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Pope Francis to Be Discharged from Hospital on Sunday, Doctor Says

In this Oct. 24, 2015 file photo, Pope Francis carries his coat and documents as he leaves after a morning session of the last day of the Synod of bishops, at the Vatican. (AP)
In this Oct. 24, 2015 file photo, Pope Francis carries his coat and documents as he leaves after a morning session of the last day of the Synod of bishops, at the Vatican. (AP)
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Pope Francis to Be Discharged from Hospital on Sunday, Doctor Says

In this Oct. 24, 2015 file photo, Pope Francis carries his coat and documents as he leaves after a morning session of the last day of the Synod of bishops, at the Vatican. (AP)
In this Oct. 24, 2015 file photo, Pope Francis carries his coat and documents as he leaves after a morning session of the last day of the Synod of bishops, at the Vatican. (AP)

Pope Francis will be discharged from hospital on Sunday and will need two months of rest at the Vatican, one of the doctors treating him said on Saturday.

Francis, 88, was admitted to hospital on February 14 with a severe respiratory infection that has required evolving treatment.

The Vatican said earlier on Saturday that Francis also planned to make his first appearance in more than five weeks on Sunday, offering a blessing from the window of his room at Rome's Gemelli Hospital where he has been battling double pneumonia.

The pope has been seen by the public only once during his hospital stay, in a photo the Vatican released last week, showing the pontiff at prayer in a hospital chapel.

Francis wants to come to the hospital window around noon on Sunday to give a greeting and blessing, the Vatican said in its brief statement on Saturday.

The pope usually offers a weekly noon-time prayer in St. Peter's Square on Sundays. Francis has not been able to do this since February 9, before going to hospital.

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A Massive Explosion and Fire Strikes Iranian Port and Injures Hundreds

This image grab taken from footage released by the state television of IRIBNEWS on April 26, 2025 shows people walking away as smoke billows following an explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port dock southwest of Bandar Abbas in the Iranian province of Hormozgan. (Photo by IRIBNEWS / AFP)
This image grab taken from footage released by the state television of IRIBNEWS on April 26, 2025 shows people walking away as smoke billows following an explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port dock southwest of Bandar Abbas in the Iranian province of Hormozgan. (Photo by IRIBNEWS / AFP)
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A Massive Explosion and Fire Strikes Iranian Port and Injures Hundreds

This image grab taken from footage released by the state television of IRIBNEWS on April 26, 2025 shows people walking away as smoke billows following an explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port dock southwest of Bandar Abbas in the Iranian province of Hormozgan. (Photo by IRIBNEWS / AFP)
This image grab taken from footage released by the state television of IRIBNEWS on April 26, 2025 shows people walking away as smoke billows following an explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port dock southwest of Bandar Abbas in the Iranian province of Hormozgan. (Photo by IRIBNEWS / AFP)

The number of injured from an explosion Saturday at a port in southern Iran jumped to 281, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
IRNA quoted Mojtaba Khaledi, the spokesman of Iran’s National Emergency Organization, as giving the figure.
The blast happened at the Rajaei port just outside of Bandar Abbas, a major facility for container shipments for Iran that handles some 80 million tons (72.5 million metric tons) of goods a year.
Social media videos showed black billowing smoke after the blast. Others showed glass blown out of buildings kilometers (miles) away from the epicenter of the explosion, The Associated Press said.
Authorities have offered no cause for the explosion yet. Industrial accidents happen in Iran, particularly at its aging oil facilities that struggle for access to parts under international sanctions. But Iranian state TV specifically ruled out any energy infrastructure as causing or being damaged in the blast.
Mehrdad Hasanzadeh, a provincial disaster management official, told Iranian state TV that first responders were trying to reach the area while others were attempting to evacuate the site.
Hasanzadeh said the blast came from containers at Rajaei port in the city, without elaborating. State TV also reported there had been a building collapse caused by the explosion, though there were no immediate other details offered.
Rajaei port is some 1,050 kilometers (652 miles) southeast of Iran's capital, Tehran, on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil traded passes.
The blast happened as Iran and the United States met Saturday in Oman for the third round of negotiations over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program.