World News – Page 12 – Prologue Journal

Pope Francis, still hospitalized, has pneumonia in both lungs

Washington Post Concerns grew over a “complex” infection plaguing the 88-year-old pontiff. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/02/18/pope-francis-pneumonia-hospitalized/

French bill would ban headscarves in sport; Amnesty International says it’s discriminatory

Fox News Amnesty International is urging French lawmakers to reject a bill this week that would ban headscarves in all sporting competitions. The bill is backed by right-wing senators and will be debated from Tuesday in the upper house of the French parliament. Its aim is to ban all “ostensibly religious” clothing and symbols during…

Pope Francis diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia, Vatican says

Fox News Pope Francis has been diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia in both lungs but was in a good mood, the Vatican said Tuesday. Laboratory tests and chest X-rays continued to reveal a “complex” medical picture, the Vatican said. “The polymicrobial infection, which arose on a picture of bronchiectasis and asmatiform bronchitis, and which required the…

Former USAID official warns China is already looking to fill void left by paused programs

Fox News The Trump administration’s pause of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funding may leave the door open for China to spread its influence, and Beijing is not wasting time trying to fill in the gaps. A former USAID official, who spoke with Fox News Digital under the condition of anonymity, said that…

Gil Won-ok, memory keeper of wartime sex slavery by Japan, dies at 96

Washington Post Born in Japanese-occupied Korea, she was among the last surviving “comfort women” forced into sexual servitude for Japanese soldiers in World War II. https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2025/02/18/gil-won-ok-comfort-women-dies/

Soldiers are arriving at the border — but hardly any migrants are crossing

Washington Post New figures show illegal crossings along the Southwest border plummeted to fewer than 30,000 in January — a level not seen since 2020, during the pandemic. https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/02/15/border-soldiers-texas-migrants-trump/

UN human rights chief accuses Rwanda-backed rebels in Congo of killing, recruiting children

Fox News The U.N. human rights chief accused Rwanda-backed rebels who seized a second major city in eastern Congo of killing children and attacking hospitals and warehouses storing humanitarian aid. Volker Türk said in a statement Tuesday that his office “confirmed cases of summary execution of children by M23 after they entered the city of…

Live briefing: Hamas says it will release six living hostages and the bodies of four others

Washington Post Hamas said the bodies included members of the Bibas family, believed to be Shiri Silberman Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/02/18/israel-lebanon-hezbollah-ceasefire/

What are Ukraine’s rare minerals and why is Trump eyeing them?

Washington Post The White House floated a proposal to secure U.S. access to half of Ukraine’s mineral resources after the war, reportedly including lithium, graphite and uranium. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/02/18/ukraine-war-rare-minerals-metals/

North Korea vows to expand nuclear forces, blasts US for ‘outdated’ denuclearization plan

Fox News North Korea on Tuesday vowed to expand its nuclear forces under Kim Jong Un and criticized the U.S. and its neighbors in Asia for pushing a denuclearization plan against the authoritarian regime. North Korea’s foreign ministry denounced the joint pledge between the U.S., South Korea and Japan as an “outdated, absurd plan” and warned of “overwhelming…