Author: Press Room

Pope Francis remains stable in hospital and a recent chest scan confirmed improvements in his condition, the Vatican said, in a further sign of progress as the 88-year-old pontiff battles double pneumonia.Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on February 14 with a severe respiratory infection that has required evolving treatment.In its latest medical update, the Vatican said on Wednesday the pope’s clinical condition was stable. It said a chest X-ray performed on Tuesday had “confirmed improvements observed in previous days”.Francis has been described as in a stable or improving condition for more than a week, but the Vatican has…

An 11-year-old boy from Los Angeles who pulled the Paul Skenes MLB Debut Patch card will likely sell it for more money than Skenes will make from his 2025 base salary with the Pittsburgh Pirates.With 56 bids as of Wednesday night, the gem-mint PSA 10 graded autographed one-of-one rookie card bearing the patch Skenes wore on his jersey sleeve during his Major League debut has a high bid of $550,000 as of this writing. That would mean with the auction house’s buyer’s premium (to be donated to the Los Angeles Fire Department and Red Cross), the new owner of the…

Inflation eased more than expected in February, a welcome sign for the Federal Reserve as it grapples with the prospect of higher prices and slower growth as a result of President Trump’s trade war.The Consumer Price Index was up 2.8 percent from a year earlier, after rising another 0.2 percent on a monthly basis. That was a step down from January’s surprisingly large 0.5 percent increase and came in below economists’ expectations.The “core” measure of inflation, which strips out volatile food and fuel prices to give a better sense of the underlying trend, also ticked lower. The index rose 0.2…

Azzas, one of the largest fashion groups in Brazil and Latin America, reported a net profit of R$168.9 million (approximately $28 million) for the fourth quarter of 2024, marking a 35.8% decline from the previous year.According to a report from local media outlet E Investidor, Azzas’ stock price dropped 7.38% to R$24.48 by 10:30 a.m. (local time) as markets reacted swiftly to the disappointing results.Analysts have labelled the company’s performance as “cloudy,” owing to decreased margins caused by the ongoing merger of Arezzo and Soma.Weakened margin and profitabilityFinancial experts at XP Investimentos emphasized to E Investidor, that while Azzas’ balance…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Rachel Reeves will need to lay out harsh spending cuts to offset higher borrowing costs in her Spring Statement this month, investors have warned, as a recent rise in bond yields intensifies the pressure on the UK chancellor.The Office for Budget Responsibility on Wednesday said its preliminary fiscal forecasts were based on the UK’s borrowing costs during the 10 working days to February 12, which excludes the more recent rise in gilt yields.Analysts at Capital Economics said Reeves was on track to…

Victoria Ratliff, the wealthy financier’s wife on season 3 of HBO’s “The White Lotus,” has a problem: She keeps popping pills.And her drug of choice, the anti-anxiety medication lorazepam, has left her a little loopy.In the show, which follows guests vacationing at a fictional resort, Victoria pairs her medication with wine, which leads her to nod off at the dinner table. Sometimes she slurs her words.When she notices that her pill supply is mysteriously dwindling, she asks her children if they’re stealing them.“You don’t have enough lorazepam to get through one week at a wellness spa?” her daughter, Piper, asks.“The…

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the worldTwo of Wall Street’s most prominent executives have said there are upsides to Donald Trump’s policies, even as the US president presses ahead with protectionist measures including import tariffs that have fuelled fears of a slowdown in the world’s largest economy.Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive of Blackstone, told reporters in India on Wednesday that the tariffs would, “at the end of the day”, lead to a significant increase in manufacturing activity in the US.“Given the size of the US, that tends…

Archaeologists digging in Central America recently uncovered strange 2,400-year-old clay puppets in an unexpected place.The discoveries, which were found on top of El Salvador’s San Isidro pyramid, were published in an article entitled “Of puppets and puppeteers: Preclassic clay figurines from San Isidro, El Salvador,” on Mar. 5. The ancient Mesoamerican puppets date back between 410 and 380 B.C.Pictures show the puppets possessing eerie open-mouthed facial expressions. The largest puppets of the group are around a foot long, and are “naked and devoid of hair or jewelry,” while the smallest ones are “modeled with locks of hair on their foreheads…

“Ghost Adventures” star Aaron Goodwin’s wife, Victoria Goodwin, has been arrested on charges of soliciting to commit murder and conspiring to commit murder, Fox News Digital confirms. According to a representative for Clark County in Nevada, Victoria – who has been married to the reality TV star since 2022 – was arrested and charged on March 6. She’s currently being held on $100,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday. Police told TMZ that Victoria had been messaging an inmate in a Florida prison about a possible murder-for-hire plot against her husband.’GHOST ADVENTURES’ STAR ZAK BAGANS SAYS HE FELL ILL…

Duterte will be brought before an ICC judge in The Hague in the coming days for an initial appearance, court says.Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has arrived in the Netherlands and has been surrendered to the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on allegations of crimes against humanity over his deadly “war on drugs”. Duterte was arrested on Tuesday in the Philippine capital, Manila, after returning from a trip to Hong Kong, and placed on a plane to Rotterdam by police. In a statement on Wednesday, the ICC said Duterte, 79, had been “arrested by the authorities of the…