Pope begins 27th day in hospital after resting peacefully overnight
Massimo Valicchia/NurPhoto via Getty Images
(ROME) — The pope rested peacefully overnight as he begins his 27th consecutive day in hospital this morning, the Vatican said.
The pope’s prognosis was “lifted” on Monday, meaning he is 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.
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.
(BELIZE) — Police in Belize are investigating after three young American women were found dead in their hotel room at a luxury beachfront resort last weekend.
The women — identified as 23-year-old Koutar Naqqad, 24-year-old Imane Mallah and 26-year-old Wafae El-Arar — were found dead at the Royal Kahal Beach Resort in San Pedro on Saturday morning.
The investigation into the cause of their deaths is underway, but Belize’s police commissioner said on Tuesday that carbon monoxide poisoning and possible overdoses are being considered.
Officials noted that alcohol and gummies were found in the hotel room. “We’ve had issues with gummies in the past being resold and sending people to the hospital,” the commissioner said in a statement.
An autopsy is being conducted Tuesday, according to police.
The commissioner said authorities reviewed surveillance footage from the resort that showed the women entering the hotel Thursday evening and they were not seen leaving the room again.
Additionally, nobody was seen entering the women’s room in the footage, according to the police.
The hotel told authorities that nobody answered the door when housekeeping arrived on Friday, so they left.
Police said the women could have been dead in the hotel for approximately 20 hours before they were found.
The women, originally from Morrocco, lived in Revere, Massachusetts.
“The City of Revere extends our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the three local women who tragically and unexpectedly passed away in Belize,” the city wrote on Facebook on Monday.
(LONDON) — Munich police said at least 30 people, including several children, were injured after a “vehicle drove into a group of people” in the center of the city on Thursday morning.
“The driver was able to be secured on site and currently poses no further danger,” police said in a post in German on social media.
The incident is being treated as a “suspected attack,” Bavarian state Premier Markus Söder told journalists.
A 2-year-old child was critically wounded in the attack, according to a spokesperson for the Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital.
“Doctors are currently fighting for the toddler’s life,” the spokesperson said.
The suspect is a 24-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker residing in Munich, police said.
The suspect was already known to police because he “was listed as a witness due to his previous work as a store detective,” not because he was a known criminal, police said.
Authorities have not yet suggested a motive or named the suspect.
Florian Volm, a spokesperson for the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office, told ABC News that the Bavarian Central Office for Extremism and Terrorism of the Attorney General’s Office is “investigating today’s incident to find possible motives.”
Police said the incident occurred in the area of Dachauer Street and Seidle Street in the heart of Munich, close to the city’s central train station.
The incident occurred at Stilgmaierplatz, where a rally organized by the Verdi trade union was taking place from 10:30 a.m. local time, police said. The event was accompanied by police and therefore officers were already on site.
A Munich Police spokesperson told ABC News that the suspect overtook a police vehicle with his car before accelerating and plowing into the back of the demonstration. Police believe he acted alone.
Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter told reporters that “many people have been injured, including children. I am deeply shocked. My thoughts are with the injured.”
“The police have arrested the driver of the vehicle, but the exact circumstances are still unclear,” Reiter added.
Police said a “major operation” was underway, urging residents to avoid the area in order to assist emergency responders.
Images from the scene showed police and medical responders working near a damaged vehicle surrounded by belongings and debris. Police cordoned off the area of the incident as helicopters circled above. Police have not identified the suspect or the vehicle involved.
Thursday’s vehicle crash came less than two months after a car plowed through a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, killing two people and injuring nearly 70 others, local officials said at the time.
ABC News’ Helena Skinner, Felix Franz and Dada Jovanovic contributed to this report.
DECEMBER 30: Palestinians taking shelter in tent camps are battling harsh weather conditions as heavy rainfall has flooded their tents on December 30, 2024 in Deir al-Balah, Gaza. The ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza are worsen by the severe storms, which have led to widespread flooding in the camps where thousands have sought shelter. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Rebel forces in Syria are building a transitional government after toppling the regime of President Bashar Assad in a lightning-quick advance across the country.
The Israel Defense Forces continues its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza, particularly in the north of the strip around several Palestinian hospitals.
Meanwhile, the November ceasefire in Lebanon is holding despite ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, which Israeli officials say are responses to ceasefire violations by the Iranian-backed militant group.
Tensions remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides. The IDF and the Yemeni Houthis also continue to exchange attacks.
Israel intercepts missile from Yemen, threatens Houthi leaders
A missile launched from Yemen was intercepted by Israeli air forces, the Israel Defense Forces said in a Monday night statement, amid continued Israeli and Houthi long-range attacks.
Sirens sounded “due to the possibility of falling shrapnel from the interception,” the IDF said.
The latest missile launch came shortly after Danny Danon — Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations — said Israelis “have had enough” of attacks from the Houthis in Yemen, ongoing since October 2023 in protest of Israel’s war in Gaza.
“Israel will not stand by waiting for the world to act,” Danon said.
Addressing the Houthi leadership, he added, “Let me remind you what happened to Hamas, to Hezbollah, to [former Syrian President Bashar] Assad and to all those who thought to destroy us.”
“This is not a threat, it is a promise,” Danon said. “You will share the same miserable fate.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky, Dana Savir and Ellie Kaufman
Ukraine foreign minister meets Syrian leader in Damascus
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Monday met with Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa — also known by nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Jolani.
Sybiha became the latest foreign representative to meet with Sharaa in Damascus, where the latter’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham forces and their allies are establishing a transitional government having toppled former President Bashar Assad.
Sybiha wrote on X that he “personally conveyed the message” of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “We are with you and ready to assist in restoring normal life, stability and food security,” Sybiha said.
“We rely on the new Syria respecting international law, including Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he added. “This will pave the way to fully restoring our diplomatic ties, political dialogue and diplomatic presence. We are ready to develop cooperation in a number of areas.”
The visit came days after Zelenskyy announced Kyiv’s dispatch of 500 tons of wheat flour to Syria as part of the “Grain from Ukraine” humanitarian program in cooperation with the World Food Program.
Gaza hospitals become ‘battlegrounds,’ WHO chief says
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said early Monday that Gaza’s beleaguered hospitals “have once again become battlegrounds and the health system is under severe threat.”
Ghebreyesus said the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the north Gaza town of Beit Lahia “is out of service,” following an Israeli raid which itself came after several weeks of encirclement and bombardment.
Israeli forces raided the compound on Friday, forcibly evacuating all remaining patients and staff. The Israel Defense Forces said it detained 240 alleged militants, among them hospital director Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya. The IDF said the hospital was a “command center” for Hamas “military operations” in the surrounding area.
Ghebreyesus said Safiya’s “whereabouts are unknown. We call for his immediate release.”
Kamal Adwan patients were transferred to the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia, both of which have also reported repeated Israeli attacks. The latter “is itself out of function,” Ghebreyesus said.
“Seven patients along with 15 caregivers and health workers remain at the severely damaged Indonesian Hospital, which has no ability to provide care,” he added.
Four patients were detained by the IDF during their transfer out of Kamal Adwan Hospital, the WHO chief said.
Two other facilities — the Al-Ahli Hospital and Al-Wafa Rehabilitation Hospital in Gaza City — were also attacked and sustained damage on Monday, Ghebreyesus said.
“We repeat: stop attacks on hospitals,” he wrote. “People in Gaza need access to health care. Humanitarians need access to provide health aid. Ceasefire!”
Family of Gaza hospital director asks international community to help find him
The family of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Gaza Strip, is pleading with the international community to help learn his whereabouts, alleging he was detained by Israeli forces during a recent raid on the medical facility.
The family posted a message on Abu Safiya’s official Instagram page, on which the doctor had been posting updates about the hospital’s functioning, pleading, “We do not know the fate of our father.”
“We appeal to every compassionate individual and all international organizations and institutions to take action,” said the family, asking the international community to apply media pressure and make appeals to “help us push for his swift release from captivity.”
The message said Abu Safiya is still recovering from injuries he suffered a month ago while working at the hospital.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement released on Saturday that Abu Safiya is suspected of being a Hamas terrorist and is being held in Gaza.
Abu Safiya had not been arrested in previous IDF raids of the hospital.
-ABC News’ Camilla Alcini and Nadine Shubailat
IDF issues statement on Kamal Adwan Hospital raid
The IDF released a statement outlining their operations in and around Kamal Adwan Hospital in the last few days.
The Israel Defense Forces said the hospital was a “command center” for Hamas “military operations in Jabaliya,” although the statement and attached media do not provide corroborating evidence of this.
The statement says the IDF faced heavy fighting in areas near the hospital, and says the IDF detained 240 terrorists, including the director of the hospital, Dr Hossam Abu Safiya, whom it says is is “suspected of being a Hamas terrorist operative.”
Abu Safiya was one of the only male staff members at the hospital not detained during the IDF’s raid of the hospital in October, and he would have helped coordinate numerous resupply and patient evacuations with Israel over the last several months.
Kamal Adwan is the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza and is operating at a limited capacity due to a lack of medical supplies and the repeated attacks on the hospital.
