World News

Credit: Carl DMaster/Shutterstock Jan 15, 2026 / 17:10 pm (CNA). As the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues its review of the abortion pill mifepristone, Republican lawmakers are repeating calls for stronger federal regulations of the drug.The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, chaired by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, held a ... read more

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during an end-of-year press conference in the State Department Press Briefing Room in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 19, 2025. | Credit: Mandel NGAN/AFP via Getty Images , Jan 15, 2026 / 15:57 pm (CNA). U.S. aid is set to be delivered from Miami on Jan. ... read more

In robotics, as in so many things, small is beautiful. The trouble is that making them really small is very nearly impossible. “Building robots that operate independently at sizes below one millimeter is incredibly difficult,” says roboticist Marc Miskin at the University of Pennsylvania. “The field has essentially been stuck on this problem for 40 ... read more

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for relations with states and international organizations of the Holy See. | Credit: Santosh Digal , Jan 15, 2026 / 13:37 pm (CNA). Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher spoke at the event “A Common Front for Human Dignity: Preventing the Commodification of Women and Children in Surrogacy.” ... read more

Pope Leo XIV next to the new mosaic of him that will be added to St. Paul Outside the Walls Basilica in Rome. | Credit: Vatican Media , Jan 15, 2026 / 12:54 pm (CNA). A mosaic portrait of Pope Leo XIV for installation in St. Paul Outside the Walls Basilica was ... read more

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday denied knowledge of reports that his administration has restored millions of taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood. According to Jan. 13 report in Politico, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last month restored Title X funding to Planned Parenthood. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Monday ... read more

Each year, the annual Marian procession of the "Divina Pastora" ("Divine Shepherdess") draws millions of pilgrims and devotees in Venezuela. The Jan. 14 procession, however, was of particular significance following the United States' capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores Jan. 3. ... read more

The Department of Homeland Security said Jan. 14 it issued an interim final rule reducing wait times for religious worker visas. Catholic advocates were among those who pushed the Trump administration to address the backlog in their visa category. ... read more

On the stage of Annunciation Catholic School's auditorium in Minneapolis, Jesse and Mollie Merkel walked to the podium to express their gratitude for the community that filled the space in front of them. Looking out, they saw people who had supported them since day one, Jesse Merkel said. ... read more

by Bishop Jean-Marie Chami * Cairo – In a world torn apart by conflict, where “war is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading” , we publish the appeal letter of Bishop Jean-Marie Chami, Greek Melkite Patriarchal Vicar General for Egypt, Sudan, and South Sudan. Addressed to the faithful of the Greek ... read more

by Bert Ghezzi One week after the tragedy of 9/11, my wife, Mary Lou, and I were traveling to visit family in Pittsburgh. At the Orlando International Airport, we stood in a long security check line. When we reached the agent, he asked for our identification. I handed him my driver’s license, but to my ... read more

Hyderabad – The new day center for palliative care at St. Elizabeth Catholic Hospital in Hyderabad, in Pakistan's southern Sindh province, aims to provide cancer patients and the terminally ill in Pakistan with a place to receive care, pain relief, and comfort. It is the first facility of its kind in Pakistan. The initiative has ... read more

Kinshasa – In a new attack attributed to the Allied Democratic Forces jihadists in North Kivu province, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, at least five people have been killed. The attack occurred around 5:00 p.m. on January 13 in the village of Mausa, in the Lukono area, controlled by the Mwenye group, whose capital ... read more

Kuwait City – This is a particularly significant and joyous moment for all the faithful of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia. The Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, arrived in Kuwait this morning to participate in the celebrations for the elevation of the parish church of Our Lady of Arabia in Ahmadi to Minor ... read more

Credit: Digital Storm/Shutterstock Jan 15, 2026 / 06:00 am (CNA). The attorney general of Ohio is moving to shut down a Catholic-run nursing home amid reports that the facility is placing elderly residents in “clear and present danger.”House of Loreto, a nursing facility run by the sisters of the Congregation of the ... read more