Syria's Assad Pledges No Bargaining Over Constitution

French police shot and killed a man armed with a knife and a metal bar who is suspected of having set fire to a synagogue in the Normandy city of Rouen early on Friday, authorities said. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin posted on the social media site X that the armed individual was “neutralized.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “In Rouen, national police officers neutralized early this morning an armed individual clearly wanting to set fire to the city’s synagogue.

VATICAN CITY — The Catholic Church has a long and controversial history of the faithful claiming to have had visions of the Virgin Mary, of statues that purportedly wept blood tears and stigmata that erupted on hands mimicking the wounds of Christ. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] On Friday, the Vatican will announce new norms to help determine whether and when these seemingly supernatural events are authentic.

The handshakes were warm, smiles beaming, as Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Tuesday. As the two strongmen greeted flag-waving schoolchildren from a red carpet, the People’s Liberation Army band played the Soviet-era ditty Moscow Nights, whose waltzing lilt stood in stark contrast to the mayhem sown by Russia’s latest offensive in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, which has forced almost 8,000 people from their homes. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Officially, Putin’s trip is to mark 75 years since the Soviet Union recognized the People’s Republic of China, with a gala to mark the occasion, though his war of choice casts a long shadow.

In a blow to Australian soccer, three A-League players were arrested Friday as part of a monthslong investigation into alleged betting corruption. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] In December 2023, the New South Wales state police and the UK Gambling Commission began a probe into alleged yellow card manipulation by players linked to a southwestern Sydney club.

College students risking school discipline for their pro-Palestinian activism were celebrated by peers and supporters for their moral clarity at a church across the street from Columbia University on Thursday. Faculty and staff from Columbia and Barnard College helped organize ‘The People’s Graduation’ at The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbot issued a full pardon Thursday to a former U. S. Army sergeant convicted of murder for fatally shooting an armed demonstrator in 2020 during nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice. Abbott announced the pardon just minutes after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles disclosed it had made a unanimous recommendation that Daniel Perry be pardoned and have his firearms rights restored.