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Iraqi forces launch push to retake western Mosul from IS
HAMAM AL-ALIL, Iraq (AP) -- U.S.-backed Iraqi forces launched a large-scale military operation on Sunday to dislodge Islamic State militants from the western half of Mosul city, a battle that is expected to be prolonged and difficult due to a densely packed civilian population and older, narrower streets....
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Pope Francis delivers a message during his general audience on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, May 1, 2024 / 09:45 am (CNA).On Wednesday, May 1, Pope Francis addressed an international audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican and reiterated the importance of faith in the Christian life as well as the need to continually pray for "real peace" for the whole world.The Holy Father also deplored war profiteering, decrying the actions of those "making money off death" through huge investments in the production of weapons.Speaking to thousands of people gathered inside Vatican City on an overcast morning on the feast day of St. Joseph the Worker, the Holy Father spoke about the three theological virtues, beginning with faith, as part of his ongoing catechesis series on vices and virtues.Pope Francis greets pilgrims attending his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall on May 1, 2024. Credit: Elizabeth Alva/CN...
null / Credit: ShutterstockCNA Staff, May 1, 2024 / 11:30 am (CNA).The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined a request from the porn industry to block a Texas age-verification rule, allowing the law to stand and temporarily derailing the efforts of porn creators to see the new safety measure scuttled. The court said in an unsigned order without comment that it was denying a request from the Free Speech Coalition to issue a stay on the law. The Free Speech Coalition includes a porn trade association and several pornography creators. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has defended the law, HB 1181, since its passage last summer. The measure requires porn websites to institute "reasonable age-verification methods" to ensure minors are not accessing explicit sexual content on their sites. The attorney general has sued multiple pornography companies in order to enforce the age-verification law. He argued earlier this year that pornography...
null / Credit: ShutterstockCNA Newsroom, Apr 30, 2024 / 17:45 pm (CNA).Florida's bishops are welcoming a new law that allows public schools in the state to have volunteer chaplains.The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, which represents bishops in the state's seven dioceses on public policy matters, did not take a position on the bill while legislators debated it earlier this year."However, we recognize the good that chaplains can do in schools by helping students to address their spiritual and emotional needs. We are pleased that parents will determine the services their children will receive in districts that choose to establish chaplaincy programs," said Michelle Taylor, associate director of communications for the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, in an email message to CNA on Tuesday.The measure, which takes effect July 1, requires public schools and charter schools that establish such a program to publish on their websites a list of volunteer school chaplains a...
