Pope calls for reflection on feminine dimension of Church

Pope Francis highlighted the feminine dimension of the Church on Thursday, emphasizing the need for women’s perspective in theology. “Women have a different capacity for theological reflection than we men do,” the Pope said.

His extemporaneous remarks came during an audience with members of the International Theological Commission (ITC), which, as the Pope noted, is composed primarily of men.

The Church is woman

“The Church is woman,” he said, continuing his reflection. “And if we do not understand what woman is or what the theology of womanhood is, we will never understand what the Church is.” He described the "masculinizing" of the Church as a “great sin,” which has yet to be resolved.

The Pope appealed to a distinction proposed by Jesuit theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, who described a “Petrine” or ministerial principle, and a “Marian” or mystical principle. “The Marian is more important than the Petrine,” Pope Francis said, “because there is the bride Church, the woman Church, without being masculine.”

Sources say Red Cross has not yet been allowed to visit hostages in Gaza – a violation of truce agreement

Red Cross officials have not yet been allowed to visit hostages that Hamas is holding in Gaza, multiple sources have told CNN – a violation of an agreement struck between Israel and Hamas, which stipulated that the Red Cross would be able to visit the hostages by the end of the fourth day of the truce. 

US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said over the weekend that as a part of the Israel-Hamas truce agreement, Red Cross officials would be able to visit hostages still held captive in Gaza “by the end of the fourth day.” Another source familiar with the terms of the agreement echoed that this was an aspect of the deal. 

The US has been asking Qatari mediators to press Hamas on Red Cross access to the remaining hostages as well as providing proof of life as part of the US effort to extend the pause and hostage releases as long as possible, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

But the delay in Red Cross officials visiting hostages in Gaza did not appear likely to derail the truce agreement for now, one of the sources told CNN, as Hamas continues to release hostages each day of the pause in fighting.

A Jewish teacher had to hide in a locked office as students stormed the halls demanding she be fired for attending a pro-Israel rally, say reports

Students flooded their school halls in protest over a teacher's Facebook profile photo, which showed her at a pro-Israel rally, the New York Post reported. Police were called to respond to the incident on Monday morning — and the teacher was placed in a locked office.

TikTok videos appear to show students at Hillcrest High School in Queens, New York, running through the school and jumping.

One senior at the school told the Post students planned the action in response to the teacher's photo. The Facebook photo, posted on TikTok, showed the teacher holding a sign saying "I stand with Israel."

"A bunch of kids decided to make a group chat, expose her, talk about it, and then talk about starting a riot," the senior said.

Fears of all-out ethnic war rise in Sudan’s Darfur

The next major battle in Sudan’s civil war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) could spiral into all-out ethnic violence that puts entire communities at risk, residents, experts and aid groups told Al Jazeera.

Over the last week, the Joint Protection Forces (JPF) – five mostly non-Arab armed groups – deployed hundreds of reinforcements about 80km (50 miles) northeast of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, residents told Al Jazeera.

They claim they are there to protect civilians from a possible attack by the RSF, whose fighters mostly hail from Arab tribes.

“Over the last three days…it has become fairly obvious to most people on the ground that [the fight for North Darfur] will most likely turn into an all-out, ethnic-based conflict,” said Nic Pyat, head of mission for the Nonviolent Peaceforce, an NGO dedicated to civilian protection worldwide.

Houthis say Israeli ships ‘legitimate target,’ as threat to global shipping grows

Israeli ships are a “legitimate target,” Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels warned on Monday after their seizure of an Israel-linked cargo vessel opened a new dimension in Israel’s war against Hamas.

Sunday’s capture of the Galaxy Leader and its 25 international crew members came days after the Iran-backed Houthis threatened to target Israeli shipping over the Israel-Hamas war.

The Houthis have fired several ballistic missiles and drones at Eilat since the beginning of the war last month, all of which were intercepted or missed their targets. One of the surface-to-surface missiles was shot down by Israel’s most advanced air defense system, the Arrow 3, marking the system’s first successful interception of a missile.

The Houthis have said they are acting as part of the “axis of resistance” against Israel, which includes Iran-backed terror groups in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. The Yemeni rebel group’s slogan is “God is great, death to America, death to Israel, curse on the Jews, victory for Islam.”

Antisemitic message spray painted on former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's Michigan home

Vandals left antisemitic messages on former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's Michigan home. 

According to the Anti-Defamation League of Michigan, Emanuel's property and the Chabad of Kalamazoo, a Jewish organization, were both targeted.

The word "NAZIS" were spray painted on a fence outside Emanuel's home and swastikas were spray painted on the Chabad property. 

The ADL Michigan said they are "Disgusted by antisemitic vandalizations" and "urge both incidents be investigated as potential hate crimes."

Russia's Devastating New Weapon Hits Enemy Positions in War's First: Video

Russia has used modified cluster bombs as glide weapons against Ukrainian forces in the south of the war-torn country for the first time, new footage and reports appear to show.

In a clip widely circulating online, published on the Telegram messaging app by a Russian channel thought to be linked to Moscow's military, what looks to be a cluster munitions strike across the Ukrainian countryside shows dozens of almost simultaneous explosions. However, there are few details available about the footage, and it could not be independently verified by Newsweek.

The Russian Defense Ministry and the Ukrainian General Staff have been approached for comment via email.

Russia's influential community of milbloggers reported on Sunday that Moscow's troops had carried out a "large airstrike" with RBK-500 cluster bombs that had been adapted to act as glide bombs in south Donetsk, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Sunday.

https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1726177933386203140/mediaViewer?currentTweet=1726177933386203140¤tTweetUser=clashreport

As outrage grows over fate of babies in Gaza hospital, Israel offers incubators and fuel

As outrage grows over reports of babies dying and a mass grave being dug at Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital, Israel has publicly indicated a desire to mitigate the crisis there — not by ending the siege but by offering fuel and mobile incubators.

On Sunday night, the Israel Defense Forces released footage appearing to show soldiers depositing 300 liters (about 79 gallons) of fuel at Al-Shifa’s entrance and announced an evacuation route for people in the complex to flee. On Monday came a pledge that the IDF would coordinate the delivery of incubators to Al-Shifa, following reports that premature babies there had to be removed from their incubators because of power shortages. Then on Tuesday, the IDF shared a photo of a female soldier helping load mobile incubators into a van, which an IDF spokesperson said would be used to transfer at-risk infants out of the hospital.

“We are trying to bring in incubators that can help transfer babies out of Shifa Hospital to other places down south, which will help safeguard the babies in the hospital,” IDF spokesman, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, said.

The IDF said in a briefing later on Tuesday that the incubators had come from Israel’s Tel Hashomer Hospital and are “intended to be used to move premature babies to a safer space.” Asked how they will be delivered to Al-Shifa, spokesman Lt. Col. Amnon Shefler said coordination with the hospital “has not yet been completed.”