Doctors said Monday Pope Francis is no longer in imminent danger of death as a result of pneumonia that has kept him hospitalized for nearly a month, but have decided to keep him hospitalized for several more days to receive treatment.

In a late update, the doctors said the 88-year-old pope remains stable and has consolidated improvements in recent days, as determined by blood tests and positive responses to drug treatments.

The Vatican said the doctors had lifted their previous “guarded” prognosis, meaning they determined he was no longer in imminent danger as a result of the original respiratory infection he arrived with on Feb. 14. But their caution remained.

“However, in view of the complexity of the clinical picture and the important infectious picture presented on admission, it will be necessary to continue medical drug therapy in a hospital setting for additional days,” according to the Vatican statement.

Syrian government signs truce with Kurds

Syria’s interim government signed a deal Monday with the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s northeast, including a ceasefire and the merging of the main U.S.-backed force there into the Syrian army.

The deal is a major breakthrough that would bring most of Syria under the control of the government, which is led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that led the ouster of President Bashar Assad in December.

The deal was signed by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

The deal to be implemented by the end of the year would bring all border crossings with Iraq and Turkey, airports and oil fields in the northeast under the central government’s control. Prisons where about 9,000 suspected members of the Islamic State group are also expected to come under government control.

Syria’s Kurds will gain their “constitutional rights” including using and teaching their language, which were banned for decades under Assad. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds, who were displaced during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war, will return to their homes. Thousands of Kurds living in Syria who have been deprived of nationality for decades under Assad will be given the right of citizenship, according to the agreement.

Assad loyalists attack Syrian forces

Gunmen attacked a position held by Syrian security forces in Damascus, Syria, overnight, a war monitor said Monday, raising fears that the deadly violence sweeping Syria’s coastal region could spread to other parts of the country.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has monitored the Syrian conflict since 2011, said that unidentified gunmen threw grenades and opened fire overnight on a building housing government security forces in the highly fortified Mezzeh district of the capital. Clashes with government security forces ensued, and it was unclear if anyone was injured, the observatory said. It added that an unspecified number of arrests had been made.

There was no immediate comment from Syria’s new government or on state news media, and the information could not be independently verified.

The attack came as the country was reeling from violence that erupted last week between fighters affiliated with Syria’s new government, led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, and those loyal to ousted dictator Bashar Assad.

DA says he opposes Menendez leniency

The district attorney of Los Angeles County said Monday that he does not support the resentencing of Lyle and Erik Menendez because the brothers have repeatedly lied about why they killed their parents at their Beverly Hills home in 1989.

Resentencing, which could make the brothers immediately eligible for parole, is just one of the pathways they are pursuing to walk free after their 1996 convictions for murder. District Attorney Nathan Hochman’s predecessor, who lost reelection, had backed resentencing, and advocates for the siblings had waited anxiously to see whether the new DA would do the same.

Hochman told reporters his decision hinged on the fact the brothers had failed to take “complete responsibility” for lies told as the case unfolded, including their original claim that they did not kill their parents. He said their repeated argument that they shot their parents in self-defense does not match the facts of the case that show their premeditated steps to plan the killings and make it look like a gang hit.

“They have lied to everyone for the last 30 years,” Hochman said.

Post columnist quits over Bezos’ influence

A columnist who has worked at The Washington Post for four decades resigned on Monday after she said the newspaper’s management decided not to run her commentary critical of owner Jeff Bezos’ new editorial policy.

“It breaks my heart to conclude that I must leave,” Ruth Marcus, who has worked at the newspaper since 1984, wrote in a resignation letter.

Her exit is the latest fallout from the billionaire owner’s directive that the Post narrow the topics covered by its opinion section to personal liberties and the free market. The newspaper’s opinions editor, David Shipley, had already resigned because of the shift.

The storied newspaper has been in a free fall, financially and editorially, over the past year.

Marcus said that the Post’s publisher, Will Lewis, declined to run her column, which she described as “respectfully dissenting” from Bezos’ edict. It was the first time in nearly 20 years of writing columns that she’s had one killed, she said.

S’more-making blamed for New York wildfires

Multiple brush fires that burned across a wooded area of Long Island over the weekend were accidentally caused by a family’s attempt to make s’mores, Suffolk County police said Monday.

Commissioner Kevin Catalina said detectives traced the cause to a home in Manorville and a morning attempt to make the campfire dessert of toasted marshmallow and chocolate between graham crackers.

“The individuals making the s’mores were unable to get the fire lit due to the winds, but they used cardboard to initially light that fire,” Catalina said. “That person subsequently discovers that the fire does ignite, and the backyard area all goes up in fire.”

Justices to consider bans on gay ‘conversion’

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday in a case from Colorado to decide whether state and local governments can enforce laws banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ children.

The conservative-led court is taking up the case amid actions by President Donald Trump targeting transgender people, including a ban on military service and an end to federal funding for gender-affirming care for transgender minors.

The justices also have heard arguments in a Tennessee case over whether state bans on treating transgender minors violate the Constitution. But they have yet to issue a decision.

Colorado is among roughly half the states that prohibit the practice of trying to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling.

Justices decline to hear climate change case

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an argument that aimed to restrict states from suing oil companies for financial damage related to climate change.

The argument was brought to the high court by 19 Republican attorneys general, representing states including Alabama and West Virginia, who were trying to prevent other states, led by Democrats, from pursuing lawsuits against the oil industry. Those states include California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

Those Democratic-led states have sued major fossil fuel companies for allegedly deceiving the public for decades about the effects of their greenhouse gas emissions. The cases include a 2023 lawsuit filed by California’s attorney general against five of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, including BP and Exxon Mobil, and the American Petroleum Institute, a lobbying group that represents fossil fuel interests.

New York fires 2,000 striking prison guards

New York fired more than 2,000 prison guards Monday for failing to return to work after a weekslong wildcat strike that crippled the state’s correctional system, but said enough officers had come back on the job to declare the illegal work stoppage over.

“After 22 days of an illegal strike, the governor and I are happy to report it is now ended,” Commissioner Daniel Martuscello said during a virtual press briefing.

The state and the guards’ union struck a new deal to end the strike this weekend, but it was contingent on at least 85% of staff returning to work by Monday morning. Although the number returning fell short of the 85% goal, Martuscello said the state would honor the deal’s overtime and some other provisions.

He said the National Guard would remain in place at prisons in a support position while the department undertakes an aggressive recruiting campaign to attract additional employees. About 10,000 security staff are available to work in prisons across the state, he said, down from about 13,500 before the wildcat strike.

Calif. judge’s murder case ends in mistrial

The case of a Southern California judge charged with murder for fatally shooting his wife ended in a mistrial Monday after a jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Eleanor J. Hunter declared the mistrial in the case against now 74-year-old Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson. Eleven of the 12 jurors had wanted to declare Ferguson guilty of second-degree murder, and prosecutors said they are prepared to retry the case.

Prosecutors said during trial that Ferguson shot his wife Sheryl with a handgun in 2023 while the couple was watching television at their home in Anaheim Hills after they had argued. Ferguson did not deny shooting his wife and testified that it was an accident.

Hunter, who presided over Ferguson’s case to avoid a conflict of interest, scheduled a hearing Thursday on how to proceed.

Utah is first state to ban fluoride in water

Utah will become the first state to ban fluoride in public drinking water, despite widespread opposition from dentists and national health organizations.

Republican Gov. Spencer Cox said he would sign legislation that bars cities and communities from deciding whether to add the mineral to their water systems.

Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.

Government researchers have found that community water fluoridation prevents about 25% of tooth decay.

U.N. makes pledge on women’s rights

Confronting a rising backlash against women’s rights, the U.N.’s 193 member nations made a commitment Monday to accelerate action on more than a dozen fronts to achieve gender equality.

A political declaration adopted at the start of the annual meeting of the U.N.’s preeminent body promoting equality for women and girls recognizes that men and boys must be “strategic partners and allies” to achieve the goal.

The declaration — approved by consensus and a bang of the gavel by the chair of the Commission on the Status of Women — coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Beijing women’s conference where the world’s nations adopted a 150-page roadmap to achieve gender equality.

Next Canadian PM vows quick transition

Canada’s next prime minister met with outgoing prime minister Justin Trudeau on Monday and vowed a quick transition.

Mark Carney said he had a long meeting with Trudeau in which they discussed U.S.-Canada relations, national security issues and the timing of the handover in power.

“That transition will be seamless and it will be quick,” said Carney, adding there would be an announcement soon.

Carney, a two-time central bank chief, will become prime minister after the governing Liberal Party elected him its leader Sunday in a landslide vote.

Carney replaces Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January but remains prime minister until his successor is sworn in.

— News service reports