(Cover photo: Ukraine ceremony marking third year of war.)
Pope Francis still critical but reported to be in good humor
Pope Francis remained in critical condition this morning at a hospital in Rome according to the Vatican. The Pope has been having respiratory problems brought on by pneumonia in both lungs as well as diminished kidney function. Pope Francis is receiving oxygen and previously received a blood transfusion. On Saturday, the Vatican first said the Pope was in critical condition. As of this morning, he was said to be in good humor and able to eat. He was admitted to the hospital ten days ago.
 SAG-AFTRA awards held in Los Angeles
Actress Jane Fonda received the lifetime achievement award at last night’s SAG-AFTRA Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. In her acceptance speech, Fonda urged actors to join in the fight to preserve democracy in the U.S. as Donald Trump and Elon Musk dismantle the government. The movie “Conclave” won the award for best acting ensemble. Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role went to Timothée Chalamet for his performance as Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown.” Demi Moore won Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for her performance in the movie “The Substance.”
Mainstream conservatives win Germany’s elections
A mainstream conservative party led by Friedrich Merz won the most seats in parliament in yesterday’s German elections and Merz is expected to become Germany’s next chancellor. The far-right Alternative for Germany party, which has supported pro-Nazi policies, came in second. U.S. Vice President Vance and Elon Musk had come out in support of the extreme-right party. Merz said that he quickly wants to work to improve Germany’s economy and also control immigration. He called for European nations to be prepared to defend themselves as the U.S. moves closer to Russia under Donald Trump’s administration.
Trump names deputy FBI director
Donald Trump has named Dan Bongino to be deputy director of the FBI. He is a former Fox News commentator and more recently has been a podcaster whose right-wing programs have consistently supported Trump. Bongino has served as a Secret Service agent, unsuccessfully ran for Congress, and falsely claimed that Trump won the 2020 election and that Joe Biden arranged for the FBI to search Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort where they found classified government documents. In the past, the deputy FBI director has been a career FBI employee.
Musk’s DOGE sends email to all federal employees
The Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are among the federal government departments whose leaders have told employees not to respond to an email sent by Elon Musk to all government employees. The email demanded that they respond with five things they accomplished during the prior week. Musk said in the email that failure to respond by midnight tonight, Feb. 24, will be taken as a resignation from their jobs. The email was sent out Saturday night.
Third year of Russia-Ukraine war
With Donald Trump indicating support for Russia in the Ukraine war, U.S. officials stayed away from ceremonies in Ukraine today that marked the third anniversary of the war that started when Russian troops invaded. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said he would step down as president if it would help bring about an end to the war. He said he is proud of the heroism shown by the Ukrainian people in fighting against the Russian invaders. Turkey said today that it would be willing to host peace talks.
