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Vatican City — The Vatican on Monday reaffirmed its opposition to sex changes, gender theory and surrogate parenthood, as well as abortion and euthanasia, four months after supporting blessings for same-sex couples.  The Vatican's doctrinal office (DDF) released the "Dignitas infinita" (Infinite dignity) declaration following fierce conservative pushback, especially in Africa, against its document on LGBT issues.  There is no suggestion that the new text, which describes what the Church perceives as threats to human dignity, was prepared in direct response to the rows over same-sex blessings, as it has been five years in the making. But it has undergone extensive revisions over the period.  Pope Francis approved it after requesting that it also mention "poverty, the situation of migrants, violence against women, human trafficking, war, and other themes," the head of the DDF, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, said in a statement.   The declaration said surrogate parenting violated the dignity of both the surrogate mother and the child, and recalled that Francis in January called it "despicable" and urged a global ban.   On gender theory, the declaration said that "desiring a personal self-determination, as gender theory prescribes, apart from this fundamental truth that human life is a gift, amounts to a concession to the age-old temptation to make oneself God, entering into competition with the true God of love revealed to us in the Gospel."  Gender theory, often called gender ideology by its detractors, suggests that gender is more complex and fluid than the binary categories of male and female, and depends on more than visible sexual characteristics.  On changes of gender, the declaration said that "any sex-change intervention, as a rule, risks threatening the unique dignity the person has received from the moment of conception."  It acknowledged that some people may undergo surgery to resolve "genital abnormalities", but stressed that "such a medical procedure would not constitute a sex change in the sense intended here."  At the same time, the text also denounced as contrary to human dignity the fact that "in some places, not a few people are imprisoned, tortured, and even deprived of the good of life solely because of their sexual orientation."  Elsewhere, the declaration doubled down on the Vatican's standing condemnation of abortion, euthanasia and the death penalty, quoting from Francis, his predecessors Benedict XVI and John Paul II and past Vatican documents.   It also mentioned sexual abuse as a threat to human dignity — calling it "widespread in society", including within the Catholic Church — as well as violence against women, cyberbullying and other forms of online abuse.

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Preliminary hearings are opening Monday at the United Nations’ top court in a case that seeks an end to German military and other aid to Israel, based on claims that Berlin is enabling acts of genocide and breaches of international humanitarian law in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Nicaragua argues that by giving Israel political, financial and military support and by defunding the United Nations aid agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, “Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide and, in any case has failed in its obligation to do everything possible to prevent the commission of genocide.” While the case brought by Nicaragua centers on Germany, it indirectly takes aim at Israel’s military campaign in Gaza following the deadly Oct. 7 attacks when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people. More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. Its toll doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants, but it has said women and children make up the majority of the dead. Israel strongly denies that its assault amounts to genocidal acts, saying it is acting in self defense. Israeli legal adviser Tal Becker told judges at the court earlier this year that the country is fighting a “war it did not start and did not want.” Germany rejects the case brought by Nicaragua. “Germany has breached neither the Genocide Convention nor international humanitarian law, and we will set this out in detail before the International Court of Justice,” German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer told reporters in Berlin on Friday. Nicaragua has asked the court to hand down preliminary orders known as provisional measures, including that Germany “immediately suspend its aid to Israel, in particular its military assistance including military equipment in so far as this aid may be used in the violation of the Genocide Convention” and international law. The court will likely take weeks to deliver its preliminary decision, and Nicaragua’s case will probably drag on for years. Monday’s hearing at the world court comes amid growing calls for allies to stop supplying arms to Israel as its six-month campaign continues to lay waste to Gaza. The offensive has displaced the vast majority of Gaza’s population. Food is scarce, the U.N. says famine is approaching and few Palestinians have been able to leave the besieged territory. The case "will likely further galvanize opposition to any support for Israel,” said Mary Ellen O’Connell, a professor of law and international peace studies at the University of Notre Dame. On Friday, the U.N.’s top human rights body called on countries to stop selling or shipping weapons to Israel. The United States and Germany opposed the resolution. Also, hundreds of British jurists, including three retired Supreme Court judges, have called on their government to suspend arms sales to Israel after three U.K. citizens were among seven aid workers from the charity World Central Kitchen killed in Israeli strikes. Israel said the attack on the aid workers was a mistake caused by “misidentification.” Germany has for decades been a staunch supporter of Israel. Days after the October 7 attack by Hamas, Chancellor Olaf Scholz explained why: “Our own history, our responsibility arising from the Holocaust, makes it a perpetual task for us to stand up for the security of the state of Israel,” he told lawmakers. Berlin, however, has gradually shifted its tone as civilian casualties in Gaza have soared, becoming increasingly critical of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and speaking out against a ground offensive in Rafah. Nicaragua’s government, which has historical links with Palestinian organizations dating back to their support for the 1979 Sandinista revolution, was itself accused earlier this year by U.N.-backed human rights experts of systematic human rights abuses “tantamount to crimes against humanity.” The government of President Daniel Ortega fiercely rejected the allegations. In January, the International Court of Justice imposed provisional measures ordering Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and acts of genocide in Gaza. The orders came in a case filed by South Africa accusing Israel of breaching the Genocide Convention. The court last week ordered Israel to take measures to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including opening more land crossings to allow food, water, fuel and other supplies into the war-ravaged enclave.  

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Mexico City — In Mexico’s first presidential debate on Sunday ahead of June 2 elections, former Mexico City Mayor and frontrunner Claudia Sheinbaum appeared comfortable with her polling lead, remaining calm amid ex-Senator Xóchitl Gálvez's personal attacks. Jorge Álvarez Máynez, a candidate from the Citizen Movement party who is polling in single digits, grinned widely and presented himself as an alternative to the other two candidates, who he said represented the “old politics.” In the debate, candidates responded to questions about health, education, corruption, transparency, vulnerable groups and violence against women. Polls have shown Sheinbaum of the Morena party of outgoing leftist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador leading by more than 20 points over Gálvez, who represents a coalition of opposition parties. If Sheinbaum or Gálvez wins, they would become the first woman president in Mexico, a country with a reputation for gender-based violence and a “macho,” male-dominated culture. Sheinbaum emphasized her connection with the highly popular López Obrador and promised she would continue his policies. “We're going to keep transforming Mexico,” Sheinbaum said. Meanwhile, Gálvez launched personal attacks against her competition, including at Sheinbaum. “Claudia, even if you deny it, you are still cold and heartless. I would call you the ice lady,” Gálvez said. “Claudia, you're not AMLO. You don't have his charisma,” she said, using the president's nickname. Sheinbaum did not respond to several of Gálvez's sharpest attacks. Mentions of López Obrador were surprisingly few in the debate even though the populist leader, who is not eligible for reelection, looms large in the upcoming polls. The candidates also discussed rising migration levels to the United States, agreeing that migrants should be protected and respected on their path through Mexico. That contrasted with the security-focused approach pushed by the U.S. government. Notably, the candidates spoke little of Mexico's soaring levels of violence and the slayings of local candidates, but a subsequent debate is expected to focus on security topics. Sheinbaum briefly mentioned the recent raid of Mexico’s Embassy by Ecuadorian police on Friday, cutting in at the beginning of the debate to thank embassy staff for their bravery.

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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is traveling to Wisconsin to announce details of a new plan to ease student loan debt for millions, a trip that comes a week after primary voting in the Midwest battleground highlighted weaknesses for the Democratic president and Donald Trump, his Republican challenger. Biden is slated to make the announcement Monday in Madison, the state's liberal capital and home of the University of Wisconsin's flagship campus. The new federal rule paving the way for student debt relief is not expected to be issued by the time the president speaks, but Biden plans to highlight a plan the Department of Education started working on after the U.S. Supreme Court last year foiled his first attempt to forgive hundreds of billions of dollars in student loan debt. Immediately after the court said Biden needed Congress to approve his original plan, the president said the decision was a “mistake” and “wrong” and announced that Education Secretary Miguel Cardona would undertake a new process using his authority under the Higher Education Act to waive or compromise student loan debt in specific cases. A fresh announcement on student loan relief, an important issue for younger voters, could help energize parts of Biden’s political coalition that have become disillusioned by his job performance. These are people whose support the president will need to defeat Trump in November. In Wisconsin's primary elections on April 2, nearly 119,000 Republicans voted for a GOP candidate other than Trump, the party's presumptive nominee. And more than 48,000 Democratic voters chose “uninstructed” instead of Biden, more than double Biden’s narrow margin of victory in Wisconsin in 2020. Nearly 15% of Democrats in Dane County, home to the University of Wisconsin and Madison, voted “uninstructed.” That is nearly double the statewide total of 8%. Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, who represents Madison in Congress, said he was struck that concerns about Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza were top of mind among voters at five town halls over the past two weeks in more rural parts of his district. “I was surprised to see the intensity on the issue of Gaza coming not from a student voice out of Madison, but older voters in more rural parts of the district,” Pocan said. Pocan said the number of “uninstructed” votes shows the concern in Wisconsin and that Biden needs to address it. He said he planned to talk directly with Biden about it on Monday. “I just want to make sure he knows that if we’re going to have a problem, that could be the problem in Wisconsin,” Pocan said. Biden's new plan would expand federal student loan relief to new yet-targeted categories of borrowers through the Higher Education Act, which administration officials believe puts it on a stronger legal footing than the sweeping proposal that was killed by a 6-3 court majority last year. The plan is expected to be smaller and more targeted than his original plan, which would have canceled up to $20,000 in loans for more than 40 million borrowers. The department laid out five categories of borrowers who would be eligible to get some or all of their federal loans canceled. The plan is focused on helping those with the greatest need, including many who might otherwise never repay their loans. Among those targeted for help are people whose unpaid interest has snowballed beyond the size of the original loan. The proposal would reset their balances back to the initial amount by erasing up to $10,000 or $20,000 in interest, depending on their income. Borrowers paying down their student loans for decades would get all remaining debt erased under the plan. Loans used for a borrower’s undergraduate education would be canceled if they had been in repayment for at least 20 years. For other types of federal loans, it’s 25 years. The plan would automatically cancel loans for those who were in for-profit college programs deemed “low-value.” Borrowers would be eligible for cancellation if, while they attended the college, the average federal student loan payment among graduates was too high in relation to their average salary. Those who are eligible for other types of cancellation but haven’t applied would automatically get relief. It would apply to Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Borrower Defense to Repayment, programs that have been around for years but require infamously difficult paperwork. Under pressure from advocates, the department also added a category for those facing “hardship.” It would offer cancellation to borrowers considered highly likely to be in default within two years. Additional borrowers would be eligible for relief under a wide-ranging definition of financial hardship. A series of hearings to craft the rule wrapped up in February, and the draft is now under review. Before it can be finalized, the Education Department will need to issue a formal proposal and open it to a public comment period. The latest attempt at cancellation joins other targeted initiatives, including those aimed at public service workers and low-income borrowers. Through those efforts, the Biden administration says it has canceled $144 billion in student loans for almost 4 million Americans.  

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

It’s been six months since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, 2023. In the six months that followed the attack there has been a relentless attack by Israel on the Gaza strip with the stated intention of “wiping out Hamas.” While cease-fire talks are set to resume and although both Israel and Hamas say they will attend, the two have demands which may be difficult to meet. We talk with University of Southern California professor Emerita Laurie Brand about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says they are still planning on a military action in the Gaza city of Rafah. Mexico pulls its diplomats from Ecuador after it arrests a man inside the Mexican Embassy in Quito. And chasing total eclipses. We’ll tell you about a 63-year-old woman who has seen 20 of them!

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

QUETTA, Pakistan — A motorcycle bomb killed two people and wounded five in Pakistan's southwest, a police official said Sunday. It's the latest unrest to hit Baluchistan province, where militants have tried to target a naval facility and a government building in recent weeks. Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday's blast in Khuzdar, which is on the main highway connecting the provincial capital Quetta with the port city of Karachi in neighboring Sindh province. Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Arif Zarkon said a woman and two police officers were among the wounded. For years, Baluchistan has been the scene of a low-level insurgency by groups demanding independence from the central government in Islamabad. Although the government says it has quelled the insurgency, violence in the province has persisted. Last Saturday, an improvised explosive device killed one person and wounded 14, including three soldiers.

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SYDNEY — Vast areas of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the world’s biggest coral system, have been affected by mass coral bleaching caused by a marine heatwave. Surveys have shown major bleaching is occurring along the 2,300-kilometer ecosystem. Bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef was detected weeks ago, but recent aerial surveillance carried out by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Australian Institute of Marine Science revealed that 75 percent of 1,001 reefs inspected contain bleached corals. This means the organisms residing on them are struggling to survive.  A quarter of individual reefs surveyed recorded low to no levels of bleaching, while half had high or very high levels.  The authority that manages the reef confirmed “widespread bleaching across all three regions of the marine park” — its north, south and central sectors.   It said, “Sea surface temperatures remain 0.5-1.5 degrees above average for this time of year.” Scientists say that corals bleach, or turn white, when they are stressed by changes in water temperature, light, or nutrients. In response, the coral expels the symbiotic algae living in their tissues, exposing their white skeleton.   Not all bleaching incidents are due to warm water, but experts say the mass bleaching reported on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is caused by a marine heatwave. “The coral will expel their micro algae and so when you see a bleached coral it is not dead, but it is starving," said Lissa Schindler, Great Barrier Reef campaign manager at the Australian Marine Conservation Society. She told VOA that bleaching makes corals fragile and weak. "If they do recover, they will be more prone to disease and have a lower reproductive output. What happens, though, if temperatures are too hot for too long then the coral cannot survive and then that is when it dies, she said. Schindler says that reefs around the world are becoming more vulnerable to bleaching due to the impact of climate change. “We do not know how long our oceans can continue to absorb the amount of heat that they are, and I think these mass bleaching events that are occurring around the world are showing that this heat absorption is having a real impact on coral reefs and will continue to do so," she said. "So, with climate change there will be more severe and more frequent mass bleaching events to come to the point where coral reefs will not be able to recover in between these events.” The Great Barrier Reef runs 2,300 kilometers down Australia’s northeastern coast and covers an area about the size of Japan. Conservationists say it faces a range of threats, including warmer ocean temperatures, overfishing, pollution and coral-eating crown of thorns starfish. The Australian government has a target to cut national emissions by 43 percent by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.