(LONDON and ROME) — The pope rested peacefully overnight after his prognosis was “lifted” on Monday as he begins his 26th straight day in the hospital, the Vatican said.
Vatican sources told ABC News that Francis’ prognosis being lifted means he’s no longer in imminent danger, but the clinical picture still remains complex.
The 88-year-old pontiff will continue “for additional days, the pharmacological medical therapy in a hospital environment” due to the “complexity of the clinical picture and the significant infectious picture presented at hospitalization,” the Vatican said.
“The improvements recorded in previous days have further consolidated, as confirmed by both blood tests and clinical objectivity and the good response to pharmacological therapy. For these reasons, the doctors decided to lift the prognosis,” the Holy See, the Vatican’s press office, said in a statement Monday.
The pope will move back to noninvasive mechanical ventilation and will continue an antibiotic treatment, the Vatican sources said.
Francis’ doctors said there are positive signs of the pontiff’s recovery, but caution remains, according to the Vatican sources.
Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14 and was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia.
Thursday will mark the 12th anniversary of when Pope Francis was voted to succeed Pope Benedict XVI, who previously resigned.
ABC News’ Megan Forrester contributed to this report.
(MANILA, PHILIPPINES)– Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte was detained on Tuesday under an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, which accused him of crimes against humanity in connection with the brutal “war on drugs” he led while in office, the Philippines Presidential Communications Office said.
Members of the Philippine National Police met the former president as he arrived in Manila, the capital, on a flight from Hong Kong, the office said.
Duterte carried out an extensive “war on drugs” after taking office in 2016. Independent rights organizations have accused him of overseeing a crusade of extrajudicial killings, many of which were alleged to have been carried out by so-called “death squads.”
More than 12,000 people were thought to have been killed, according to Human Rights Watch.
Officials in Manila said they received a copy of an ICC arrest warrant via Interpol on Tuesday morning. Dozens of officers swarmed Ninoy Aquino International Airport to arrest Duterte as he and his aides arrived at about 9:20 a.m., the presidential office said.
“The former President and his entourage are in good health and have been examined by government doctors,” the office said in a statement posted on social media in Filipino. “They have assured that he is in good condition.”
The ICC began an investigation into Duterte’s “war on drugs” in September 2021. The Philippine government that year sought to put an end to the probe, a request that was denied in 2023 by Karim A.A. Khan, the ICC prosecutor, according his office.
Khan in rejecting the request pointed to an investigation by the Philippine Commission on Human Rights into police and state activities carried out under the “war on drugs” between 2016 and 2021.
That investigation found that the government “failed in its obligation to respect and protect the human rights of every citizen, in particular, victims of drug-related killings” and “has encouraged a culture of impunity that shields perpetrators from being held to account,” Khan wrote, citing the rights group.
The ICC focused its investigation on Duterte’s actions between 2011, when he was a local mayor, and 2019. During those years, Duterte and other high-level government officials “reportedly encouraged, supported, enabled, and excused the killing of drug users and drug dealers,” the ICC prosecutor said in a filing.
Duterte, who is now 79, swept into national office from Davao City, where he had been mayor, with a promise to curb crime and corruption.
His methods for fighting illegal drug use had been described as “unorthodox” and on the verge of “the illegal,” he said in his inaugural address in 2016.
“As a lawyer and a former prosecutor, I know the limits of the power and authority of the president. I know what is legal and what is not,” he said in that address. “My adherence to due process and the rule of law is uncompromising.”
ABC News’ Andrew Evans and Karson Yiu contributed to this report.
Facebook / Village of Mount Pleasant Police Department
(MOUNT PLEASANT, WI) — I scream, you scream, a 4-year-old boy has called the cops after his mother ate his ice cream, police have said.
The incident occurred last Tuesday in the town of Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin — located seven miles west of Racine — when police were contacted by a 4-year-old boy who said his “mom being bad,” according to a statement released by the Village of Mount Pleasant Police Department last week.
“Officer Gardinier and Officer Ostergaard were dispatched for a 911 hangup,” authorities said. “A little boy called 911 saying his mom was being bad and needed to go to jail.”
When officers arrived at their home, the young boy said, “his mom ate his ice cream and needed to go to jail for it.”
He also told police that “he no longer wanted her to go to jail and just wanted some ice cream.”
The good-spirted officers subsequently left the home once they verified that this was indeed the reason why they had been called out but they returned back the next day, this time to surprise the boy with some ice cream “after he decided he didn’t want mom in trouble anymore,” police said.
The responding officers weren’t the only ones to find humor in the situation either.
“I’m not saying he’s right. All I am saying is I understand,” said one person responding to the Village of Mount Pleasant Police Department’s post about the incident on social media.
“At least he knows how to call for help,” said another response. “It could save someone’s life one day!”
The officers involved even took a picture with the 4-year-old after the whole incident was over and were able to find humor in the situation.
“I love hearing about our amazing officers creating positive relationships with kids,” another social media user said. “Keep the good news coming!”
(WASHINGTON) — House Republicans are slated to vote Tuesday on their spending bill, known as a continuing resolution, that would fund the government at current levels through Sept. 30, 2025.
In the absence of Democratic support, the vote represents a major test for Speaker Mike Johnson — as it remains unclear if the Trump-backed legislation can even pass in the GOP-controlled House.
Johnson needs near-unanimous GOP support and can only afford to lose one Republican before a second defection would defeat the bill if all members are voting and present. Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie said he will vote against the measure and Georgia Rep. Rich McCormick told reporters he’s also leaning against voting for the bill. Several others are undecided, including Reps. Tony Gonzales, Andy Ogles, Tim Burchett, Cory Mills, Eli Crane and Brian Fitzpatrick.
House Republicans are slated to vote Tuesday on their spending bill, known as a continuing resolution, that would fund the government at current levels through Sept. 30, 2025.
In the absence of Democratic support, the vote represents a major test for Speaker Mike Johnson — as it remains unclear if the Trump-backed legislation can even pass in the GOP-controlled House.
Johnson needs near-unanimous GOP support and can only afford to lose one Republican before a second defection would defeat the bill if all members are voting and present. Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie said he will vote against the measure and Georgia Rep. Rich McCormick told reporters he’s also leaning against voting for the bill. Several others are undecided, including Reps. Tony Gonzales, Andy Ogles, Tim Burchett, Cory Mills, Eli Crane and Brian Fitzpatrick.
“The House and Senate have put together, under the circumstances, a very good funding Bill (“CR”)! All Republicans should vote (Please!) YES next week. Great things are coming for America, and I am asking you all to give us a few months to get us through to September so we can continue to put the Country’s “financial house” in order,” Trump said on Saturday in a post on Truth Social.
Trump added, “Democrats will do anything they can to shut down our Government.”
On Monday evening, Trump threatened to lead the charge against Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie in the primaries, following the congressman saying he would vote no on the continuing resolution Tuesday.
“Congressman Thomas Massie, of beautiful Kentucky, is an automatic “NO” vote on just about everything, despite the fact that he has always voted for Continuing Resolutions in the past,” Trump wrote on his social media platform. “HE SHOULD BE PRIMARIED, and I will lead the charge against him. He’s just another GRANDSTANDER, who’s too much trouble, and not worth the fight.”
Across the aisle, Democratic leaders are urging their caucus to vote against the measure.
“It is not something we could ever support. House Democrats will not be complicit in the Republican effort to hurt the American people,” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Monday.
The 99-page bill would decrease spending overall from last year’s funding levels but increase spending for the military by about $6 billion.
While there is an additional $6 billion for veterans’ healthcare, non-defense spending is about $13 billion lower than fiscal year 2024 levels.
The legislation leaves out emergency funding for disasters but provides a boost in funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation operations.
It also increases funding for W.I.C. by about $500 million, a program that provides free groceries to low-income women and children.
ABC News’ Hannah Demissie contributed to this report
(MADISON, MS) — Three people died after a medical transport helicopter crashed in Madison County, Mississippi, on Monday afternoon, according to the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
The aircraft was a Eurocopter EC-135 helicopter, which crashed into a wooded area around 1:15 p.m. local time, the Federal Aviation Authority said in a statement.
It was owned and operated by Med-Trans, UMMC said.
UMMC confirmed that no patients were on board, and that the victims were two crew members and a pilot. Their families were being contacted, the medical center said.
“Earlier this afternoon, AirCare 3, our Columbus-based medical transport helicopter, had an accident in rural Madison County, north of the Reservoir,” UMMC said in a statement on Facebook. “Sadly, there were no survivors.”
The FAA was investigating in the immediate aftermath of the crash, and the National Transportation Safety Board said it was “launching a go-team to investigate” starting Tuesday.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves released a statement on X saying, “It’s a tragic reminder of the risks Mississippi’s first responders take every day to keep us safe. Our state will never forget the sacrifice of these heroes.”
ABC News’ Benjamin Stein and T. Michelle Murphy contributed to this report.
(MONTVALE, NJ) — A school bus carrying 31 passengers overturned and landed on its side in New Jersey on Monday, sending at least 13 to the hospital.
The crash occurred on the side of the Garden State Parkway in Montvale, according to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.
Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali said in a post on Facebook that no one died in the incident, and the individual with the most severe of injuries has a pulse.
The bus was headed from Lakewood, New Jersey to New York State when it overturned just south of Exit 172 around 7:30 p.m., according to the mayor.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Before a judge halted the takeover in February, President Donald Trump’s administration was planning to fire the overwhelming majority of employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and then fulfill the agency’s legal obligations with a skeleton crew, a top CFPB official testified on Monday.
During a lengthy court hearing on Monday, CFPB’s Chief Operating Officer Adam Martinez gave a full sworn account of the chaos and confusion that has consumed the federal agency that was set up to protect the public from unfair corporate practices ever since the Department of Government Efficiency and Trump administration officials moved to dismantle it.
His testimony provided a window into what is happening internally as DOGE spearheads Trump’s mandate to slash the federal government.
“Absent the temporary restraining order, the majority of the CFPB employees would have been terminated?” a lawyer representing the plaintiffs asked Martinez.
“The majority, yes,” Martinez said, adding the remaining employees would have been fired in later phases of the takeover.
Throughout his six-hour testimony, Martinez described the back-and-forth that played out in recent weeks among acting CFPB Director Russ Vought, DOGE, the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget. Officials toggled between halting and partially reinstating the agency’s work as they hastily slashed it and then scrambled to put pieces back in place to comply with law – in some cases losing key data and services along the way.
“I was having a hard time processing what was happening,” Martinez said, describing the early days of DOGE’s takeover of CFPB.
“So is it fair to say that there’s thought going into it, but only after? It’s like, shoot first and ask questions later?” Judge Amy Berman Jackson asked, after Martinez described how the agency was forced to cancel numerous critical contracts but rescinded some of those terminations soon after. Martinez agreed.
The hearing also shed light on the unique relationship between DOGE representatives and career civil servants, with Martinez frequently calling DOGE representatives the newly installed leaders of the CFPB.
“I don’t understand, why are you using them with leadership to refer to DOGE unless you had been told that DOGE was now your leadership,” asked Judge Jackson.
“They were designated as senior advisers, ma’am,” Martinez said.
“Senior leaders of the CFPB,” Judge Jackson asked.
“Correct,” Martinez said.
Martinez recalled everything from DOGE representatives’ first arrival at CFPB’s office in the first week of February — and the acting director’s email ordering CFPB employees to stop working — to the immediate chaos that ensued, as well as efforts by him and other career officials at CFPB to figure out what has been terminated and how to reinstate critical functions of the agency.
“There were a couple of high-priority issues that would have been devastating had it stopped,” Martinez said at one point.
“I was very, very concerned about the Consumer Response Center going down,” Martinez said, explaining potential backlash that could occur if those systems halted. He said he eventually coordinated a discussion between the head of that unit and DOGE’s representatives to “help them understand why his program was so important.”
On March 2, after much confusion and frustration as to what type of work CFPB was authorized to perform, OMB’s General Counsel Mark Paoletta, who has been representing Vought, eventually sent a letter directing CFPB employees to perform statutorily required duties.
But even after some units were told to return to work, they continued experiencing challenges — including loss of personnel and access to files of those who have left, according to accounts showcased during the hearing.
Jackson acknowledged the extraordinary situation workers at CFPB are facing, and she asked a series of questions to the witness.
“Would you say that sending out an order that says ‘Do no work’ is typical?” Judge Jackson asked.
“No,” Martinez responded.
“Would you say that canceling all the contracts before the analysis as to whether these are duplicative, worthwhile, not worthwhile, is typical?” the judge also asked.
“No,” Martinez again responded.
“Would you say that firing all probationary employees and two-year employees from the get-go is typical?” the judge asked.
“No,” Martinez responded.
“Would you say that trying to implement a brief without notice before the new director is even put in place, is typical?” the judge continued.
“No,” Martinez again replied.
“And would you say putting the rest of the employees on administrative leave with an order to do no work is typical?” the judge asked.
“No,” Martinez responded.
Jackson is considering issuing a preliminary injunction to effectively halt the breakdown of the CFPB, which she temporarily stopped last week. During Monday’s hearing, Martinez was grilled about emails that he had produced wherein he discussed carrying out the mass terminations despite the court’s order.
“You said that, in some ways, the delay was a blessing, because it gave you more time to figure out how to accomplish this wide-scale termination, right?” a lawyer asked.
“Yes,” Martinez said.
“And so you conveyed things like, there really isn’t going to be a CFPB now, right?” the lawyer continued.
“When you’re ripping out a number of people and functions, yes,” Martinez said.
Sudiksha Konanki is seen in this undated photo shared to Meta. (Sudiksha Konanki via Meta)
(PUNTA CANA, DR) — Missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki’s clothes were found on the Dominican Republic beach where authorities believe she was last seen going for a swim, two police sources with knowledge of the investigation told ABC News on Monday.
The 20-year-old Konanki, a legal permanent U.S. resident and an Indian citizen, vanished early Thursday while she and a group of students were on a spring break trip to a resort in Punta Cana, according to the Loudoun County, Virginia, Sheriff’s office.
Konanki and one of her traveling companions were Loudoun County residents, the sheriff’s office said.
Konanki’s clothes were discovered on a portable beach bed close to the beach where she went missing, the sources told ABC News. Police have found no evidence of violence, according to the sources.
After going to a nightclub on Wednesday night, Konanki and a group of people went to the beach about 4 a.m. local time on Thursday, the sources said. The other women traveling with Konanki went back to their hotel about 5:55 a.m. and were captured on security camera returning to their rooms, the sources noted.
A man stayed behind with Konanki on the beach, according to a Dominican Republic investigative police report. The man, whose name was not released, told police that he and Konanki went for a swim and got caught by a big wave, the police report said.
The man, according to sources, told police that when he got back to the beach he threw up and went to sleep on a beach bed. When he woke up, Konanki was nowhere to be seen, the sources said.
Security video showed the man coming back to his hotel room at 9:55 a.m., according to the sources.
The man is not considered a suspect in Konanki’s death, the chief of the Civil Defense in the Dominican Republic told ABC News on Monday.
Right now, the investigation is being treated as an accident, the chief said.
Law enforcement authorities are increasing the perimeter of the search area of beaches and water in the ongoing operation to find Konanki, according to the chief.
Three Dominican officials involved in the investigation told ABC News over the weekend that Konanki is believed to have drowned in the ocean.
The last time Konanki was seen on the beach on security camera footage was around 4:15 a.m. Thursday, the Dominican Republic Public Ministry told ABC News.
The Public Ministry was first contacted by the U.S. embassy in the Dominican Republic on Friday, the Ministry said.
Officials said Konanki’s friends who were with her around the time of her disappearance were questioned by police and have not been charged with crimes.
A joint investigation Konanki’s disappearance is being conducted by the FBI, the US Embassy in the Dominican Republic, the Dominican National Police and the Dominican Prosecutor’s office, sources close to the investigation told ABC News.
The investigators will question everyone involved in the incident again, including hotel employees and the man Konanki’s friends say she was with before she disappeared, the sources said.
All security camera footage since the day Konanki and her five friends arrived on the island is now being analyzed, sources said.
(LONDON) — Ukrainian forces are struggling to prevent what could be a significant military setback, as their hold on the area of Russian territory they seized last year is becoming increasingly precarious.
A Russian offensive supported by North Korean troops in the past few days has made a serious advance in Russia’s Kursk region northeast of Ukraine, breaking through Ukrainian positions and forcing them to withdraw to new defense lines, according to Ukrainian and Russian military bloggers. Russia is attempting to cut Ukraine’s crucial supply road into Kursk, which is already under fire, meaning several thousand Ukrainian troops inside Russia are now at growing risk of encirclement.
Ukraine seized a foothold in the Kursk region with a surprise offensive in August, capturing hundreds of square miles of Russian territory, which it hoped to use as a bargaining chip in any peace negotiations. Russia for months has sought to dislodge the Ukrainians from the region, including with North Korean troops, but until recently had made slow progress while suffering heavy casualties.
Over the past week, Russian progress has dramatically increased, according to bloggers and Ukrainian troops on the ground, with Ukrainian troops clearly under severe pressure and forced to withdraw largely back toward the main town they control in the region, Sudzha. The Washington, D.C.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) assessed Sunday that Russian forces are “collapsing” the northern part of the Ukrainian lines in Kursk.
Russian forces have also succeeded in a flanking attack back across the border into Ukraine, aiming to reach the main supply road to the Ukrainian forces in Sudzha, according to open-source analysts. While Ukraine has, for now, reportedly blunted the Russian push, Russian troops are close to both sides of the route, which has already been under artillery and drone fire.
Over the weekend, Russian forces reached the outskirts of Sudzha itself, entering its industrial zone after launching an attack through a gas pipeline, according to military bloggers. Ukrainian units withdrew from much of their western flank in Kursk after Russian forces crossed the Psel River, allowing Russia to recapture several villages there, according to Clément Molin, a military analyst based in Lyon, France, and co-director of the Atum Mundi think tank.
The commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, on Monday denied that Ukraine’s forces were at risk of encirclement, saying the situation was under control and they were inflicting heavy casualties on Russia.
Yurii Butusov, a prominent Ukrainian military journalist, confirmed Monday on his Telegram channel that the situation is “very difficult” but said there is currently no threat of Ukrainian troops being encircled, and that reinforcements continue to arrive into Sudzha.
Russia has intensified its efforts to drive Ukraine out of Kursk, as efforts at possible negotiations to end the three-year-old war have intensified under the Trump administration. The Kremlin has repeatedly signaled it will not start meaningful negotiations with Ukraine as long as it occupies parts of Kursk.
The ISW and other analysts have suggested the Trump administration’s sudden cutoff of U.S. intelligence sharing earlier this month is likely impacting Ukraine’s ability to defend in Kursk. The ISW noted that the Russian offensive appears to have intensified around the same time as President Donald Trump announced aid cutoff to Ukraine last week, suggesting Russia is trying to take advantage of it.
Ukrainian officials who spoke to ABC News last week said the curtailing of intelligence was intended to limit Ukraine’s strikes into Russia and warned it would hamper Ukraine’s ability to hit forces massing in Kursk.
“This will help Russians to concentrate their forces,” the source told ABC News on Thursday. “For example, now we know that North Korean soldiers are concentrating there again. We could have hit them preemptively, but now we can’t.”
The situation in Kursk, however, was already deteriorating before Trump halted intelligence sharing.
Ukraine’s deteriorating position in Kursk comes as it is finally seeing more positive developments on the eastern front in Donbas, where Russian forces’ advance appears to be stalling out and Ukraine is now mounting a number of counterattacks, according to independent military analysts.
For six months, Russia has crept forward toward the city of Pokrovsk, an important defensive hub, but there are signs its advance may now be close to exhausted there after suffering extremely high losses, according to Ukrainian military accounts and independent researchers.
Ukrainian troops in the past two weeks have managed to launch successful counterattacks on Russian positions around Pokrovsk, recapturing some ground. Ukraine has also managed to counterattack in another city, Toretsk, which, despite nine months of intense urban fighting, Russian forces have failed to capture.
