In brief: Surgeon with Ebola will be treated in U.S.

NEW YORK – A surgeon working in West Africa’s Sierra Leone has been diagnosed with Ebola and will be flown to the United States on Saturday for treatment, according to a federal government source.

The doctor is a citizen of Sierra Leone but also is a permanent U.S. resident, according to the source. The surgeon will be treated at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

The last Ebola patient in the U.S. was released from a New York City hospital Tuesday.

Israel, Jordan, Palestinians to work toward peace

AMMAN, Jordan – Israel and Jordan have committed to a series of “specific and practical” steps to reduce spiraling tensions over Jerusalem holy sites, and the Palestinians have pledged to curb incitement and violence, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday.

However, he refused to describe what measures were agreed to and Jordan, which recalled its ambassador to Israel last week to protest an Israeli crackdown on protesters at the al-Aqsa mosque, said pointedly it was not yet ready to return the envoy. Perhaps more telling, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not attend a meeting among Kerry, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jordan’s King Abdullah II. Kerry said it was “not the right moment” for Abbas and Netanyahu to meet.

Vatican will offer showers for homeless

VATICAN CITY – Homeless people around the Vatican are getting more than just handouts from charitable passers-by. They’re getting a shower.

The pope’s chief alms-giver, Monsignor Konrad Krajewski, says three showers will be installed in the public restrooms in St. Peter’s Square to cater to homeless men and women.

Krajewski, whose small acts of charity in Francis’ name are well known, told La Stampa’s Vatican Insider website that he came up with the idea after meeting a homeless man named Franco while coming home from confession one day.