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VATICAN CITY — The Vatican said Tuesday that its doctrine office will prepare a document on women in leadership roles in the Catholic Church, a new initiative to respond to longstanding demands by women to have a greater say in the church’s life. The document will be written by the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith as its contribution to Pope Francis’ big church reform process, now entering its second main phase with a meeting of bishops in October, known as a synod. The Vatican announced the details of the doctrinal document shortly after its news conference — led by four men — on the preparatory work for the October meeting, leaving journalists no chance to ask for more details about it. A group pressing for women's ordination promptly dismissed the significance of it as “crumbs,” noting that ordained men would once again be making decisions about women's roles in the church. The forthcoming document was announced in a list of the members of 10 “study groups” that are looking into some of the thorniest and legally complicated issues that have arisen in the reform process to date, including the role of women and LGBTQ+ Catholics in the life of the church. Pope Francis called the synod over three years ago as part of his overall efforts to make the church a more welcoming place for marginalized groups, and one where ordinary people would have a greater say. The process, and the two-year canvassing of rank-and-file Catholics that preceded it, sparked both hopes and fears that real change was afoot. Catholic women do the lion’s share of the church’s work in schools and hospitals, and tend to take the lead in passing down the faith to future generations. But they have long complained of a second-class status in an institution that reserves the priesthood for men. Francis has reaffirmed the ban on women priests, but has named several women to high-ranking jobs in the Vatican and encouraged debate on other ways women's voices can be heard. That has included the synod process in which women have had the right to vote on specific proposals — a right previously given only to men. Additionally, during his 11-year pontificate, he responded to demands for ministerial jobs for women by appointing two commissions to study whether women could be ordained deacons. Deacons are ordained ministers but are not priests, though they can perform many of the same functions as priests: preside at weddings, baptisms and funerals, and preach. They cannot, however, celebrate Mass. The results of the two commissions have never been released and in a recent interview with CBS “60 Minutes,” Francis said “no” when asked if women could one day be ordained deacons. Women's Ordination Conference, which advocates for ordaining women priests, said the relegation of the issue of women deacons to the doctrine office was hardly the mark of a church looking to involve women more. “The urgency to affirm women’s full and equal place in the church cannot be swept away, relegated to a shadowy commission, or entrusted into the hands of ordained men at the Vatican,” the group said in a statement.

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PARIS — Leaders from the left-wing bloc that topped France's legislative election on Sunday and the runner-up centrists continued on Wednesday a frenzied race to try to put together rival bids to form a viable government. The unexpected outcome of the snap election, in which the left benefited from a surprise surge but no group won an absolute majority, has plunged France into uncertainty, with no obvious path to a stable government. The New Popular Front (NFP) alliance of the hard left France Unbowed, Communists, Socialists and Greens and President Emmanuel Macron's centrists both tried to woo lawmakers from each other's camp and beyond. "I think there is an alternative to the New Popular Front," Aurore Berge, a senior lawmaker from Macron's Renaissance group told France 2 TV. "I think the French don't want the NFP's platform to be implemented. I think they don't want tax increases." "We are the only ones who can extend (our base)," she said, adding that the conservative The Republicans could be an option for such a deal. Phones are ringing constantly, with some calls made by centrists trying to poach enough lawmakers from the mainstream left to create the basis for a government, political sources have told Reuters. Meanwhile, leftist leaders also took to the airwaves to stress that, having topped the election, they should run the government - with a prime minister and cabinet the different parties that constitute the NFP are yet to agree on. Strained finances Amid warnings from rating agencies, what France does with its strained public finances will be an early test of whether it can still be governed. Financial markets, the European Commission and its euro zone partners are all watching closely. It would be customary for Macron to call on the biggest parliamentary group to form a government, but nothing in the constitution obliges him to do so. Options include a broad coalition and a minority government, which would pass laws in parliament on a case-by-case basis, with ad hoc agreements. Macron "must allow the left to govern," leftist leader Francois Ruffin told Le Monde. Macron, whose term ends in 2027, looks unlikely to be able to drive policy again, having been beaten by the far-right National Rally in last month's European election and by the left in the snap legislative election he called against the will of some of his own supporters. Carole Delga, from the Socialist Party, stressed that the left on its own cannot govern, and must extend its hand to others - but on the basis of the NFP's tax-and-spend program. But others took a harder line. "The NFP has the greatest number of deputies in the National Assembly, it is therefore up to the NFP to constitute a government ... this is what we are working towards," Manuel Bompard, from France Unbowed, told LCI TV.

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine senate threatened on Wednesday to arrest a small town mayor for contempt during a hearing investigating her alleged ties with Chinese criminal syndicates, a case that has captivated the nation amid tension between Manila and Bejing. The arrest threat came after the mayor, Alice Guo, failed to appear for a second consecutive hearing, citing stress. The case that began in March, when authorities raided a casino in Guo's sleepy farming town of Bamban, has shed light on criminal activity in the mostly Chinese-backed online casino industry in the Philippines. It gained national attention after one senator questioned whether Guo might not have been born in the Philippines and could even be a Chinese "asset" an accusation she denied. She has also denied links to criminals, saying she is a natural-born Philippine citizen. Guo did not respond to Reuters' request for comment but wrote to the senate that she was the subject of "malicious accusations." On Wednesday, the senate cited Guo in contempt for failing to appear and Senator Risa Hontiveros, who is leading the investigation, said she would set in motion steps to get a warrant for her arrest. "The chair has ruled to cite them in contempt," said Hontiveros, who told a previous hearing that Guo might have actually been born in China and be a Chinese "asset," although she gave no proof. Raid raises questions The investigation began after a police raid revealed a scam center operating out of a facility built on land partially owned by Guo. It was one of many that have sprung up across Southeast Asia in recent years. The raid uncovered hundreds of trafficked workers including foreign nationals, spurring a human trafficking complaint against Guo from an agency battling organized crime. Guo has said she sold her stake in the business before she was elected in 2022 and had no knowledge of criminality. Officials have turned a searchlight on her background since. The National Bureau of Investigation said Guo's fingerprints matched those of a Chinese national who entered the country as a teenager. The solicitor general is seeking to cancel her birth certificate and she has been suspended from her post during the investigation. The senate committee urged the immigration agency to stop Guo from leaving the Philippines. Guo's attorney, Stephen David, told radio station DWPM she had been "traumatized" by previous sessions but had assured him she was still in the Philippines. "If she gets arrested and detained at the senate, then she will testify," he said. Earlier hearings grilled Guo about her background and a lack of records regarding her presence in the Philippines. After she was unable to recall details of her childhood, Hontiveros asked if she was an "asset" for China. In May, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr told reporters, "No one knows her. We wonder where she came from. That's why we are investigating this, together with the Bureau of Immigration, because of the questions about her citizenship." The mayor has denied she is a spy, saying in a television interview that she was a simple Philippine citizen, the love child of her Chinese father with a maid, and who had grown up "hidden" on a pig farm and homeschooled, with no friends. Guo's case comes at a time of growing Philippine suspicion about China's activities following an increasingly tense dispute over reefs and shoals in the busy waterway of the South China Sea, where both nations have claims. It has boosted calls for a crackdown on Philippine offshore gambling operators, or POGOs, mostly run by Chinese nationals to serve clients in China, which flourished during the tenure of former President Rodrigo Duterte, but have since drawn scrutiny.

Yangon, Myanmar — Eight people were missing after a boat sunk on a river in Myanmar's commercial hub Yangon, the local fire department said on Wednesday. The boat sank after an accident at around 8:10 a.m. local time in the Yangon river, it said on its Facebook page. It did not give details on what had occurred or whether any other vessels were involved. Local media reported the boat had collided with another vessel. Nine of 17 people on board had been rescued, and search and rescue operations were underway for the remaining eight people, the fire department said. Boat accidents are common in Myanmar, a poor country with rudimentary transport and weakly enforced safety regulations. Vessels ferrying people along the coastline and rivers are often dangerously overcrowded, and accidents can have staggering death tolls. It can also take several days for all bodies to be retrieved. In 2016, 73 people, including many teachers and students, drowned when their overloaded vessel capsized in central Myanmar on the Chindwin River.

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.

LUCKNOW, India — A double-decker passenger bus collided with a milk truck in northern India on Wednesday, killing at least 18 people and injuring many others, officials said. The collision occurred on an expressway in Uttar Pradesh state, and 19 injured people were rushed to the hospital by villagers in the area, said police officer Arvind Kumar, adding that their condition was reported to be stable. The bus was traveling from the northern state of Bihar to the capital New Delhi. "Authorities are in the process of identifying the victims, and a probe has been launched to determine the exact cause of the accident,” Kumar added. Gaurang Rathi, a government official, said that according to a preliminary investigation the bus may have been speeding when it struck the milk truck from behind, which led both vehicles to overturn. The collision was severe enough that one side of the bus was torn off, causing passengers to be ejected from the vehicle. Images on television showed bodies scattered across the road. India has some of the highest road death rates in the world, with hundreds of thousands of people killed and injured annually. Most crashes are blamed on reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and aging vehicles. In May, a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims skidded and rolled into a deep gorge on a mountainous highway in Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at least 21 people.

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.

NATO leaders are gathering in Washington this week as the military alliance celebrates its 75th anniversary, confronts the prospect of the return of NATO skeptic Donald Trump to the White House, the Ukraine war, and a bigger global role. We talk to Charles Kupchan is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and professor of international affairs at Georgetown University. Heavy Israeli bombardment is shaking Gaza City. Thousands of fleeing Palestinians are searching for shelter, and medical facilities have been forced to shut down.

Bogotá, Colombia — A boat carrying 20 migrants sank Tuesday off Colombia's Caribbean coast, leaving at least one person dead and four missing, officials said. Fifteen people were rescued, six of whom were minors, the navy told AFP. The boat sank near the Colombian resort islands of San Andres and Providencia, east of Nicaragua. Military officials said a search and rescue operation involving navy rapid response units and the air force was underway. The adults saved were from Colombia, Ecuador, Iran, Nicaragua, Kazakhstan and Venezuela, the navy added. Of the minors that were saved, two were from Kazakhstan and three from Venezuela. The nationality of the sixth was not disclosed. In May, Washington imposed sanctions on Nicaragua, accusing it of aiding the trafficking of undocumented migrants seeking to make it to the United States. Colombia has said that migrants are increasingly using a clandestine route between San Andres and Nicaragua to avoid the dangerous crossing through the Darien jungle between Colombia and Panama, heading north through Central America and eventually to Mexico and the U.S. border.

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.

WASHINGTON — The pier built by the U.S. military to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza will be reinstalled Wednesday to be used for several days, but then the plan is to pull it out permanently, several U.S. officials said. It would deal the final blow to a project long plagued by bad weather, security uncertainties and difficulties getting food into the hands of starving Palestinians. The officials said the goal is to clear whatever aid has piled up in Cyprus and on the floating dock offshore and get it to the secure area on the beach in Gaza. Once that has been done, the Army will dismantle the pier and depart. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because final details are still being worked out. Officials had hoped the pier would provide a critical flow of aid to starving residents in Gaza as the nine-month-long war drags on. But while more than 8.6 million kilograms of food has gotten into Gaza via the pier, the project has been hampered by persistent heavy seas and stalled deliveries due to ongoing security threats as Israeli troops continue their offensive against Hamas in Gaza. The decision comes as Israeli troops make another push deeper into Gaza City, which Hamas says could threaten long-running negotiations over a cease-fire and hostage release, after the two sides had appeared to have narrowed the gaps in recent days. U.S. troops removed the pier on June 28 because of bad weather and moved it to the port of Ashdod in Israel. But distribution of the aid had already stopped due to security concerns. The United Nations suspended deliveries from the pier on June 9, a day after the Israeli military used the area around it for airlifts after a hostage rescue that killed more than 270 Palestinians. U.S. and Israeli officials said no part of the pier itself was used in the raid, but U.N. officials said any perception in Gaza that the project was used may endanger their aid work. As a result, aid brought through the pier into the secure area on the beach piled up for days while talks continued between the U.N. and Israel. More recently, the World Food Program hired a contractor to move the aid from the beach to prevent the food and other supplies from spoiling. The Pentagon said all along that the pier was only a temporary project, designed to prod Israel into opening and allowing aid to flow better through land routes — which are far more productive than the U.S.-led sea route. And the weather now is projected only to get worse. The pier was damaged by high winds and heavy seas on May 25, just a bit more than a week after it began operating, and was removed for repairs. It was reconnected on June 7, but removed again due to bad weather on June 14. It was put back days later, but heavy seas again forced its removal on June 28.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday welcomed NATO leaders and heralded the alliance’s 75th anniversary while making the case for peace through strength amid the largest challenge to peace Europe has faced in decades. Other administration officials made similar arguments for bolstering defense to fight global threats. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from Washington

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti's newly selected Prime Minister Garry Conille and Haiti's police chief visited the country's largest hospital on Tuesday, after authorities said they took control of the medical institution over the weekend from armed gangs. Haitian Police Chief Normil Rameau told a news conference Monday that police took control of the Hospital of the State University of Haiti, known as the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince, on Sunday night after months of escalating attacks from armed groups. Haitians will "wake up one morning and find the operation done, the bandits stopped, and neutralized," Rameau said at the briefing, but did not take questions from the media. He was accompanied by Kenyan officer Godfrey Otunge, who said that the U.N.-backed contingent of Kenyan police intends to work closely with Haitian authorities as well as local and international partners dedicated to rebuilding Haiti. The green and white-colored hospital was left ravaged by gangs, with beds stripped of their cots and ceiling fans on the floor. The building's interior was left with debris and lighting fixtures among the hospital's cubicles. Hospital walls and nearby buildings were riddled with bullet holes, signaling fights between police and gangs in the neighborhood. The hospital is just across the street from the national palace, which was the scene of several battles in the last five months. Conille said the building looked like "a war zone." Council member Louis Gérald Gilles was also present on Tuesday's visit, and announced the hospital should be in full service by February 2026. Conille said the hospital served about 1,500 people a day before the gang's chokehold. "This hospital is not for the rich, it's for the poor," Conille said on Tuesday. "These are people that need serious help that can't go see a private doctor." The attacks from criminal groups have pushed Haiti's health system to the brink of collapse and the escalating violence has led to a surge in patients with serious illnesses and a shortage of resources to treat them. Gangs have been looting, setting fires and destroying medical institutions and pharmacies in the capital, where they control up to 80% of the area. Haiti's health care system, already struggling before the violence, faces additional challenges from the rainy season, which is likely to worsen conditions and increase the risk of water-borne diseases. Poor hygiene conditions in camps and makeshift settlements have heightened the risk of diseases like cholera, with over 84,000 suspected cases in the country, according to a UNICEF report. Besides the hospital, gunmen have seized police stations, attacked the main international airport (which was closed for nearly three months), and stormed Haiti's two largest prisons. In April, a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Haiti told The Associated Press that staff had been forced to cut the number of outpatients it treats daily from 150 to 50, with people lining up outside the hospital each day and risking being shot by gang members as they awaited medical care. According to a report from the U.N. migration agency, the violence in Haiti has displaced nearly 580,000 people since March.

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.