- Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas reach a critical stage

 - We look at the regional impact of a newly appointed President in Lebanon and a totally new political scenario in Syria

-  The death toll is on the rise in Los Angeles where fires continue to burn homes, suburbs and land

 - Pope Francis says he is close to Los Angeles residents as they flee their homes and suburbs burnt to the ground by devastating fires

 - On the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the Holy Father baptizes 21 babies in the Sistine Chapel reminding their families that Baptism is the greatest gift

 - He reiterates his tireless appeal for peace as fighting continues to kill in Ukraine, the Middle East and across the world

 

 - Pope Francis expresses closeness to the victims of devastating fires in the US city of Los Angeles

 - Sr Dorothy Stang becomes the first American woman to be included in a memorial for modern martyrs

 - The first special General Audience for the Jubilee Year takes place in the Vatican

 

 

 

 

 

-   Pope Francis urges Vatican ambassadors to employ a diplomacy of hope

-   Amid continuing Israeli strikes, the Health Ministry in Gaza says over 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave since 7 October 2023

-   The consecration of a new church in Jordan is a sign of unity and continuity for Middle East Christians

 

 

-   A Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest is injured in a drone attack on his way to celebrating the liturgy for the Epiphany.

-   The President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Myanmar issues a statement of peace for the new year.

-   The Pope uses the first General Audience of 2025 to call out the scourge of child labor.

-   A powerful earthquake in Tibet leaves scores of people dead with many more missing

-   The UN warns its efforts to save the lives of survivors are at “breaking point”

-   Pope Francis appoints Cardinal Parolin to represent him this week at the inauguration of a new Church of the Baptism of the Lord on the River Jordan

 

 - At the Angelus, Pope Francis calls on the international community to ensure respect for humanitarian law

 - Central American peacekeepers have arrived in Haiti in the midst of an ongoing security crisis

 - The final Holy Door for Jubilee 2025, at the Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls, is opened by Cardinal Harvey