Pope calls for Gaza ceasefire to be 'immediately respected'
Voice of America
Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Jan. 19, 2025.
Pope Francis called Sunday for a ceasefire in Gaza to be "immediately respected," as he thanked mediators and urged a boost in humanitarian aid as well as the return of hostages.
Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Jan. 19, 2025.
A woman and child look on at volcanic ash rising into the air during the eruption of Mount Ibu, as seen from Duono village, North Maluku province, Jan. 15, 2025.
Dori, Burkina Faso
Palestinian Hamas militants hand over hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in Gaza City, Jan. 19, 2025 in this screen grab from a video.
FILE - A vendor selling lottery tickets checks her mobile phone while waiting for customers in Bangkok on March 25, 2019.
FILE - A classroom that previously was used for girls sits empty in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 22, 2022. Taliban Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Abbas Stanikzai called for lifting the education ban on Afghan girls and women. (Screengrab courtesy Tolo news)
Displaced Palestinians leave parts of Khan Younis as they go back to their homes in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Jan. 19, 2025. Demonstrators hold portraits of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip during a protest calling for their immediate release in Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 18, 2025.
Malaysia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamad Hasan speaks at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat in Langkawi Island, Malaysia, Jan. 19, 2025.
Chahida Boufaied, owner of Dar Chahida Lel Oula, prepares the Harissa in her house in Nabeul, Tunisia, Jan. 7, 2025. Chahida Boufaied, owner of Dar Chahida Lel Oula, prepares the Harissa in her house in Nabeul, Tunisia, Jan. 7, 2025. Chahida Boufaied, owner of Dar Chahida Lel Oula, prepares the Harissa in her house in Nabeul, Tunisia, Jan. 7, 2025.
FILE - A survivor of Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack, Natalie Sanandaji, left, accepts the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Medal of Valor and another award in New York, Sept. 12, 2024. She participated in a video made to demonstrate solidarity with Iranian women resisting oppression.
FILE - Genevieve Callerot, 102, sits in the garden of her farm, on Aug. 25, 2018, in Saint-Aulaye, southwestern France.
Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid wait on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on Jan. 18, 2025, following the Israeli Cabinet's approval of a ceasefire deal amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Two women talk next to a mural demanding the return of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 18, 2025.
A map of Australia showing the territory names, with the Northern Territory highlighted.
First responders work the scene following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Jan. 18, 2025.
