The Vatican says it is unclear how long Pope Francis will stay in hospital after he was admitted on Friday with a respiratory tract infection.

The 88-year-old pope’s current condition was described by the Vatican as “fair” after he was admitted to Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome for treatment for bronchitis – the latest in a string of ailments that have raised concerns about his health.

Spokesperson Matteo Bruni said the pontiff had a “calm” night and was awake on Friday morning, eating breakfast and reading some newspapers. An official medical update on the pope’s condition will be released Saturday after 5 p.m. CET.

It remains to be seen if he will lead the Angelus prayer on Sunday from the balcony of the Gemelli hospital.

The Vatican said Friday that the pope was at the medical facility “for some necessary diagnostic tests and to continue in a hospital setting treatment for bronchitis that is still ongoing.”

They later confirmed he was in the facility, and that he had canceled his meetings for the next three days.

Francis has made a number of visits to the hospital in recent years, and received abdominal surgery in 2023.

He has been struggling with bronchitis in recent weeks and has asked aides to read speeches and addresses.

The pope was mentally alert at the meeting but struggling to speak for extended periods due to breathing difficulties.

Some white South Africans showed support for President Donald Trump on Saturday and gathered at the US Embassy in Pretoria to claim they are victims of racism by their own government.

Hundreds of protesters held placards that read “Thank God for President Trump” and displayed other messages criticizing what they see as racist laws instituted by the South African government that discriminate against the white minority.

Many were from the Afrikaner community that Trump focused on in an executive order a week ago that cut aid and assistance to the Black-led South African government. In the order, Trump said South Africa’s Afrikaners, who are descendants of mainly Dutch colonial settlers, were being targeted by a new law that allows the government to expropriate private land.

The South African government has denied its new law is tied to race and says Trump’s claims over the country and the law have been full of misinformation and distortions.

Trump said land was being expropriated from Afrikaners — which the order referred to as “racially disfavored landowners” — when no land has been taken under the law. Trump also announced a plan to offer Afrikaners refugee status in the US. They are only one part of South Africa’s white minority.

In a speech to Parliament this week, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the forced removal of any people from their land will never be allowed in South Africa again after millions of Blacks were dispossessed of property under the apartheid system of white minority rule and hundreds of years of colonialism before that.

“The people of this country know the pain of forced removals,” Ramaphosa said. He said the land law does not allow any arbitrary taking of land and only refers to land that can be redistributed for the public good.

The Trump administration’s criticism and punishment of South Africa has elevated a long-standing dilemma in the country over moves to address the wrongs of centuries of white minority rule that oppressed the Black majority.

According to the government, the land law aims to fairly address the inequality that the majority of farmland in South Africa is owned by whites, even though they make up just 7% of the country’s population.

White protesters on Saturday held banners referencing the expropriation law but also other affirmative action policies put in place by the government since the end of apartheid in 1994 to advance opportunities for Blacks. Those laws, known as Black Economic Empowerment, have been a source of frustration for some white people.

Influential Trump adviser Elon Musk — who was raised in South Africa — has also criticized South Africa’s government and claimed it is anti-White for years, although some have questioned his motivations. He has recently failed to get a license for his Starlink satellite internet service in South Africa because it doesn’t meet the country’s affirmative action criteria.

While race has long framed South African politics, the country has been largely successful in reconciling its racially diverse people in the years after apartheid. The current government is made up of a coalition of 10 Black-led and white-led political parties that are working together.

A rebel group has said it has advanced into Bukavu, the second largest city in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with residents reporting looting and fighters in the streets.

Rebel coalition, Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), which includes the M23 armed group, said in a statement Saturday it took control of the Kavumu airport in South Kivu and forced government forces to retreat “in disarray, abandoning the city of Bukavu,” the provincial capital.

There has been no confirmation from the DRC government and it is unclear from eyewitnesses reports how far the rebels have advanced in Bukavu.

The rapid advance into the city comes less than three weeks after the rebels claimed the takeover of Goma, the largest city and capital of the neighboring North Kivu province on January 27.

Fighting in Goma between the rebels and DRC’s military left more than 3,000 people dead, according to the government.

The DRC and many Western countries accuse its neighbor Rwanda of backing M23, which is comprised mainly of ethnic Tutsis who left the Congolese army more than a decade ago.

Since 2022, M23 – which claims to defend the interest of minority Rwandophone communities, including the Tutsis – has waged a renewed rebellion against the DRC government, occupying a large expanse in North Kivu, which borders Rwanda and Uganda.

Now a part of the AFC rebel alliance, the group has also taken over resource-rich communities in the east such as Nyabibwe and Rubaya, which harbors one of the world’s largest deposits of coltan, a valuable mineral used in the production of smartphones.

Calls for a ceasefire from foreign and regional leaders have failed to deter the rebels’ quest for territory.

Residents told Reuters they had seen M23 fighters on the streets but were yet to witness any fighting. Other sources told the news agency that the rebels were yet to enter the center of Bukavu.

“Their uniforms were different. We had been prepared since the daytime for their arrival … the FARDC (army soldiers) had left. There were no clashes,” one resident told Reuters, adding that she spotted the rebels from her window.

“They are looting depots, warehouses and commercial houses,” he said, accusing fleeing soldiers and civilians of carrying out the looting.

“We have no security,” Mapendano added.

At least 15 people, including 10 women and three children, were killed in a crowd crush at a New Delhi railway station Saturday as passengers tried to board trains heading to the world’s largest religious gathering, according to Indian media.

Deputy commissioner of Delhi police KPS Malhotra told India’s ANI news that the crush took place late Saturday night, when delays to two train services and an influx of passengers led to overcrowding.

He said the “situation went out of control for a brief spell of 10 to 15 minutes.”

Many of those in the crowds are thought to have been heading to the Maha Kumbh Mela, the world’s largest religious gathering, in the Indian city of Prayagraj.

The news comes just weeks after dozens of people were killed in a crowd crush at the gathering itself.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “distressed” at the latest deaths.

”My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured have a speedy recovery. The authorities are assisting all those who have been affected,” Modi wrote on X Sunday.

Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister of Railways of India, said on X that he was “deeply saddened by the unfortunate” crowd crush.

“My prayers are with all those who have lost their loved ones. The entire team is working to assist all those who have been affected by this tragic incident,” he wrote.

Vaishnaw said four trains had been used to evacuate people from the station. Police were on the scene and the situation was now under control, he added.

The festival is considered the world’s largest peaceful gathering of people. Over six weeks, a staggering 400 million people are expected to attend the Maha Kumbh Mela, or the festival of the Sacred Pitcher, on the banks of Prayagraj.

A 23-year-old man stabbed five passersby in southern Austria on Saturday in what police said was a random attack that left a 14-year-old dead and four others injured.

The suspect was detained in the city of Villach, where the attack took place, police said. He is a Syrian national with legal residence in Austria, they said.

The victims were all men. Two were seriously injured and two sustained minor injuries, police said.

Police spokesperson Rainer Dionisio said a motive was not immediately known. He added that police were investigating the attacker’s personal background. “We have to wait until we get secure information,” he said.

A 42-year-old man who works for a food delivery company witnessed the incident from his car, police said. He drove toward the suspect and helped to prevent things from getting worse, Dionisio told Austria’s public broadcaster ORF.

Peter Kaiser, the governor of the Austrian province of Carinthia, expressed his condolences to the family of the 14-year-old victim.

“This outrageous atrocity must be met with harsh consequences. I have always said with clarity and unambiguously: Those who live in Carinthia, in Austria, have to respect the law and adjust to our rules and values.”

Erwin Angerer, a lawmaker for the far-right Freedom Party, said his party had been warning about the situation in Austria as a result of the country’s “disastrous asylum policy.”

Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner was expected in Villach on Sunday morning.

Police said it wasn’t clear whether the suspect acted on his own and continued to search for potential additional suspects. It was also not known whether there is any connection between the attacker and the victims.

According to the Austrian Ministry of Interior, 24,941 foreigners applied for asylum in Austria in 2024. The largest group of applicants comes from Syria, followed by Afghanistan.

Over the past two years, the number of asylum seekers has decreased significantly. In 2022, applications peaked at over 100,000, while approximately 59,000 individuals sought asylum in 2023.

Several European countries, among them Austria, said in December they are suspending decisions on asylum claims by Syrian nationals because of the unclear political situation in their homeland following the fall of Bashar Assad.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

The family of a British couple detained in Iran say they are determined “to secure their safe return.”

It’s unclear when Iranian authorities arrested Craig and Lindsay Foreman, but reports of their detention were published by Iranian state-run media outlets on Thursday, saying they were being held on suspicion of security-related charges.

The last post from the couple, who had been on a motorcycle tour around the world, was in early January.

“We would like to take this opportunity to address the distressing situation concerning Craig and Lindsay Foreman, who are currently being detained in Kerman, Iran,” the family said in a statement issued by the UK’s Foreign Office on their behalf.

“This unexpected turn of events has caused significant concern for our entire family, and we are deeply focused on ensuring their safety and well-being during this trying time,” the statement added.

The family said they are “actively engaging with the British government and relevant authorities, working diligently to navigate the complexities of this matter.”

“The family are united in our determination to secure their safe return. We truly appreciate the outpouring of support from friends, family, and the community, which has provided us with strength and encouragement as we face this ordeal,” the statement said.

British Ambassador to Iran Hugo Shorter met with two British nationals on Wednesday at the office of the Public Prosecutor in Kerman, the provincial capital, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news on Wednesday.

IRNA said details about their case would be announced later, citing the Kerman Public Prosecutor.

IRNA has also published a photo of the meeting showing the UK ambassador to Iran, but it has not shown the faces of the two or released their names.

“Travel has a way of reminding you of what really matters. On this (journey) around the world, we’ve felt a deep sense of connection – and nowhere more so than here in Iran,” Foreman said in her last post on Instagram on January 2.

“Despite differences in culture, language, and traditions, we’ve seen something beautifully universal: kindness, humor, hospitality – and a shared love of good food!” she added.

A young man from an isolated Indigenous tribe who approached a riverine community in Brazil’s Amazon returned voluntarily to his people less than 24 hours later, Brazilian authorities said.

The encounter occurred around 7 p.m. local time Wednesday in Bela Rosa, a community along the Purus River in the southwestern Amazon.

Footage obtained by The Associated Press shows him barefoot and wearing a small loincloth, seemingly calm and in good health as he carried two logs.

Locals believe the man was asking for fire. Smartphone video of the encounter showed one resident trying unsuccessfully to show the man how to use a lighter.

Officials from Brazil’s Indigenous affairs agency, Funai, arrived soon after and took him to a nearby facility.

Funai said in a statement Friday that the young man returned to the forest on Thursday afternoon.

It added that a team of health professionals was sent to assess if the young man had been exposed to any disease to which isolated Indigenous tribes have no immunity.

They also said surveillance has been established to prevent people from reaching the isolated tribe’s location.

As a policy, Brazil does not actively seek contact with these groups but instead establishes protected and monitored areas, such as Mamoriá Grande, near where the encounter occurred.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to join European leaders at an emergency summit in Paris on Monday, Britain’s PA media reported, after the relationship of the continent with Washington was strained by US President Donald Trump speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin as he pushes for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.

“The UK will work to ensure we keep the US and Europe together. We cannot allow any divisions in the alliance to distract from the external enemies we face,” Starmer was quoted as saying in a statement released by Downing Street on Saturday.

“This is a once in a generation moment for our national security where we engage with the reality of the world today and the threat we face from Russia. It’s clear Europe must take on a greater role in NATO as we work with the United States to secure Ukraine’s future and face down the threat we face from Russia,” the prime minister also said.

This comes as Trump’s special envoy for Russia and Ukraine Keith Kellogg said Saturday that European officials will not be at the table when trying to negotiate a solution to the war in Ukraine.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that French President Emmanuel Macron had called for a summit of European leaders in Paris.

He also said that he expects the European leaders to discuss the matter “in a very serious fashion.”

France is yet to officially confirm the event.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

By the time the girl was admitted to hospital, her hair was brittle, her skin was flaking, and she was so malnourished that doctors said she was at risk of cardiac arrest and death.

She was 17 but looked much younger. Witnesses at the hospital said her parents treated her as if she were a small child. They took her to the bathroom, wiped her bottom, blew her nose and brushed her hair as she watched cartoons more suitable for toddlers.

She weighed just 60 pounds (27.3 kilograms) – about the same size as a 9-year-old.

Last month her parents, an Australian couple in their mid-40s, were sentenced to prison in Perth’s District Court of Western Australia for neglecting their only child, even as they ferried her to and from piano and ballet lessons.

Neither the parents nor their daughter can be identified, according to an Australian law that seeks to protect child victims.

In her ruling, Judge Linda Black said it was clear the girl’s parents loved her, but failed in their parental duties to help her develop, physically and emotionally.

“This is not a case about a malnourished ballerina,” Judge Linda Black said as she sentenced the father to six and a half years in prison, and the mother to five years – a reduced sentence to take into account her “personal circumstances.”

“You isolated your daughter, you prevented her from growing up, you prevented her from developing in the way she was entitled to. You did keep her as a little girl long beyond the age where she should have been,” Black said.

For the purposes of this story, we’ll call the girl Kate. The following details have been sourced from court documents.

A ‘beautiful ballerina princess’

Kate loved to dance. She was homeschooled by her mother, who quit work when she was born, to take care of her. Most of their time was spent at home, but ballet lessons offered Kate a chance to mix with other children.

Photos released by the court show Kate smiling in brightly colored costumes, her hair slicked back, and her feet and arms in the studied pose of a graceful ballerina.

“What a beautiful photo of my ballerina princess!” her father commented on one photo posted to Facebook, of his daughter who looked far younger than her 14 years.

Kate’s father worked full time to provide for the family, who lived in one of the wealthiest suburbs of Perth, the capital of Western Australia.

They were intelligent people, who obviously knew how to feed themselves, the judge said.

Yet, they failed to ensure their daughter ate enough food.

The couple also failed to let Kate grow up as a normal teenager.

Nothing “even remotely age-appropriate” was present in the family’s home, the judge said, pointing to the films and TV shows she watched: Teletubbies, Frozen, and Thomas the Tank Engine.

Unlike most teenagers, who were getting their first jobs and scrolling on social media, Kate was having princess birthday parties and receiving Barbie dolls as gifts. And when other girls were going through puberty, Kate ceased to grow or develop.

During the trial, her father told the court she was a “fussy eater” who had become a vegetarian at age 8 and turned vegan in her early teens. She ate three meals a day and had access to snacks, he said. He didn’t believe she was malnourished.

Vegans avoid eating food that comes from animals, including dairy products and eggs. Their diet is largely made up of fruit, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds.

“My client didn’t starve his kid … He never withheld food from her. He loved and spoiled his daughter. She was free to eat as much as she wanted. This case was about inadequate nutrition from a vegan diet,” Paxman said.

“Every parent on this planet knows that if you don’t give a child enough food they will starve. But what if your kid chooses to be vegan?”

Judge Black refused to believe the couple didn’t realize their daughter was seriously unwell.

“It seems that everyone in the world who had the opportunity to interact with (Kate) understood she was severely malnourished, except the two people who professed to love her. I simply cannot accept that you didn’t see it. I simply cannot accept that you didn’t notice,” Judge Black said.

In fact, Black found they did notice – so much so that Kate’s father forged her birth certificate to make her seem two years younger, partly to hide what was becoming increasingly apparent to other people – their daughter was chronically malnourished.

Parents at the ballet school were starting to whisper, and her dance teachers implored her parents to see a nutritionist. They refused, and eventually the teachers notified authorities.

By the time Kate was hospitalized at 17, she was 147.5 centimeters (4 feet 10 inches) tall with a body mass index of 12.5 – significantly below the healthy range of 18 to 25.

“She was wasted, according to the doctor, with limited body fat. She was pale. She was exhibiting no signs of puberty. Her hair was brittle and thin. Her skin was dry and flaking. Her heart rate was elevated. The doctor said they needed to do an ECG. And the two of you said no,” Judge Black wrote in her ruling.

As doctors tried to treat her, Kate’s parents openly discussed their suspicions that a conspiracy was forming around them – and that medical staff couldn’t be trusted.

Their daughter was in the Eating Disorder Ward, yet they praised the figure of another patient who was dangerously thin.

They told their daughter her stomach was looking full, and made comments that suggested she might get fat if she followed her doctors’ advice.

“This, in a context of the dire condition your daughter was in, was … outrageous,” Black wrote.

When the couple refused to allow doctors to insert a nasal tube to allow Kate to be fed, and frustrated other attempts to treat her, authorities stepped in and put her into state custody.

Without her parents’ intervention, Kate gained weight, and they were arrested and charged.

When parents can’t let go

Dr Danielle Einstein, a clinical psychologist and author, said cases like Kate’s are “extremely rare.”

She said it’s very common for parents to struggle with the idea that their children will one day leave, but ultimately most want them to grow into responsible adults.

Einstein said one of the problems she has encountered through her work is when parents try to shield their children from problems, or do too much for them.

“Sheltering is a problem; we don’t want to shelter our children. We want them to continue to grow and develop and be capable without us,” she said.

“We’re seeing more anxiety in young adults and in teens because they’re not prepared to face the challenges and overcome the challenges without help.”

Kate’s parents didn’t just prevent her from growing up, the court found – they told “a cascading series of lies” from 2016 about their daughter’s age, to cover up their neglect.

The first came as her mother signed Kate up for a dance class, giving a date of birth that made her daughter seem six months younger than she really was.

Months later, she gave a different birthdate again, to the same dance school, taking off another year, so she appeared 18 months younger.

Then in another application, she knocked a full two years off her age.

“You deliberately lied because you knew that your daughter did not look or behave like a child of her true age,” Black said.

In her sentencing remarks, Black said it was clear that Kate’s parents loved her, but didn’t show it in their actions.

“There is nothing unusual in a parent wanting to cling onto their child and be reluctant to let them go and mature and become an adult. Nothing unusual at all,” she said.

“But what is wrong is when a parent, in fact, prevents the child from embarking upon and completing that natural process.”

“One of your greatest failures was a belief that you could give her what she wanted and failing to give her what she needed,” she continued.

“Every parent knows it’s harder to say no to your child than to say yes. You chose to make the easy decisions rather than the hard ones.”

Kate’s own words provided more evidence to Judge Black that her parents had failed to give her the skills to function without them.

In a letter sent to the judge, appealing to her to drop the prosecution, Kate blamed herself for her parents’ predicament – saying they made her breakfast, lunch and dinner, but she chose how much she ate.

“I’m fully dependent on my parents,” she wrote. “All my living expenses are paid by my parents, including clothes, food, money as I need it. My university fees are being paid by my parents.”

“I love my parents very much. They are the most important people in my life. If my parents go to prison, I don’t think I’ll be able to cope.”

Kate’s father admitted forging her birth certificate, but both parents denied all other charges, while their lawyers pointed to an anxiety disorder to partly explain their behavior.

Judge Black said the couple had taken no responsibility for their actions, and she saw no reason not to jail them.

“You have shown no remorse. You have shown no acceptance of responsibility. You have shown no insight,” she said. Both will be eligible for parole.