What happened
Israel took steps to prepare for a ground invasion of Lebanon yesterday as the U.S., France and other European and Arab nations scrambled to prevent a full-scale war, proposing an "immediate 21-day cease-fire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy."

Who said what
The cease-fire deal was worked out in 48 hours on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Its dozen signatories said the recent intensification of fighting is "intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation." U.S. officials said they were optimistic Lebanon and Israel would accept the proposal, with Lebanon responsible for Hezbollah's compliance. 

Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the Israeli military chief of staff, told soldiers near the Lebanon border yesterday that ongoing Israeli airstrikes are "both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah." Israel has killed about 600 people in Lebanon since Monday, according to Lebanon's health ministry. Hezbollah has continued sending missiles into Israel, including its first aimed at Tel Aviv. Israeli air defenses shot down that ballistic missile, but Hezbollah faces the "consequential" choice to either "unleash more of its advanced weapons, striking deeper into Israel and potentially triggering a full-scale war," The Wall Street Journal said, "or hold back and risk diminishing its reputation as one of the fiercest fighting forces in the Middle East."

What next?
"Hell is breaking loose in Lebanon," U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said at an emergency Security Council meeting last night. "War is not inevitable," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told the Security Council. "We are counting on both parties" to accept the 21-day cease-fire "without delay." Barrot is set to travel to Lebanon to try to persuade officials in Beirut.

What happened
Pope Francis yesterday expelled 10 members of Peru's controversial Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV) movement, including a bishop, several priests and multiple lay members. The Vatican said the former members were guilty of "sadistic" abuses of power.

Who said what
The pope's public move against Sodalitium leadership was "unusual" and "astonishing," The Associated Press said, because it listed abuses that have "rarely if ever been punished canonically," like hacking a journalist's communications, and "cited the people the pope held responsible." Those expelled are accused of committing "physical abuse, including sadism and violence," as well as mental and spiritual abuse, and "abuse of authority," the Vatican said in a statement published online by the Peruvian Bishops Conference.

Wednesday's expulsion comes just over a month after the Vatican expelled Sodalitium founder Fernando Figari, who was accused of "physical, psychological and sexual violence, including against minors," Vatican News said. At its height, SCV "represented one of the most active forces for evangelization in South America," a conservative counterweight to Catholic liberation theology.

What next?
It isn't clear "how exactly the expulsions can be enforced," especially "for the laypeople involved," the AP said. But the "very public announcement" shows that Pope Francis was "willing to take an unorthodox approach to interpreting the church’s in-house laws to send a message." The Vatican said the pope and Peruvian bishops are "seeking the forgiveness of the victims" and urging SCV to pursue a "path toward justice and reparation."