(LONDON and ROME) — Pope Francis’s health condition has shown slight improvement in the last 24 hours, according to the Vatican.
The slight renal insufficiency the pope had in recent days has subsided and a Tuesday CAT scan of the chest showed a normal evolution of the pulmonary inflammatory picture.
The blood chemistry and blood cell count tests carried out today have confirmed the pope’s improvement, but he remains on high-flow oxygen therapy and did not have any asthmatic-like respiratory crises.
“Although there has been a slight improvement, the prognosis remains guarded,” the Vatican said Wednesday.
The pope received the Eucharist on Wednesday morning and the afternoon was dedicated to work activities, the Vatican said.
The pope spent another “quiet night” in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he has been recovering from a bout with bronchitis since Feb. 14, the Vatican said early Wednesday.
Pope Francis’ condition remains “critical but stable,” Vatican officials said in a brief update on Tuesday.
“There have been no acute respiratory episodes and hemodynamic parameters continue to be stable. In the evening, he underwent a scheduled CT scan for radiological monitoring of the bilateral pneumonia. The prognosis remains uncertain,” the Vatican said Tuesday.
Vatican officials said Sunday he remained in critical condition but officials said that he had shown a “slight improvement” on Monday.
Further updates on the pontiff’s condition are expected on Wednesday.
This combination of pictures created on Feb. 25, 2025 shows President Donald Trump on Feb. 24, 2025, and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Feb 23, 2025. (Jim Watsontetiana Dzhafarova/AFP via Getty Images)
(KYIV and LONDON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday that Ukraine has been working on a “preliminary framework” for a minerals sharing deal with the U.S., but again warned that no agreement can succeed without sufficient Western security guarantees.
“Without future security guarantees, we will not have a real ceasefire,” Zelenskyy said. “And if we don’t have it nothing will work. Nothing will work.”
The president told ABC News that Trump will face a “lot to challenges” with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “It is very difficult really. I understand President Trump wants to do it quickly.”
“But this is not dialogue with somebody,” Zelenskyy added. “He will have a lot of challenges with Putin, because he doesn’t want to end the war.”
“The most important is to end the war yesterday,” the president continued. “We need to focus to get peace without any possibility to get back to the war. That is why we are focusing on just peace and lasting. This is more important than weeks. Of course we want within days.”
Zelensky also said he is ready to be “flexible” about security guarantees, suggesting the U.S. didn’t need to be at the center of them but could contribute alongside other countries. The president added that he wants to ask Trump if the U.S. might stop American military aid in the future. For now, he said, there is no freeze in aid.
Zelenskyy stressed that any minerals deal cannot put Ukraine in debt for previous wartime American grants. That would open a “Pandora’s box,” he said, allowing other nations to demand repayments.
A Ukrainian official described to ABC News details of a potential U.S.-Ukraine mineral deal, sharing points that appear to suggest Kyiv has succeeded in significantly improving the terms, perhaps staring down some of the Trump administration’s more onerous demands.
The $500 billion demanded by Trump no longer features in the draft, a Ukrainian official told ABC News. The fund that Ukraine will pay into is also no longer going to be 100% U.S. owned, the official said.
The two countries have agreed to a deal relating to critical minerals and other resources, a senior Ukrainian official said on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump did not confirm the U.S. had agreed, instead saying he had heard that Zelenskyy will visit Washington, D.C., to finalize the deal on Friday and that “it’s OK with me if he’d like to.”
The terms of a final agreement haven’t yet been disclosed.
The Ukrainian official said the resources that the agreement will apply to are only those not currently contributing to the Ukrainian budget, which means no oil and gas, or likely the majority of the country’s mineral resources.
If the final deal remains close to those terms, the deal may actually be quite restricted in real economic terms.
Carl Bildt, the former Swedish prime minister and co-chair of the European council on foreign relations, told BBC News that the mineral seems like a “sideshow” and was mostly designed to “keep Mr Trump happy.”
“But it is not going to give a lot of money to the U.S., and I don’t see it having any materially economic effect for very many years,” Bildt told the BBC.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — A DOD-contracted aircraft flying an “intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance” mission crashed in the Philippine Province of Maguindanao del Sur, killing all four on board, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Thursday.
The victims included one U.S. military service member and three defense contractors, according to federal officials.
“The incident occurred during a routine mission in support of U.S.-Philippine security cooperation activities,” U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement, noting that the aircraft was requested by Filipino allies.
The names of the crew are being withheld for at least 24 hours pending next-of-kin notification.
The cause of the crash is under investigation, according to federal officials.
(WASHINGTON) — Belarusian journalist Andrei Kuznechyk was released from prison on Wednesday after serving more than three years in prison, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
The terms of the deal were not immediately clear.
“This is a joyous day for Andrey, his wife, Alesya, and their two young children. After more than three years apart, this family is together again thanks to President [Donald] Trump,” RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said in a statement.
“We are also grateful to Secretary Rubio and his team, and to the Lithuanian government for their support,” Capus added.
Kuznechyk’s release comes a day after American schoolteacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after being released from Russia.
Kuznechyk was initially sentenced in November 2021 to 10 days in jail on hooliganism charges, which he rejected at the time, according to RFE/RL.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
