD Vance, Waltz said, “We presented the Ukrainians really an incredible and historic opportunity to have the United States of America co-invest with Ukraine, invest in its economy, invest in its natural resources and really become a partner in Ukraine’s future in a way that’s sustainable, but also would be — I think — the best security guarantee they could ever hope for, much more than another pallet of ammunition.”
Trump on Wednesday attacked European allies and the Ukrainian leadership for having failed to end Russia’s war. The president went on to call Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections,” claiming — without providing evidence — that his Ukrainian counterpart’s public approval rating was as low as 4%.
Trump also wrote on Truth Social that Zelenskyy “better move fast or he is not going to have a country left.”
Zelenskyy, meanwhile, suggested Trump is in a “disinformation space,” attributing at least some of the U.S. leader’s criticism to Russian disinformation campaigns.
Vance then warned that Zelenskyy’s approach to dealing with the Trump White House was “atrocious.”
In Moscow, meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Thursday that Ukrainian officials had made “unacceptable and impermissible” remarks about foreign leaders “in recent months.”
“Rhetoric used by Zelenskyy and numerous other representatives of the Kyiv regime in general leaves much to be desired,” Putin’s spokesperson said.
The diplomatic spat was set against the backdrop of continued Russian strikes across Ukraine. On Thursday, Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 14 missiles and 161 drones into the country in a massive overnight bombardment.
Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 80 of the drones launched in the latest Russian barrage, with another 78 lost in flight without causing any damage. The 14 missiles targeted energy infrastructure, the air force said, adding it would not reveal how many were intercepted.
Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko wrote on Facebook that Russia conducted a “massive” missile and drone attack on “gas infrastructure.”
The aim of the “criminal attacks” was to “stop the production of gas, which is necessary to provide citizens’ household needs and centralized heating,” he said.
“While Russia continues to blatantly lie about not attacking civilian critical infrastructure, we are witnessing multiple missiles targeting Ukrainian gas mining facilities at once,” Galushchenko wrote.
“Such actions of the enemy prove only once again that Russia is trying to hurt ordinary Ukrainians, plunged into the cold in the middle of winter,” he added. “This is outright terrorism.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its strike targeted “gas and energy infrastructure facilities that ensure the operation of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine.”
“The strike’s objective has been achieved,” the ministry said. “All facilities have been hit.”
Russia’s long-range strikes into Ukraine have not eased despite the opening of talks aimed at ending Moscow’s three-year-old full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s latest salvo came with Trump’s Ukraine-Russia envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian leaders. Items of discussion are expected to include the proposed deal with the U.S. for access to the country’s mineral resources and the larger possible peace deal with Moscow.
On Thursday, Zelenskyy marked the anniversary of the culmination of Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan Revolution — in which pro-Western protesters overthrew Moscow-aligned President Viktor Yanukovych.
“It was in these days of 2014 that Russia chose war — it began the first steps towards the occupation of Crimea,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. “While people were being killed in Kyiv, and people were defending their freedom, Putin decided to strike another blow.”
“Since then, the world has been living in a new reality, when Russia is trying to deceive everyone,” the president wrote. “And it is very important not to give in, to be together. It is very important to support those who defend freedom.”
Ukraine is continuing its own long-range campaign against Russian military and industrial infrastructure, especially targets linked to the country’s lucrative fossil fuel industry. Ukrainian security services have referred to the campaign as “drone sanctions.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday that its forces shot down 13 Ukrainian drones over the previous 24 hours.
ABC News’ Nataliia Popova, Oleksiy Pshemyskiy, Fidel Pavlenko, Kelsey Walsh and Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
US soldiers board an US Air Force aircraft at the airport in Kabul on August 30, 2021. – Rockets were fired at Kabul’s airport on August 30 where US troops were racing to complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan and evacuate allies under the threat of Islamic State group attacks. (Photo by Aamir Qureshi / AFP/ Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Ryan Corbett, an American held in Afghanistan since 2022, has been released from Taliban custody in a prisoner swap, according to his family.
The Taliban’s foreign ministry confirmed the swap in their own statement, saying Corbett and another American national were exchanged for Khan Mohammad.
Mohammad was sentenced to life in prison in 2008, two years after his arrest near Jalalabad, Nangahar Province, Afghanistan, according to a 2008 release from the Department of Justice. He had been extradited to the U.S. and convicted on narco-terror charges, the release said.
“A violent jihadist and narcotics trafficker, Khan Mohammed sought to kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan using rockets,” Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Matthew Friedrich said in a statement at the time. “Today’s life sentences match the gravity of the crimes for which he was convicted.”
The Corbett family gave credit for the prisoner exchange to both the Trump and Biden administrations. Corbett’s wife had a call with former President Joe Biden recently and also met with members of the incoming Trump administration.
“The countless hours of negotiations, unwavering support, and determination demonstrated by all involved have not gone unnoticed, and we will forever hold this kindness in our hearts,” the Corbett family said in a statement.
At least two other American nationals are still detained in Afghanistan.
U.S. officials say the Biden administration had explored freeing at least one prisoner held in the Guantanamo Bay detention facility as part of an exchange with the Taliban but ultimately decided it would be too complicated.
