Midday Roundup: Two dead in Air Force base shooting in Texas

On-base tragedy. Police are investigating an apparent murder-suicide at an Air Force base in San Antonio. Two bodies were found in a room at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, the home of U.S. Air Force basic training. The shooter is believed to be among the two dead, Bexar County sheriff’s spokesman James Keith said. Officers are still searching the base to ensure there were no more victims. Lackland is about 160 miles south of Fort Hood, which in 2009 was the site of the deadliest shooting at a U.S. military base, when 13 people were killed and 31 were injured.

Matters of the heart. Pope Francis emphasizes individual conscience and pastoral care over church law in a newly released document about family, marriage, and faith. Entitled The Joy of Love, the pope’s writing does not negate Catholic church teaching about issues such as birth control, divorce, or the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman. But it does encourage priests to offer grace and counsel to people who live in “irregular situations” such as single parenthood, homosexual relationships, or divorce. “I understand those who prefer a more rigorous pastoral care, which leaves no room for confusion,” he wrote. “But I sincerely believe that Jesus wants a church attentive to the goodness which the Holy Spirit sows in the midst of human weakness.” The Catholic church denies participation in Holy Communion to divorced people who have not received an annulment from the church. In the document released today, Francis indicated an openness to priests’ offering communion to them on a case-by-case basis, saying the sacrament, “is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.”

Caught. Belgian authorities have arrested several more people in connection with last month’s terror attack in Brussels. A TV station in Belgium reported the infamous “man in the hat” seen in security footage from the airport before and after the attacks was among those arrested, but police have not confirmed that report. French officials confirmed Mohamed Abrini, a 31-year-old Belgian wanted in connection with the November terror attack in Paris, was among those arrested. Police said they would release more information on the arrests later.

Released. The Syrian government has released an American freelance photographer captured after entering the country from Turkey about four years ago, the U.S. State Department said today. Kevin Patrick Dawes, a 33-year-old photographer from San Diego, was turned over to authorities from Russia, which backs the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the civil war now in its sixth year. Dawes was an experienced journalist and medical worker in conflict zones and fought alongside forces battling Muammar Qaddafi in Libya, according to The Washington Post.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.