ROME: Pope Francis was well enough to meet with the Vatican secretary of state to approve new decrees for possible saints, the Vatican said Tuesday, in announcing some major governing decisions that suggest he is getting essential work done and looking ahead despite being hospitalized in critical condition with double pneumonia.
The audience, which occurred Monday, signaled that the machinery of the Vatican is still grinding on even though doctors have warned that the prognosis for the 88-year-old Francis is guarded.
Decisions on saints and a formal meeting of cardinals
The Vatican’s Tuesday noon bulletin contained a series of significant decisions, most importantly that Francis had met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the Vatican “substitute” or chief of staff. It was the first known time the pope had met with Parolin, who is essentially the Vatican prime minister, since his Feb. 14 hospitalization.
During the audience, Francis approved decrees for two new saints and five people for beatification — the first step toward possible sainthood. Francis also decided to “convene a consistory about the future canonizations.”
Francis regularly approves decrees from the Vatican’s saint-making office when he is at the Vatican, albeit during audiences with the head of the office, not Parolin. A consistory, which is a formal meeting of cardinals, to set the dates for the canonizations is a necessary ceremonial step in that saint-making process, but the announcement of it was also forward-looking, given his illness.
No date was set for the meeting. But it was also at a banal consistory to set dates for canonizations on Feb. 11, 2013, that Pope Benedict XVI announced, in Latin, that he would resign because he couldn’t keep up with the rigors of the papacy. Francis has said he, too, would consider resigning after Benedict “opened the door” and became the first pope in 600 years to retire.
Giovanna Chirri, the reporter for the Italian news agency ANSA who was covering the consistory that day and broke the story because she understood Latin, said that she didn’t think Francis would follow in Benedict’s footsteps, “even if some would want it.”
“I could be wrong, but I hope not,” she told The Associated Press. “As long as he’s alive, the world and the church need him.”
Francis’ English biographer, Austen Ivereigh, said that it was possible, and that all that matters is that Francis be “wholly free to make the right decision.”
“The pope has always said that the papacy is for life, and he has shown that there is no problem with a frail and elderly pope,” Ivereigh said. “But he has also said that should he ever have a long-term degenerative or debilitating condition which prevents him from fully carrying out the exercise of the papal ministry, he would consider resigning. And so would any pope.”
Francis’ ideas about resignation
Francis has said that if he were to resign, he would live in Rome, outside the Vatican, and be called “emeritus bishop of Rome” rather than emeritus pope given the problems that occurred with Benedict’s experiment as a retired pope. Despite his best efforts, Benedict remained a point of reference for conservatives before he died in 2022, and his home inside the Vatican gardens something of a pilgrimage destination for the right.
Francis has also written a letter of resignation, to be invoked if he became medically incapacitated.
Speculation about a possible resignation has swirled ever since Francis was hospitalized, but the Vatican hierarchy has tamped it down. Parolin himself told Corriere della Sera over the weekend that such speculation was “useless” and that what mattered was Francis’ health.
In addition to the audience with Parolin, the Vatican released Francis’ message for Lent, the period leading up to Easter, in yet another forward-looking sign. In a subsequent bulletin, Francis named a handful of new bishops for Brazil, a new archbishop for Vancouver and modified the law for the Vatican City State to create a new hierarchy.
Many if not all of these decisions were likely in the works for some time. But the Vatican has said that Francis has been doing some work in the hospital, including signing documents.
The pope slept well
On Tuesday morning, the Vatican’s typically brief morning update said: “The pope slept well, all night.”
The previous evening, doctors had said he remained in critical condition at Rome’s Gemelli hospital with double pneumonia, but reported a “slight improvement” in some laboratory results. In the most upbeat bulletin in days, the Vatican said Francis had resumed work from his hospital room, calling a parish in Gaza City that he has kept in touch with since the war there began.
Doctors have said the condition of the Argentine pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, is touch-and-go, given his age, fragility and preexisting lung disease before the pneumonia set in.
But in Monday’s update, they said he hadn’t had any more respiratory crises since Saturday, and the flow and concentration of supplemental oxygen has been slightly reduced. The slight kidney insufficiency detected on Sunday wasn’t causing alarm at the moment, doctors said.
Allies and ordinary faithful hopeful
Francis’ right-wing critics have been spreading dire rumors about his condition, but his allies have cheered him on and expressed hope that he will pull through. Many noted that from the very night of his election as pope, Francis had asked for the prayers of ordinary faithful, a request he repeats daily.
“I’m a witness of everything he did for the church, with a great love of Jesus,” Honduran Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga told La Repubblica. “Humanly speaking, I don’t think it’s time for him to go to Paradise.”
At Gemelli on a rainy Tuesday morning, ordinary Romans and visitors alike were also praying for the pope. Hoang Phuc Nguyen, who lives in Canada but was visiting Rome to participate in a Holy Year pilgrimage, took the time to come to Gemelli to say a special prayer for the pope at the statue of St. John Paul II outside the main entrance.
“We heard that he is in the hospital right now and we are very worried about his health,” Nguyen said. “He is our father and it is our responsibility to pray for him.”
Pope Francis met at hospital with Vatican No. 2, took major governing decisions
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Pope Francis met at hospital with Vatican No. 2, took major governing decisions
- The audience signaled that the machinery of the Vatican is still grinding on even though doctors have warned that the prognosis for the 88-year-old Francis is guarded
US expects Russia offer soon as Zelensky sounds warning
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday he expected Russia to present a Ukraine ceasefire outline within days that will show if it is serious, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of buying time.
President Donald Trump spoke separately by telephone on Monday to Zelensky and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, after Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Istanbul on Friday for their first direct talks on the conflict in three years.
Putin has consistently rejected proposals for a 30-day truce put forward by Kyiv and its Western allies.
But Rubio said that Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov indicated they would present their own terms “maybe in a number of days, maybe this week hopefully.”
The Russians will offer “just broad terms that would allow us to move toward a ceasefire, and that ceasefire would then allow us to enter into detailed negotiations to bring about an end of the conflict,” Rubio said.
He said that the presentation will “tell us a lot about their true intentions.”
“If it’s a term sheet that’s realistic and you can work off of it, that’s one thing. If it makes demands that we know are unrealistic, I think that will be indicative.”
Putin after Trump’s call said he was ready to work with Ukraine on a “memorandum” outlining a possible roadmap and different positions on ending the war.
And Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday said that Pope Leo XIV was willing “to host upcoming discussions between the parties at the Vatican,” according to her office.
Rubio insisted to critical lawmakers that Putin “hasn’t gotten a single concession” from Trump. But Russia has also not indicated any new flexibility since Trump took office in January with vows to end the war through dialogue.
“It is obvious that Russia is trying to buy time in order to continue its war and occupation,” Zelensky said in a post on social media.
Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Rubio that Putin’s refusal to go to Istanbul despite the stated willingness of both Zelensky and Trump to meet showed “he believes it’s in Russia’s interest to carry out this war as long as possible.”
The European Union formally on Tuesday adopted its 17th round of sanctions on Moscow, targeting 200 vessels of Russia’s so-called shadow maritime fleet.
Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s Direct Investment Fund and lead economic negotiator with Washington, attacked the move, saying: “Western politicians and the media are making titanic efforts to disrupt the constructive dialogue between Russia and the United States.”
Rubio said that Trump for now opposed new sanctions for fear that Russia would no longer come to the table.
Moscow appears confident, with its troops advancing on the battlefield and Trump ending Western isolation of the Kremlin.
The memorandum mentioned by Putin “buys time for Russia,” Russian political analyst Konstantin Kalachev said.
“The cessation of hostilities is not a condition for it, which means that Russia can continue its offensive,” he added.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and has since destroyed swathes of the country’s east, killed tens of thousands and now controls around one-fifth of its territory.
People who spoke to AFP both in Kyiv and Moscow were skeptical about peace prospects and thought the Putin-Trump call had not brought them closer.
“I never had any faith in him and now I have none at all,” retired teacher Victoria Kyseliova said in Kyiv, when asked if she was losing confidence in Trump.
Vitaliy, a 53-year-old engineer from Kyiv, said Trump was no “messiah” and that his flurry of diplomacy has changed little.
Ukrainian political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko said Trump’s latest calls had only added to the uncertainty.
“This conversation not only failed to clarify the future of the negotiations but further confused the situation,” he said.
He said Trump had fallen for Putin’s tactics of trying to use talks “as a cover to continue and intensify the war.”
In Moscow, there was defiance and confidence.
“I believe that we don’t need these negotiations. We will win anyway,” said Marina, a 70-year-old former engineer.
Nvidia says US export controls on AI to China were ‘a failure’
TAIPEI: US export controls on artificial intelligence to China were a failure, Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the annual Computex event in Taipei, Huang said Nvidia’s market share in China dropped to 50 percent, from 95 percent at the start of former US President Joe Biden’s administration.
Google’s unleashes ‘AI Mode’ in the next phase of its journey to change search
- Google is also feeding its latest AI model, Gemini 2.5, into its search algorithms and will soon begin testing other AI features
Google on Tuesday unleashed another wave of artificial intelligence technology to accelerate a year-long makeover of its search engine that is changing the way people get information and curtailing the flow of Internet traffic to websites.
The next phase outlined at Google’s annual developers conference includes releasing a new “AI mode” option in the United States. The feature makes interacting with Google’s search engine more like having a conversation with an expert capable of answering questions on just about any topic imaginable.
AI mode is being offered to all comers in the US just two-and-a-half-months after the company began testing with a limited Labs division audience.
Google is also feeding its latest AI model, Gemini 2.5, into its search algorithms and will soon begin testing other AI features, such as the ability to automatically buy concert tickets and conduct searches through live video feeds.
In another example of Google’s all-in approach to AI, the company revealed it is planning to leverage the technology to re-enter the smart glasses market with a new pair of Android XR-powered spectacles. The preview of the forthcoming device, which includes a hands-free camera and a voice-powered AI assistant, comes 13 years after the debut of “Google Glass,” a product that the company scrapped after a public backlash over privacy concerns.
Google didn’t say when its Android XR glasses will be available or how much they will cost, but disclosed they will be designed in partnership with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker. The glasses will compete against a similar product already on the market from Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Ray-Ban.
AI’s big role in Google search
The expansion builds upon a transformation that Google began a year ago with the introduction of conversational summaries called “AI overviews” that have been increasingly appearing at the top of its results page and eclipsing its traditional rankings of web links.
About 1.5 billion people now regularly engage with “AI overviews,” according to Google, and most users are now entering longer and more complex queries.
“What all this progress means is that we are in a new phase of the AI platform shift, where decades of research are now becoming reality for people all over the world,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said before a packed crowd in an amphitheater near the company’s Mountain View, California, headquarters.
AI ripples across the Internet
Although Pichai and other Google executives predicted AI overviews would trigger more searches and ultimately more clicks to other sites, it hasn’t worked out that way so far, according to the findings of search optimization firm BrightEdge.
Clickthrough rates from Google’s search results have declined by nearly 30 percent during the past year, according to BrightEdge’s recently released study, which attributed the decrease to people becoming increasingly satisfied with AI overviews.
The decision to make AI mode broadly available after a relatively short test period reflects Google’s confidence that the technology won’t habitually spew misinformation that tarnishes its brand’s reputation, and acknowledges the growing competition from other AI-powered search options from the likes of ChatGPT and Perplexity.
Will AI undercut or empower Google?
The rapid rise of AI alternatives emerged as a recurring theme in legal proceedings that could force Google to dismantle parts of its Internet empire after a federal judge last year declared its search engine to be an illegal monopoly.
In testimony during a trial earlier this month, longtime Apple executive Eddy Cue said Google searches done through the iPhone maker’s Safari browser have been declining because more people are leaning on AI-powered alternatives.
And Google has cited the upheaval being caused by AI’s rise as one of the main reasons that it should only be required to make relatively minor changes to the way it operates its search engine because technology already is changing the competitive landscape.
But Google’s reliance on more AI so far appears to be enabling its search engine to maintain its mantle as the Internet’s main gateway — a position that’s main reason its corporate parent, Alphabet Inc., boasts a market value of $2 trillion.
During the year ending in March, Google received 136 billion monthly visits, 34 times more than ChatGPT’s average of 4 billion monthly visits, according to data compiled by onelittleweb.com.
Even Google’s own AI mode acknowledged that the company’s search engine seems unlikely to be significantly hurt by the shift to AI technology when a reporter from The Associated Press asked whether its introduction would make the company even more powerful.
“Yes, it is highly likely that Google’s AI mode will make Google more powerful, particularly in the realm of information access and online influence,” the AI mode responded. The feature also warns that web publishers should be concerned about AI mode reducing the traffic they get from search results.
Even more AI waiting in the wings
Google’s upcoming tests in its Labs division foreshadow the next wave of AI technology likely to be made available to the masses.
Besides using its Project Mariner technology to test the ability of an AI agent to buy tickets and book restaurant reservations, Google will also experiment with searches done through live video and an opt-in option to give its AI technology access to people’s Gmail and other Google apps so it can learn more about a user’s tastes and habits. Other features on this summer’s test list include a “Deep Search” option that will use AI to dig even deeper into complex topics and another tool that will produce graphical presentations of sports and finance data.
Google is also introducing its equivalent of a VIP pass to all its AI technology with an “Ultra” subscription package that will cost $250 per month and include 30 terabytes of storage, too. That’s a big step beyond Google’s previous top-of-the-line package, which is now called “AI “Pro,” that costs $20 per month and includes two terabytes of storage.
‘Serious problem’: Afghan capital losing race against water shortages
- The Taliban authorities have launched projects ranging from recycling water to building hundreds of small dams across the country, but larger interventions remain hampered by financing and technical capacity
KABUL: Every week, Bibi Jan scrapes together some of her husband’s meagre daily wage to buy precious water from rickshaw-drawn tankers that supply residents of Afghanistan’s increasingly parched capital.
Kabul faces a looming water crisis, driven by unruly and rapid urbanization, mismanagement over years of conflict, and climate change, meaning people like Bibi Jan are sometimes forced to choose between food and water.
“When my children have only tea for a few days, they say, ‘You bought water and nothing for us’,” the 45-year-old housewife told AFP, describing reusing her supplies for bathing, dishes and laundry.
Experts have long sounded the alarm over Kabul’s water problems, which are worsening even as many international players have backed off big infrastructure projects and slashed funding to Afghanistan since the Taliban government took power in 2021.
“There could be no ground water in Kabul by 2030” without urgent action, the UN children’s agency UNICEF warned last year.
Other experts are more cautious, citing limited consistent and reliable data, but say the situation is clearly deteriorating.
A 2030 cliff is a “worst-case scenario,” said water resources management expert Assem Mayar.
But even if slated development projects are completed in a few years, it “doesn’t mean the situation would become better than now,” Mayar said.
“As time goes on, the problems are only increasing,” he added, as population growth outstrips urban planning and climate change drives below-average precipitation.
The Taliban authorities have launched projects ranging from recycling water to building hundreds of small dams across the country, but larger interventions remain hampered by financing and technical capacity.
They remain unrecognized by any country since they ousted the Western-backed government and imposed their severe interpretation of Islamic law, with restrictions on women a major sticking point.
They have repeatedly called for non-governmental groups to reboot stalled projects on water and climate change, as Afghanistan faces “some of the harshest effects” in the region, according to the United Nations.
The water and energy ministry wants to divert water from the Panjshir river to the capital, but needs $300 million to $400 million. A dam project near Kabul would ease pressures but was delayed after the Taliban takeover.
For now, Kabul’s primary drinking water source is groundwater, as much as 80 percent of which is contaminated, according to a May report by Mercy Corps.
It is tapped by more than 100,000 unregulated wells across the city that are regularly deepened or run dry, the NGO said.
Groundwater can be recharged, but more is drawn each year than is replenished in Kabul, with an estimated annual 76-million-cubic-meter (20-billion-gallon) deficit, experts say.
“It’s a very serious problem... Water is decreasing day by day in the city,” said Shafiullah Zahidi, who heads central Kabul operations for the state-owned water company UWASS.
Water systems designed decades ago serve just 20 percent of the city’s population, which has exploded to around six million over the past 20 years, said Zahidi.
At one of Kabul’s 15 pumping stations, maintenance manager Mohammad Ehsan said the seven-year-old well is already producing less water. Two others nearby sit dry.
“The places with shallower water levels are dried out now,” said 53-year-old Ehsan, who has worked in water management for two decades, as he stood over an old well.
It once produced water from a depth of 70 meters (230 feet), but a newer well had to be bored more than twice as deep to reach groundwater.
At one of the two large stations in the city, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) recently procured four new pumps where only one had been functioning.
“If that pump collapsed for any reason, that means stopping the service for 25,000 beneficiary households,” which now have uninterrupted water, said Baraa Afeh, ICRC’s deputy water and habitat coordinator.
Everyone in Kabul “should have 24-hour service,” said Zahidi, from the state water company.
But in reality, Bibi Jan and many other Kabulis are forced to lug water in heavy jugs from wells or buy it from tankers.
These suppliers charge at least twice as much as the state-owned utility, with potable water even more pricy in a country where 85 percent of the population lives on less than a dollar a day.
Bibi Jan said she has to police her family’s water use carefully.
“I tell them, ‘I’m not a miser but use less water.’ Because if the water runs out then what would we do?”
G7 finance chiefs gather with Trump tariffs, Ukraine war in focus
- The talks take place amid an uncertain approach among the G7 democracies toward Ukraine following Trump’s return to power.
BANFF, Canada: Top finance leaders from the G7 group of nations gathered in Canada for talks beginning Tuesday, with the war in Ukraine and economic turmoil unleashed by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs at the top of minds.
In meetings through Thursday, leaders will discuss global economic conditions and seek a common position on Ukraine, whose representatives have been invited to attend.
Ukraine’s presence “sends a strong message to the world” that members are recommitting to support the country against Russia’s invasion, Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told reporters Tuesday.
“We’re also going to talk about what we’re going to be doing in terms of reconstruction,” he said in a joint press conference with Ukrainian counterpart Sergii Marchenko.
The talks in Canada’s western province of Alberta come amid an uncertain approach among the G7 democracies toward Ukraine following Trump’s return to power.
Once broadly unified, the G7 — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — has been rattled by Trump, who reached out to Russia and slapped tariffs on both allies and competitors.
Marchenko said he would seek during the meetings to reiterate Ukraine’s position on the need for more pressure on Russia.
While Trump’s levies are not formally on the agenda, a Canadian official told reporters that “trade and tariffs will be embedded in the discussion on the global economy.”
Economists warn tariffs could fuel inflation and weigh on growth, and the effects of US trade policy loom over Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s engagements.
Asked about talks with Bessent, Champagne said Tuesday that despite tension around tariffs, both sides are looking to coordinate actions and tackle concerns including excess industrial capacity, non-market practices and financial crimes.
“The spirit around the table is constructive,” he said.
A source briefed on US participation expects China’s excess industrial capacity to be discussed, with members sharing concerns on the issue.
A Japanese official told AFP its finance minister plans for a meeting with Bessent, seeking to address topics like foreign exchange.
While the grouping discusses policies and solutions to issues like trade, security and climate change, analysts warned of unpredictability this time amid internal tensions.
The gathering in picturesque Banff will be “a test or signal” of the G7’s ability to agree on a final statement,” a French finance ministry official told reporters Tuesday.
Although Canada’s presidency hopes to issue a communique, this outcome must reflect “a shared understanding of the global economic situation and common goals in addressing the challenges,” the official said.
“We will not be able to accept language that is completely watered down.”
The source briefed on US participation said Washington is not inclined to “do a communique just for the sake of doing a communique,” noting a consensus should align with Trump administration priorities too.
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil warned Tuesday that trade disputes with the United States should be resolved as soon as possible.
In comments before meeting his counterparts, Klingbeil said tariffs and uncertainties are a burden on the economy and job security.
Trump has slapped a blanket 10 percent tariff on most US trading partners, threatening higher rates on economies including the European Union and sending jitters through the world economy.
Officials told AFP they are not expecting trade agreements this week, but said the gathering is another chance to find common ground.
But the issue of sanctions on Russia remains uncertain.
Trump said Russia and Ukraine would start peace talks after he spoke Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, while the EU formally adopted a new round of Russia sanctions Tuesday.
A source briefed on US participation maintained that all options remain regarding sanctions, but these should be aimed at outcomes like the peace process
