Pope Francis resting after respiratory condition suddenly worsens
Nuns and the faithful attend Rosary prayers at St. Peter’s Square on February 28, 2025 in Vatican City, Vatican. The Vatican announced that there would be a recitation of the rosary for Pope Francis’s health, as he remains hospitalized following a respiratory infection. (Photo by Alessandra Benedetti – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
(ROME) — Pope Francis is recovering today after suffering a “sudden worsening of his respiratory condition,” the Vatican said.
“The night passed peacefully, the Pope is resting,” the Vatican said Saturday morning, but this comes after a dramatic turn Friday when the Vatican said he suffered an “isolated attack of bronchospasm” which caused vomiting with inhalation.”
The pope underwent broncho aspiration and was put on non-invasive mechanical ventilation, with a good response in terms of gas exchange, the Vatican said.
The pontiff, who has been hospitalized in Rome since Feb. 14, remained alert and oriented while receiving treatment, the Vatican said.
His prognosis “remains uncertain,” the Vatican said, and it will take 24 to 48 hours to understand the impact of the coughing attack and whether it has a worsened effect on his general condition.
The pontiff, who has led the Catholic Church since 2013, was diagnosed with pneumonia last week, according to the Vatican.
(LONDON) — An elephant trampled a tourist on safari to death in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, officials said.
In what park officials are calling a “tragic accident,” the tourist was charged and trampled by an elephant near Crocodile River at Malelane Gate which “regrettably resulted in the loss of life,” according to a statement from South African National Parks released on Saturday.
“South African National Parks (SANParks) officials are at the scene to attend to the matter and support the family,” park officials said.
Authorities are currently investigating the events that led up to the incident as well as the circumstances surrounding the death of the tourist.
“Due to the sensitivity of this matter, we appeal to the public to refrain from posting any pictures or videos of the incident and the victim,” officials said.
Authorities have not yet released any information about the tourist who was killed in the incident.
“SANParks Board and Management extend their heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the deceased for the loss of their loved one,” officials said.
(LONDON) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed “revenge” on Friday after the Israeli military said one of the four bodies recently released by Hamas did not include a hostage.
Hamas, the militant group that governs the war-torn Gaza Strip, said it had handed over the remains of four deceased Israeli hostages on Thursday: 32-year-old Shiri Bibas; her two children — Ariel Bibas, 4, and Kfir Bibas, 8 1/2 months; and 84-year-old Oded Lifschitz.
After conducting a forensic analysis, Israeli officials positively identified three of the returned bodies as Lifschitz and the Bibas children but said the fourth was not that of their mother nor any other hostage, according to the Israel Defense Forces, which accused Hamas of committing a “very serious violation” of the current ceasefire agreement.
“The cruelty of the Hamas monsters knows no bounds,” Netanyahu said in a statement Friday. “Not only did they kidnap the father, Yarden Bibas, the young mother, Shiri, and their two small babies. In an unspeakably cynical manner, they did not return Shiri to her little children, the little angels, and they put the body of a Gazan woman in a coffin.”
“We will act with determination to bring Shiri home along with all our hostages — both living and dead — and ensure that Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement,” he added.
Hamas said in a statement Friday that it “will examine these claims very seriously” and “will announce the results clearly.” The group also called for the return of the body that Israel said is that of a Palestinian woman.
“We point out the possibility of an error or overlap in the bodies, which may be the result of the occupation targeting and bombing the place where the family was with other Palestinians,” Hamas added.
The IDF, citing “the assessment of the professional authorities,” said Ariel and Kfir Bibas “were brutally murdered in captivity in November 2023 by terrorists.” Their father, 35-year-old Yarden Bibas, was also kidnapped during the Hamas-led terror attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but he survived and was freed earlier this month.
Ismail Al-Thawabta, director-general of Gaza’s Hamas-run Government Media Office, said in a statement Friday that the remains of Shiri Bibas were mixed with other human remains beneath the rubble of the place where she was being held in Gaza after Israeli airstrikes “deliberately” destroyed the area, “killing her and her children.”
“Netanyahu himself is the one who issued the orders for the direct and merciless bombing, and he is the one who bears full responsibility for killing her and her children in a horrific and brutal manner,” Al-Thawabta added, noting that the Israeli military has killed more than 30,000 Palestinian women and children in Gaza since the current war began.
A spokesperson for Nir Oz, the kibbutz in southern Israel where the Bibas family were abducted from their home, issued a statement Friday apparently in response to Netanyahu vowing “take revenge.”
“We woke up to a difficult morning,” the kibbutz spokesperson said. “At the same time, we adhere to our values and the clear demands of the Bibas family at this time: Release, not revenge.”
Hamas is expected to free another six living hostages on Saturday followed by four more bodies next week as part of the agreed terms for the first phase of the ceasefire, which began Jan. 19 and is supposed to last 42 days.
Negotiations to set the terms for the second phase have not started, but Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday that mediators are pushing to have talks begin as soon as possible to allow enough time for discussion before it begins. Hamas has accused Israel of avoiding talks and says it’s ready to negotiate.
Ukrainians have suffered a decline in physical and mental health with a need for mental health care, trauma care and rehabilitation, according to the global health agency.
Thousands of people have been injured, and both children and adults are experiencing serious medical conditions and psychological trauma, studies have shown.
“Being a doctor in wartime means returning home after each shift, wishing the war had never happened and praying for its swift end,” Olha Zavyalova, an emergency physician and surgeon from the Dnipro region in southeastern Ukraine, said in a statement.
“People are exhausted — both the patients and the health care workers. Yet, as medical professionals, we do not have the luxury of being tired. Our patients need us to keep going and we must push through the fatigue to continue delivering the care they deserve,” Zavyalova said.
An October 2024 assessment from the WHO European Region found that 68% of Ukrainians reported a decline in health compared to before the war. Mental health concerns were the most prevalent health issue, reported by 46% of those surveyed, the WHO found.
This was followed by mental health disorders — such as anxiety and depression — reported by 41% of those surveyed, and neurological disorders reported by 38%.
Access to health and medical care continues to be a struggle, with one in four people reporting a decrease in access to medical services since the start of the war in February 2022, according to the WHO.
In front-line regions, including the most affected areas, only about 50% of residents have been able to access medical care compared to 57% in the capital, Kyiv, and 60% in the rest of the country, according to the October 2024 report.
Internally displaced people are among the most affected when it comes to lack of medical care. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, 4 million Ukrainians were internally displaced as of February 2025.
The WHO said 13% of internally displaced people lack access to primary health care facilities compared to 6% of those not displaced, and 9% don’t have access to a family doctor compared to 4% of those not displaced.
The October 2024 WHO report also found the cost of medicines and treatment to be a barrier to accessing care, with 35% postponing medical care due to financial challenges.
Additionally, there is a need for trauma care and rehabilitation, according to the WHO. The agency, citing the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, said that by mid-2024, 100,000 amputations had been performed due to the war. Meanwhile, there is a severe shortage of trauma specialists, prosthetics and rehabilitation services, the WHO said.
The WHO also warned about attacks on the health care system and workers. Since the start of the war, the agency said it has documented at least 2,254 attacks, with 42 attacks so far in 2025 alone, which resulted in 12 injuries and three deaths.
Amid the attacks was damage to the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv — one of the most well-respected children’s hospitals in the country — when five Ukrainian cities fell under attack in July 2024, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at the time. At least two people were killed in the attack on the hospital, including one female physician, and at least seven children were injured, according to officials.
In November 2022, a newborn baby was killed when a missile strike hit a maternity hospital in the town of Vilniansk in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the local mayor told ABC News at the time.
The WHO said it’s focused on rebuilding Ukraine’s health care system, including installing primary health care clinics in affected regions and providing critical care including immunizations and mental health care, as well as treating HIV, tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance.
“Health is the foundation of peace and recovery. Rebuilding health systems means restoring hope, dignity and securing the future,” the WHO wrote in its release.
