Ukraine Says it Downs all 23 Drones, 5 Missiles in Russian Overnight Attack

A local resident pushes a bicycle past a destroyed residential building following shelling in the town of Toretsk, eastern Donetsk region, on June 25, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Roman PILIPEY / AFP)
A local resident pushes a bicycle past a destroyed residential building following shelling in the town of Toretsk, eastern Donetsk region, on June 25, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Roman PILIPEY / AFP)
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Ukraine Says it Downs all 23 Drones, 5 Missiles in Russian Overnight Attack

A local resident pushes a bicycle past a destroyed residential building following shelling in the town of Toretsk, eastern Donetsk region, on June 25, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Roman PILIPEY / AFP)
A local resident pushes a bicycle past a destroyed residential building following shelling in the town of Toretsk, eastern Donetsk region, on June 25, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Roman PILIPEY / AFP)

Ukrainian air force said it shot down all 23 drones and five out of six missiles launched by Russia in the early hours of Thursday.
Khmelnytskyi regional governor Serhii Tiurin said the air defense shot down nine aerial targets over his region. Local authorities have not received any reports of casualties or property damage, he added.
Governor Vitaliy Kim said the military destroyed six drones and three cruise missiles over the southern region of Mykolaiv, Reuters reported.
Two drones were shot down over the southern region of Kherson and one more was short down over Dnipropetrovsk region, local authorities said.



Vatican Cancels Pope’s Weekend Engagements as He Battles ‘Complex’ Infection 

Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Vatican Cancels Pope’s Weekend Engagements as He Battles ‘Complex’ Infection 

Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

Pope Francis, who began his fifth day in hospital on Tuesday for what doctors have described as a "complex" respiratory infection, will not take part in this weekend's Holy Year events, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

The 88-year-old pontiff has been suffering from a respiratory infection for more than a week and was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on Friday.

A planned public papal audience set for Saturday had been cancelled "due to the health condition of the Holy Father", the Vatican said in a brief statement.

A papal mass scheduled for Sunday will still take place, but will be led instead by a senior Vatican official, it added.

The Vatican said on Monday that doctors had changed the pope's drug therapy for the second time during his hospital stay to tackle a "complex clinical situation". They described it as a "polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract".

Doctors say polymicrobial diseases can be caused by a mix of viruses, bacteria and fungi.

Francis, who has been pontiff since 2013, has had influenza and other health problems several times over the past two years. As a young adult he developed pleurisy and had part of one lung removed, and in recent times has been prone to lung infections.