Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead in their home in New Mexico along with their dog, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office told CNN. He was 95.

Their causes of death have not been confirmed, but foul play is not suspected, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Womack-Avila told CNN on Thursday morning.

Deputies responded to a welfare check request at the home around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday and found Hackman, Arakawa and a dog deceased, Womack-Avila said. An investigation is ongoing, the sheriff’s office said. The gas company is assisting in the investigation, The Associated Press reported.

The welfare check was conducted after a neighbor called authorities, concerned about the couple’s well-being, CNN affiliate KOAT reported.

A search warrant shows that Hackman, his wife and their dog had been dead for some time, and the couple’s bodies were in different rooms when deputies found them during the wellness check, the AP reported.

Hackman was found dead Wednesday in a mudroom, and Arakawa was found dead in a bathroom next to a space heater. There was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on the countertop near Arakawa, the AP reported.

Medical examiner’s reports with the final cause of death “generally take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to generate,” said Chris Ramirez, spokesperson for the New Mexico medical investigator’s office.

CNN has reached out to Hackman’s representatives.

The actor’s death comes just days before the Academy Awards on Sunday.

Hackman’s performances in such films as “The French Connection,” “Hoosiers,” “Unforgiven,” and “The Firm” elevated character roles to leading-man levels.

Hackman’s best roles were often of conflicted authority figures or surprisingly clever white-collar villains, such as the iconic, evil Lex Luthor in the “Superman” film series in the 1970s and ’80s. Many held a hint – sometimes more than a hint – of menace.

He won an Oscar for his portrayal in 1971’s “The French Connection” of New York cop Popeye Doyle, a detective who gets his man but at a high cost. His surveillance expert in 1974’s “The Conversation” is single-minded to the point of obsession, losing all perspective.

He won his second Oscar for his performance as Little Bill Daggett, the violent sheriff in Clint Eastwood’s 1992 film, “Unforgiven.”

Source: CNN

Pope Francis showed further improvement on Wednesday, the Vatican said, although it cautioned that “the prognosis remains reserved” for the 88-year-old fighting pneumonia.

“The clinical conditions of the Holy Father in the last 24 hours have shown a further, slight improvement,” said the Vatican in its nightly bulletin on the health of the pontiff, who has been in hospital since February 14.

“Although a slight improvement is being recorded, the prognosis remains reserved,” it said.

The Argentine pope was originally admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital with breathing difficulties and bronchitis, but his condition subsequently deteriorated, sparking widespread concern among Catholics.

Respiratory attacks he suffered at the weekend that required high levels of oxygen and blood transfusions have not been repeated, according to the Vatican, although he continues to receive oxygen and do breathing exercises.

On Wednesday, the Vatican said a CT scan performed Tuesday showed “normal progression of the pulmonary inflammatory condition” while blood tests on Wednesday confirmed the improvement.

It also said that a mild renal insufficiency detected at the weekend “had resolved.”

As Catholics across the globe pray for Francis, doctors have warned the path to recovery could be long, with the Jesuit pontiff likely staying in hospital beyond this week.

Despite his critical condition, the leader of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Catholics has kept up with Church matters from his hospital suite, according to the Vatican.

Now on his 13th day in the hospital, the Pope Wednesday was “sitting in a chair, and continuing with the treatment as normal”, a Vatican source said.

The Vatican said he received the Eucharist in the morning and spent his afternoon working.The current hospitalisation is Francis’s fourth and longest.

The pope, who had part of one of his lungs removed as a young man, has suffered increasing health problems in recent years.

He is prone to bronchitis and suffers from hip and knee pain, which has made him reliant on a wheelchair.

Pilgrims and faithful have been flocking to the Vatican and the Gemelli to pray for Francis, with a fresh round of prayers held in St Peter’s Square later Wednesday evening.

US President, Donald Trump, has unveiled plans to sell new “gold card” residency permits for a price of $5 million each, saying Russian oligarchs may be eligible.

Trump said sales of the new visa, a high-price version of the traditional green card, would bring in job creators and could be used to reduce the US national deficit.

“We’re going to be selling a gold card. You have a green card, this is a gold card. We’re going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

The Republican president, who has made the deportation of millions of undocumented migrants a priority of his second term, said the new card would be a route to highly prized US citizenship.

“A lot of people are going to want to be in this country, and they’ll be able to work and provide jobs and build companies,” Trump said.

“It’ll be people with money.”Sales of the cards would start in about two weeks, Trump added.

“We’ll be able to sell maybe a million of these cards. We have it all worked out from a legal standpoint,” Trump added.

The billionaire former real estate tycoon said that all applicants for the new gold cards would be carefully vetted.

But asked if wealthy Russians would also be able to apply, Trump said it is a possibility.

“Possibly. I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people. It’s possible,” Trump said.

“They’re not as wealthy as they used to be. I think they can. I think they can afford $5 million.”

A number of Russian oligarchs have been hit by western sanctions since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago.

Trump has caused shock in European capitals by suddenly opening negotiations with Russia to end the war, amid fears that he could be willing to sell Ukraine short.

The US president told reporters that lifting sanctions on Russia was possible “at some point” but was not currently on the table.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, standing at Trump’s side in the Oval Office, said of the gold cards that “we can use that money to reduce our deficit.”

Trump, who has branded a series of hotels and casinos in a long business career, even suggested the new cards could also be named after him.

“Somebody said, ‘Can we call it the Trump gold card?’ I said, ‘If it helps, use the name Trump,’” he said.

AFP