Pope Francis will remain hospitalized and will continue treatment for a respiratory infection, according to a Reuters report citing a Vatican spokesperson.
Diagnostic tests apparently indicated that Pope Francis had a respiratory tract infection, the outlet added.
Vatican News reported that the 88-year-old pontiff had a “restful night” at Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Hospital. While the pope was experiencing a “slight fever” on Friday, it had broken by Saturday, according to Vatican News.
Pope Francis opens the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica to mark the start of the Catholic Jubilee Year, at the Vatican, Dec. 24, 2024.(Alberto Pizzoli/Pool Photo via AP)
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The pope was admitted to Rome’s largest hospital after reportedly grappling with a bout of bronchitis for about a week, the Vatican confirmed to Fox News.
CNN CEO Mark Thompson met with Pope Francis shortly before his hospitalization. According to CNN’s report, the pope was “mentally alert but struggling to speak for extended periods due to breathing difficulties.”
A statue of the late Pope John Paul II stands outside the Gemelli Hospital where Pope Francis has gone to continue treatment for ongoing bronchitis in Rome, Italy, Feb. 14, 2025.(REUTERS/Remo Casilli)
POPE FRANCIS KICKS OFF HOLY YEAR AT VATICAN WITH OVER 32 MILLION VISITORS EXPECTED
The pope is no stranger to health struggles. At the age of 21, he had part of his lung removed after developing pleurisy, which is an inflammation of the membranes that cushion the lungs.
Pope Francis has struggled with multiple health battles over the last few years, including surgeries in 2021 and 2023, as well as longstanding knee issues, which have resulted in his using a wheelchair.
Pope Francis arrives on a wheelchair at his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall, at the Vatican, Feb. 28, 2024.(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
POPE FRANCIS INJURED AS VATICAN CONFIRMS 2ND FALL IN MATTER OF WEEKS
In his autobiography, the pope chalked up his health issues to his age, saying “the Church is governed using the head and the heart, not the legs.”
The pope also suffered from two recent falls, one in December and another in January. After the second fall, which occurred at his residence, Pope Francis’ arm was put in a sling to immobilize it. The Vatican said at the time that this was done as “a precautionary measure.”
Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.
Philadelphia Eagles star wide receiver A.J. Brown did not wait for Friday’s parade to celebrate winning the Super Bowl with fans.
Brown visited the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia on Wednesday with the Lombardi Trophy in hand to visit with 10-year-old Andre Howard III, who heroically protected his sister from debris after a medical transport plane crashed in Philadelphia late last month.
Andre Howard III, a devout Eagles fan, heroically protected his sister from debris after a medical transport plane crashed in Philadelphia late last month.(Andre Howard Jr./Lashawn Hamiel)
In an open letter to Brown shared on Facebook, Andre’s mother thanked the NFL star for the “love and support” he showed her son.
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“Thank you for being a man of your word. By great surprise on this day my son was beyond grateful to meet you,” he message read. “Caught us all by surprise. For Someone ‘(ANDRE)’ my son who usually talk so much, you had him smiling from ear to ear and Mute.
“I felt his heart pounding through his chest. The amount of love and support you gave being so patient and calling Saquon Barkley for him was beyond appreciated. Thank you for everything and bringing that WIN home for ‘TRE’ the world’s greatest SUPERHERO.”
Andre Howard III underwent emergency brain surgery and one of the first questions he asked his dad when he woke up was if he had missed the Super Bowl.(Andre Howard Jr./Lashawn Hamiel)
A.J. BROWN SAYS WINNING SUPER BOWL ‘WASN’T WHAT I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE;’ LOVE FOR GAME ‘COMES WHEN I DOMINATE’
Andre and his family had gone out for donuts the night a medical transport jet crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood, killing all six people on board. His father, Andre Howard Jr., said they were in the car when debris started hitting the vehicle.
Howard saw his son in the backseat covering his sister.
“I turn around — there’s a piece of metal sticking out of my son’s head from the plane,” Howard said.
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Andre, a devout Eagles fan, underwent emergency brain surgery and one of the first questions he asked his dad when he woke up was if he had missed the Super Bowl. He had not.
A.J. Brown called Andre Howard III his “hero” in a post on social media.(Andre Howard Jr./Lashawn Hamiel)
Brown responded to photos of the visit posted by the NFL, calling Andre “my hero.” He said before the big game that he would be “playing” for Andre on Sunday, with hopes of visiting him soon “with some hardware.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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A New York Yankees minor league team had a health scare before their first spring training practice for pitchers and catchers.
Non-roster pitcher Eric Reyzelman was hospitalized due to an allergic reaction. Reyzelman, 23, was taken to a hospital in Tamoa, Florida, in an ambulance around 10 a.m. ET to assist a person with a respiratory issue, per NorthJersey.com.
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A general view of rain falling on the New York Yankees logo on the first base dugout roof during a rain delay in the game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.(Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)
Reyzelman’s reaction was apparently related to a peanut allergy, per the report. “He’ll be kept overnight for observation, and we’ll have another update likely (Thursday),” Yankees team spokesperson Jason Zillo said via NJ.com.
The team did not announce what caused Reyzelman’s reaction, with Zillo saying there is “uncertainty.”
Reyzelman received an invitation to Yankees spring training as a non-roster player after dominating the minor leagues last year. With a fastball that touches up to 99 miles per hour, Reyzelman had a 1.16 ERA across three levels of minor league baseball across 38.2 innings.
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LSU pitcher Eric Reyzelman, #22, pitches as the Kentucky Wildcats take on LSU Tigers during the SEC baseball tournament at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama, on Saturday, May 28, 2022.(IMAGN)
In 15.1 innings with the Florida Complex League Yankees in rookie ball and the High-A Hudson Valley Renegade’s, Reyzelman gave up just four hits and struck out a whopping 26 batters.
In Double-A with the Somerset Patriots, Reyzelman continued to dominate as he gave up just five earned runs and 14 hits in 23.1 innings. He continued to rack up the strikeouts, ringing up 37 hitters via strikeouts.
The Yankees bullpen is set up to be one of the best in the league, leaving Reyzelman a slim chance at best to make the opening day roster.
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Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Devin Williams, #38, reacts after pitching in the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at American Family Field.(Benny Sieu-Imagn Images)
The team acquired two-time All-Star closer Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers to pair with playoff star Luke Weaver in the back end of their bullpen.
In addition to Williams and Weaver, the Yankees also have Ian Hamilton, Tim Hill, Mark Leiter Jr., Jonathan Loáisiga and Fernando Cruz to fill-out their bullpen.
Opening Day is just about a month and a half away, when the Yankees host the Brewers on March 27.
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Ryan Canfield is a digital production assistant for Fox News Digital.
FIRST ON FOX: Consumers’ Research, a leading non-profit dedicated to consumer information, is launching a campaign targeting the Cleveland Clinic over what it says is a history of the organization prioritizing woke politics over patients.
The campaign, dubbed “Cleveland Clinic Exposed”, asks the public whether the clinic is “the wokest hospital in America” and will involve an ad titled “Exposed,” which will run in Ohio during the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Toronto Raptors game on Wednesday.
“Is Cleveland Clinic the wokest hospital in America?” the 30-second ad asks. “They prioritize care based on skin color. Perform child sex changes. Push transgender propaganda on vulnerable kids. Insert DEI into everything they do.”
“And spend millions on climate activism. The CEO admits it: Healthcare is only a part of their mission. Cleveland Clinic. Focused on a political agenda. Not what’s best for patients.”
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The Cleveland Clinic was hit with an ad this week alleging that the hospital is promoting a “woke” agenda.(Fox News Digital)
The ad campaign will also be featured on ClevelandClinicExposed.com, and mobile billboards will be seen outside the Ohio state capitol building, Cleveland Clinic main campus and the Florida state capitol building.
Additionally, a targeted digital campaign and a “woke alert” is being sent out calling on the clinic to “stop injecting politics into patient care.”
“Attention Floridians,” one of the alerts states. “Cleveland Clinic opened a sex change clinic in your backyard.”
TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER RESTRICTING ‘CHEMICAL AND SURGICAL’ SEX-CHANGE PROCEDURES FOR MINORS
A senior Black man is sitting in his doctor’s office and listening as the doctor shows him something on a digital tablet.(iStock)
The ad, in part, references a letter from Cleveland Clinic’s CEO suggesting that providing healthcare services is not the sole focus of the organization.
“Providing high-quality healthcare is only a part of our mission,” Cleveland Clinic CEO Tom Mihaljevic wrote in a post on the hospital’s website.
“We have an obligation to uplift the many communities we call home. We must improve our neighbors’ wellbeing, quality of life and opportunities to succeed. We must operate in sustainable ways that are good for our planet. We must embrace diversity, champion human rights and lead with humility and inclusiveness.”
Cleveland Clinic has faced accusations of promoting a “woke” agenda in the past, including a complaint filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty alleging, “race-based discrimination and segregation of patients.”
Consumers’ Research, a leading non-profit dedicated to consumer information, is targeting the Cleveland Clinic with a new ad.(Fox News Digital)
The Cleveland Clinic’s website also contains several posts promoting climate initiatives, including a plan for “greening” its operating rooms.
In 2022, the Cleveland Clinic hired Jacqui Robertson as chief of diversity and inclusion, and announced in a post that has since been deleted that she will “lead efforts that will further diversity and inclusion across the health system.”
Robertson stated in a 2023 interview, “I don’t believe that diversity and inclusion should ever be a standalone strategy. It has to be embedded in everything that we do. And so that’s our processes, that’s our metrics.”
In a June 2023 post that also appears to have been deleted from the Cleveland Clinic website, the clinic explained “How To Support a Child Who’s Questioning Their Gender Identity.”
Also in June 2023, the clinic put out a press release labeling racism as a “public health crisis.”
“Cleveland Clinic is committed to addressing structural racism and bias in our community,” the organization said in a December 2020 press release announcing a plan to “join a coalition of 37 of the largest U.S. employers, to train, hire and promote one million Black Americans into family-sustaining jobs with opportunities for advancement.”
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City skyline and the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland.(John Greim/Loop Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Despite past press releases and statements on the Cleveland Clinic’s website highlighting its agenda, a Cleveland Clinic spokesperson pushed back against the campaign.
“The advertisement contains false statements, and we are concerned there are serious inaccuracies in their claims. Our services are available for everyone, and we do not discriminate based on race, gender or any other category,” the spokesperson said.
“By its own shocking words and deeds, Cleveland Clinic has quite possibly become the wokest hospital in America,” Will Hild, Consumers’ Research executive director, told Fox News Digital in a statement. “The clinic’s leadership alarmingly proclaims that DEI ‘has to be embedded in everything that we do.’ Such a sentiment plagues the entire hospital system and should frighten every patient in need of its services.”
“From unethical race-based care to transgender mutilation surgeries on kids to bowing at the altar of climate extremism, Cleveland Clinic seems hell-bent on satisfying every woke fixation while cost-reduction for patients is a distant afterthought. It is wrong when any company prioritizes woke objectives over its consumers, but it is especially disturbing when the perpetrator is a medical facility and consumers are patients. Cleveland Clinic must reverse course, shun woke radicalism, stop spending resources in the wrong places, and make affordable quality care its only focus.”
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to [email protected].
NEW ORLEANS – The Manning family is a staple in New Orleans since the patriarch, Archie, was drafted 54 years ago by the Saints to be their quarterback.
The family’s accomplishments on the field, which includes their three sons — Cooper, Peyton and Eli — are widely known, but they’re also active in the community.
During the Louisiana Legacy Gala Wednesday night, it was announced that Children’s Hospital New Orleans would be renamed Manning Family Children’s in tribute to the family’s longstanding commitment to serving children in the community.
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A crowd applauds panelists onstage at Raising Cane’s Louisiana Legacy at Louisiana NOW Pavilion Feb. 5, 2025, in New Orleans.(Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images for Raising Cane’s)
One of the main pillars of the hospital is never turning a child away, and it treated 585,000 children last year. During a press conference after the announcement, Cooper Manning explained how great the hospital is because his son, Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning, needed some treatment in the past.
“I can tell you Arch spent a lot of time at Children’s Hospital, and I was there taking him to get stitches. And we’ve spent a lot of time here,” Cooper said, jokingly. “Children’s Hospital is right down the street from us, and Arch is sad he couldn’t be here tonight.
“It’s a special spot, and my other son, Heid, we grew up practicing on that field and seeing the helicopter come in and all the kids taking a knee when they see the helicopter landing and going out with someone young.
“It’s part of the fabric of our youth growing up in New Orleans, and this is an unbelievable facility. We’re just flattered to be a part of it.”
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The Louisiana Legacy event celebrated Archie and Olivia Manning with the inaugural Louisiana Legacy Award for their commitment to the well-being of children and their families across the state and the country.
New Orleans-born and Baton Rouge-raised Todd Graves, the founder of Raising Cane’s, donated $1 million to Walker’s Imaginarium, which will be a first-of-its-kind interactive children’s museum within the hospital that’s named after Walker Beery, who fought terminal brain cancer before his death.
Graves called Archie Manning his idol and someone he always wanted to emulate in the community and spoke about the hospital’s mission.
(L-R) Cooper Manning, Todd Graves, Olivia Manning, Eli Manning and Archie Manning celebrate hospital renaming.(Raising Cane’s)
“They gave great care for 600,000 kids this year, and they don’t stop at that,” he said. “They keep building every year, taking care of more and more children regardless of whether you can afford it or not. For us, and for me living here in the states and one day, God willing, I’m going to have grandkids and great-grandkids, having this world-class care in our backyard is invaluable.”
Super Bowl LIX will be streamed on Tubi.(Tubi)
Archie added, “I can speak on behalf of my entire family. It’s very hard to put into words. To have a hospital named after you, this is not like making second-team All-SEC or anything like that. We just have such admiration for this hospital and the people and the leadership. For them to do this for our family, it’s one of the greatest things that’s happened in my life.”
Archie said the hospital honor beats all the football accomplishments.
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“I think it was in 2007, we dedicated Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis. And, in 2009, I think it was, we dedicated Eli Manning Children’s Clinics in Jackson, Miss. After both of those events, I told my sons that this is your finest hour, and I meant that. Football, in Peyton’s case, they’d just won a Super Bowl, and then Eli. I said, ‘What’s going on here is your finest hour.’
“Without a doubt, I can say this happening tonight and renaming this hospital is our family’s finest hour, and we’re very appreciative.”
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Scott Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.
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TEL AVIV, Israel – With the first three Israeli hostages freed in the cease-fire for hostages deal, Fox News Digital has exclusively learned that several terrorists captured by Israeli forces last month confessed that Israeli captives were held at different times at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) recently completed a major raid on the hospital, arresting some 240 terrorists. The director of the hospital, Hussam Abu Safiya, the Israelis claim, had gathered intelligence showing that he not only allowed Hamas to infiltrate the hospital, but actively collaborated with the terror group.
Another captured terrorist, Anas Muhammad Faiz al-Sharif, who worked at the hospital as a cleaning supervisor and joined the Nukhba forces of Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades in 2021, told Israeli interrogators that the northern Gaza facility was viewed as “a safe haven for them because the [Israeli] military cannot directly target it.”
He revealed that inside the hospital, terrorists distributed grenades and mortars, along with equipment for ambushing IDF troops and tanks.
UN ACCUSED OF DOWNPLAYING HAMAS TERRORISTS’ USE OF GAZA HOSPITALS AS NEW REPORT IGNORES IMPORTANT DETAILS
IDF troops located weapons, classified documents, and tactical communications equipment from the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, used by Hamas as a terror command center.(IDF Spokesman’s Unit)
Fox News Digital asked a World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman if, based on the IDF’s new allegations about holding hostages at Adwan Hospital, they would condemn Hamas’ use of hospitals for military use.
In a statement, the spokesman said, “The International Humanitarian Law is very clear. Healthcare workers and healthcare facilities are off limits. They must not be attacked. They must not be used for military purposes. They must be protected at all times. The point is both to protect civilians, as well as to protect the health systems and infrastructure that communities depend on for life-giving care and continuity of services.
“Failure to protect and respect healthcare devastates twice. First, in the initial harm, and then again for the months or years it takes to rebuild the health systems.”
The statement concluded without condemning or singling out Hamas. “The protection of healthcare also includes the prohibition against combatants using health facilities for military purposes. IHL is also clear that even if healthcare facilities are being used for military purposes, there are stringent conditions which apply to taking action against them, including a duty to warn and to wait after warning and even then, disproportionate attacks are strictly prohibited.”
Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former Trump National Security Council official, claimed, “Several international organizations operating in Gaza likely had direct knowledge of Hamas using hospitals as terror headquarters and only publicly protested Israel’s attempt to clear the terrorists. The Red Cross, UNRWA, World Health Organization – they were all collaborators.”
Ambulances carrying patients from Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahya, northern Gaza Strip since services stopped within 24 hours due to lack of fuel, arrive at Shifa Hospital, accompanied by UN teams, in Gaza City, Gaza, on Oct. 12, 2024.(Hamza Z. H. Qraiqea/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Goldberg offered advice for President Trump’s pick for U.N. ambassador, Elise Stefanik, who goes before the Senate on Tuesday. “Stefanik would be fully justified in launching investigations into each of those agencies – demanding documents and personnel interviews. And if they don’t comply, they can deal with the consequences.”
One of Trump’s first acts on Monday was to withdraw the U.S. from the WHO.
During the monthslong IDF operation in northern Gaza, more than 700 terrorists were detained, including Hamas commanders, some of whom participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel. More than a dozen of those captured were involved in kidnapping or holding Israeli hostages in Gaza.
During the operation, the IDF located and destroyed thousands of weapons, including RPGs stashed within the hospital itself. The aim of the campaign was to completely defeat Hamas’s Northern Brigade and remove the terror group’s presence from within the civilian population. IDF troops conducted raids ranging from a few hours up to a full day. During the longer ones, they entered the hospital and searched for weapons and terrorists.
Former Shin Bet agent Gonen Ben Itzhak, who was the handler of former Hamas informant Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of a Hamas founder, told Fox News Digital that, “Using visual intelligence, it’s easy to see when Hamas brings guns and ammunition into the hospital … and even with one human source, you can get intel on what is happening inside. From a signal point of view, the terrorists use phones and walkie-talkies, which can be intercepted.”
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION SILENT OVER HAMAS’ USE OF GAZA HOSPITAL AS TERROR HQ
The IDF shows weapons seized during an ongoing operation to clear terrorists from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.(IDF Spokesman’s Unit)
Almost no fighting took place inside the hospital, from which some 950 people were eventually evacuated, all before the IDF’s final raid. Since then, the Israeli military has facilitated and secured the transfer of the hospital’s operations to the nearby Indonesian Hospital, at the request of the Palestinians.
Even as the United Nations and the international community condemned Jerusalem for its anti-terrorism campaign at Kamal Adwan, a former Palestinian Authority official, told Fox News Digital that Hamas’ use of hospitals was “immoral” and known to endanger patients and health workers.
Adnan al-Damiri recently went viral on social media after the Israel-based Palestinian Media Watch organization flagged his Facebook post showing that Hamas had summoned a Gazan reporter for questioning to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Strip.
Photo showing weapons found inside and around Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza by IDF troops.(IDF Spokesman’s Unit)
“I made this post to show Palestinians that Hamas is doing everything against the people of Gaza, including in hospitals. Hamas claims its struggle is against the [Israeli] occupation, but the fact is they use our people,” al-Damiri said. He noted that the document posted to social media was sent to him by a friend of the Gazan who was summoned for interrogation.
“I know that it’s a real document. I am not afraid of Hamas,” he added.
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In December 2023, Ahmed Kahlout, then-director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, told his Israeli interrogators that he and other staff were Hamas operatives. Kahlout described how Hamas used ambulances to hide operatives, transport terrorist squads and deliver a kidnapped IDF soldier.
Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’ political bureau in Gaza, told Fox News Digital that his “resistance movement understands very well the importance of respecting international humanitarian law and its obligations, and understands very well the needs of our people for civil services and the importance of protecting them.
The bodies of Noa Marciano, pictured here, and Yehudit Weiss were discovered by the IDF in the vicinity of Shifa Hospital last year.(Courtesy: Bring Them Home Now)
“I can confidently say that Hamas hasn’t used any hospital as a military base or a shelter for fighters,” he continued. “Regarding all the aggressions against hospitals in the Gaza Strip, Israel wasn’t able in any case to prove or to give serious or neutral evidence for its claims,” he said.
“We call for the immediate release of Dr. Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, who was kidnapped by Israeli forces, with dozens of other medics. Israel is fully responsible and accountable for their lives. Dr. Safiya isn’t a Hamas member,” added Naim.
Hamas terrorists emerging from the shadows as they surround Red Cross vehicles.(TPS-IL)
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A month after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 massacre, the IDF already began publishing evidence of Hamas’s use of hospitals, in particular, for terror purposes. In one recording from November 2023, a Gaza health official can be heard confirming that Hamas had stored more than half a million liters (over 132,000 gallons) of fuel under Shifa Hospital, the Strip’s largest medical center.
Hamas was accused of systematically turning Shifa into a major command center and even storing weapons in the MRI building. On Nov. 19, 2023, the IDF released surveillance footage of armed terrorists bringing hostages into Shifa. The IDF discovered the remains of two Israeli hostages, Noa Marciano and Yehudit Weiss, in the vicinity of Shifa last year.
