chron briefs
Pope discharged from the hospital after surgery, returns to Vatican for more rest
Pope Francis was discharged from a Rome hospital Wednesday morning, 10 days after a three-hour surgery that removed half his colon. He returned home to the Vatican, where he is expected to take two weeks of total rest.
“Let us not forget to pray for the sick and for those who assist them,” the pope tweeted as he left the hospital. He thanked all those who have been “close to (him) with prayer and affection” during his hospital stay.
As he does after the end of any foreign trip, Francis took a detour to Rome’s Santa Maria Maggiore basilica, praying before an icon of the Virgin Mary and offering prayers to others, the Associated Press reported.
On July 4, Francis had half his colon removed in his first major surgery since becoming pope in 2013. The Vatican said the operation addressed a “severe” narrowing of his large intestine – a bowel problem common in older people. The procedure, however, was planned, slated for when Francis would normally take time off.
Surfside search may be down to as few as five yet to be found; toll stands at 95
SURFSIDE, Fla. – The search and recovery effort in the rubble of the collapsed Surfside condo could be approaching its final stages as more victims are identified and the list of the missing grows shorter.
After authorities announced that crews recovered one more victim Tuesday morning and five more victims were identified, it appears there may be fewer than five people remaining to be recovered from the rubble, according to numbers released by Miami-Dade County. Still, officials cautioned that there’s no timeline for when the recovery effort is expected to conclude.
On the 20th day since Champlain Towers South suddenly collapsed in the middle of the night, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told reporters during a morning press conference that 95 people have been confirmed dead. Of the victims, 85 have been identified.
Fed chairman says achieving ‘substantial further progress’ a ways off
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the U.S. economic recovery still hasn’t progressed enough to begin scaling back the central bank’s massive monthly asset purchases, while adding that inflation is likely to remain high in coming months before moderating.
“At our June meeting, the committee discussed the economy’s progress toward our goals since we adopted our asset purchase guidance last December,” Powell said Wednesday in remarks before the House Financial Services Committee. “While reaching the standard of ‘substantial further progress’ is still a ways off, participants expect that progress will continue.”
At the House hearing, to present the Fed’s semi-annual Monetary Policy Report to Congress, Powell was pressed about how the central bank will judge it has reached that threshold.
“It’s very difficult to be precise about it,” Powell said of the goal of substantial further progress. “We will provide lots of notice as we go forward on that.”
The Fed chair will face more questions from the Senate banking panel on Thursday.