Person named in student's disappearance

A young man has been identified as a person of interest in the disappearance of Sudiksha Konanki, a University of Pittsburgh student who disappeared last week while enjoying spring break with friends in the Dominican Republic.

Joshua Riibe, 24, has been named a person of interest in the disappearance of 20-year-old Konanki, an Indian citizen and Virginia resident, a Loudoun County, Va., sheriff's spokesperson confirmed.

Konanki was last seen walking on a beach with a group at Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana at about 4:15 a.m. March 6, according to a Dominican Republic National Police news release.

Riibe, a U.S. citizen, was vacationing in Punta Cana separately from the group with which Konanki was traveling, according to the sheriff's office.

No charges have been filed against Riibe or anyone else at this time. The spokesperson clarified that, as this is not currently a criminal investigation, Riibe is not a suspect, but is a person of interest as he "may have been the last one to see" Konanki.

Konanki was traveling with five other female students at the time of her disappearance, including a fellow resident of Loudoun County, the sheriff's office previously told ABC News. Konanki had been at a nightclub before going with six others to the beach, where she is believed to have drowned, three Dominican officials involved in the investigation told ABC News.

Drug suspect awaits extradition to US

GUATEMALA CITY -- One of Guatemala's most wanted drug traffickers has been captured in Mexico and returned to Guatemala to await extradition to the United States, Guatemalan officials said.

Guatemala Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez said the capture of Aler Baldomero Samayoa Recinos on Tuesday was carried out in cooperation with Mexico and the United States. He said Samayoa Recinos negotiated drug shipments through Guatemala with Mexican cartels.

Guatemala also has a case against Samayoa Recinos, so it wasn't immediately clear if that case would have to proceed before his extradition would be considered. He was expected to appear in court in Guatemala on Wednesday.

A U.S. federal indictment against Samayoa Recinos unsealed in Washington in 2022 accused him of cocaine trafficking.

Guatemalan authorities say Samayoa Recinos leads the organized crime group Los Huistas.

Buddha-statue part found in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Archaeologists in Cambodia are celebrating an unexpected find at the country's centuries-old Angkor temple complex: the torso of a statue of Buddha that matches a head found nearly a century ago at the same site.

The torso, believed to be from the 12th or 13th century, was discovered during a dig by a team of Cambodian and Indian experts last month at Angkor's Ta Prohm temple. It was found along with 29 fragments that appeared to be part of the same statue, archaeologist Neth Simon said this week.

It stands at 3 3/4 feet tall and is in the Bayon art style, associated with Angkor's Bayon temple.

The statue's presumed head was discovered at the same temple in 1927 during the French colonial era, and is currently kept at Cambodia's main National Museum in the capital Phnom Penh. Simon said the torso was found about 50 yards away from the site where the head was discovered, and that an optical electronic scan confirmed they were a match.

A near-complete reconstruction of the status is possible, Simon added, now that only the right hand of the statue remains missing. Her team will ask the minister of culture and fine art for approval to reattach the head and body of the sculpture to make it whole for public display.

Pope's condition improving, X-ray finds

ROME -- A chest X-ray has confirmed improvements in Pope Francis' condition in his fourth week in the hospital for treatment of double pneumonia, the Vatican said Wednesday.

Doctors have said Francis is making slow, gradual improvements and this week declared that he's no longer in imminent danger of death.

During his recovery, the pope continues to receive high flows of oxygen through nasal tubes during the day. He has a noninvasive mechanical mask to aid his rest at night.

The Vatican said the 88-year-old Francis again followed the Vatican's spiritual retreat remotely and resumed physical and respiratory therapy after a quiet night.

Francis on Thursday marks an important milestone: the 12th anniversary of his election as pope. The Holy See hasn't said how the anniversary, which is a public holiday in the Vatican, might be commemorated this year.

The pope's weekly Wednesday general audience was canceled since the Vatican hierarchy is on retreat this week as part of the Lenten spiritual exercises that have been a mainstay of the Jesuit pope's pontificate.

Another milestone comes Friday, when Francis marks four weeks of hospitalization.

St. John Paul II has the record for a hospital stay, at 55 days in 1981.