Weak-sounding pope releases audio message from hospital

Update Weak-sounding pope releases audio message from hospital
Candles are placed at the statue of late Pope John Paul II outside Gemelli Hospital where Pope Francis is admitted for treatment, in Rome, Mar. 6, 2025. (Reuters)
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Updated 06 March 2025
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Weak-sounding pope releases audio message from hospital

Weak-sounding pope releases audio message from hospital
  • “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers for my health from the Square, I accompany you from here,” Francis said
  • It was the first time the world has heard Francis’s voice since the 88-year-old was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis recorded and released an audio message on Thursday thanking those who have been praying for his recovery, his voice breathless as he nears three weeks in hospital with pneumonia.
“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers for my health from the Square, I accompany you from here,” Francis said in a message broadcast in St. Peter’s Square.
“May God bless you and the Virgin protect you. Thank you,” he said, taking labored breaths as he spoke in his native Spanish, with some words fading away into nothing.
It was the first time the world has heard Francis’s voice since the 88-year-old was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14.
Pilgrims have been gathering in St. Peter’s Square every evening to pray for the pope’s recovery. The hundreds of people there on Thursday applauded when they heard his message.
The Vatican said earlier Thursday that the Argentine, head of the worldwide Catholic Church since 2013, is in a “stable” condition.
There had been no repeat of Monday’s respiratory failure, it said, and the pope’s blood work “remained stable.”
Francis continued with his breathing exercises and physiotherapy, did not have a fever, and managed to do a bit of work in both the morning and afternoon, it said.
The Vatican has been providing twice daily updates on the pope’s health, a morning one on how the night went, and an evening medical bulletin.
But on Thursday it said that “in view of the stability of the clinical picture, the next medical bulletin will be released on Saturday.”
Nonetheless, “the doctors are still maintaining a reserved prognosis,” it said, meaning they will not say how they expect his condition to evolve.
For the last three nights Francis — who had part of a lung removed as a young man — has worn an oxygen mask to help him sleep.
On Thursday morning, as on the previous day, he switched to a less onerous nasal cannula — a plastic tube tucking into his nostrils — which provides high-flow oxygen, a Vatican source said.
Francis missed the formal Ash Wednesday celebrations in Rome marking the start of Lent, but took part in a blessing in his private suite on the 10th floor of the Gemelli.
The leader of the world’s almost 1.4 billion Catholics has not been seen in public since his hospitalization — the longest of his papacy.
Nor has the Vatican issued any photos, although Francis has published several texts.
During previous hospitalizations, the pope appeared on the Gemelli balcony for his weekly Angelus prayer at noon on Sundays.
But he has missed the last three, and no announcement has yet been made about whether he will make an appearance this weekend.
The Vatican confirmed Thursday that senior cardinal Michael Czerny would stand in for the pope and lead the mass this weekend marking the first Sunday of Lent.
The mass was also part of celebrations for the Jubilee 2025, a Holy Year led by the pope, dedicated this weekend to volunteers.
The Holy See said Thursday the event “takes on an even deeper meaning, as the thoughts and prayers of all the brothers and sisters turn to the Holy Father and the experience he is going through.”
Pilgrims will pray in front of the hospital on Saturday, it said, as well-wishers have done since Francis was admitted.
The pope was initially diagnosed with bronchitis but it developed into pneumonia in both lungs, sparking alarm across the globe.
On Feb. 22, he suffered a “prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis” and on Feb. 28 had “an isolated crisis of bronchospasm” — a tightening of the muscles that line the airways in the lungs.
On Monday, Francis “experienced two episodes of acute respiratory failure, caused by a significant accumulation of endobronchial mucus and consequent bronchospasm,” according to the Vatican.
Francis’s health has regularly led to speculation, particularly among his critics, as to whether he could resign like his predecessor, Benedict XVI.


UK set to sign deal ceding sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius

UK set to sign deal ceding sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
Updated 3 sec ago
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UK set to sign deal ceding sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius

UK set to sign deal ceding sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
  • In 1965 Britain detached the Chagos Islands from Mauritius to create the British Indian Ocean Territory
  • The deal will allow Britain to retain control of the military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island of the archipelago in the Indian Ocean
LONDON: Britain is set to sign a deal ceding sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius while also securing the future of the UK-US Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean, media reported on Thursday.
The deal, the details of which were first announced in October, will allow Britain to retain control of the military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island of the archipelago in the Indian Ocean, under a 99-year lease.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will join a virtual signing ceremony with representatives from the Mauritian government, the Telegraph newspaper reported.
In 1965 Britain detached the Chagos Islands from Mauritius — a former colony that became independent three years later — to create the British Indian Ocean Territory.
Financial details of the deal have not been set out. Media reports have put the cost to Britain at 9 billion pounds.
US President Donald Trump, who took office in November, indicated his backing for the deal in February after meeting Starmer in Washington. Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden had also supported the agreement.

Somalia climate shocks and aid cuts create perfect storm

Somalia climate shocks and aid cuts create perfect storm
Updated 14 min 58 sec ago
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Somalia climate shocks and aid cuts create perfect storm

Somalia climate shocks and aid cuts create perfect storm
  • After his home in the Somali capital was battered by torrential rains, Mohamed Abdukadir Teesto worries about his future at a time when local and foreign aid is vanishing

MOGADISHU: After his home in the Somali capital was battered by torrential rains, Mohamed Abdukadir Teesto worries about his future at a time when local and foreign aid is vanishing.
The Horn of Africa nation is among the most vulnerable to climate change, according to the United Nations, and in the last five years has experienced both the worst drought in 40 years and once-in-a-century flooding.
The more severe weather compounds the insecurity many Somalis face after decades of violent insurgency and political instability.
“We have cleaned our house using our bare hands,” Teesto, 43, told AFP, saying neither international agencies nor the government had offered any assistance.
“Some families who had their houses destroyed are still displaced and cannot come back,” he said. “If it rains again, we will have the same situation.”
Teesto is among around 24,000 people in the Banadir region, which includes Mogadishu, impacted by flooding this month that killed at least 17.
Humanitarian work in Somalia was already under-funded before the halt of aid programs under the US Agency for International Development (USAID), made by President Donald Trump upon his return to the White House.
The UN says its humanitarian needs for the year — estimated at $1.4 billion — are only 12 percent funded so far.
“This can get very, very bad, very quickly,” said Sara Cuevas Gallardo, spokesperson for the World Food Programme, which handles roughly 90 percent of food security assistance in Somalia.
“We don’t know if we have the capacity,” she said.
This month, CARE International said Somalia had 1.8 million severely malnourished children under five, with 479,000 at risk of dying without urgent help.
Cuevas Gallardo said Somalia could see a return to the situation in 2020-2023 when it was on the brink of famine.
The difference being that now “we don’t have the funds to actually act when we have to,” she said.
The International Crisis Group (ICG) has repeatedly warned about the link between climate change and conflict.
Recent attacks are stoking fears of a resurgence by the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab, adding to the displacement and vulnerability caused by weather problems.
Globally, the main driver of hunger is conflict, Cuevas Gallardo said.
“If it’s mixed with the uncertainty of climate shocks in Somalia, then it just equals more food needs, more hunger, more people on the move, and us being unable to respond to that uncertainty as well.”
The WFP is not alone in its warnings.
British charity Save the Children said last week that funding shortfalls would force it to shut more than a quarter of the health and nutrition facilities it runs in Somalia in the coming weeks.
They include every single one in the central city of Baidoa.
It shared the story of Fatima and her one-year-old son, who fled their village after successive droughts damaged crops and killed their livestock.
“If we were not able to get medicines and nutrition support here, we would have no other option but to see our children dying in front of us,” Save the Children quoted the 25-year-old as saying.
The charity said that the current period always sees an uptick in malnourishment but this year it expects an 11-percent increase in malnutrition, leaving remaining facilities “stretched to breaking point.”
At a clinic in Baidoa, doctor Mustafa Mohammed said they have already seen a surge in patients and that closure would be grave.
“There is nowhere else for these children to go.”


Philippine president calls for all Cabinet secretaries to resign after election setbacks

Philippine president calls for all Cabinet secretaries to resign after election setbacks
Updated 22 May 2025
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Philippine president calls for all Cabinet secretaries to resign after election setbacks

Philippine president calls for all Cabinet secretaries to resign after election setbacks
  • At least 21 Cabinet secretaries either immediately submitted their resignations or expressed their readiness to do so
  • Ferdinand Marcos Jr.: ‘This is not about personalities – it’s about performance, alignment and urgency’

MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. asked all of his Cabinet secretaries to submit resignations on Thursday in a “bold reset” of his administration following last week’s mid-term elections, which saw more opposition candidates win crucial Senate seats.
Marcos, the 67-year-old son of a late Philippine dictator overthrown in 1986, won the presidency in the deeply divided Southeast Asian country by a landslide in 2022 in a stunning political comeback as he made a steadfast call for national unity. But his equally popular vice presidential running mate, Sara Duterte, later broke from him in a falling out that has sparked intense political discord.
With support from treaty ally the United States and other friendly countries, Marcos emerged as the most vocal critic of China ‘s growing aggression in the disputed South China Sea while contending with an array of longstanding domestic issues, including inflation — and delayed fulfillment of a campaign promise to bring down the price of rice — as well as many reports of kidnappings and other crimes.
“This is not business as usual,” Marcos was cited as saying in a government statement. “The people have spoken and they expect results — not politics, not excuses. We hear them and we will act.”
Marcos called for the “courtesy resignation of all Cabinet secretaries in a decisive move to recalibrate his administration following the results of the recent elections,” the government statement said.
“The request for courtesy resignations is aimed at giving the president the elbow room to evaluate the performance of each department and determine who will continue to serve in line with his administration’s recalibrated priorities,” the government said.
At least 21 Cabinet secretaries led by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin either immediately submitted their resignations or expressed their readiness to do so.
“This is not about personalities — it’s about performance, alignment and urgency,” Marcos said. “Those who have delivered and continue to deliver will be recognized. But we cannot afford to be complacent. The time for comfort zones is over.”
Government services will remain uninterrupted during the transition, the government said, adding that “with this bold reset, the Marcos administration signals a new phase — sharper, faster and fully focused on the people’s most pressing needs.”
Five out of the 12 Senate seats contested in the mid-term elections were won by allies of Sara Duterte or her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been arrested and detained by the International Criminal Court in The Hague in the Netherlands. The elder Duterte, a staunch critic of Marcos, was accused of committing crimes against humanity over a brutal anti-drugs crackdown he launched that left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead.
Marcos-endorsed senatorial candidates won five Senate seats while two other seats were unexpectedly won by two liberal democrats associated with the late former President Benigno Aquino III, whose family has long been at odds with the Marcoses.
Voting for half of the 24-member Senate is crucial because the government body will hold an impeachment trial for Sara Duterte in July over an array of criminal allegations, including corruption and a public threat to assassinate Marcos, his wife and House Speaker Martin Romualdez. She made those threats in an online news conference in November but later issued a vague denial that she wanted the president killed.
Sara Duterte is facing a separate criminal complaint for her threats against the Marcoses and Romualdez.
Most of the seats in the House were won by candidates allied with Marcos and his cousin, Romualdez, in the May 12 elections, which many saw as a preview to the presidential elections scheduled for 2028.


Two Israeli embassy staffers killed in Washington shooting, suspect held

Two Israeli embassy staffers killed in Washington shooting, suspect held
Updated 22 May 2025
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Two Israeli embassy staffers killed in Washington shooting, suspect held

Two Israeli embassy staffers killed in Washington shooting, suspect held
  • Staff members were shot ‘at close range’ while attending a Jewish event at the museum
  • US President Donald Trump condemns the ‘horrible’ killings

Two Israeli embassy staff were killed in a shooting outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, on Wednesday night, and a suspect is in custody, according to officials and media reports.

WASHINGTON: A man and a woman were shot and killed in the area of 3rd and F streets in Northwest which is near the museum, an FBI field office and the US attorney’s office, according to the reports.

Washington police chief Pamela Smith said a single suspect who was seen pacing outside the museum before the event was in custody. The suspect chanted “Free Palestine, Free Palestine,” in custody, she said.

Tal Naim Cohen, a spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Washington, said two of its staff members were shot “at close range” while attending a Jewish event at the museum.

The Israeli embassy did not immediately respond to questions about the shooter, the victims or the motive for the attack.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed two Israeli embassy staff members were killed.

“We are actively investigating and working to get more information to share,” Noem wrote in a post on X.

“We will bring this depraved perpetrator to justice.”

Trump condemns ‘horrible D.C. killings’ based on ‘antisemitism’

US President Donald Trump condemned on Thursday the “horrible” killings of two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington.

“These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!” he posted on his Truth Social platform.

“Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA.”

FBI Director Kash Patel said he and his team had been briefed on the shooting.

“While we’re working with [Metropolitan Police Department] to respond and learn more, in the immediate, please pray for the victims and their families,” he wrote on X.

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, called the shooting “a depraved act of anti-Semitic terrorism.”

“Harming diplomats and the Jewish community is crossing a red line,” Danon said in a post on X. “We are confident that the US authorities will take strong action against those responsible for this criminal act.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi and US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro were on the scene of the shooting.

The Metropolitan Police Department declined to comment, saying a press conference would be held shortly.


State Department refugee office to assume USAID’s disaster aid role, says cable

State Department refugee office to assume USAID’s disaster aid role, says cable
Updated 22 May 2025
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State Department refugee office to assume USAID’s disaster aid role, says cable

State Department refugee office to assume USAID’s disaster aid role, says cable
  • US overseas missions told to consult with the bureau, called PRM, on foreign disaster declarations
  • Trump’s dismantling of USAID has seen thousands of contractors fired and billions of dollars in programs canceled

WASHINGTON: The State Department office that handles refugee issues and works to cut illegal migration will lead the US response to overseas disasters, according to excerpts from an internal department cable, a role for which experts say it lacks the knowhow and personnel.
The Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, known as PRM, is assuming that function from the US Agency for International Development, the main US foreign aid agency that the Trump administration has been dismantling, say the excerpts reviewed by Reuters.
USAID’s gutting — largely overseen by billionaire Elon Musk as part of US President Donald Trump’s drive to shrink the federal government — has already led to what many experts called the administration’s late and inadequate response to a serious earthquake in Myanmar on March 25.
The excerpts come from a cable known as an ALDAC, which stands for “All Diplomatic and Consular Posts,” sent this week to US embassies and other diplomatic posts worldwide.
Reuters could not learn the precise date of the ALDAC.
Under the new arrangement, all US overseas missions should consult with PRM on foreign disaster declarations, said the cable.
“With approval from PRM based on established criteria for international disaster assistance, up to $100,000 can be issued to support the initial response,” it continued. “Additional resources may be forthcoming based on established humanitarian need” in consultation with other State Department offices.
The State Department did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed on condition of anonymity the authenticity of the excerpts.
Only 20 experts out of the roughly 525 who did the work at USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance and its Office of US Foreign Disaster Relief are being hired by PRM, the source said.
But, the source continued, the number is far from adequate and the PRM leadership has “no concept of how to” mount responses to major overseas disasters.
“They do not understand disaster response,” said the source.
“It’s a joke. It’s ridiculous,” said Jeremy Konyndyk, a former director of the Office of US Foreign Disaster Relief who serves as president of Refugees International, an advocacy organization. “PRM is not an operational entity. They do important stuff but this is not what they do.”
In past years, the US has regularly deployed some of the world’s most skilled rescue workers quickly to save lives in response to tsunamis, earthquakes and other disasters.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has rejected criticism of the administration response to the earthquake in Myanmar. He said it was a difficult place to work, the military junta does not like the US and it was unfair that the US has provided most international humanitarian aid.
Konyndyk warned that with the approaching Caribbean hurricane season the US can no longer mobilize the world-leading Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DARTs) it once could to help with serious disasters on this side of the globe.
“The mechanics of how DARTs work cannot be replicated in PRM,” Konyndyk said. “They are just trying to create a Potemkin DART.”
The Trump administration’s dismantlement of USAID has seen thousands of contractors fired, most of the 10,000 staff placed on administrative leave and facing termination, and billions of dollars in life-saving programs for tens of millions of people canceled. One cable excerpt said that in the event of an overseas disaster, PRM may call on what’s left of USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance to mobilize the remnants of its staff “to provide the most efficient and effective response.”