Thousands of people gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray for an ailing Pope Francis, expressing sorrow for his suffering, hope for his recovery and gratitude for his efforts to steer the Catholic Church in new directions.

The 88-year-old Francis has pneumonia in both lungs and remains in critical condition despite showing a slight improvement after 11 days in the hospital. The Vatican said early on Tuesday that he had "slept well, all night."

Iran has put its defense systems around its nuclear sites on high alert amid fears of an attack by Israel and the U.S., The Telegraph British newspaper said Tuesday.

The daily said that, according to two high-level government sources, Iran has been on high alert and that several additional air defense system launchers have been deployed.

The U.S. on Monday imposed sanctions on dozens of people and oil tankers across China, the United Arab Emirates, India and other jurisdictions for allegedly helping to finance Iran and its support for militant groups that launch attacks against the U.S. and its allies.

The U.S. Treasury and the U.S. State departments sanctioned more than 30 people and ships, including the heads of Iran's National Iranian Oil Co., and the Iranian Oil Terminals Co., for their role in brokering the sale and transportation of Iranian oil. The sanctioned ships move crude oil valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the Treasury.

The first phase of the ceasefire that paused 15 months of brutal warfare between Israel and Hamas militants is set to end on Saturday — and it's unclear what comes next.

The two sides were supposed to start negotiating a second phase weeks ago in which Hamas would release all the remaining hostages from its Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which triggered the war, in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Hezbollah published Tuesday the names and faces of 35 of its commanders killed "on the road to Jerusalem," in addition to former leaders Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Sayyed Hashem Safieddine.

The 35 Hezbollah leaders killed in the 13 months war with Israel are:

Hamas freed six Israelis on Saturday in the last scheduled release of living hostages by the militant group under the current stage of a ceasefire agreement with Israel.

In all, a total of 33 Israelis are being freed during this stage — including eight who are dead. Five Thai hostages have also been freed separately. Sixty-three hostages, including the body of a soldier held since 2014, remain in Gaza.

Israel on Monday denied entry to two European Union lawmakers, accusing one of promoting boycotts of the country.

Lynn Boylan, who chairs the European Parliament EU-Palestine delegation, and Rima Hassan were refused entry at Ben-Gurion airport and ordered to return to Europe.

Just hours after the U.S. Office of Personnel Management had directed agencies that responses to its email were optional, Musk again threatened federal workers in a post on X, his social media platform.

He wrote: “Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.”

President Donald Trump said Monday that his tariffs on Canada and Mexico are starting next month, ending a monthlong suspension on the planned import taxes that could potentially hurt economic growth and worsen inflation.

"We're on time with the tariffs, and it seems like that's moving along very rapidly," the U.S. president said at a White House news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron.

In a dramatic shift in transatlantic relations under President Donald Trump, the United States split with its European allies by refusing to blame Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in votes on three U.N. resolutions Monday seeking an end to the three-year war.

The growing divide follows Trump's decision to open direct negotiations with Russia on ending the war, dismaying Ukraine and its European supporters by excluding them from the preliminary talks last week.