A weak and breathless Pope Francis thanked people for their prayers for his recovery in a audio message broadcast Thursday, the first public sign of life from the 88-year-old pope since he was hospitalized three weeks ago with double pneumonia.

Francis’ feeble voice, discernible through his labored breaths and in his native Spanish, was recorded Thursday from the hospital and broadcast to the faithful in St. Peter’s Square who had gathered for the nightly recitation of the rosary prayer.

“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers for my health from the square, I accompany you from here,” he said, his soft voice piercing the hushed square. “May God bless you and the Virgin protect you. Thank you.”

For anyone used to hearing Francis’ voice, which is often so soft it sounds like a whisper, the audio was an emotional punch to the gut that hammered home just how sick he is.

The cardinal presiding over the prayer, Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, had told the crowd at the start of the service that he had “beautiful news, a beautiful gift” to share. The clearly surprised crowd broke into applause and then applauded again after Francis’ final “Gracias.” Fernández Artime, for his part, bowed his head as he listened.

Hunter Biden drops laptop lawsuit

Citing financial problems, Hunter Biden this week asked a federal judge to drop the laptop hacking lawsuit he filed against a former Trump administration aide in 2023.

The lawsuit accused Garrett Ziegler, a former aide to one-time White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, of improperly “accessing, tampering with, manipulating, altering, copying and damaging computer data that they do not own” in violation of the state’s computer fraud laws.

“While I believe in the merits of this case, and indeed, note that Defendant Garrett Ziegler admitted to hacking my iCloud in multiple public statements, I am requesting to dismiss this action because I do not have the financial resources to continue litigating this case,” Biden wrote in a declaration filed in federal court in California on Wednesday.

His income has declined significantly since the lawsuit was filed, he wrote. His rental home was also damaged in the Palisades fire in Los Angeles in January, which further exacerbated his money challenges, he wrote. Biden is the son of former President Joe Biden.

An attorney representing Ziegler did not respond to a phone call seeking comment Thursday. Biden’s attorney also did not return a phone call from the Los Angeles Times.

S. Dakota blocks carbon pipeline land takings

South Dakota’s governor signed a bill into law Thursday that bans the taking of private property for building carbon dioxide pipelines, a blow to a sprawling Midwest pipeline network that ethanol producers see as key for their future.

The new law muddies the waters for Summit Carbon Solutions and its planned $8.9 billion, 2,500-mile pipeline that already has approvals in three other states.

Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden said the measure restricting eminent domain “does not kill” Summit’s project, and he encouraged the company to view the law as “an opportunity to reset.”

“I made my decision based on my own consideration of the facts, the policy arguments, legislative history, my own opinions and experience and my judgment about what is best for South Dakota,” Rhoden said.

In a statement, Summit said South Dakota has “changed the rules in the middle of the game.” The company is seeking approval from South Dakota regulators for its proposed route in the state.

Assad supporters ambush Syrian police

Gunmen ambushed a Syrian police patrol in a coastal town Thursday, leaving at least 13 security members dead and many others wounded, a monitoring group and a local official said.

The attack came as tensions in Syria ’s coastal region between former President Bashar Assad’s minority Alawite sect and members of Islamic groups escalate. Assad was overthrown in early December in an offensive of insurgent groups led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the ambush in the town of Jableh, near the city of Latakia, killed at least 16. It added that security forces killed 28 Assad loyalists as well as three civilians.

Rami Abdurrahman, head of the monitoring group, said the gunmen who ambushed the police force are Alawites. He added that on Thursday night, pro-Assad gunmen were in full control of the former president’s hometown of Qardaha.

“These are the worst clashes since the fall of the regime,” Abdurrahman said.

U.N. concerned for gender equality

Thirty years after world leaders adopted a historic blueprint to achieve gender equality, a new United Nations report says women’s and girls’ rights are under attack and gender discrimination remains deeply embedded in economies and societies.

The report released Thursday by the U.N. agency focused on women’s rights and gender equality found that nearly one-quarter of governments worldwide reported a backlash to women’s rights last year.

The number of countries reporting a backlash is likely underreported and reflects “an increasingly hostile environment,” U.N. Women’s policy and program director Sarah Hendriks said at a news conference.

“It is not a new phenomenon,” she said. “What is new is that it’s gaining in greater speed and scale and velocity,” especially in very patriarchal and traditional nations where men play a dominant role.

The 35 countries reporting a backlash on gender equality came from across the globe and include Spain, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Philippines, Brazil, Peru, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Australia, Mongolia, South Africa and Mali.

Musician flogged in Iran for supporting reform

A popular Iranian musician who was arrested two years ago during a crackdown on artists and academics has been punished with 74 lashes in what activists said Thursday was a bid to humiliate him for supporting a nationwide uprising.

The musician, Mehdi Yarrahi, 43, was subjected to the flogging by officers of the Morality Security Prosecutor’s Office in Tehran on Wednesday, his lawyer Zahra Minuei said on social media. The punishment, which Iran’s Revolutionary Court had sentenced him to, brought an end to a yearslong criminal case.

“He who is not willing to pay the price for freedom does not deserve freedom,” Yarrahi said in a post on the social platform X on Wednesday. He thanked his legal team and said, “Wishing for liberation.”

Mostafa Nili, another lawyer representing Yarrahi, said Thursday that his client was unable to sit or lean on his back because of the punishment. The United Nations’ International Bill of Human Rights strictly prohibits flogging, calling it inhumane and degrading.

Man sentenced in Kan. deputies’ killings

A man was sentenced to two life sentences Thursday for killing two Kansas sheriff’s deputies as they were trying to move him between a courthouse and a jail in June 2018.

Antoine Fielder, 36, pleaded guilty in December to two counts of capital murder and one count of aggravated robbery to avoid the death penalty.

Fielder had already been charged with two other killings before overpowering and fatally shooting Wyandotte County Deputies Theresa King and Patrick Rohrer in a gated area behind the courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas. Rohrer, 35, died shortly after the shooting and King, 44, died the next day at a hospital.

At the time, Fielder had been tried twice for the June 2015 killing of 22-year-old Kelsey Ewonus, whose body was found in a parked car in Kansas City, Kan. But the murder charge was dropped after a second trial ended in a hung jury.

Driver convicted in deadly birthday crash

A woman accused of being drunk when she crashed her SUV into a birthday party at a Michigan boat club, killing two children, was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder.

Marshella Chidester’s blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit to drive, according to evidence, though her lawyer questioned how the sample was handled and insisted that a leg problem caused her to press hard on the gas pedal last year.

Chidester, 67, was found guilty of second-degree murder and other charges. The jury in Monroe County court returned a verdict in less than two hours on the fourth day of trial. She faces a possible sentence of up to life in prison.

Security video showed an SUV zipping along a dusty, pitted road at 44 mph (71 kph) before crashing into the side of the boat club, near Lake Erie, last April.

Quake strikes northern Chile, no damage

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck northern Chile on Thursday, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. No tsunami warning was issued in the earthquake-prone South American nation.

The quake’s epicenter was 64 miles southwest of San Pedro de Atacama, a small town on the edge of the northern desert near Chile’s border with Bolivia, the United States Geological Survey reported.

The USGS said that the quake, at 12:21 p.m. local time, had a depth of 58 miles. Chile’s national disaster agency deemed the earthquake to be of “medium intensity,” and it said it would keep evaluating for any potential damage. It said the quake did “not meet the conditions necessary to generate a tsunami” along the coast.

Chile is located in the so-called “Ring of Fire” — the region running from Chile to Alaska where tectonic plates clash under the surface of the Pacific Ocean and spawn earthquakes and tsunamis.

Senator suspended for accusing official of rape

The Nigerian Senate on Thursday suspended a female senator after she accused its presiding officer of sexual assault.

Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan will be barred from her office and have her allowances and security withdrawn for six months, according to a recommendation by the Senate’s ethics committee.

The accusation made last week by Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of the only four women in a 109-seat chamber, against Senate President Godswill Akpabio was rejected by the ethics committee, citing procedural rule violations.

“This injustice will not be sustained,” the senator said on Thursday.

Akpabio has denied any wrongdoing.

— From news services