Biden awards Pope Francis the Presidential Medal of Freedom with distinction
CBSN
President Biden honored Pope Francis with the Presidential Medal of Freedom with distinction, the highest civilian award given by the president, on Saturday, saying the pontiff was a "light of faith, hope, and love that shines brightly across the world."
Mr. Biden was scheduled to travel to Rome this weekend and present the medal to Francis in person, but he canceled what would have been his final overseas trip as president so he could monitor the wildfires in California.
The White House said Biden bestowed the award to the pope during a phone call in which they also discussed efforts to promote peace and alleviate suffering around the world.
Famine has been mostly averted in Gaza as a surge of aid enters the territory during a fragile ceasefire, the United Nations humanitarian chief said Sunday. But he warned the threat could return quickly if the truce collapses.
The United States service member who was killed alongside three defense contractors when their small plane crashed in the Philippines has been identified as a Marine from California.
Israeli forces were withdrawing from a key Gaza corridor on Sunday, Israeli officials and Hamas said, part of Israel's commitments under a tenuous ceasefire deal with Hamas that is moving ahead but faces a major test over whether the sides can negotiate its planned extension.
A French police officer has been ordered to pay 1,000 euros, or approximately $1,000 after he described a woman who filed a sexual assault complaint as a "whore", a source close to the case said on Saturday.
Chinese rescuers searched for some 30 people after a landslide on Saturday in southwestern Sichuan province buried 10 houses and forced hundreds of residents to evacuate.
A major outage of Sony's PlayStation Network (PSN) on Saturday has left tens of thousands of gamers unable to access online services, stores and multimedia apps.
Three more Israeli hostages were released Saturday in exchange for dozens of Palestinian prisoners as the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas continued to hold. It was the fifth hostage and prisoner exchange to occur as part of the first phase of the deal, which began on Jan. 19.
London — The International Criminal Court on Friday condemned sanctions imposed on its officials by President Trump. The United Nations court, which is in the Hague, Netherlands, said the U.S. measures were intended to "harm (the Court's) independent and impartial judicial work."
Washington — President Trump is holding a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba Friday, as Japan's Nippon Steel hopes the Trump administration will allow a $14.1 billion bid for U.S. Steel to move forward, despite Mr. Trump's previous pledge to block the deal.
Beijing — China on Friday lashed out at what it called U.S. "coercion" after Panama declined to renew a key infrastructure agreement with Beijing following Washington's threat to take back the Panama Canal. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a briefing that China "firmly opposes the U.S. smearing and undermining the Belt and Road cooperation through means of pressure and coercion."
The man is insistent: Our ship is in difficulty, so keep your distance, he instructs another vessel over the radio.
Abdul Fatorma, chief executive of the Campaign for Human Rights and Development International, had been working on expanding democracy in Sierra Leone for seven years.
A semi-submersible vessel loaded with over 5,000 pounds of cocaine was intercepted off the Pacific coast of Colombia, the country's navy said Wednesday. Officials said it marked the nation's first seizure of a so-called "narco sub" this year.