Pope Francis ‘resting’ after 10th night in hospital, Vatican says
Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Image
(ROME and LONDON) — Pope Francis is “resting” on Monday morning after spending his 10th night in the hospital, the Vatican press office said.
“The night passed well, the Pope slept and is resting,” the office said in a short statement.
Francis has been eating normally, is awake and is continuing his medical therapies, a source at the Vatican told ABC News. He’s also in good humor and isn’t suffering from pain, the source said.
Francis has been hospitalized at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital since Feb. 14 following a bout with bronchitis.
The 88-year-old pontiff, who has led the Catholic Church since 2013, underwent another round of clinical tests on Sunday morning, Vatican sources told ABC News.
Officials said Sunday he remained in critical condition. Medical staff were expected to issue an update from Rome later on Monday.
The pontiff was diagnosed with pneumonia on Tuesday, according to the Vatican.
A rosary will be said in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Monday, led by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin. That rosary is seen as a way for the church to express its “closeness to the Pope and the sick,” said the director of the Vatican press office, Matteo Bruni.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Astronomers have confirmed the existence of four planets orbiting a star less than 6 light-years away with help from some of the world’s most powerful telescopes.
Research published in October 2024 revealed that one planet was rotating around Barnard’s Star, the second-closest single star system to Earth. But a combination of telescopes all over the world confirmed the presence of four small exoplanets, according to a study published last week in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The Gemini Telescope in Hawaii and the Very Large Telescope in Chile were used to detect the additional rocky planets, the astronomers said.
“It’s signaling a breakthrough with the precision of these new instruments from previous generations,” said Ritvik Basant, Ph.D student at the University of Chicago and lead author of the paper, in a statement.
The first planet was detected using a 27-foot diameter telescope at the European Space Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile and a spectrograph that could quickly detect changes in the star’s velocity, according to the 2024 paper, published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Barnard’s Star, a low-mass red dwarf, was discovered in 1916. Since then, astronomers have discovered that at least 70% of all stars in the Milky Way are this type of star, which is why researchers want to know about the types of planets that orbit them, according to the University of Chicago.
“It’s a really exciting find — Barnard’s Star is our cosmic neighbor, and yet we know so little about it,” Basant said.
The planets are 20% to 30% the mass of Earth and make a full orbit around the sun in days, according to the paper. They are likely rocky planets, rather than gas.
Since they are so close to Barnard’s Star, they are likely too hot to sustain life. The researchers ruled out the existence of other planets within the habitable zone of Barnard’s Star.
The planets are difficult to detect because their stars shine so brightly next to them, the researchers said.
Scientists from the Gemini Observatory, National Science Foundation NOIRLab, Heidelberg University and the University of Amsterdam calibrated and analyzed data taken during 112 different nights over three years, where they found “solid evidence” to the existence of the additional planets orbiting Barnard’s Star, according to the paper.
“We observed at different times of night on different days,” Basant said. “They’re in Chile; we’re in Hawaii. Our teams didn’t coordinate with each other at all.”
He added, “That gives us a lot of assurance that these aren’t phantoms in the data.”
(ROME) — Pope Francis “remained stationary” on Wednesday, “without showing any episodes of respiratory failure,” but rested peacefully overnight into Thursday, the Vatican said.
The pope, 88, received “high-flow oxygen therapy during the day, and noninvasive mechanical ventilation will be resumed during the night,” the Vatican’s press office said in its evening update.
“The Holy Father increased his respiratory physiotherapy and active motor therapy,” the Vatican’s press office, the Holy See, said. Pope Francis spent his 20th day in hospital on Wednesday in an armchair, participated in the “ritual blessing of the Holy Ashes that were imposed on him by the celebrant” and received the Eucharist, the Vatican said.
“During the morning he also called Father Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest of the Holy Family in Gaza. In the afternoon he alternated rest with work,” the Vatican said.
(NEW YORK) — A U.S.-flagged oil tanker has collided with a Portuguese container ship in the North Sea, north of England, with both ships catching on fire, according to officials.
“HM Coastguard is currently co-ordinating the emergency response to reports of a collision between a tanker and cargo vessel off the coast of East Yorkshire resulting in fires aboard both vessels,” the U.K. coast guard said in a statement.
The U.S. ship was identified as the Stena Immaculate, while the Portuguese-flagged container ship was identified as the Solong.
A coast guard helicopter has been sent, as well as a fixed-wing aircraft, several lifeboats and vessels with firefighting capabilities, the coast guard said.
“The incident remains ongoing and an assessment of the likely counter pollution response required is being enacted,” the coast guard said in a statement.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
