At least seven people are killed, including five Egyptian Army soldiers, a military officer and a civilian woman in two separate blasts in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. ISIL's Sinai branch claimed responsibility for the attacks on several websites. (Reuters)
ISIL militants reportedly execute 175 workers who were captured earlier this week at a cement factory situated to the east of Damascus. (RT)(Daily Mail)
In the 256-page document, the Pope encourages the clergy to embrace sinners as well as saints, opens the door a bit for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, and stresses that Catholics, with their own informed consciences guided by the light of the Gospel, address tricky moral questions in their life, and not only be guided by dogmatic rules from above. Francis also asserts the right to a natural death without aggressive treatment; firmly rejects the death penalty; and reiterates the Church's opposition to same-sex marriage. (AP²)(The Washington Post)(Vatican)
El Salvador officials seize documents and equipment during a raid of the local offices of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. Attorney General Douglas Melendez says authorities interviewed seven employees, and confiscated 20 computers and some documents. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
The French occupy movement known as Nuit debout enters its ninth day, "March 40," spreading across dozens of French cities and to Belgium, Germany, and Spain. (The Guardian)
A Myanmar court releases 69 jailed student activists in the first wave of amnesty for the country's political prisoners, with more releases expected. This comes after State CounsellorAung San Suu Kyi vowed to push for the release of all the political prisoners in Myanmar. (Al Jazeera)