Author: Supriya Jena

Pope Francis is resting and doing okay as he recovers from double pneumonia. He missed his regular Sunday blessing again because he’s still not strong enough to appear in public. This is the third weekend in a row he has skipped delivering the Angelus prayer. The Vatican planned to share his prepared message instead.

Doctors said the Pope had a quiet night in the hospital and showed signs of improvement, even though he had a hard time breathing before and needed help with oxygen. He is 88 years old and has had lung issues for a long time, having had part of his lung removed when he was younger. He went to the hospital on February 14 due to worsening bronchitis that turned into pneumonia in both lungs.

The good news is that he can now breathe without the ventilator for long periods and his body is responding better, which is a sign that his health is improving. Doctors still advised caution, so he isn’t completely out of danger yet. He is eating, drinking, and doing breathing exercises, and even spent some time in his private chapel.

Many people are praying for Pope Francis as the Vatican celebrates a special Holy Year, bringing many pilgrims to Rome. They walk through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica and pray in Assisi, the town named after his saintly namesake, St. Francis. People visiting from different places, like Rev. Jacinto Bento from the Azores Islands, expressed their sadness over the Pope’s health.

In a twist of fate, Pope Francis was supposed to meet hospital staff for a special audience, but he had to stay in the hospital. Monsignor Claudio Giuliodori, of the Catholic University connected to the hospital, said they understood and continued to pray for him.

At the Gemelli hospital, the atmosphere is better, with shared feelings of hope and support for the Pope.

Melbourne, we all know how tough it can be during scorching hot days. Not only do they make us feel drained and cranky, but new research from the United States shows that long days of heat might also make us age faster!

When the temperature rises, it doesn’t just affect how we feel. It can change our body’s cells and how they express genes, which are like little switches that control everything in our body. If we experience a lot of heat, our body starts to work differently – and that might make us feel older sooner.

In the study, nearly 3,700 people, mostly older adults, were observed to see how extreme heat affects them over time. Researchers took blood samples and looked at changes in the genes to check how much these individuals aged biologically due to heat.

Here’s the surprising part: being exposed to intense heat made older people age faster—by more than two years in just six years! That means someone who has lived for six years felt like they had lived eight years just because of the extreme heat.

This is especially important for Australians, as we’re likely to face more heatwaves in the future. It’s clear we need to learn more about how to cope with rising temperatures.

A big fight between father and son is causing chaos at City Developments Ltd (CDL), a major property company in Singapore. Kwek Leng Beng, the 84-year-old chairman, and his son, Sherman Kwek, the CEO, are arguing publicly. This family battle has become very serious, with accusations of bad business choices and rule-breaking.

The problems started when CDL suddenly stopped trading its shares and cancelled a meeting about its finances. Kwek Leng Beng accused his son of trying to take control of the company. Sherman, along with some board members, had brought in new directors, which the elder Kwek saw as a takeover attempt. To fight back, Kwek Leng Beng filed a lawsuit to prevent these changes in the company’s leadership.

Sherman Kwek, who is 49 and graduated from Boston University, denied that he tried to push his father out. He called his father’s legal actions an “ambush.” He suggested that Catherine Wu, an advisor on the board, is the real problem, saying she has been interfering in company affairs.

This disagreement has revealed deeper issues within CDL, which is not just Singapore’s biggest property company but also part of a family worth $11.5 billion. Earlier this year, Kwek Leng Beng tried to fire Sherman as CEO, citing a big financial loss of $1.4 billion back in 2020 and poor investments in the UK. CDL’s stock has also been performing poorly under Sherman’s leadership since 2018.

The father feels it’s important to protect the family’s legacy and believes that Sherman’s actions could jeopardize everything they have built over the years. Kwek Leng Beng stated that “people make mistakes, but breaking corporate rules is unacceptable.” He added that firing his son wasn’t easy but necessary to protect the company.

Shares of CDL are still on hold, and major financial firms have downgraded the company. CDL has grown a lot since Kwek Leng Beng and his family started it as a struggling business in 1971. Now, it includes hotels, apartments, and offices around the world.

With the courts now involved, this family fight is far from over. Sherman defends his decisions as good for the company, while Kwek Leng Beng insists that undermining his power is an attempt at a takeover. He believes the court will ultimately decide who is right.