Vatican City

Ailing pope to remain in hospital a few days

Pope John Paul II’s doctors were on guard for complications Wednesday, a day after the frail, 84-year-old pontiff was hospitalized with the flu and breathing trouble.

Pneumonia remained a potentially deadly threat, but the Holy See insisted there was “no cause for alarm.” Roman Catholics from Poland to the Philippines prayed for his recovery.

The pope will be hospitalized for a few more days to afford “many means to stay ready for any complications,” said Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, head of the Vatican’s health care office.

The slumping pontiff also suffers from Parkinson’s disease and crippling hip and knee ailments, and his inability to hold his back up straight has left his lungs and diaphragm in a crushed position, Barragan said.

Tests showed the pope’s heart and respiration were normal, and he felt well enough to participate from his bed in a Mass celebrated by his secretary although he was running a slight fever, said papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls.

Egypt

Mideast leaders announce summit

Egypt on Wednesday invited the leaders of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan to a summit next week, a move indicating confidence that a much-anticipated breakthrough in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is in the offing.

The summit, to be held Tuesday in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, was expected to focus on a possible Palestinian prisoner release, the fate of Palestinian fugitives and a West Bank troop redeployment.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and King Abdullah of Jordan have all accepted invitations to attend from summit host, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Georgia

Prime minister dies in apparent gas leak

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania was killed early today by an apparent gas leak while at a friend’s house, the ex-Soviet republic’s interior minister said.

Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili said in a live broadcast on Rustavi-2 television that security guards broke through a window when they heard no sign of life inside the friend’s home several hours after the prime minister arrived.

The friend also was killed, Merabishvili said.

“It is an accident,” Merabishvili said. “We can say that poisoning by gas took place.”

A longtime politician born in 1963, Zhvania was part of the opposition to former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and played a role in protests that prompted led to Shevardnadze’s ouster after against allegedly fraudulent elections in November 2003.

President Mikhail Saakashvili, who led the protests, named Zhvania prime minister following his landslide election in January 2004.

Washington, D.C.

Dean likely to be next DNC chairman

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who ran for president as a Democratic Party outsider who disdained Washington politics, is now virtually assured of being elected chairman of the Democratic Party.

Dean secured the support of the United Auto Workers on Wednesday, the first union to back him for the chairmanship. That was a sure sign that the support he received Monday from state party chairmen was propelling him toward victory on Feb. 12, when the full 447-member Democratic National Committee votes.

Despite anxiety among some Democrats that his image as a fiery antiwar Northeasterner is the opposite of what the party needs if it is to win again nationally, Dean has persuaded party leaders that he can do what’s needed. Besides his prodigious fund raising, he proved himself a loyal Democrat by rallying to the side of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry last fall.

Moreover, while Dean’s image is liberal because of positions he took as a presidential candidate, his policies while he was governor of Vermont were fiscally conservative and pragmatically moderate.

Washington, D.C.

Senators appear glad to fill Homeland post

One senator described it as “dysfunctional.” Another called it a “monster.” The committee chairman agreed it was a “troubled department.” So it went Wednesday as a Senate panel gratefully welcomed Michael Chertoff, President Bush’s choice to lead the still-unsettled Department of Homeland Security.

Rather than grill the nominee to see whether he was up to the job, most senators used Chertoff’s confirmation hearing to say they were glad he was willing to give up his life-tenured post as a federal appeals judge to try to manage an unwieldy department that melded 22 separate agencies and 180,000 employees.

“I greatly appreciate your willingness to leave the circuit court to take on these truly awesome responsibilities,” said Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn. Chertoff appeared headed toward easy confirmation when the committee votes, probably on Monday. He would succeed Tom Ridge.